LOS GATOS, CA -- Mayor Joe Pirzynski is used to being in the center of things. After all, he sits in the middle chair at Los Gatos Town Council meetings on the first and third Monday of every month.
And in that role, the mayor admits to having had to deal with many community residents and fellow council members over the years who he could classify as pit bulls.
Pirzynski, though, found himself in a situation much more dangerous than a Monday night council meeting on June 26 when he put himself in harm's way in a valiant attempt to save a small dog under attack during a Music in the Park program at the Los Gatos Civic Center.
The mayor had an actual confrontation with a real pit bull on Sunday just as he was settling in for the evening to watch the Michael Jackson tribute band, Foreverland, perform on the civic center's front lawn.
"All of a sudden I heard someone screaming," said Pirzynski. He looked up to see a woman trying to pull her small dog out of the jaws of a pit bull.
"The [pit bull] was on leash, but the guy wasn't able to do anything," he said, "so I started pounding on the dog until he broke his bite."
Councilman Steve Leonardis was also nearby and he jumped in to help, too.
"It was really a damsel in distress type of scream," said Leonardis. "I saw the pit bull from behind and all I knew was that it had something in its mouth.
"Joe had the presence of mind to grab the dog and try to pry its mouth open. I was pulling on the leash, and when Joe started pounding on the dog I started punching it, too."
Pirzynski and Leonardis were successful in their efforts, and the pit bull eventually let loose of the smaller dog, said to be a Yorkshire terrier. Its owner apparently left the concert to take the small dog to be examined by a veterinarian.
The pit bull owner, meanwhile, quietly exited the scene, but was chased across Main Street by other concert attendees and detained until a police officer could arrive. No arrest was made.
Pirzynski suffered minor injuries to his hands in the attack. "There were a couple of little gouges but I didn't need stitches. I don't think I really got bit."
Others saw things a little differently.
Marianne Hamilton, co-chairwoman of Music in the Park, said onlookers described a frightening scene where the pit bull "had [the terrier] by the neck, shaking it back and forth," and that Pirzynski's hands were very bloody after the episode. The wounds were serious enough that the mayor had to have them attended to in town hall, but he returned in time to enjoy the concert.
"It was a great concert, and we had a full house," said the mayor, who was in good enough shape the next morning to throw out the first ball at the United States Bocce Championships being held at Campo di Bocce.
He also received a call on Monday morning from the owner of the pit bull involved in the attack.
"I got a voice mail from him this morning with all of the dog's history," said Pirzynski, "so he was responsible there."
A night earlier, though, things could have turned tragic had the mayor not acted quickly. Leonardis, his own actions notwithstanding, called Pirzynski's effort heroic, adding, "That's a full service mayor for you right there."
(San Jose Mercury News - June 27, 2011)
