TENNESSEE -- Two Midtown dog owners are livid after their dog was attacked by a pit bull Thursday night, and they say Memphis Animal Services didn't do anything about it.
Brian Sanders and his ex-girlfriend, Sokhom Chanthavilay, were walking their German shepherd in the Sanabel Apartments where Chanthavilay lives when they say a neighbor's pit bull attacked their dog, Jackson.
"Jackson had his muzzle on and he couldn't defend himself," Sanders said.
Both the owner of the attacking pit bull and Sanders began hitting the dog with a board until it was pried off of Jackson by an onlooker, Chanthavilay said.
Sanders called police, who in turn called Animal Services, but when the animal control officer arrived Sanders said she told him the pit bull couldn't be taken in because it didn't bite a human and there wasn't enough room in the shelter.
Mary Cashiola, spokeswoman for the city of Memphis, said the animal control officer complied with policy in not taking in the dog because "both the owner and the police advised the ACO that the German shepherd was not seriously wounded."
However, Sanders says his German shepherd was taken to a veterinarian overnight at a cost of $515 and several stitches.
Later Friday, Cashiola said the dog had been impounded at the shelter.
[NOTE: Prime example of laziness on the part of the animal control officer. Either s/he is a complete moron and doesn't know the laws s/he is supposed to enforce or s/he is completely lazy and doesn't deserve his/her job. Only after media inquiries did the animal control officer finally do the correct thing and impound the dog. No, it doesn't need a rabies quarantine b/c it didn't bite a human. However, it needed to be impounded in order to take the owner to court to declare the dog vicious and try to have the dog put to sleep. You don't leave a vicious dog like this with the owner b/c owners, scared that the dog will be taken from them, will often hide the dog and then insist it "ran away".
If this happens to you and your pets and animal control won't do their job, contact the media. Contact your mayor. Yell, scream and make a fuss and they will be forced to do their job properly.]
The owner of the pit bull was issued a citation Thursday for failing to have license and registration, as well as not being in compliance with the city's spay and neuter ordinance.
(Memphis Commercial Appeal - August 27, 2011)
