The pit bull had been previously cited for attacking otherdogs, and the dog’s owner, Robert Delarosa, had been previously cited for the dog’s behavior.
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| Delarosa is full of excuses as to why he allowed his pit bull "Deuce" to get loose and attack pets and people ON THREE OCCASIONS! |
At around 10 a.m. Monday, authorities were dispatched to the 3000 block of High Drive on a report of a pit bull dog that had escaped from his yard, jumped a fence and attacked another dog in its own backyard.
When officers arrived on scene they found a pit bull that was fatally shot by the owner of a shepherd mix dog that was attacked. The man who shot the dog says he attempted to separate the animals and had to shoot at the pit bull to save his dog.
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| You can see the injuries on the hindquarters and belly of the Shepherd mix |
Delarosa’s roommate says he let the pit bull, ‘Deuce,’ out to the backyard to go to the bathroom when the attack happened.
“I tried to pull them apart and that’s when the owner came and he had a gun,” says Ruben Mungia, “and that’s when he shot him.”
Chief, the shepherd mix, sustained minor puncture wounds to the chest area, front legs, and the rear thigh area.
"I'm pretty hurt about it,” says Delarosa. “That was my dog. I had it for years."
Delarosa says the dog’s personality changed recently after a deadly fight with a coyote that got into their backyard. He says Deuce got more aggressive.
[I don't believe this for a moment unless he shows us a police report and a witness statement. Yeah, his pit bull suddenly got aggressive after a 'deadly fight' with a coyote. Um, yeah...]
“It happened for a reason,” Delarosa says. “Something was wrong with him to want to fight these other dogs.”
In July, Delarosa was cited after Deuce and another pit bull were seen running loose from his premises.
On August 5, he was cited when Deuce excaped from his backyard and attacked a small male beagle that had sustained wounds to the face, ear, and legs. On August 9, Deuce once again attacked another dog. That attack happened to a dog that was on a walk with his owner.
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| Animal victims #1 and #2. Why didn't Animal Control do something about this pit bull?! |
"I kicked at him. There was just nothing. It was the most hopeless feeling I've ever had," says a former neighbor of Delarosa, who didn’t want to be identified. She says Deuce attacked her and her beagle as they walked on the sidewalk outside his home in the 3400 block of 15th Ave.
“I looked over because he barked at us. He was behind a screen door. We kept walking and suddenly something was biting me on the back of my leg,” she says. “Of course, I screamed and then my dog started barking at it. It let go of me and attacked my dog and got him by the throat.”
Delarosa had moved to a different address when the most recent attack occurred. He was cited with unlawful ownership of a dangerous dog.
Victims say something has to change to get dangerous dogs off the street.
“This certainly has caused me to review our current process. I think we can do things to make it a little better, with a little more teeth,” says Evans Police Chief Rick Brandt.
He says they will work to get dog owners in front of judges more quickly—before their dogs are released form mandatory quarantine.
Deuce had been released twice from quarantine.
Brandt says they’ll also clarify when a dog is considered vicious.
During the first attack, the animal control officer only charged Deuce as a nuisance animal.
Delarosa is due in court Sept. 8 to answer to multiple animal violation charges.
(KDVR - Aug 31, 2011)
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