“The pit bull came literally charging across their front yard onto the road,” Steve Schneider said. “The dog was headed right for my dog’s head or neck.”
Schneider had a pocket knife with about a 3-inch blade, which he used to stab the dog in the side.
The whole thing happened quickly, within 15 to 20 seconds, he said.
Schneider’s Burning Tree neighbors, Traci and Steve Klein, said that their 5-year-old male pit bull, Kane, slipped out when Traci opened the door to make sure that her daughter had her lunch.
The Kleins’ veterinarian told them Kane’s injuries were consistent with a much larger knife, at least a 7-inch blade.
Kane wasn’t wearing the collar to keep him inside the electric fence, but the Kleins said he just wanted to play with Schneider’s dog and is very gentle. He was rushed to an emergency vet clinic and underwent a 3½-hour surgery, but after $7,000 in vet bills and growing, he is expected to make a full recovery.
Schneider’s dog, a female border collie named Sadie, was not seriously injured.
The Kleins have said they could understand that Schneider was intimidated by a charging dog, but that he didn’t give them a chance to grab him. When they moved in about two months ago, they reassured neighbors who raised concerns about having a pit bull in the neighborhood.
[NOTE: It is not our job as citizens to see that your charging pit bull just wants to 'play' with our dog and it is not our job to give you the 'chance to grab him' and possibly allow him to kill our pets and maul us.
Look at the photo below. If you were walking your dog and saw this thing barking, growling and charging towards you, would you wait to see if wanted to 'play' with your pet or stand around until the owners realized their pit bull was loose and coming after you? Not on your life.]
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| Steve Klein wants you to know that his 70-lb pit bull is a big baby and gets along fine with their 5 kids! |
Schneider said he loved animals and had never hurt one intentionally, but said that this was a vicious dog.
“When an animal attacks me and my dog – my dog is like my baby – I’m going to do what I have to do to protect myself,” Schneider said. “With the family, it might be very friendly, but I’m telling you, this will happen again.”
And he feels that he should be allowed to walk freely down the street without feeling threatened.
“I’m a Vietnam vet,” he said. “I fought for this country, and I can walk where I want to walk. I’m not going to be intimidated by a pit bull or any other animal.”
Schneider recalled a November 2005 attack when three pit bulls mauled two 10-year-old children selling candy and magazine subscriptions near Cary.
“[With] pit bulls, I think there should be restrictions on them, especially in a subdivision where there’s little kids,” he said. “If you’re going to have a pit bull, please put it in the backyard and detain it so it doesn’t bite anybody.”
(Northwest Herald - Sept 3, 2011)
