Jo Ann Ishman, 55, 416 Laird Ave. S.E., said she wants to press charges against the owner of the pit bull.
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| RIP Cuddles |
Warren Animal Control Officer John Onatz said Thursday he was gathering information on the case.
Onatz said he has yet to contact the pit bull's owner. Charges or citations could be filed against the owner and he believes he'll likely have restrictions in attempting to get his dog back, Onatz said.
"There could be something to come out of this, but right now I don't have everything," Onatz said. "I still need to talk with the (deceased dog's) mom and the other dog's owner."
In the meantime, the large, brown-and-white pit bull is being held at the Trumbull County Dog Warden's pound, he said.
Ishman said Thursday, "That person does need to have dogs. What would have happened if it was a little kid? It went and attacked my neighbor right after that. My daughter lives with me and she has a 2-week-old baby. God forbid if it would have been a child."
Ishman said she has had her 19-year-old fox Terrier, Cuddles, since Cuddles was four weeks old.
She said she came home from work Wednesday and let Cuddles outside at about 4 p.m., putting her on a leash. Minutes later, she heard a noise and went outside but didn't see Cuddles. She finally found the Cuddles dead and bloodied, lying in a driveway on Belle Ave. S.E.
"Cuddles was only four pounds," Ishman said. "The dog ripped her right out of her collar. There was nothing left of her but the back end of her legs. There were marks all over her body, and she was covered in blood."
Ishman said the pit bull, which had blood on its snout, then jumped on her. When neighbors intervened, the dog attacked a neighbor and its dog inside the neighbor's home, Ishman and police said.
The dog eventually was taken to the rear yard of the Belle Avenue home and secured with a heavy chain.
The woman sustained scratches on her legs, Ishman said.
Ishman, who left work early Thursday because she was so distraught over Cuddle's death, said neighbors have had problems with the pit bull before. She said she was leaving her house on Labor Day when she was approached by a man looking for the pit bull and another dog that ran loose.
Later in the day, her daughter heard screams coming from the neighbor's house. She said the pit bull had run into the neighbor's house and attacked her dog inside her home.
Ishman said Cuddles was a Cleveland Browns fan- she had an outfit to prove it- and that her son buried Cuddles in Masury Wednesday. She said her other dog, a 4-year-old German shepherd, has whined ever since.
"My dog should have never died like that," she said. "She didn't stand a chance."
(Tribune Chronicle - Oct 14, 2011)
