HAWAII -- The Maui Humane Society is investigating an attack by a loose pit bull in Paia that injured another dog and its owner Monday afternoon.
The attack occurred at about 4:30 p.m. while Paia resident Nyla Nolan was walking Lucky, her German Shepherd and pit bull mix puppy, on a leash in the 200 to 300 block of Baldwin Avenue above Paia town.
After seeing the other dog from a distance, she said she turned around and began walking uphill to move away from the female pit bull.
"I was trying to avoid her," Nolan said. "I was two houses away from home, but she started running after us."
The pit bull appeared to be "stalking" her and Lucky, even crossing Baldwin Avenue in traffic to get closer, she said.
"I was on the sidewalk. I had nowhere to go," Nolan said. "It just charged up."
Nolan said the pit bull looked at her dog "for three seconds" before biting Lucky, who had rolled over onto his back. "He just wants to play," she said. "He doesn't know how to fight."
While her 70-pound dog outweighed the 50- to 55-pound pit bull, Nolan said the pit bull was shorter, more muscular and had a head that was twice as large as her dog's.
The pit bull bit Lucky's side before getting hold of his leg. "I could hear the skin shredding," Nolan said. "I started screaming bloody murder. It wouldn't stop."
When she tried to kick the pit bull, it nipped her heel, leaving a gash, she said, and her elbow was scraped as she was pinned against a cinderblock wall.
Luckily, she said a man who saw what was happening picked up a loose cinderblock and hit the pit bull on its side to stop the attack.
"My dog was all bloodied," she said. Lucky required 20 stitches, with the veterinary bill totaling $500 even with a discount, Nolan said.
With no owner nearby, a responding animal control officer took the female blue pit bull to the Maui Humane Society after the attack was reported.
Nolan said others told her about previous attacks by the pit bull, including one that occurred hours earlier Monday but wasn't reported.
"Why didn't they call the Humane Society earlier?" she said. "They let this dog continue to be free to attack that same day."
Maui Humane Society Chief Executive Officer Jocelyn Bouchard said Wednesday that the agency had no record of prior bites by the pit bull, one factor that's considered in determining whether a dog should be deemed dangerous.
"We have no conclusive history of this dog, nothing on record," Bouchard said.
She also said the pit bull hasn't been "overly reactive" to other dogs at the shelter, including one that walked in front of the pit bull. "This dog really maintained her composure," Bouchard said.
She said the dog was expected to be returned Wednesday to her owner, who had reported the pit bull lost after it got out of his garage. She said the owner would have to pay licensing fees before being allowed to pick up the dog from the shelter.
The owner also would be cited for a leash law violation and dog bite, Bouchard said. She said the dog, which has had at least one litter, had been recently adopted from Maui Pitbull Rescue.
The pit bull had puncture wounds on her head - which Nolan said probably was from her dog trying to fight off the pit bull. "I'm afraid to go on a walk, knowing this dog could potentially be free and I might encounter it again," Nolan said.
Bouchard said animal control officers would be making checks to see that the pit bull was properly restrained.
She said the Maui Humane Society was continuing to look into whether there had been prior incidents of bites by the dog. "The investigation is not complete yet," she said.
(Maui News - October 27, 2011)
