ILLINOIS -- A family member of the two people who were viciously attacked by a pair of pit bulls Monday evening said her family is going through a lot right now.
Nicole Caley, granddaughter of victims Robert Moore and Patricia Koprowski, said Tuesday she is frustrated by the quick rush to judgment by people in the community who do not have all the facts about what actually happened in the home on Kenilworth Monday.
"Everybody has the opinion that they (her grandparents) owned the dogs and must have mistreated them," she said, referring to some of the comments in a previous article on Elmhurst Patch. "I don't know a lot about the dogs—they were my mom's dogs—but when they first went to my grandma's, I said this was a bad idea. It just so happens that this is how it turned out."
She said her mom had owned the two pit bulls, who were shot and killed by police, for a couple of years.
Her grandparents own a yellow Labrador Retriever who lives at the house. It wasn't the first time the pit bulls had been in the house, but they had always kept them separated from the Lab.
"They always kept them apart, just not knowing how they would respond to each other," she said. "I'm sure they smelled my grandma's dog and took off toward the front of the house, and there was nothing they could do after that point."
The Lab was not injured. Koprowski grabbed one of the pit bulls by the collar before it got to the lab, and it turned and bit her hand and wrist. When Moore tried to intervene to protect her, he was severely injured by the pit bull.
"People say, 'why did they shoot the dogs?' Well, when the cops got there, the dog was wrapped around my grandfather's arm and it was the only option. They had to shoot the dog," she said.
The second dog also was aggressive toward police and was shot.
"My grandmother is OK. My grandfather is still in surgical intensive care at Loyola," she said, adding that he is alert and talking. "He's stable, but they have to monitor him closely because dog wounds can be very infectious."
Her grandmother was released from Elmhurst Memorial Hospital after treatment for her injuries. Caley found out about the attack when her aunt, who was the first person called to the scene by Elmhurst police, called her from the hospital.
Caley wants people to remember that this incident is deeply affecting actual people—her family members—and that a rush to judgment only adds to their pain.
"I just want everyone to know that the people who were attacked were not the owners," she said. "The dogs were only there for a little while. They had nothing to do with the way the dogs were raised or kept. They weren't the ones that caused this."
Caley said she knew the potential for harm was there, but blaming the victims is wrong.
"Was it a bad situation from the beginning? Yes," she said. "But this is a 64- and a 70-year-old. Stop attacking the victims without knowing the circumstances."
Caley said she hasn't yet spoken to her mother, who was not at the home at the time of the attack.
Caley said she is not aware of any other attacks or problems involving her mother's pit bulls in the past.
(Elmhurst Patch - Jan 24, 2012)
