CALIFORNIA -- Three violent incidents involving pit bulls in one day in Salinas is a statistical anomaly, said animal control officers, but dog attack cases involving the pit breeds and other large dogs are common.
In the three cases Saturday, one dog is being held at Salinas Animal Services under quarantine, another was treated at a pet hospital for a gunshot wound and the third has been returned to its owner, said police Cmdr. Dave Crabill.
What happens to dogs taken into custody after an attack depends on their attitude and whether an owner reclaims them.
Crabill said the three Saturday incidents began about 5:30 a.m. when officers responded to a report of a vicious dog attacking another animal on Maple Street.
The dog was found on a front porch, blood dripping from its mouth. When it charged one of the police officers, another officer drew his gun and shot it, Crabill said.
That dog was reclaimed by its owner after being treated, said Cynthia Burnham, executive director of Salinas Animal Services.
"That dog did not bite anyone," she said, adding that animal control officers are trying to determine if the dog hurt another animal, possibly a cat.
At 7:40 a.m., a 57-year-old woman was walking her poodle in the 200 block of Osage Drive when a pit bull ran through an open gate and attacked her dog, police said. She and her dog were injured and the pit bull is being held in a 10-day quarantine to determine if it is rabid, Burnham said.
What happens after that, she said, depends on whether an owner comes forward to claim the dog. Otherwise, it will be euthanized.
At 11:30 a.m., a patrolling officer saw a pit bull attacking a Chihuahua at Northgate Village on Cherokee Drive. Both owners were present and exchanged information, Crabill said. The pit bull was released to the owner. The woman walking her Chihuahua was not injured, and her dog was taken to a veterinarian for treatment.
"It's not a typical weekend in Salinas," Burnham said.
The two most common breeds received at the Salinas animal shelter on Hitchcock Road and the SPCA for Monterey County shelter on Monterey-Salinas Highway are Chihuahuas and pit bulls, said Burnham and SPCA Executive Director Gary Tiscornia.
Chihuahuas are No. 1, pit bulls are No. 2, Burnham said.
"Thank you, Paris Hilton and 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua,'" Tiscornia said. "Any dog that appears in movies or social media, everybody wants to go out and buy one.
"They're not thinking further than image or vanity. When they see what the temperament is, they say, 'I didn't want that,' and bring it to us."
Pit bull buyers "buy them for macho," he said. "They can't carry a gun, so here's a silver bullet on a leash."
Pit bulls — there are several breeds, including American Staffordshire terriers, American pit bulldogs and Staffordshire bull terriers — are not inherently aggressive toward humans, Burnham said, and they aren't the only dogs that can be vicious.
"It's not to say we don't get nasty dachshunds or Chihuahuas," she said, "but with larger dogs it's a safety issue."
If pit bulls are trained as guard or attack dogs, they can be very aggressive, she said.
"It's not just genetics. They are very big, strong dogs. They have a high prey drive. They can be aggressive with smaller animals," she said. The same is true of huskies, she said.
"But there are very nice pit bulls and very mean Labradors," she said. "There are a lot of pit bulls in Salinas."
Many are given to the shelter because the owners have lost their home to foreclosure and landlords won't rent to pit bull owners, and homeowners' insurance providers penalize owners, Burnham said.
Chihuahuas, on the other hand, show up as strays, and if they have no tags or microchip implants, they are adopted out or euthanized. Most of them, however, are reclaimed by owners, Burnham said.
Pet owners who go from living in their own house to renting frequently come in to the SPCA shelter with "small mammals, all sorts of breeds of dogs and cats, because they're moving from a home that's been foreclosed," Tiscornia said. "Too many rentals are very restrictive — insurance companies are not favorable to pit bulls, Rottweilers, German shepherds, Dobermans, breeds they consider a potential liability."
But, he said, "it's our position that every dog can bite. Perhaps the most dangerous dog is an unneutered male, chained in a backyard."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reports about 4.5 million dog bite cases in the United States each year, Tiscornia said, and one in five bite victims needs medical care.
"The larger, more muscular breeds get the most attention," he said, "because they do the most damage."
The SPCA safety-tests dogs for aggressiveness, Tiscornia said, and won't adopt one out that doesn't pass. Those are euthanized.
The latest wave of dogs brought in are poodle crossbreeds, he said.
"People think they won't be allergic to them, but it's not true," he said. "Crossbreeding doesn't make the dogs hypoallergenic."
As for outlawing pit bulls, Tiscornia said the SPCA opposes breed-specific legislation.
"If they outlaw one breed, then another breed pops up: Dobermans, German shepherds, Rottweilers," he said. "The common feeling among many people who are up close and personal with them is that a great pit is a great dog, but just looking at one, you're not going to know which is which."
(Monterey Herald - Feb 29, 2012)
