CALIFORNIA -- Salinas police had their hands full with pit bulls Saturday, responding to three attacks before noon.
About 5:30 a.m., officers responded to a call of a vicious pit bull attacking another animal in the under 100 block of Maple Street. The dog was found on a front porch, blood dripping from its mouth.
The dog charged toward an officer, and a second officer, fearing that the pit bull was going to attack, shot the dog in the shoulder, Cmdr. Dave Crabill said. The dog was taken to a pet hospital for treatment.
A witness said the dog had attacked a cat, which was not found, Crabill said.
About 7:40 a.m., a 57-year-old woman was walking her poodle in the 200 block of Osage Drive when an aggressive pit bull ran through an open gate and attacked her dog, police said.
The woman sustained numerous severe lacerations to her hands, face and scalp when she attempted to protect her poodle from the attack. She was admitted to a local hospital for laceration repair surgery.
Her injuries are non-life threatening.
Her poodle was taken to a local pet hospital for treatment of lacerations.
The pit bull, whose owner was notified, was quarantined at the Salinas Animal Shelter, Crabill said.
Then, a half-hour after receiving a call at 11 a.m. about a loose pit bull on Pueblo Drive in North Salinas, an officer on patrol witnessed another dog attack a Chihuahua at Northgate Village on Cherokee Drive.
The pit bull and the Chihuahua were being walked by their owners; the smaller dog was on a leash, but the pit bull was not, Crabill said.
The Chihuahua was taken to a pet hospital for treatment of lacerations. Its elderly owner was unhurt.
Crabill said calls about pit bull attacks are common.
(Monterey County Herald - Feb 25, 2012)
