INDIANA -- Melissa Blake said she watched helplessly as her pet dog was attacked and viciously killed by another dog in her backyard earlier this month.
Even when neighbors struck the pit bull with shovels and bricks, it still wouldn't stop.
"It was the most awful thing I've witnessed that someone's pet can come and destroy my pet and I couldn't do anything to help him," Blake said.
Although one city councilwoman has pushed to single out certain dangerous breeds, such as pit bulls, the existing city dog ordinance doesn't allow police to do so, Police Chief Jeff White said.
Fines, of up to $2,500 for the first violation and up to $7,500 for the second violation, are in place in the ordinance, but apply to all breeds involved in attacks against other dogs or people.
City Councilwoman Monica Wiley, D-At-large, unsuccessfully led the attempt a few years ago to tighten the existing ordinance.
Wiley suggested that dangerous dogs be identified with iridescent tags and owners pay fees that could fund bonds to protect dog bite victims.
Blake, too, would like to see more teeth in the existing ordinance given what happened to her 12-pound terrier poodle mix named Barney.
Blake fears future attacks on her young child as well as other children because her home is in the 900 block of Home Avenue, just a couple of blocks from Liberty Elementary.
"It scares the living daylights out of me because what if I would have been outside with my baby," Blake said.
The pit bull, after it was picked up by Hobart Humane Society officials, was deemed hazardous and euthanized at the request of owners Linda and Charles Anderson, humane society office manager Connie Hollar said.
Charles Anderson called the situation unfortunate.
"My heart goes out to the family whose dog was killed. It's not like we don't care. We always watch her like a hawk and she's not a danger to anyone," Anderson said.
This is the second time the dog's owners have had an aggressive dog, Hollar said.
In the first aggressive dog incident, three years ago, Anderson's pit bull almost killed another dog and it had to be put down by police, Hollar said.
"Unfortunately there are too many cases like this with pit bulls. It's not the dog's fault; 75 percent are great. It's the people you can't trust," Hollar said.
[This is what I've said in the past. The owners simply surrender that aggressive dog and go right out and get another one that does the same thing.]
(NWI Times - May 26, 2012)
