COLORADO -- Every day for three years, Nick Maez has taken his German shepherd, Trip, around his block for a walk. But on Wednesday afternoon, their usual route up Shaw Avenue and past Byers Avenue, took a bad turn.
Two pit bulls, Thor and Rizzo, burst out of their yard on Byers Avenue and went straight for three-year-old Trip. Maez, a lanky 22-year-old, dove at Rizzo, who had Trip in a strong grip, and worked his fingers around Rizzo’s teeth, trying to pry them loose. Maez’s glasses were knocked off as he fought to pull the dogs away, screaming for help.
Two pit bulls, Thor and Rizzo, burst out of their yard on Byers Avenue and went straight for three-year-old Trip. Maez, a lanky 22-year-old, dove at Rizzo, who had Trip in a strong grip, and worked his fingers around Rizzo’s teeth, trying to pry them loose. Maez’s glasses were knocked off as he fought to pull the dogs away, screaming for help.
Heather Thompson, who lives on Byers Avenue, heard Maez’s bellows for help and saw the brawl from her living room window.
“The kid was really working hard to save his dog,” she said. She dialed 911. “It was just a ball of people and dogs, and then out of nowhere this lady comes to help.”
Down the street, Colleen Wince also heard Maez’s cries and the ruckus of the dogs, and ran from her home, picking up a large stick as she made her way to Maez.
“I stayed out there for a half an hour beating the hell out of that dog,” Wince said on Thursday.
“The kid was really working hard to save his dog,” she said. She dialed 911. “It was just a ball of people and dogs, and then out of nowhere this lady comes to help.”
Down the street, Colleen Wince also heard Maez’s cries and the ruckus of the dogs, and ran from her home, picking up a large stick as she made her way to Maez.
“I stayed out there for a half an hour beating the hell out of that dog,” Wince said on Thursday.
While Maez wrestled to free Trip and Wince walloped the dog pile, another neighbor jumped in with a shovel, trying to chase the pit bulls away. Eventually the dogs gave up, leaving Trip and Maez stippled with puncture wounds, and Trip with a lame back leg.
Later, after Colorado Springs police and officers from the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region seized the pit bulls, Thompson saw Maez limp back to the scene, looking for his glasses. Wince’s stick, broken apart, was still on the street a day later.
Later, after Colorado Springs police and officers from the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region seized the pit bulls, Thompson saw Maez limp back to the scene, looking for his glasses. Wince’s stick, broken apart, was still on the street a day later.
The pit bulls’ owner, a woman who lives two doors down from Thompson on Byers Avenue, faces four counts of unlawful possession of a dangerous animal, said Erica Meyer, Humane Society spokeswoman.
This is not the first time that the dogs, Thor and Rizzo, were involved in an attack, said Meyer. In 2010 Thor was declared a “dangerous animal” after he injured a person, and his owner was found guilty of unlawful possession of a dangerous animal. Rizzo did had not injured anyone in that incident.
The owner’s home had to pass a property inspection to prove that the dogs would be contained; the home passed in 2010, Meyer said. Neighbors could not recall previous incidents with the pit bulls, and said their street is normally quiet, filled with walkers and children playing in the evenings.
Rather than pay the $600 cost of care to the Humane Society, the owner on Thursday turned the dogs over to be euthanized. Thor is a pit bull and Rizzo is a pit bull mix, Meyer said.
The owner’s home had to pass a property inspection to prove that the dogs would be contained; the home passed in 2010, Meyer said. Neighbors could not recall previous incidents with the pit bulls, and said their street is normally quiet, filled with walkers and children playing in the evenings.
Rather than pay the $600 cost of care to the Humane Society, the owner on Thursday turned the dogs over to be euthanized. Thor is a pit bull and Rizzo is a pit bull mix, Meyer said.
On Thursday evening, Maez helped steer Trip, whose head was encircled by a protective collar, around the yard. Trip was limping badly and had a raw pink wound on his side. Maez’s left hand, which he used to pry Rizzo’s jaw open, was bandaged, as was his left arm. The white of his right eye was blood red.
“My dog took the brunt of it,” he said.
(Gazette - May 3, 2012)
