"I did walk Jesse there every day but not now and it's a shame, but this is not the first time this has happened," said Dolores Ragucci.
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| The gentle Bernese was no match for the monster pit bull |
Jesse, Ragucci's 8-year-old Burnese, was playful Thursday as he bounded in the house from his walk, nuzzled everyone he passed and flopped on the floor panting from the spring heat. Had the big dog's head not been wrapped in bandages, with a hole cut for one ear but obscuring the other entirely, Jesse would have seemed like a healthy, happy dog.
"He is in good spirits," Ragucci said. "It doesn't seem to bother him too much."
Ragucci said she was wrapping up her walk with Jesse Wednesday in Lynn Woods off Pennybrook Road when she saw two men with pit bulls, one was a small female, which she recognized, the other was a larger male.
"I was lulled by a false sense of security because I had seen the female before," she said.
Ragucci said the man with the larger pit bull told her to "calm her fears," that his dog wouldn't hurt her, "then the dog went for Jesse and bit his ear."
Ragucci said she was lucky Jesse managed to turn his head or the pit bull would have clamped down on his neck or face but she was flabbergasted that neither man did anything to try and stop the attack.
"Here are these two huge guys, I'm on the ground with Jesse and they're not moving," she said.
Although she knew she shouldn't, she said she reached for the pit bull and tried to pry his jaw apart.
"He was clamped so tight but I finally got Jesse out," she said.
While she ran to the car to get some paper towels to wrap up Jesse's ear, the two men rounded up their dogs and were leaving, Ragucci said.
"I said no, no, no, no," she said.
Ragucci said she questioned the owner of the dog that attacked, as to whether it was licensed and up to date on rabies shots, but the man didn't answer. She reported the incident but said she didn't get a sense that it was going to make a difference.
Animal Control Officer Michael Karevich said the Woods generally fall under the Ranger's jurisdiction, but he responds to incidents when summonsed. He admitted he is stretched thin these days. "It's a busy spring, it was a busy winter" and it is difficult to investigate every complaint, he said.
"There are a lot of responsible dog owners and a lot of irresponsible dog owners out there," he said. "It's a problem. We've got all kinds of wildlife and it's all a problem."
Just two weeks ago Lynn Woods Ranger Dan Small admonished people to keep their dogs on a leash inside the Woods. He told The Item that a rash of coyote attacks happened because dogs off leashes spotted coyotes and ran over to play.
Following the attacks Small posted warnings that clearly stated, "Unleashed pets are in danger of injury or death as a result of contact with coyotes and other wildlife ... Be responsible, obey the Lynn leash law."
But they don't, Ragucci said, adding that a friend's dog was also attacked by a pit bull.
"It's carte blanche in Lynn Woods," she said. "Dogs are off leash all the time and it's not just pit bulls, it's all dogs, but in my mind, pit bulls kill."
Ragucci said if people aren't going to muzzle their pit bulls, which is also required by law in Lynn, they should at least leash them.
"I just hope and pray that that particular dog doesn't bite a kid," she said.
(Item Live - June 2, 2012)
