Pit bull that attacked Whitman man expected to be put down

MASSACHUSETTS -- The pit bull that attacked a Whitman man is expected to be euthanized.

The dog is being quarantined for 10 days at the Whitman Animal Shelter after attacking a 21-year-old man, said Animal Control Officer Bob Hammond, and the dog is then likely to be killed.

Allegedly owned only two days before it went
on the attack

The 1-year-old pit bull, Rocko, belonged to the victim’s friend, a Brockton man who got the dog just two days before the incident. All the dog’s shots are up-to-date, said Hammond.

The dog owner’s girlfriend lives at 555 Harvard St., where the dog’s owner and the victim were visiting on Monday at 2:30 p.m. when the incident took place, said Deputy Chief Scott Benton.

Police believe the victim was holding a small dog, which may have caused the pit bull to attack.

When police and fire officials responded, the dog was loose in the yard, acting aggressive and covered in blood, said Benton.

The 40-pound pit bull ran at police officers and a firefighter causing the officers to draw their weapons. Benton called it “fortunate” that they did not have to fire at the dog.

They trapped the dog on a porch, where Hammond was able to remove it.

The pit bull injured the the victim’s arm, which was bandaged at Good Samaritan Medical Center. The victim, whose name is not being released, is expected to recover, said Benton.

Whitman has 2,047 registered dogs, including 22 pit bulls, nine of which are unlicensed, according to the town clerk’s office.

This incident is the third in the area involving a pit bull in the past several months.

An 8-year-old boy was attacked by a pit bull in Brockton last week. That dog is quarantined at the owner’s home.

A 71-year-old woman had part of her face ripped off by a pit bull in December in Bridgewater. The woman’s nose and part of her mouth were recovered from the dog’s stomach after it was killed and they were reattached to her face at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Hammond, who has been working in Animal Control since 1972, said he responds to about three dog attacks a year, but says it is not always pit bulls that attack.

“There’s other dogs out there who are as bad,” he said. “You never know. It’s all how they’re bred.”

The owner of the pit bull involved in Monday’s incident was unable to tell Hammond who the previous owner was because he got the dog through a friend.

[Um, well, OK. Then give the police the name of this 'friend' who gave you the dog and the police can question him as to the previous owner's information -- or deal with the police. Sounds like they're giving the police the runaround.]

(Enterprise news - May 30, 2012)