OHIO -- Pit bull owners face citations after their animals were involved in separate attacks the past two days.
An unidentified city man remains in the hospital and his pit-bull terrier is dead after the dog attacked him Wednesday afternoon.
According to police, the man and dog were in the area of Jacobs Road and Arcadia Avenue on the East Side when he was attacked by his large, white pit bull. Reports say the attack left the man with a severed artery in his leg.
The man was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center and rushed into surgery to repair the damaged blood vessel.
Dave Nelson, deputy dog warden with the Mahoning County Dog Pound and Adoption Center, said the man had acquired the adult male dog about two weeks ago and was trying to put the dog into a pen when the animal turned on him.
Police and Nelson arrived in the area to capture the dog, but the animal reportedly attacked the van Nelson was driving and continued to act aggressively after being hit with a tranquilizer.
“We tried giving him water. I tried everything to calm him down. I don’t know what went wrong. ... He started attacking the wheels of my truck. The last thing you want to do is put a dog down like this, but we had no choice,” Nelson said.
Police chased the animal through various East Side streets before catching up to the dog on Edgar Avenue. Officers were forced to put the dog down with three shots from a shotgun.
The dog is being checked for rabies.
There was no word late Thursday on the man’s condition, but Nelson said he will be cited for failure to confine the dog and failure to obtain licenses for four other dogs on his property.
Less than 24 hours later, on the same side of town, police and Nelson responded to a second attack by a pit bull, this time on a postal worker.
Nelson said the dog’s owner was outside about 1:30 p.m. Thursday hosing the animal off when the mailman appeared, and the dog bit the mailman on the arm.
He was taken to St. Elizabeth’s for treatment.
There was no word on his condition late Thursday, but police said his injuries did not appear to be serious.
The dog’s owners confined the animal to the house, but Nelson said they will be cited for not having the proper license for the dog and possibly other violations.
City law requires pit-bull owners to carry $100,000 liability insurance and keep the dogs on a leash no longer than 4 feet or in an enclosed pen.
(Youngstown Vindicator - Sept 14, 2012)
