Two dogs, waist-high, snarled and lunged at her from behind the sliding-glass doors.
Their heads banged against the glass.
A 7-year-old boy hunched behind them on the deck. His aunt was draped over him, hugging him, shielding him with her body.
“It was horrible,” West said. “I can’t quit thinking about it. I can’t get it out of my head.”
She says this while standing on the front step of her Pasadena home. It’s been just a few days since the dogs attacked a young boy at her neighbor’s house, and then were shot by an Anne Arundel County police corporal.
West’s hands tremble as she remembers how neighbors and police acted to save the boy’s life.
First, there were shouts:
“Somebody help. Somebody get them off. Somebody. Please.”
West followed the cries from next door.
“What’s wrong? Where are you?”
The Barnsley Court home seemed empty. Then, commotion out back. West approached. A woman cowered over her nephew on the deck. The dogs turned toward West growling. She slammed close the doors and called for help.
By now, other neighbors were inside. Gary Groh stood at the glass distracting the dogs, keeping them away from the boy.
“Stand back,” Groh said, repeating the officer’s words.
Cpl. Larry Martin aimed and shot at the dogs. Once. Twice. Glass shattered. One dog was wounded.
The other lunged at the officer. He fired.
“That guy’s a hero,” Groh said. “I don’t know who he is. But if it wasn’t for the way he handled that, someone would have been killed.”
Martin, a 15-year veteran of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, is credited with saving the boy’s life. The child was flown by helicopter to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore and listed in fair condition this week.
Both dogs, identified as American bulldogs, were euthanized.
“I can’t imagine what it was like for that child,” West said.
The aunt suffered minor injuries. She declined medical treatment and has not been identified by police. But neighbors say she, too, saved the child’s life. She was with her nephew Saturday, around 5:30 p.m., when the dogs attacked the boy. They fled outside to the deck. The dogs pursued.
Family members have requested privacy and declined to speak about the attack.
But a posting from the Facebook page of Billy Fifer said his pets turned suddenly.
“My girlfriend let my dogs in from outside when her nephew who I just met that day was upstairs and the dogs saw him thinking it was a stranger and attacked him thinking that they were protecting her from an intruder. This was so devastating for the both of us because our dogs loved us so much and they were only doing what most dogs do to protect there (sic) families.”
The post continues:
“My dogs have never attacked anyone before so let’s make sure people understand that. Dogs are animals and one minute they can snap just like people do if they feel threatened. I never trained my dogs to attack people, its (sic) just in there (sic) nature to protect.”
The two dogs broke loose in 2007 and attacked a neighbor’s dog, according to police. An order was placed against the female American bulldog, identifying her as “potentially dangerous,” said county police spokesman Justin Mulcahy. This means the dog was required to be accompanied by an adult, muzzled and leashed when off the property, Mulcahey said. A warning letter was issued for the male American bulldog.
They attacked a beagle belonging to the daughter of Frank and Donna Myers, who live next door.
“My heart’s broken for this family,” Donna said. “It’s so sad. Nobody wants to lose their animals like that.”
The Myers declined to speak about the 2007 incident. But they heard the gunshots Saturday. That evening, they were babysitting their grandson. Three-years-old and a curious boy, he looked out the window.
“What’s wrong with that doggie? Is that doggie OK?”
(CapitalGazette.com - Dec 5, 2012)
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