They turned left out of the driveway and walked along Angelos Road in South Yarmouth, then took a right on Blue Rock Road and continued strolling. It was all perfectly ordinary until a young woman walking two large dogs, including a Labrador retriever-pit bull mix, appeared on the other side of the street.
In a matter of minutes, one of the large dogs had latched on to Jill's head and inflicted fatal injuries on the small dog. The seemingly unprovoked attack caused a great deal of grief for Pratt, 64, and his wife, Sandra, 65, who have owned Jack for 10 years and Jill for 12 years.
"(It was) utter dismay," David Pratt said of his emotions. "My wife hasn't stopped crying. This was our baby."
The town's animal control officers are looking into the attack and should wrap up their investigation by next week, said Karl von Hone, director of the Yarmouth Division of Natural Resources, which oversees animal control.
Von Hone would not identify the owner of the larger dog.
The Pratts plan to take a step further and are petitioning the town to take some action against the dog, which they consider to be a menace and a threat to public safety.
"I want a dangerous dog to be put down," David Pratt said.
The exact circumstances of the attack are unclear.
Based on preliminary reports from animal control, all four dogs had apparently approached each other and were sniffing around when one of the larger dogs bit Jill in the face, von Hone said.
David Pratt contends that he and the woman walking the two larger dogs were walking on opposite sides of the street when the Labrador-pit bull mix saw the Shih Tzus and bounded toward them despite being on a leash.
The large dog, which Pratt and von Hone estimated at between 70 and 100 pounds, overpowered the woman and lunged at Jill just as David Pratt was lifting her up to try to place her on the other side of a fence to protect her, he said.
The larger dog held onto Jill's head for 30 seconds to a minute, even as David Pratt did everything he could to save his dog.
He said the woman held the bigger dog's leash and attempted to pull the animal away during the attack, but was unable to do so because of her small stature.
"I was trying to rip the dog's mouth open," he said. "He didn't even notice me. I even yelled at the owner to control her dog."
The attack left Jill a bloody mess, David Pratt said.
Her jaw had been broken on both sides and her tongue had been shredded, among other serious injuries. David Pratt scooped his injured dog off the road, rushed back to his house and sped to a nearby veterinarian. He also reported the attack to the town's animal control officer.
After several hours of treatment, it appeared Jill might pull through. She died, however, while being taken to an overnight facility in Bourne that afternoon, he said.
The Labrador-pit bull mix has been placed under a 10-day quarantine while town officials investigate.
This means the dog must remain in its home except to go to the bathroom and it can't interact with anyone but its owner, von Hone said.
For the town to become involved in a fatal dog-on-dog attack, one of the two owners must ask for a formal hearing, von Hone said.
From there, both sides will present evidence and von Hone will make a recommendation to the board of selectmen, who have the ultimate say over a dog's fate.
They may choose to place the dog in quarantine, order it be muzzled while out of the house, or decide to euthanize it, von Hone said.
For the Pratts, there's little solace in the town's disciplinary process. Instead, the couple has spent the day mourning Jill and comforting Jack, who has been searching for his lost playmate.
"That dog was like our child," David Pratt said.
(Cape Cod Online - Dec 28, 2012)
