TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO -- An Arima woman was hospitalised while one of two pit bulls that attacked her near her Santa Rosa Heights home was shot dead when the animals attacked her on Sunday night.
Police said around 7 p.m. on Sunday, Karen Lara , 22, was near her Cinnamon Crescent home in Santa Rosa when the dogs attacked her.
Her piercing screams alerted the police who were on duty at the Pinto Road Police Post and two officers ran out to investigate.
By this time one of the dogs had Lara pinned to the ground and despite the desperate shouts of the officers, the dogs held on to her.
One of the officers took aim and fired a single gunshot which killed one of the dogs, while the other ran off. Officers ran after the dog but it escaped.
Lara in the meantime was taken to the Arima District Hospital with injuries to her face and buttocks.
According to her relatives, Lara was then moved from the Arima Hospital to another medical institution which they did not want to name.
Arima police said that they did not know who owned the dogs.
In August this year the Dangerous Dogs Act was supposed to have been proclaimed but when a number of animal interest groups began protesting parts of the law, the bill was sent back to the Law Review Commission with the view to tweaking it.
The bill is still being pondered to date. The Act, which was released in April this year for public review, listed three breeds of dogs which are considered dangerous dogs - the Pitbull Terrier or any dog bred from the Pitbull Terrier, the Fila Brasileiro or any dog bred from the Fila Brasileiro and the Japanese Tosa or any dog bred from the Japanese Tosa.
Section 4(1) of the Act provides that no person shall import into Trinidad and Tobago a dangerous dog, or the semen or embryo of a dangerous dog. Additionally, section 5 (1) of the Act states that a person who owns a dangerous dog shall ensure that the dog is spayed or neutered by a veterinary surgeon within three months of the coming into force of the Act, while section 5 (2) (a) provides that no person shall breed or breed from a dangerous dog.
(Trinidad & Tobago Express - Dec 17, 2012)
