“One’s a pit bull and one is a shar pei-pit bull mix,” said Kathy Beatson, interim director of Brevard County Animal Services and Enforcement. The dogs were described by Palm Bay police as pit bulls that were acting aggressively.
The owners, Candice Hummel and her fiancé, came to get the dogs the same day they were caught. The fines included $55 citations for each dog “at large” and a $100 shelter fee. “They’re really friendly dogs,” Hummel said. “I don’t believe they’re aggressive in any way.”
Hummel said Roman, the brown dog, is a pit bull mix, and that Remi, the gray dog, is a shar pei mix. She said she didn’t know if Remi had pit-bull blood, as she was adopted from a shelter.
Hummel said the situation could have been handled more humanely. A video obtained by FLORIDA TODAY shows an animal services officer using a noose at the end of a staff to grab their necks and move the dogs into cages in a truck. She said this burst the blood vessels in one animal’s eyes, something visible in a photo she provided.
the owner's excuse: "Apparently a woman pulled into her driveway and the pups went to say 'hi.' They love rides and maybe they thought it was mommy picking them up...the woman freaked, called the cops," stated [one of the owners] Candice.
In response to a citizen complaint about how the incident was handled, Palm Bay Police Chief Doug Muldoon said in an email that the dogs were “aggressively roaming the neighborhood…” for the second time in two days. “We have had several aggressive dogs attack or threaten citizens and police officers,” he wrote. “In a recent case, significant damage was inflicted to an officer when the aggressive dog attacked the officer attempting to intervene in a similar situation as this one. This damage required surgery for our officer.
“I can tell you we are there to serve and protect and that includes our officers protecting themselves from being attacked,” he wrote.
Beatson said aggressive behavior can vary — sometimes dogs will snarl or bare their teeth. “A lot of them don’t act aggressive at all and all of a sudden they’re right on you,” she said.
A woman on Americana Boulevard in Palm Bay called police on Friday morning and said the dogs were keeping her inside her car in her driveway. “On my arrival, they were keeping her inside her vehicle,” said Capt. John Resh of Palm Bay police. “I was able to distract them away from the house long enough to get her inside.”
Animal Services and Enforcement came to capture the two dogs. No one was injured. “Obviously in this case, the police felt there was a big concern,” Beatson said.
Beatson said animal services officers have to take precautions when dealing with dogs they don’t know. “Animals may be fine with the owners, but we don’t have any way of knowing that,” she said.
Hummel said an officer used pepper spray on the dogs during the Friday encounter, and that the dogs weren’t washed off when they got to the shelter. Beatson said hosing the dogs off would have made the pepper spray worse.
“We don’t have children ourselves,” Hummel said. “These are our kids.”
(Florida Today - Jan 29, 2013)
