16 dogs reportedly at house where woman was bitten
CALIFORNIA -- Rhino and Baby, the two male pit bulls who viciously attacked Samantha Williams, 25, of Stockton, sending her to the hospital Friday night, were handed over Monday afternoon to animal control officers by their owner.
Unlicensed and with no record of vaccination against rabies, the dogs will be held in quarantine for 10 days as state law requires while an investigation of the attack is conducted, according to Pat Claerbout, supervisor of the Stockton Police Department's Animal Services.
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| One of the pit bulls which attacked Williams. Notice the hair loss and skin issues, possibly from flea infestation in the home? |
"We are further investigating to make a determination whether or not they are vicious dogs. They do fit the criteria for a vicious dog for inflicting severe injury," based on Stockton's city code, Claerbout said.
Claerbout said she had talked Tuesday with Williams, who is recuperating in St. Joseph's Medical Center with 100 stitches to her lower left leg where one of the dogs tore out a large chunk of flesh.
She was also bitten on the left thigh, left arm and around her left eye. She is not yet able to stand up or walk.
Claerbout said "this is definitely an unprovoked bite. It's hard to determine what the trigger was. Unfortunately, this is something we see - a large proportion of dog bites are by owned dogs."
It is possible that once the investigation is completed, the dogs could face destruction, and the owner could be subject to criminal charges determined by the District Attorney's Office.
There are reportedly 16 dogs living at the home on the 1400 block of East Walnut Street where the attack took place, but most of them are believed to be Chihuahuas. Claerbout said the city allows only three dogs per property.
Williams was staying in a room of the house with close friend Anthony Morel, 36. At the time of the attack, Morel - who is not the owner of the pit bulls - was at a nearby store buying a Pepsi for Williams. When he came out of the store, he heard Williams screaming his name and he immediately ran to her aid.
She had managed to get outside, and when Morel saw the dog bites, he ripped off his shirt and wrapped it around her leg, then ran inside to get some rags to use as bandages to control the bleeding from her other wounds.
"She was hysterical. She didn't want me to leave her. I told her, 'I'm not going to leave you for nothing.' She said, 'Don't let me die,' " Morel recounted.
Morel said if either Rhino and Baby were his dogs, "I would have killed that dog right then and there, straight up. That's how I was raised. You don't keep that dog around, you get rid of it."
Morel credited Leo White, another resident of the home, with getting the dogs off Williams and saving her life. "If it wasn't for Leo, I would have come home to her being dead in my room," he said.
Claerbout said that in the past couple of months, there has been an increase in severe dog attacks, and pit bulls are the primary culprit.
"It is not just the fact that pit bulls bite more often, but when they do bite, it is the severity of the bite. We see Chihuahua bites all the time, but they are not capable of doing the damage of any large-breed dog. Then you add in the fact we have a very large population of the pit bull breed in the Stockton area," she said.
[Yes, the infamous aggressive Chihuahua! Meaner than pit bulls!]
"Report any bite to us," Claerbout said. "It is important for owners to understand that dogs shouldn't bite people. Don't excuse the dogs from biting."
(Recordnet.com - June 12, 2013)
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