We attempted to talk with Jerry McCollom about the incident when we first aired a story about it, but he refused at the time. After seeing the story, however, he had a change of heart.
"I'm really sorry for what I've done to your dog," he conveyed to the family of the pit bull through our camera. But he also is a dog lover, and says he was defending his beagle, which he says was being attacked by the dog."
McCollom says his dog suffered bite marks on his legs and chest. He also claims he only stabbed the pit bull three times, instead of the owner's claim of six.
While he has remorse for what happened, he feels justified in protecting his dog. "I mean I know the dog meant everything to them just like my dog means everything to me and what I done that day, I feel I did what I had to do to protect myself and my dog.
The owners of the pit bull say one of them was actively trying to restrain the dog when McCollom stabbed him, but McCollum says the dog was out of control.
Earlier Story (Aug 14, 2013):
Megan Dinges is mourning the loss of her pet dog, a pit bull named Vito. The dog escaped its leash and confronted a small beagle on the sidewalk.
The owner of that dog pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed the pit bull as Dinges' husband was holding the pet by the back legs.
"My husband thought the man was punching the dog, but turns out he was stabbing him," said Dinges. "He stabbed him 6 times."
A pool of blood was left behind, and Vito later died in surgery.
The Winnebago County Sheriff's Department and Animal Services deemed the neighbor's actions justified. No charges were filed.
We did reach out to the man that stabbed the dog to death, and he said "he feared for his life and property."
(My State Line - Aug 15, 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment