RHODE ISLAND -- The recent deadly attack against a rescue greyhound by a neighbor's unleashed dog has exposed a local divide over how dog attacks should be handled, with one victim questioning the police decision to quarantine the animals.
Michael Calo spoke to The Breeze last week following an attack against his 82-year-old aunt Wanda Misiaszek's dog Lady by her neighbor's pet, and expressed disappointment that the aggressive animal, a mixed breed dog named Roxie, which he described as a pit bull, was allowed to stay in its home. Lady has since died from her injuries.
Calo said he was involved in a similar incident when his dog was attacked by a pit bull last year, and that the dog involved in that fight stayed in its home for three weeks because the town's Animal Control Officer was on vacation, and was then found to have neither a rabies vaccination or a license.
The keeper of the pit bull involved that 2012 dog fight came to the defense of Animal Control Officer Scott Goodwin this week, he came to her home immediately after the incident was reported, and received paperwork proving the dog had received a rabies vaccination.
"That's just not true," Calo's neighbor, Katherine Gunther, said of his description of the incident.
Gunther said she was temporarily housing the animal last July, just after she moved into her home on Crest Road. The dog escaped through a hole in the fence on the property and got into a fight with Phoebe, a greyhound belonging to Calo.
Gunther says Goodwin came to her home the same day the incident was reported, and she provided rabies paperwork.
"The animal control officer did his job," Gunther said.
Further, she says, the animal's pending departure was only delayed because Goodwin followed the quarantine procedure, a common option used to calm the situation, and monitor the animal while watching for any potential signs of rabies.
Records from the incident state that the dogfight took place on July 14, 2012. Goodwin was notified of the attack July 15, after Calo sent an email to Town Administrator Paulette Hamilton. He visited Gunther's home that day and obtained proof of a current vaccination.
"The dog was up to date with the rabies shot," Goodwin said.
Both he and Gunther also dispute Calo's claim that the dog was in the home for three weeks following the attack.
After a brief quarantine of around a week, they say the dog was returned to its home in New York. The animal did not have a license, they say, because it was only expected to visit Rhode Island briefly.
Under state law, it is at the animal control officer's discretion when, or if, an animal is taken out of a home after a bite. In the case of both Calo's incident and that of Misiaszek's last week, Goodwin says that the animals showed aggression toward other dogs, not humans.
"You don't take someone's family pet just because there was a dog fight," he said. "The animals were people friendly and dog aggressive."
Misiaszek, he said, was injured breaking up the fight between the animals.
Goodwin said he received a call from the officer who responded to the incident on Saint Paul Street last Friday, and that she verified the animal was not vicious.
"She said she was on the floor playing with the dog," Goodwin said. "There was no danger."
Goodwin put that dog - a pit bull mix that goes by the name of Roxie - on quarantine as well.
According to the state of Rhode Island Manual for Rabies Management and Protocols, an animal can be put on such confinement - where it cannot run free or have contact with any person or animal that does not reside at that location - only when it has a current rabies vaccination.
"If they don't have a rabies shot, I take them right away," Goodwin said.
Roxie's owners had only had the dog for a few weeks before the incident, and returned it to the North Kingston Animal Shelter on Sunday, but officials from that town brought the unwanted dog back to North Smithfield this week and put her in Goodwin's care.
"To me, she's as friendly as can be," said [Animal Control Officer] Goodwin. "It's not as easy as people think. Anyone who thinks this dog is vicious should be here playing with her, and then watch when I have to put her down."
The family that lost their pet, however, may disagree.
Lady passed due to heart failure Friday afternoon as a result of multiple complications suffered from the attack.
"I would like to thank the staff of the Ocean State Veterinary Specialists in their heroic attempt at saving her from her devastating injuries," Calo said in a statement.
(Valley Breeze - Sept 25, 2013)
Earlier:
They say Ted Bundy was very polite and he probably was quite friendly with the prison guards. Intelligent, a good conversationalist, handsome and yet, the guards and authorities were able to put him to sleep.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with Animal Control these days that they don't know that this is just one of the shitty aspects of their jobs?
many people are not bright enough to realize that appearances are not as reliable as fact .....like for instance , this pit seemed friendly but had just killed someones pet .
ReplyDeleteCall it Animal Uncontrol. Or a waste of tax dollars. Or both.
ReplyDelete