At a hearing Wednesday at Barnstable Town Hall, Geraldo Cardoso, of Delta Street in Hyannis, described to Natural Resources Division hearing officer Doug Kalweit how he was walking his daughter's small Yorkie, Bobby, through his neighborhood when suddenly two dogs charged at him.
"When my father picked up my dog to protect him, the other dog jumped at him," said Hayara Cardoso, 18, who was away at Boston University when the attack occurred.
The pit bull ripped the terrier open and killed it.
"He died in my arms," Geraldo Cardoso said.
As Princess and another dog aggressively circled him, Cardoso yelled for help and a neighbor called the police.
David Henning, the owner of Princess, told the hearing officer, "It was sad what my dog did."
"She's never attacked anybody before, except cats. She doesn't like cats," he said.
[I guess cats don't count. Cats have no feelings, can't suffer pain or terror. Cats don't have owners who love them. I love how this idiot then says the pit bull 'mistook' the Yorkie for a cat - as if that excuses it!!]
Princess is not yet a year old, he said, and has been raised with two toddlers and another dog.
Princess was staying at the home of Henning's mother, Christy Sharp, at 17 Thach Lane, Hyannis, when the attack occurred, he added.
Sharp did not attend the hearing, but her mother, Cynthia Henning, did.
"Princess has never hurt anybody," Cynthia Henning told the hearing officer. "But she is too big for me to control."
She speculated that perhaps Princess mistook Bobby for a cat or a stuffed animal.
The Cardosos told the hearing officer that Princess should be put down for the safety of the public.
"I feel very bad saying I want a dog to be euthanized, because I don't want another family to go through what we have," Hayara Cardoso said. "But I feel it's very important that this doesn't happen again."
Princess is still young and could get even stronger and larger, she added.
American Staffordshires, one of the breeds that are called pit bulls, can be 60 to 80 pounds and about 18 inches at the shoulder, according to the American Kennel Club website.
The fence that was supposed to keep the dogs on Sharp's property "was in disarray," said Barnstable Animal Control Officer Charles Lewis. He gave Henning a leash law citation, he said.
The hearing officer said he'd make a recommendation about Princess to the town manager, who will make a decision in about a week. Officials asked that the Times not identify where Princess was being held.
The options range from restrictions, such as requiring Princess to be on a leash at all times or keeping her behind a fence inspected by the animal control officer, to euthanization, Lewis said.
Officials can sentence dogs to death if they are deemed to be too dangerous, he said.
In the 30 years Lewis has worked for the town, "it's happened a handful of times," he said.
The most recent case, two or three years ago, involved a German shepherd that was ordered to be euthanized after it repeatedly attacked other dogs and then bit a woman in the face who was trying to protect her poodle, Lewis said.
That dog owner appealed the town's decision in Barnstable District Court, but lost the appeal, Lewis said.
Dog owners have a right to take their appeals all the way up to Superior Court, he said.
(Cape Cod Online - Dec 19, 2013)
Earlier:
cats are apparently just property whereas dogs are family.
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