MICHIGAN -- Flint police try to avoid lethal force with dogs whenever possible, but after a Taser didn't stop a 120 pound pit bull from attacking a 14-year-old boy in late June, they say they were left with no choice.
Flint City Councilman Bryant Nolden said the incident happened on Sunday, June 22, while more than 1,000 people were at the Berston Field House for a weekly softball game. The Third Ward councilman said he is the volunteer director at Berston, so he unlocks the facility for the community to use from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. during the games on Sundays.
Nolden said during the softball game, he saw a teenage girl walking the pit bull around the baseball diamond area. Nolden said the girl was having trouble controlling the large, leashed dog and he told her she should not have the animal in such a large crowd of people.
"She could not handle the dog. It was obvious, because the dog was pulling her all over the place, and a few folks, including myself, said, 'You really shouldn't have this dog down here. Especially with this many folks down here.'" Nolden said.
Flint police and Michigan State Police were already at Berston to aid in traffic control after the softball game. Nolden said he requested a police presence after a number of teenagers began coming to the facility and fights broke out.
"We've had problems with teenagers using social media to settle neighborhood beefs and we had a couple of incidents where we had girls down there fighting," Nolden said. "That's why we were requesting the police presence, because of the sheer numbers and the amount of young folks from 13 to maybe 18 that are coming down. And they aren't coming down for the games, they are down here to start problems."
According to a Flint police report, officers were conducting crowd control for the spectators when the dog broke loose from its leash and charged a 14-year-old boy. Officers first attempted to use a Taser on the dog during the attack, but the animal was unaffected.
The dog then turned and charged toward the officer, who shot two bullets at the dog. According to the report, the dog continued, charging at a second officer who fired another two rounds, paralyzing the animal.
Flint Police Chief James Tolbert said officers had to use deadly force on the animal after the Taser failed to work on the dog, because it posed a threat to the crowd after attacking the 14-year-old boy. Tolbert said the officers did not want to shoot the dog again because of the large crowd.
Genesee County Animal Control came to the scene and took possession of the injured dog with the owner's consent.
Chief Animal Control Officer Stephani Lazar said the center euthanized the dog. Lazar said some breeds of dog are just too much for some people to handle if they don't take the time to train them and keep them in safe and healthy situations.
"It's unfortunate. A lot of people buy these large-breed dogs with dominant personalities and they don't get them neutered and they don't train them properly and then they get put into situations where they can't handle these animals and then a person or another animal gets hurt," Lazar said. "So these animals are set up to fail, and in the meantime not only do they fail, but they hurt somebody else."
Lazar said some dog owners expect all breeds to have the same personality, but said that is not the case. She said the best thing a dog owner can do is to research their breed, get them spayed or neutered, and into an obedience class.
Nolden said he is an avid animal lover, but believes the officers did what they had to in order to protect the crowd.
"I'm a dog lover and I'm on the Genesee County Animal Control Sub-Committee and I'm really passionate about animals and their rights, but this dog was just really, really big and I do not fault the police officer for protecting the community," Nolden said. "I could not have held that dog, it was that big."
The 14-year-old boy who was attacked suffered minor injuries and was taken to Hurley Medical Center for treatment, police said. No further injuries were reported.
(The Flint Journal - July 9, 2014)
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