Patricia Hawkins was walking her Lab mix, Kuzco, on Feb. 9 when John Hites’ two pit bulls, Kai and Cowboy, broke out of their backyard fence and charged her dog on Rhoda Court.
Hawkins intervened and was bitten 42 times on her hands, fingers and forearms. Kuzco, 6 years old, whom Hite has had since he was a puppy, had too many stitches to count, drainage tubes and suffers from muscle issues.
Hite spoke before the Montgomery County Animal Control Committee in an effort to appeal their decision to put Kai on the danger list, but in the end they unanimously agreed to keep the dog on the list for the 18-month period.
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| Kuzco and his owner, Patricia Hawkins both still bear scars from being attacked by two pit bulls in February. |
Hite described Kai as a “sweetheart” who slept with his 4-year-old daughter.
“My dog is not dangerous,” he said. “He had a bad moment. I’ve never seen him be aggressive to another dog or human.”
Hite took responsibility for not reinforcing his fence and said he has since had it fixed. He also surrendered his other Pit bull, Cowboy, to Animal Control as he considered him the “aggressor,” and he paid for Kuzco’s medical bills.
“I don’t know what got into him,” Hite said about Kai. “I know it won’t happen again, and I want my dog taken off the list.”
The board saw a video showing Hawkins trying to get the pit bull off her dog, heard testimony from an Animal Control officer and heard from a friend of Hite who said Kai was a people-friendly dog.
Hawkins showed the committee injuries to her arms and hands that she still suffers with, and she described the morning of the attack.
“I was on the opposite side of the street, two doors down, when all of a sudden two dogs appeared from the backyard.”
Hawkins said the two pit bulls charged and attacked her dog, who she said doesn’t know how to fight and is scared of cats and squirrels.
“They took him down and started fighting and ripping him apart,” Hawkins said. “I wasn’t going to stand there and let them kill my dog. It was an attack, not a dog fight.”
Hawkins said it took six people, one of whom fired two shots and several who honked their horns, to end the attack.
Hites is required to keep Kai contained in a secure enclosure, place a sign in the yard proclaiming the presence of a “dangerous dog” and muzzle the dog when taking him to a veterinarian, the only time the dog is allowed off Hite’s property.
Dogs on the list must be spayed or neutered, have rabies shots and be implanted with a microchip that is registered with Animal Control.
If the owners don’t comply with all those rules within 30 days, the dog can be euthanized.
Dogs remain on the list for 18 months and, if there are no infractions during that time, they are taken off.
(Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - March 23, 2015)
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