MICHIGAN -- A Lincoln Park woman and her young granddaughter were taken to a hospital for stitches at about 6 p.m. Aug. 31 after being bitten by a loose pit bull in the 1300 block of Lejeune Avenue.
According to a police report, the girl suffered a severe bite on her left hand and a smaller bite on her right hand when she was protecting her dog from the pit bull, owned by a neighbor. The 66-year-old woman told police she attempted to break up the attack on her granddaughter and she, too, was bitten.
She also told police that the dog — a 1-year-old female pit bull and Boston terrier mix — often was seen running loose in the area.
Lincoln Park police spoke to the dog’s owner, who said the animal was unlicensed and had not had her shots.
The owner was ticketed for having a dog at large and unlicensed in the city and an animal control officer transported the dog to the Downriver Animal Shelter in Southgate.
The owner of the pit bull was ordered to appear in 25th District Court on Oct 1.
Pit bulls have been banned in several Downriver cities, including Melvindale, Ecorse and Allen Park. Allen Park repealed its ban in 2012.
In 2011, Lincoln Park adopted a dangerous dog ordinance after a study that showed nearly half of the city’s stray dogs were pit bulls and that several safety issues had been reported. The ordinance is not breed specific and defines a dangerous dog as one that bites, attacks and/or causes serious injury to a person or another animal.
It specifies that a dog will not be considered dangerous if it attacks a person or animal that is trespassing on its property, bites or attacks a person who provokes it, or is protecting its owner from assault. A provision also was added to exclude a mother dog protecting puppies.
The ordinance also gives owners due process if an animal has been classified as dangerous.
(Southgate News Herald - Sep 7, 2015)
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