Georgia: Pit bull rips nose and lips off elderly man who said hello to his neighbor; authorities imply it's his fault for "surprising" the owner

GEORGIA -- An elderly Chatsworth man was in fair condition in Chattanooga after having half of his nose and part of his upper and lower lip chewed off by a pit bull over the holiday weekend.

The dog is being held at Murray County animal control for a mandated 10-day observation period, but charges aren’t expected in what Chatsworth Police Department Chief Josh Etheridge called a case of “terrible timing.”

Photo: Matt Hamilton, The Daily Citizen

Rex Ray Peak, 76, who lives in an apartment complex on Lakeview Drive, remained at Erlanger Hospital Wednesday afternoon and has been moved out of the hospital’s intensive care unit, according to a spokeswoman at the hospital. In addition to his injuries from the attack of the dog, Peak also had back injuries from a fall off of the porch where the incident happened.

Peak was attacked Saturday by the dog when he walked up on the back porch of the dog owner’s house on South 4th Avenue and "surprised" the dog [by saying hello to its owner], according to reports filed with the CPD and the Murray County Sheriff’s Office.

Yes, let's blame the victim. He "surprised" the dog by saying hello to his neighbor - which prompted the dog to rip his face off. Yeah, that's reasonable. When I'm 'surprised' by my neighbors saying hello to me, my dog barks at them. He doesn't jump on them and rip their noses and lips off.

The owner, Pamela Alexander, told officers she was taking the dog out on a leash at the same time Peak was walking up the steps and the dog was startled when Peak said, “Hello,” and the dog attacked.

Alexander said she tried to restrain the dog but when the dog leaped at Peak, the man fell off the porch onto his back. Peak suffered injuries to his spine in the fall, and then the 6-year-old Chocolate American Pit Bull Terrier jumped on Peak and mauled his face, ripping off half of his nose and part of his lips. Alexander said she tried to get the dog off of Peak and eventually was able to get the dog away from the man’s face and lay on the dog.

Peak was taken to Hamilton Medical Center by emergency responders and later taken to Chattanooga.

Messages left on Alexander’s phone were not immediately returned Wednesday night, and calls to a number listed for Peak went unanswered.

“Officially, the case is still open for investigation,” Etheridge said. “We will probably know more at the end of next week. We do not foresee any charges unless we get more information. It was just terrible timing.”

Murray County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Brian Ingle said the dog has not demonstrated any aggressive behavior while under observation at the county’s animal control kennels. The dog will be held until Tuesday of next week. At that time, Ingle said he will meet with Animal Control Director Keith Pritchett, Sheriff Gary Langford and Etheridge to review the case and the report of the county veterinarian Dr. Emily Felker. Then they will decide whether or not the dog — Mojo — will be returned to Alexander.

“It is still under investigation, but it is not like the dog was running loose through the neighborhood terrorizing people,” Ingle said. “It is an inside dog and all of its shots are up to date and the owner was taking proper care it seems. It is an unfortunate incident, but we will hang onto the dog and take a look at the big picture at the end of the 10 days.”

(The Daily Citizen - June 2, 2016)