Rhode Island: 'Eye for an eye' doesn't apply when pit bull mix kills Maltese named Muffin -- pit bull allowed to go back home. Muffin's owner doesn't get her dog back, though.

RHODE ISLAND -- A dog panel declared a local dog “vicious” on Monday, effectively sentencing him to home confinement for life, but it was little solace to the woman who lost her dog to the animal [when it was brutally attacked and mauled to death right in front of her].

Linda Albino, the 264 Parkview Drive resident whose pet Maltese Muffin was killed June 25, said she is ready to move away after learning that the owner of the pit bull-boxer mix that killed her pet will be allowed to bring the dog home if the owner follows all requirements over the next month.

“Her dog goes back [to her], and mine is in an urn,” she said.

Dianne Pizzanello, left, whose dog Chance killed a
dog owned by Linda Albino, center right, faces off
with Albino as Albino calls for her to lose the dog
during a meeting of a vicious dog panel at the
Pawtucket Animal Shelter on Monday.

During the 75-minute hearing Monday, Albino described the horror she experienced as Dianne Pizzanello’s dog, Chance, burst through the broken screen of Pizzanello’s front door at 137 Parkview Drive and came up behind her to attack her dog as she was walking him down the street. Muffin was covered in blood and struggling to breathe as he lay dying in her arms, Albino recalls.

“He was my strength, my everything,” she told The Breeze. Muffin was a service dog, used to help Albino with stress-related issues.

Pizzanello said she is “equally devastated and upset” to think that Chance killed Muffin.

Albino said that can’t be true.

“Her dog tore my heart out,” Albino said. “I have to live with this trauma the rest of my life.”

A hearing panel led by Joe Warzycha, humane officer and investigator with the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, declared Chance to be vicious under Rhode Island law, saying the pit bull-boxer attacked Muffin without provocation.

Since this is the first official offense, the dog cannot be ordered put down, said Warzycha, but the panel can impose many requirements.

Under the order decided Monday, Pizzanello must:

• Get at least $100,000 of liability insurance for her dog, a task Warzycha said will prove difficult.

• Put up a visible warning sign saying there’s a vicious dog on her property.

• Build a six-sided enclosure that Chance must be confined to at all times while outside. Even when he goes to the veterinarian, he must be on a leash and wear a muzzle.

• Notify police if the dog is loose.

• Keep the dog and not sell it or give it away. The only way to get rid of the dog is to euthanize it, said Warzycha.

• And notify the city if she moves.

Pizzanello’s level of responsibility “goes up quite a bit” if another attack happens, said Warzycha, and the dog will not likely get another chance at life.

Pizzanello has 30 days to comply with the requirements, and she said she plans to follow through so she can bring her dog home from the shelter.

Albino (pronounced Albeeno) said the attack from Chance knocked her to the ground as she tried to save Muffin. She was covered in blood from the dog and left with bruises from an attack that inflicted 17 puncture wounds on her pet. Neighbors said Monday that Chance repeatedly shook the smaller dog.

Though Muffin will never truly be replaced after 12 years in her home, Albino said she recently purchased a Yorkshire terrier puppy to help ease the pain.

Pizzanello admitted her dog got out on two prior occasions, including once since the June 25 incident, but said the 2-year-old pet hadn’t gone after anyone. Neighbors disagreed, saying the dog had chased people and pets on multiple occasions but Pizzanello had always apologized [made excuses as to why the dog was yet again out and menacing. Did any of these neighbors ever call Animal Control about it being aggressive and loose?]. The dog escaped by chewing through a wooden fence, they said.

Parkview Drive is located near Slater Park and the Pawtucket Animal Shelter, where Monday’s hearing was held. Neighbors, carrying signs calling for “Justice for Muffin,” said they were happy Pizzanello and her dog will have some restrictions, but not happy that she’ll be allowed to keep the dog.

Pawtucket resident Maureen Medeiros holds a sign
demanding “Justice for Muffin” outside the Pawtucket
Animal Shelter Monday. Muffin, a Maltese owned by Linda
Albino, was killed on June 25 by Chance, a dog owned
by Dianne Pizzanello. (Breeze photos by Ethan Shorey)

Albino and others said they had no idea there was a vicious dog in the neighborhood prior to the June 25 killing.

One dog owner was crying during Monday’s hearing, saying she fears what will happen to another small dog or even a child once Chance is allowed back in the neighborhood.

Albino said it’s only a matter of time before Chance gets out a screen window and attacks again.

Other neighbors said they planned to start a petition to get Pizzanello and Chance out of the neighborhood. They say they also plan to contact Pizzanello’s landlord to make sure she was telling the truth that she told him about the attack.

(Valley Breeze - Aug 24, 2016)

Earlier:

• Rhode Island: 'Vicious' pit bull in Pawtucket kills Maltese in owner's arms