Germany: Woman and her dog attacked by Pit Bull; police refuse to do anything about it because she can't prove they didn't provoke the Pit Bull into attacking them

GERMANY -- Anne Schneider posted on Facebook November 19 at 10:01am ·
Last night I went through one of the most terrible experiences in my life.

My dog Woody got attacked by a pit bull mix. The dog came out of nowhere like a killing machine and ripped off 30 cm (nearly 12 inches!) of skin and flesh from Woody's back.

I was completely terrified and I thought this dog was going to kill him. I tried to open his jaw with my bare hands... he mauled three of my fingers to the bone... I had 8 injections and tons of stitches 

( I am typing this with my pinkie, which is the only finger I will be able to use during the next two weeks...) I am really devastated.

At first the owner of the dog ran away but then he decided to come back to help.... Woody and I were both covered in blood and he said: Oh come on, it’s not that tragic!

Since I left Berlin I am staying at my mothers place in a very small town and both vets were not available. We had to drive one hour to get to the animal clinic. It was a nightmare. Woody is in such big pain right now and We’re both traumatized. Every time I close my eyes, I see the attack.

 

 

I always tried to be open towards this breed but everything has changed since last night. I am scared and sad and I feel helpless. 

She now knows what the rest of us do: that these dogs are inherently dangerous.

The police told me today that it was stupid of me to put my hands between Woody and the other dog.... Ha! One thing I know for sure: I’d do this anytime again!

They also said I can’t prove that we did not provoke the other dog....and that I have no witnesses...So unfair, so ignorant, so dangerous! 

I need some words of comfort....😓😓😓

Is this how the German police handle criminal investigations? You get robbed and punched in the face as they steal your phone... and the police tell you because there aren't any witnesses to prove you didn't provoke the robber into punching you in the face, they're not going to do anything??? Geez.

Over 30 pets rescued from animal hoarder

GERMANY -- Concerned neighbours alerted local services that "something was not right at the property" said Imke Pieper, press spokeswoman for county services in Osnabrück.

 

However, city workers did not know the scale of the problem until they got to the "trashed" home of the overzealous animal lover .

Twenty-three dogs, four cats and four rabbits were found at the house. One out of the 6 puppies died despite the care it was given after the rescue.

 

The owner had been asked to give up the animals voluntarily but she did not respond to the letter, "perhaps from being overwhelmed" by the tasks she had taken on, Pieper suggests. 

That left the services no choice but to turn up at her doorstep to rescue the animals from their state of neglect.  The woman did not put up a fight and accepted their removal.

Three officals from Landkreis Osnabrück and two workers of the the Federation against abuse of animals (BMT) were deployed to transport the animals to safety.

BMT spokesman Karsten Plücker told The Local he believes such cases are on the rise in Germany.

 "These people don't have their life under control. They are living in the same dirt as their animals. They are not purposefully harming their pets, they too are not well" Plücker said.

Pictures of the house on the BMT Facebook page reveal cluttered rooms with litter, damaged cages, falling wallpaper and broken furniture.

At the animal welfare centre animals had to be cleaned of mites and fleas and long claws had to be cut.

Plücker admitted that in these cases he worries for the people that are left  behind.

"When a house gets mites and fleas they go to the pets but when the animals are removed the fleas hop onto the people".

Some of the animals were housed in the animal farm in Osnabrück. The cats, rabbits and nine dogs were brought into to the shelter 'Wau-Mau Insel' in Kessel, which is operated by BMT.

 If the condition of the animals improve, they should be transferred to new owners. But until then they have to get used to normal life, simply going for a walk and getting used to the world outside the mayhem of their former household.

(The Local.de - Sep 4, 2014)

Zookeeper mauled to death by tiger in front of shocked visitors after forgetting to lock cage door during feeding time

GERMANY -- A zoo keeper died from a single bite to the throat after he forgot to lock a door and a tiger pounced on him.

The experienced 56-year-old keeper was laying food in the outside area of the tiger compound in a Munster zoo, Germany, when the predator crept up behind him.

The animal sunk its teeth into the keeper's throat, killing the employee instantly.

The keeper, known only as Martin. H, was carrying out a routine feed when the tragic accident happened in front of visitors.

He had failed to lock the inside enclosure door properly, which allowed the Siberian tiger to get to him.

An investigation is inspecting the circumstances around the death, but the strongest theory is that the death occurred because of human error.

Zoo chief Jörg Adler said despite help being immediately called for, there was nothing emergency services could do for the keeper.

He said: 'An encounter like that with a tiger isn't something that can be survived,' The Local reported.

'We can install only so much technology and so many alarms – when it comes down to it, it's the keeper who decides,' he added.

The Munster zoo director said the keeper loved his animals,9News MSN reported. The Siberian tiger, called Rasputin, will not be killed.

The death follows another incident of a tiger killing a zookeeper earlier this year.

In May, a British woman was mauled by a tiger in a staff area of the enclosure that animals should not have had access to.

Sarah McClay, 24, died when she was mauled by a Sumatran tiger at South Lakes Wild Animal Park, in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Sarah was located in the inner corridor of the enclosure, an area that tigers should not have access to as the sliding doors to the inner tiger pens should have been bolted shut.

Instead, a tiger was able to drag her from the corridor, through the left pen and out to the outside area were she was killed.

(Daily Mail - Sept 20, 2013)

Paralyzed dog runs for first time

GERMANY -- Four-year old Billy, whose hind legs are paralyzed since birth, ran for the first time on Nov. 9 with the aid of the roll car.

'Rehatechnik fuer Tiere' (medical engineering for animals) owner Marco van den Boom, custom builds a range of roll cars for disabled or infirm dogs and animals, to help aid their mobility or paralysis needs.

(Yahoo News - Nov 15, 2012)

10/26/12: Firefighters rescue squirrel

GERMANY -- It's got to be one of the nuttiest rescues these firefighters have ever had to cope with.

A squirrel burying his nuts managed to get his head stuck in a manhole cover in Munich, Germany.
 

Concerned passers by called the fire brigade when they spotted the distressed rodent trapped in the middle of the street as cars thundered by.

Firefighters and vets eventually freed the squirrel - usually one of nature's great escape artists - with special metal cutting equipment after an attempt to ease him out with soapy water failed.

"Apart from being a bit grumpy, which is understandable, he was fine and ran straight up the nearest tree," said a fire service spokesman.

"As it's autumn we think he'd been looking for places to bury his nuts but had taken a bit of a wrong turn," they added.

(Austrian Times - Oct 26, 2012)