Two Tibetan Mastiffs euthanized after one bit police officer

Owners fined a total of $3,250

CANADA -- Two Tibetan Mastiffs that drew complaints in the community of Martindale, and snapped at responding officers before one of the canines bit a sergeant last month, have been euthanized, the city said Thursday.

The dogs were put down May 13 after a behavioural assessment determined they were too aggressive to be adopted out to a new home, said Alvin Murray, manager of operations with animal and bylaw services.

“Their aggression was too profound,” Murray said.

City of Calgary bylaw officers restrain a pair of Tibetan Mastiffs
which were running loose in Martindale on April 9.
Photograph by: Herald files , Global News

The dogs’ owners — who were each slapped with numerous charges — were also fined a total of $3,250, a “fairly substantial” penalty, Murray added.

Police and bylaw officers were called to the 200 block of Martindale Boulevard N.E. at around 10:30 a.m. April 9 after reports of two large dogs at large not far from the yard of Ecole La Mosaique, where schoolchildren were playing.

Those students were quickly ushered inside and kept indoors for a portion of their lunch hour, as were students at a nearby school.

Officers caught up to the dogs at the Martindale LRT station train tracks and used Tasers to capture the animals.

One of the dogs bit a police officer in the leg, leaving three puncture wounds, but he was not seriously injured and did not need to go to hospital.

Both dogs were licensed, and one was wearing a dog tag.

Following the incident, the owners voluntarily signed over the dogs to the city. The canines were kept at a bylaw facility for a 10-day quarantine period, then underwent a behavioural assessment.

Murray said the decision to put down the dogs was not made lightly. But this wasn’t the first biting incident involving the animals, he added.

The Tibetan Mastiffs bit someone April 7, which resulted in charges for the owners. That file was still under investigation when the animals got out two days later.

Prior to the April 7 incident, the dogs did not have a history of aggression.

“We really have to get the message out that we’re not going to tolerate people’s aggressive dogs running around, scaring people, biting people and creating havoc,” Murray said.

“It’s the responsibility of dog owners to make sure their dogs are well-socialized, well-trained, and that their yards are secure so they can’t escape.”

He encourages people who own dogs with aggression issues to seek help from a certified trainer.

Those who witness animal aggression or animals at large are urged to call 311, or 911 if there is a public safety risk or injuries involved.

(calgaryherald.com - May 30, 2013)

Earlier:

• Dogs Tasered after biting cop and school principal in Calgary

‘I’ve never seen a dog do that much damage’: Neighbor shares harrowing details of dog attack on Bibb County woman

GEORGIA -- Anthony Bryant heard the screams from inside his basement apartment.

As he ran outside shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday, he saw the pit bull dogs attacking Margaret McNicholas, the 69-year-old woman who owns the Houston Road house in south Bibb.

The 34-year-old grabbed a broom on the way out to face the same two dogs who threatened him when he went out for a morning smoke at 4 a.m.

“The look that she had in her eyes as I was running towards her, I’ll never forget that,” Bryant said. “It was like she was ready to give up.”

The dogs, one orange and black and the other solid black, were tearing her up.

There were deep cuts in her face and arm, her wrist was broken and she was bleeding from serious wounds to her legs, thighs and feet, according to the incident report from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

“There was so much blood,” Bryant said. “I’ve never seen a dog do that much damage.”

As he started swinging the broom, the dogs dropped back 5 or 6 feet and kept watching him before eventually running into the woods behind the house, which backs up to the Skyview Mobile Home Park.

He took McNicholas to the side of the house for safety.

“I’m about to pass out,” she told him as he phoned for help.

“I called 911 three or four times, telling them to hurry up, there was so much blood,” Bryant said Friday morning after visiting his landlady.

She had surgery to repair the break in her wrist and the wounds have been stitched up.

“She’s doing well, just in a lot of pain,” he said.

McNicholas is still recovering at The Medical Center of Central Georgia.

A Bibb deputy shot and killed two pit bulls that escaped from this
pen near Lot 13 at Skyview Mobile Home Park and attacked a woman
who lives on Houston Road behind the property.

Bibb sheriff’s Deputy Lee Mock arrived at the golden brick ranch house as the EMTs were stabilizing her for the ambulance ride.

Her yellow kerchief and turquoise-blue hair rollers were strewn on the front lawn, as were a pair of white socks.

Mock heard the large dogs barking and jumping on the back fence as Bryant was showing him where they ran.

The deputy went for his shotgun, Bryant said in his witness statement.

The black dog scaled an 8 to 10 feet fence with ease and started charging at the deputy, Mock wrote in the report.

“I was in great fear for my life, at which time I shot at the dog,” Mock said in his report.

The dog ran off back into the trailer park, leaving bloody paw prints on the road and a driveway.

Fearing others were in jeopardy, Mock drove his patrol car around to near Lot-13, where the dogs stayed in a small pen that backs up to McNicholas’ property.

On Thursday, boards were stacked on top and along the bottom edges of the fence and appeared to block prior escape routes.

Mock tracked the black dog and shot him again, but he kept coming at him.

“I shot the dog again ‘til it stopped moving,” he said in the report.

The deputy continued to search for the second brindle-coated dog.

A pair of socks lies near a blood-stained kerchief and hair rollers where a
woman was attacked by two pit pulls Thursday afternoon on
Houston Road in Bibb County. (Macon.com)

“I was advised by another deputy that dog was running towards me, coming up from my back,” he wrote in the report. “As I turned to face to the dog, the dog was charging me at which time I fired on the dog.”

The second dog also got up and Mock shot until the dog was dead.

Bryant said he was impressed by the officer.

“The deputy who came up, oh my God, he was outstanding,” Bryant said on the phone Friday.

At the hospital, McNicholas told him how the dogs came out of nowhere as she walked back from the mailbox.

She had just noticed a freshly killed opossum in the yard and wondered who she could call to remove it.

As the first dog came at her, she thought about jumping on her car, but decided to get inside the vehicle in case the dog could jump up after her.

Before she could get to the door, the other dog came at her from the other side of the car.

The dogs knocked her down as she ran toward the house. They were all over her as she cried out for help.

The dogs’ owner, Amber Tripp, and her husband were due back that night from Florida.

They live on Lot-13, where the dogs were shot and killed.

Bibb Animal Welfare Officer Bruce Rozier removed the carcasses for testing.

District Attorney David Cooke said Friday afternoon that he has talked with investigators about possible criminal charges in the case.

“Based on the conversations we’ve had so far, it’s still under investigation,” he said. “We’ll have a better idea on Monday.”

Bryant wonders who was feeding the dogs or caring for them in the Tripps’ absence. He said this is not the first time he’s had problems with dogs.

One time, two dogs tried to keep him from getting in his front door.

Three others were roaming around Friday morning as he left for the hospital.

He never goes outside without a large stick.

While McNicholas was in trouble, he never thought of his own safety.

“It never entered my mind they could turn on me.”

(Macon Telegraph (blog) - May 31, 2013)

Related:

• Neighbor Helps Save Woman Attacked by Pit Bulls

Teen injured in second Ipswich dog attack

AUSTRALIA -- A 17-year-old girl has been attacked by two dogs near her home at Goodna, west of Brisbane.

The Ipswich City Council says animal control officers were called to Goodna on Thursday afternoon and seized the dogs.

The extent of the girl's injuries is unknown.

It is the second dog attack in Ipswich this week. A toddler was mauled by a family dog on Wednesday.

The 18-month-old boy suffered head injuries when a rottweiler attacked him about 10am. The boy's grandmother said she had only turned her back briefly.

“It was just a freak accident ... I couldn't do anything about it,” she told Channel Nine.

(Northwest Star - May 31, 2013)

Dog owner fights to keep adopted pet alive after gruesome attack

INDIANA -- The owner of an adult pit bull in Indianapolis is fighting for his dog’s life in court after the dog got loose and attacked two dogs and their owners.

One of the dogs was killed in the attack.

“Everyone we talked to was horrified, and they can’t get the screaming out of their heads,” said Samantha DeWester, the Indianapolis city prosecutor trying the case.

RIP Junior

She tried to talk the owner of the pit bull, James Holley, into giving up his rights to the dog, but he wouldn’t. The dog is currently being cared for at Indianapolis Animal Care and Control.

“He dragged Junior to the side of the lake there and mauled him relentlessly shaking him and biting him, and Junior was looking at me, and I could not help him,” said Tony Yeary, the owner of a 6-month-old Dachshund killed in the attack.

He spoke with Fox 59 soon after it happened, and his arm was bandaged because he’d been knocked over and bitten by the large dog while trying to protect his Dachshund.



How you reduce a Marine to tears: Have him
describe how Junior looked at him for help
as the pit bull mauled him to death.

Shortly after the incident, neighbors told Fox 59 the pit bull named Apollo spent most of his time tied to a tree and had little to no interaction with other dogs at the northeast side apartment complex.

The Humane Society for Hamilton County was also in court Friday. Holley had adopted him from them after the dog passed temperament testing. A Humane Society representative said that they are frustrated and severely disappointed, believing the dog was set up to fail by the man who adopted him.

The apartment complex allegedly bans pit bulls, but made an exception
for this one. Neighbors say the owner regularly left it tied to a tree.

They claim while Apollo was abused—and he was selective about what other dogs he wanted to be around—he was never aggressive towards their staff when he was in their care.

“It’s hard to determine who the dog was after initially, but, regardless, it was very vicious towards the human and the animal,” said Sergeant Kim Wolsiffer with Indianapolis Animal Care and Control.

A trial date has been set for June 12.

Holley, who had no comment for Fox 59, will not have access to his dog, but he will have to pay for his care at the shelter.

(Fox 59 - May 31, 2013)

Earlier:

• Dog of military hero ripped from his arms, killed

Pit bull owner charged with murder had dogs put down in '06

CALIFORNIA -- The man charged with murder after his dogs mauled to death a 63-year-old Littlerock woman had four of his pit bulls destroyed in 2006 after they attacked emus, a sheriff's official said.

That attack was one of several incidents that prompted Los Angeles County prosecutors to file a murder charge against Alex Jackson, whose four pit bulls allegedly attacked retired office manager Pamela Devitt on May 9, inflicting 150 to 200 puncture wounds that led to her death.

 

 

Jackson appeared briefly in an Antelope Valley courtroom on Friday. He delayed entering a plea until a hearing next month.

Prosecutor Robert Dufour said the deadly incident warranted such serious charges because Jackson's dogs had attacked others before mauling Devitt.

L.A. County sheriff’s homicide Lt. John Corina said authorities were aware of at least three incidents in which Jackson’s dogs attacked people or horses in the last five months and at least one other incident in 2006.

In the 2006 case, four pit bulls belonging to Jackson attacked some emus in Littlerock and were ordered destroyed by authorities, Corina said.

On Jan. 13, some of his dogs allegedly attacked a horse with a rider. Jackson also threw a rock at the rider, authorities said. Jackson has now been charged with assault with a deadly weapon in connection with that case.

About a week later, Jackson was cited for having dogs without a license by county Animal Control, Corina said. He said dogs belonging to Jackson were subsequently involved in two other attacks against people on horses in April and May.

 

"We believe there was evidence that he was aware the dogs were vicious and they have attacked before and he knew of the danger they posed," Jane Robison, a district attorney's spokeswoman said.

Jackson, who authorities say was growing marijuana in his home, was arrested Thursday and is being held in lieu of $1,050,000 bail.

Devitt died en route to a hospital, and the attack sparked outrage in the neighborhood and beyond. Sheriff's officials said detectives found Devitt's blood on the muzzle and coats of four of Jackson's eight dogs.

"There's no way I can get the brutality of this out of my head," Devitt's husband, Ben Devitt, told The Times. "The fact that there's animals out there roaming around with that kind of killer instinct, it's just kind of something I can't shake."

Animal control officials took custody of Jackson's dogs.

Murder cases involving dog attacks remain extremely rare, despite an increasing willingness by prosecutors throughout the country to file other types of charges, such as manslaughter and child endangerment, said Donald Cleary, a spokesman for the National Canine Research Council. The organization, which tracks dog attack cases, documented 34 dog-related fatalities last year. Six resulted in prosecutions; none involved murder charges.

(LA Times - May 31, 2013)

'It just went for me': victims of dog attacks tell their stories

UNITED KINGDOM -- One woman had to have 18 years of reconstructive surgery. A dog-lover needed 50 stitches in her face. And a father went for a kickabout with his kids in the park and ended up in hospital

Sarah Barron, 41, a full-time carer for her disabled son, from Stubbington in Hampshire

It was January 2010 and we were visiting my fiance's family one Sunday evening. His brother's girlfriend had just found out she was pregnant, so we were celebrating. We were all sitting around chatting and their dog, a staffordshire bull terrier, was curled up on the sofa next to me. She was a great dog, a typical staffie: boisterous, very loving and fabulous with children. We must have been there for about an hour when suddenly, without warning, I heard this awful snarling. Next thing I knew, she was on top of me.

Sarah Barron: 'Suddenly, without warning, I heard this
awful snarling.' Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

First, she went for the side of my face near the hairline, but she couldn't get any purchase, so she went for my mouth. She tore my face in a jagged line from the Cupid's bow across the cheek. My top lip was left hanging off; there was blood everywhere. It was over in seconds.

I can't remember much about it. All I can recall is the horrible snarling and then the weight of her as she pushed me into the back of the sofa. After she bit me, I remember somehow walking towards my fiance, Neil, who was by the door.

He rushed me to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. They gave me morphine, so I don't even recall being in that much pain. My mum arrived later, and when she took me to the toilet I peeled back the bandages to have a look. I had been in and out of hospital most of the previous year with my 19-year-old son Liam, who has profound mental and physical disabilities. This was the final straw. I remember seeing my face and saying to Mum, "I feel like a monster. I don't want to be here any more."

The next day they put 50 stitches in my face and the day after that I was sent home. I couldn't really eat. In the days that followed, I was in such shock, I would wake up in the morning and think it hadn't actually happened. I had nightmares for two years – visions of the dog on top of me. When I went out, people would gawp and make comments, but having Liam, that was one thing I was used to.

I was in and out of hospital every few months. The skin on the top of my lip had died, so they did a graft. It left a great big lump on my lip, and because the corner of the mouth was tucked in and turned down, it made me look as if I was miserable all the time. I tried facial massage and also got some makeup done by a Harley Street beautician. She did semi-permanent lip-liner. She basically drew my lips on for me. It made all the difference.

Who knows why the dog bit me? I was sitting on the sofa between her and her owner, so maybe she was just being protective. My fiance's family were devastated. They all apologised, but no one was to blame. The dog was put to sleep. No one told me for a long time, because they knew I would never have wanted that. I love dogs – I have two of my own. She was a beautiful dog. It broke my heart. It left me with huge guilt.

Justin Eronimus, 43, a retail consultant from Grove Park, south London

It was a sunny evening during the 2010 World Cup. My children were so excited by it, my wife and I decided to take them for a kick-around in Northbrook Park, near Lewisham. We had our two sons, who were four and five, and our five-year-old nephew.

I was just setting up the goalposts when my wife started screaming. I turned to see her sprinting as fast as she could towards the children. There were three big terrier crossbreeds running straight at them. My wife got to our four-year-old, grabbed him and held him as high as she could above her head, still screaming. All three dogs jumped up, trying to grab him.

Justin Eronimus: 'I'm absolutely certain he instructed
those dogs to attack.' Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

I ran over and pulled my nephew behind me. I  found myself face to face with the dogs. They showed their teeth – like a pack of wolves.

We got the children into a fenced-off play area. Other parents were also shielding their children in there. I called the police. While I was on the phone, I heard another commotion and turned around to see the dogs' owner running after my wife waving a dog chain at her. As he caught up with her, she crouched on the floor and put up her arms to protect her head. Luckily, another parent grabbed the other end of the chain just in time. I realised he was attacking my wife because she had taken photos of his dogs.

He told us we would be dead next time he saw us, and ran off. I was still on the phone to the police and they asked which road he had gone down. So I went after him. Suddenly he ran at me and punched me in the head. The next thing I knew, all three of the dogs came at me at the same time.

One went for my back, another my hip and the other my hand. I felt like they were trying to tear me apart. I was left with a big rip in my back and two deep bite marks. I'm absolutely certain he instructed those dogs to attack. Then he hit me one more time and they all ran off.

I was still on the phone to the police, and they told me to go back to the park where an ambulance was waiting for me. I was taken to Lewisham hospital.

The police took custody of the dogs and the case ended up going to crown court. His lawyer argued we were overprotective parents and we lost. Then it went to magistrates court and he pleaded guilty.

By that time he was in prison for another offence. Two of the dogs were put down and the other was given to his parents and ordered to be muzzled. I was glad. The police told us it had cost £17,000 to hold on to those dogs during the year that it took for the trials to take place.

This whole thing wasn't about me and my injuries. It was about what could have happened to the children.

Alison Edmonds, 44, a university administrator from Cawood, North Yorkshire

It was 1970, cup final day, and I was 18 months old. We had gone to my grandmother's house in Oxfordshire to watch the match, so my mum could break the news that she was expecting a second child. My mum, my grandmother and I were sitting in the garden. I was on my mum's knee and she was reading me a story. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, my grandmother's puppy, a labrador cross, jumped up and took a large chunk out of my face.

It was bad. The right-hand side of my face was ripped open. I'm not sure how many stitches I had, but I suspect it was more than 100. As the ambulance drove me to hospital, my grandfather took the dog to the vet to be destroyed.

Alison Edmonds (right) in 1972.

My poor mother was devastated. As she was pregnant, it must have been so much worse. I have no idea how horrendous I looked. I have never asked and she doesn't talk about it. I know my grandmother has never forgiven herself.

I ended up with a scar that starts at the top of my nose and travels in an arc to the outside edge of my eye and down to my mouth. People didn't know how to deal with those things back then. If anyone asked what happened to my face, my mother would say, "Tell the lady what happened, Alison", as if she was protecting herself from having to say it. I also remember having to wear prescription foundation. When I went to parties, my mum would sit me on the kitchen table and spend 20 minutes smearing it on. I hated it.

I spent 18 years under a consultant surgeon having reconstructive, cosmetic and plastic surgery.

Three of my nerves were severed in the attack, which meant that until I was about 15, I couldn't really smile.

Having my photo taken became one of the horrors of my life. I have a heap of family snaps in which everyone is having a lovely time and I'm looking like the world is about to end.

Alison Edmunds today: 'My poor mother was devastated. I have no
idea how horrendous I looked. I have never asked and she doesn’t talk
about it.' Photograph: Mike Pinches for the Guardian

I can't remember anything of the attack, and I've never tried to. I am OK with some dogs, but if you put me in a room with one, I'll tell you within seconds if I'm staying or going. It's not even whether it's a big dog or dangerous breed; it's just a feeling that I'm not able to define – a sense that I need to leave. I also really dislike tied-up dogs. Dogs that are tethered think they are at a disadvantage and are likely to be more of a problem.

Ten years ago I started work for a charity called Changing Faces, which believes that people with facial differences shouldn't hermit themselves away. I suspect the attack made me a lot shyer than I would have been, but I have a lovely husband, two lovely children and a good job. I think it has probably shaped my entire life, but it hasn't stopped me from doing anything.

Denis Davies, 34, a PR consultant from Reading, Berkshire

It was Bonfire Night and I had gone to my friend's house down the road for a barbecue. I was seven. My parents weren't there, but there were lots of other families. I grew up in South Africa, and we used to do this sort of thing a lot.

I remember going into the kitchen and seeing the family dog cowering. She was a rottweiler. I had known her all my life. I felt sorry for her, because she was obviously terrified of the fireworks, so I went over to reassure her. Without hesitation, she launched at me. She threw her entire weight at me and knocked me on to my back on the kitchen floor. I stuck out my hands to protect my face and she just went for me, mauling my arm.

Denis Davies: 'When I see a rottweiler, I start to shake.'
Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

A friend's dad came in and somehow got her off – but she came at me again. This time, she went for my other arm. I ended up with four big bite holes on each arm and 32 tooth marks. I was hysterical.

My mum's friend rushed me to hospital. This was the 1980s and the era of rabies, so everyone was very worried. I was given five or six injections directly into the wounds. They had to scrape the top layer of skin off each bite wound to clean it. That was just awful.

Afterwards, it didn't bother me that much. When you're a kid and you go through something like that, you get a bit of kudos. I had cool scars to show my friends. It's only now that I'm in my 30s that it has really hit home. I guess it has slowly dawned on me what could have happened. Now when I see a dog that's taller than my knee, I'll have a minor panic attack and do everything I can to stay away from it. And when I see a rottweiler, I start to shake – they terrify me. I just think they look so angry. I avoid parks, because I know they're places with dogs on the run. I gravitate towards places I know dogs aren't around.

Nothing ever happened to the dog that attacked me. We could have pressed charges, but they were family friends, so we were never going to do that. I certainly never went back to their house again.

We're not really in touch any more. We moved back to the UK in 1990 and eventually, over time, the friendship between our two families died.

If I ever have children, I would never get a dog. I just think you can never really trust them. The dog that attacked me was well cared for, I had grown up with her, she was a family dog, yet look what she did to me. You can never tell for certain what they are thinking. I'd get a cat, though. You know where you stand with a cat.

Susan Gowland, 43, a market manager from Windsor, Berkshire

I was out shopping with my two sons in Windsor town centre. We were walking through one of the pedestrianised areas on our way to the Sony shop when we saw a jack russell tied to a drainpipe outside one of the stores. My nine-year old son walked past it first and then Harry, my 12-year-old, went past a couple of steps behind. The dog lunged and sunk its teeth into his leg.

I did what any mother would do – I grabbed Harry and got him out of the way. I can't really remember how I did it – I think I may also have used my hand or foot to force the dog off him. A couple of shop assistants came running out and a lot of people stopped. Harry was hysterical. I said to someone, "Try and look at its tag." The dog was still snapping, but a member of the public managed to read the phone number. They rang it and the woman who owned the dog was in Fat Face trying on clothes.

Susan Gowland and Harry: 'If I could go back and get hold of that
woman with her stupid dog…' Photograph: Felicity McCabe for the Guardian

I asked the shop's security people to get her driving licence from her and they photocopied it for me.

Then I half-carried Harry to my local doctor just around the corner. He said we should go to hospital. Harry had three very clear puncture wounds and was bleeding.

If I could go back and get hold of that woman with her stupid dog, I probably wouldn't be so polite. She had a vicious animal in a town centre with small children around. I think if you've got an animal that has a propensity to be nasty, you muzzle it. I was fuming. I have a dog – we have always had dogs – but I would never in a million years tie it to a lamppost and go clothes shopping.

For two weeks after the incident, my son wouldn't leave the house. His grades dropped drastically and he was wary of walking to the shop at the end of our road. Even now, two years later, he is in therapy.

I wanted the owner prosecuted. I thought it would make an enormous difference to Harry – it would be a clear message that what happened wasn't right. But the CPS weren't interested. I thought, "She's not getting away with this", so I went down the private route. I hired solicitors and they contacted the woman whose dog it was. I had her driving licence, so she could hardly deny it.

Because she's admitted liability, it's fairly straightforward and now she is paying for all Harry's therapy. The counsellor is a lovely woman – she comes at weekends and takes Harry out and puts him in situations with dogs to try to help him overcome his fear. He's doing really well.

(The Guardian - May 30, 2013)

Llama on the Loose on Bannerman Road

FLORIDA -- Deputies have been chasing down a lose llama since 11:00 p.m. Friday night.

According to the deputies, the llama got away from it's owner's home and has been roaming around town all night.

This morning, deputies cornered the 6 foot tall llama on Bannerman Road near Thomasville Rd.

The llama spit several times and trampled the deputies as they attempted to get it into a trailer. The deputies then had to taze the giant in order to subdue him.

Traffic is backed up on both lanes of Bannerman Rd however the road is now open.

Deputies say that it is legal for someone to own a llama as a pet in the state of Florida.

We will get you more information as it becomes available.

(Eyewitness News - June 1, 2013)