Sunday, July 21, 1985

Florida: Jim Massimiani blames everyone but himself for his English Mastiff's attacks

FLORIDA -- It weighs 160 pounds and stands 3 feet tall, but Jim Massimiani's English mastiff looks like it would rather sleep than fight.

The dog, named Slough, rested contentedly on a shady front porch and licked the concrete floor while his master talked about the two neighborhood dogs Slough has fought in the last two months.

"He won't attack people," said Massimiani, who lives in an unincorporated area near Pompano Beach. "All he's trying to do is protect the property. He'll attack any dog that comes on the property or looks like it's going to."

Hope Koppel, owner of a dog Slough sent to the veterinarian last May, said it may be only a matter of time until a person is injured.

"If that dog ever gets a kid, what's the guy going to say, 'I'm sorry?'" Koppel said.

Francis Sabatini of the 3800 block of Northeast 16th Terrace was knocked down but not injured Tuesday when Slough attacked her dog as she walked him past Massimiani`s house in the 1500 block of Northeast 40th Street, she said.

"It's terrible, that dog is a monster," said Sabatini. "He got my dog by the throat, and I thought he was dead."

Sabatini said her dog, a Siberian husky named Duke, was not injured. But Koppel said her dog, a 6-year-old Labrador and German shepherd mix named Spooky, needed 13 stitches to close gashes following its bout with Slough.

Koppel said she and her husband were walking Spooky on a leash on the street in front of Massimiani's house when Slough broke his clothesline tether and charged. As Slough bit Spooky in the right flank, Koppel used the soda bottle she was drinking from as a weapon, she said.

"I poured the Coke over his face and hit him with the bottle, but I couldn't get him off," Koppel said.

Koppel said her husband, Mark, started running toward home with Spooky, but Slough followed and continued biting the dog. Massimiani, who said the Koppels were walking Spooky on the swale of his yard, ran out of his house and called Slough off.

In photographs Koppel said she took of Spooky after bringing him home from the vet, several sutured gashes are visible in the middle of a shaved area on the dog's side. Except for a small, open wound, the injuries have healed.

The vet bill was $173. Massimiani said he agreed to pay it a little at a time, but quit after giving Koppel two $20 payments in June, claiming Koppel wanted too much money at once. She has filed suit in small claims court for the rest of the money plus the expense of two $10 checkup visits Spooky needed.

"It's not the payment," Koppel insisted. "What if that dog gets a kid?"

Massimiani said he doesn't mind going to court, if only to get an acceptable payment schedule.

Massimiani, who has owned the 7-year-old Mastiff since getting the $800 dog as a gift from a friend four years ago, also owns a pit bull. Both dogs are usually penned up in Massimiani's fenced-in back yard, he said.

Massimiani claims the Mastiff is "obedience trained" and insists all dogs sometimes get into fights.

"Dogs will be dogs. It's as simple as that," he said.

Well clearly he's not going to do anything. Isn't animal control going to do anything about it?

(Sun Sentinel - July 21, 1985)