Charleston police received three separate calls Monday regarding dog attacks in the area of Bairds Cove and Ashley Villa Circle, off Glenn McConnell Parkway.
The first victim said that she was in her yard with her children when a male dark brown striped pit bull came out of the woods and attacked her dog.
"When I looked towards the woods, it was a pit bull came flying and he went straight to my dog, attacking him, tearing him up," said Annette Spivey, who owns the injured Beagle, named Hunter.
The injured dog was hospitalized and the pit bull ran back into the woods.
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| Hunter the Beagle survived the attack |
The second call was received within minutes of the first. The second dog owner told police that she exited her home and was walking her two dogs on the sidewalk when a pit bull with the same description came up and attacked her dogs. One of her dogs was killed and the other was hospitalized.
"I just could not believe the tenacity and the ferociousness of that dog," said Bob Redwitz, whose dachshund was killed by the pit bull. "I've never seen a dog that vicious up close."
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| Rest in peace Spunky |
"I'll tell ya, they didn't have a chance." Said the West Ashley Villas resident. "The dachshund especially. He grabbed her and punctured her lung with just one grip. The schnauzer came and he caught it and started shaking it like a rag doll."
[NOTE: The video interview with Redwitz says his Miniature Schnauzer was also attacked, but survived.]
As officer's finished talking to the second victim, a man pulled up and told police that a pit bull was in West Ashley Park and had attacked several dogs. At the park, a third victim told police that her Dalmatian was attacked by a pit bull.
Officers were able to locate the pit bull on Wayah Drive in Providence Commons. The dog was captured and transported to the Charleston Animal Society.
Officers then received information about a party looking for a lost dog matching the pit bull's description.
Paige Ashley Bird, 21, the owner of the dog has been cited for vicious animal, animal at large and non vaccination.
(WCSC - February 22, 2011)
UPDATE ON STORY:
Pit bull will be put down
A pit bull that ran loose in West Ashley, killing one dog and injuring three others, will be euthanized after its owner pleaded no-contest to two city of Charleston charges.
Paige Ashley Byrd, 21, fought Wednesday to keep 60-pound Jager alive, saying she wanted him to start a new life on her father's property in North Carolina.
The offer failed to persuade the owners of her dog's victims, who said pit bull they witnessed a horrible series of unprovoked and violent attacks against their pets and wanted the animal put down for safety reasons.
“Out of the clear blue here comes this pit bull and it went right into the dachshund,” Robert Redwitz told Livability Court Judge Michael Molony Wednesday.
He was describing an attack on one of two family dogs that his wife was walking outside their Ashley Villa Circle home Feb. 21.
The pit bull broke off from the dachshund attack, lunged at Redwitz and his wife, then went after their schnauzer, he said. The dachshund, which he called “a member of the family,” died at a local clinic.
A doctor also testified that the pit bull’s aggression has gotten worse during the three months it has been housed by the Charleston Animal Society, saying it barks, growls and charges its gate whenever another animal or human passes by.
Its habits are so bad that staff veterinarian Brittany Tisa labeled Jager a public health concern.
The attacks in February sent city police across a swath of West Ashley chasing reports of a pit bull on the run that was going after other dogs. Jager reportedly had gotten away while Byrd was at work and someone was watching the dog for her.
There also were attacks on a beagle and Dalmation before Jager was captured.
The woman’s father told Molony Wednesday that the dog had never shown prior signs of violent behavior, and that the attacks were out of character. Moving it to North Carolina, he said, would be the better situation.
“If I’d seen aggression, I’d be afraid and I wouldn’t take him,” Bill Byrd said. He called the dog “a big baby.”
After a 15-minute meeting of all the parties involved failed to reach a decision on the dog’s future, Paige Byrd opted to plead no-contest, which Molony said for sentencing purposes amounts to a plea of guilty.
She pleaded to keeping a vicious animal and allowing an animal at-large. A third charge of failing to vaccinate was dropped. Possible jail time was suspended upon her paying more than $2,000 in restitution, including to the owners of the other injured dogs.
Redwitz said afterward that he was satisfied with the sentence, saying he almost went for the deal to send the pit bull to North Carolina. But he added that images of his lost dog still haunt him, and that he wanted justice.
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West Ashley pit bull put down after attacking several dogs
Some dog owners say they now have closure after a pit bull that attacked their pets was ordered to be euthanized.
Bob Redwitz, whose dachshund was killed by the pit bull, says he never wants to see a dog put down, but says he believes this pit bull would kill again if something wasn't done.
During a hearing Wednesday, a veterinarian testified the pit-bull was "extremely aggressive" and was a "public health concern."
In addition to killing Redwitz's dog, the pit bull also injured three other pets in West Ashley back in February. The dog had been staying at the Charleston Animal Society since the attacks.
At the hearing, the pit bull's owner said her dog, Jager, had never attacked any dog before that day in February.
Redwitz says the owner of the pit bull asked if her dog could be moved to a farm in North Carolina, but that was denied during the hearing.
The owner was ordered to pay restitution.
(WCSC - May 26, 2011)
(Post and Courier - May 26, 2011)
