INDIANA -- Paula Herrig is feeling sad. Posted on Facebook May 3, 2018 ·
Need to vent!! Please Share. Maybe we can get this to the public and news in Indiana. Monday, my moms dog was viciously attached by a neighbors dog. (Mom is in Indiana with my sister, Peggy. That is where this took place)
Mom, 82 yrs old, fought to save her dog, Baby, not once, but twice. As the first time she got Baby, the pit bull attacked again, ripping Baby from her arms. She again fought the pit bull for her Baby.
Baby was in critical condition, until this morning, when she passed away. Mom was bit in the "fight". The pit bull was returned to it's owner!!!!!Where it still is!!!!!
The owner admitted to fault, stating they knew the dog was getting out, but they couldn't afford a "better" fence. But the dog is still returned to that home!?!?
Are you kidding me???? What has to happen for a dog to be removed??? Killing a pet and biting the pets owner isn't enough?? INDIANA, WTF!?!? JUST SOOO WRONG!!!!
ARKANSAS -- On Monday, April 2nd, Towy was attacked in our Bethel Heights neighborhood by a stray Pit Bull.
Despite our numerous calls to the city regarding the issue of the stray animal, they refused to pick him up because he "wasn't vicious and had not attacked".
Towy was taken to the emergency vet, and there was damage to his neck, two fractured ribs, and his leg was severely broken.
They kept him overnight to splint his leg and put staples in his neck, then he was transferred to his regular vet on Tuesday morning.
Currently, Towy's owner is out well over $1,000 in vet bills, and they will continue to build as Towy receives treatment for his injuries. Members of our neighborhood have called the Bethel Heights mayor's office to no avail.
Essentially, we were told that it isn't their problem, nor do they have intentions of correcting the situation moving forward.
The pit bull was taken to the animal shelter and checked for a chip, which he unfortunately did not have one, so charges cannot be pressed against the original owners in hopes to recuperate some of the vet fees.
We are trying to come together as neighbors to the owner and raise money to cover the costs for her. Anything you can give would be greatly appreciated!
I don't ask for help on here just not my thing!! This help is for towy!!
He was attacked by a stray pit bull and the dog had no chip so we have no one to help with vet bills now. No one's fur baby should have to go through this kind of trauma and pain. He is hanging out with us during the day so his family can remain working and trying to put life back on track.
A go fund me account has been set up by other neighbors to help with the vet bills. Surgery for leg is still up in the air. You can find the link on my fb page. I know you don't know towy and his family but they are good peeps and we love them very much and want to help all we can so they don't feel like they have been left hanging in the wind. Thank you so very much. XOXO
ILLINOIS -- No changes to Waukegan's animal control ordinance are on the horizon despite a review following an attack by two pit bulls that left a smaller dog with severe injuries.
That decision was disappointing to Hailey Schueneman, who has pushed for the city to tighten up its ordinance following a January attack on her grandparents' dog.
THIS IS GUS BEFORE THE PIT BULL ATTACK
THIS IS GUS AFTER THE PIT BULL ATTACK
The situation "feels so unjust," said Ald. Lisa May, 9th, whose ward includes the Schueneman's home and who also chairs the City Council's judiciary committee.
But after speaking to the city's attorney, the police chief and the sergeant who runs the animal control division, she said they reached the conclusion that the the code is sufficient.
May said she plans on setting up a meeting with Schueneman and the police chief to discuss the incident further, but at this point, she doesn't see what changes could have led to a different outcome in this case.
"Everyone feels horrible about what happened to Gus, the poor dog that got pulled from his yard," May said, referring to the Schuenemans' dog.
The incident occurred on Jan. 2 when Gus, who is owned by Greg and Jamie Schueneman, ran to the edge of their fenced yard on the city's north side, as a man who lived nearby walked past with two pit bulls on leashes.
The small dog was apparently pulled underneath the picket fence onto the sidewalk, where one of the big dogs started to maul the smaller dog, Jamie Schueneman told the News-Sun.
"My husband tried beating (the larger dog) in the head to release Gus, and my granddaughter screamed," she said. Her husband's hands were cut from trying to get the big dog to release Gus.
The dog was treated by a veterinarian in Grayslake, where he underwent surgery and was racking up medical bills of $12,000, according to a Gofundme page set up by the family.
The family has filed a civil lawsuit against the pit bulls' owner, Hailey Schueneman said.
CITY BLAMES VICTIM FOR $12,000 IN INJURIES
An investigation by the city found that the smaller dog "provoked" the Pit Bull before the attack by barking at it and running to the fence, according to police Sgt. Dennis Rosch.
The question of whether the pit bulls would be deemed dangerous came down to whether they were provoked by the smaller dog.
The city's ordinance is "very vague" in parts, said Hailey Schueneman, pointing in particular to a lack of definition for what constitutes provocation.
She said she doesn't think a dog in its own yard and with its owner present rushing to the fence should be considered provocation.
First of all, the owner is required to control their dog while leashed. The little dog was inside its own fence. Obviously the Pit Bull owner cannot control their mauler; otherwise this little dog would not have been grabbed and pulled underneath the fence. These people are morons.
PIT BULL OWNER BLAMING VICTIM
She also disputes that the dog poked his head through the fence's slates, which she said contributed to the finding that the pit bulls were provoked.
Hailey Schueneman said after the meeting she would like the ordinance to also include more guidance about how animal control conducts its investigations, because she felt the investigation into the January attack, "was not conducted thoroughly" and relied just on the accounts of the two owners.
"I know why the dogs were found to be not dangerous, but I also feel like there has to be something more," she said.
ARIZONA -- Helen Spallas is feeling traumatized. Posted on Facebook March 2, 2018 · Mesa, AZ ·
I am literally in shock. Henry and I got attacked by a pit bull tonight. He’s getting surgery in a couple hours. He’s in bad shape and guarded condition. He might not live.
I am sitting in ER waiting to get stitches as my hand is all bit up and one of my fingers is almost severed. I’m numb with disbelief that this happened. Worst night ever and my heart hurts so bad for Henry. Need prayers!!!
* * * * * *
Update: Henry had abdominal surgery and is expected to live.
He is still in the hospital and in guarded condition.
I got my hand stitched up and have splints on. One finger is possibly broken but I need to go to a different facility to get X-rays. Got a shot in the ass for tetanus and a shot in the arm of antibiotics. The tetanus shot was horribly painful.
I will survive. Just still shook up.
PIT BULL OWNER BLAMING THE VICTIMS The dogs owner is now spreading rumors that my little 10 pound dog provoked his 85 lb pit bull and told cops I didn’t have Henry on a leash. All total lies. I am furious and no longer feel safe here.
The owner hasn’t even apologized to me or asked how we are doing. He is no way getting rid of his dog. The cops said no crime committed because he had him on a leash and he "just got away".
Lazy cops. I guarantee if you were their mother they'd have done something.
This dog attacked unprovoked and is dangerous. And I feel that this will happen again because the owner obviously can’t control his dog. And he just adopted him 2 days ago.
I will keep everyone posted but so far it looks like we will physically be ok. I think Henry was so traumatized that this will change him forever.
I'm sure Helen didn't appreciate Dee the apologist saying that
COLORADO -- Marshal Rehders posted on Facebook March 1 at 9:00pm ·
So, last Sunday afternoon Koda (MY Labrador) was attacked by a pit bull, from behind, on the sidewalk and then again in my front yard repeatedly by this dog.
The owners live on the corner across from us in the yellow house...to many of my friends and neighbors, I want to warn you that this is a vicious dog and will not stop until it has killed your severely wound you pet!
The owners stated on the neighborhood website that the dog was lost and they posted pics of this dog with a little dog patrying that the dog is harmless...it is not! Watch you larger size dogs and kiddos!
The owners also have a large hole in the fence where this dog will escape and attack your Larger dogs. The owners stated this dog is aggressive to large animals!!!
The owners have not been around while I'm home, so I have not had the opportunity to talk with them. I am waiting to discuss how they plan to keep this from happening again to anyone else. Be care out there walking your Larger pets in the Grey Hawk Subdivision! By the way Koda is healing from his injuries very well!
UPDATE: Thank you all! I love the support...I spoke with the owner last night and the Humane Society told them their dog was knotty and got into a scuffle without injuries. So I brought the father over to my house to see the damage to Koda's neck, ear and chest. The father was shocked, scared, and very nervous.
Bill Jones, if I catch the dog out again, I wont be calling the Humane Society! I will be coming down for a fishing trip.
DELAWARE -- After four days of avoiding questions about Wilmington police's response to a dog attack in which a senior citizen was injured and a dog was killed, the city issued a press release saying it should've handled the situation differently.
Wilmington police Chief Robert Tracy said he reviewed the incident that occurred Monday night in the Cool Spring neighborhood and "concluded that a police officer should have been dispatched to the scene."
"The chief said should future events of a similar nature occur involving a dog attack in progress, a police officer will be sent to the scene of the incident," the news release said.
Diane Olin White, 66, said she and her two dogs were attacked by a stray pit bull after 9:30 p.m. on Monday.
A neighbor called 911 at 9:46 p.m. while the attack was ongoing, but the dispatcher did not send a police car to assist. Instead, she referred the case to a state animal control official, who didn't make it to the scene until around 10:35 p.m., a neighbor said.
Dispatchers are instructed to send reports about animal-on-animal incidents to the state's Office of Animal Welfare, according to City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh. But the dispatcher should have used "common sense" and considered that a person was at risk, too, Walsh said.
White and her boxer mix Stella survived with injuries from the attack, but 12-year-old Darcy, a small white poodle and Jack Russell mix, was crushed and mauled to death.
The chief said the Police Department interviewed White and other witnesses and also reviewed the 911 call. (Scroll down to listen to the audio.)
“From all that we have learned about this tragic incident, it appears that the dog had been severely injured very quickly and died soon after being attacked by the other dog,” Tracy said.
“While we can’t be certain that an immediate response from a police officer or state animal control officer would have saved this animal, I still feel that city police should have been in a position to assist if possible."
He added: "I am a dog owner, and I know what this loss must mean to the citizen who lost her animal. I express my regrets to the owner and to the other community members who came to the assistance of the owner and her animal.”
After regular business hours, the state's animal control response system is staffed by on-call officers who may not be close enough to an incident’s location to provide an immediate response, Tracy said.
The Office of Animal Welfare confirmed it got a call Monday night after normal business hours.
"The answering service quickly relayed the report to the on-call officer, who was already in the field due to being dispatched to another call in southern New Castle County, and he immediately headed to Wilmington, arriving on scene in approximately 30 minutes," said Andrea Wojcik of the Office of Health and Risk Communication.
The chief said in the news release that regardless of the way the state response system is configured, he has still concluded that a city police officer should have been sent to the scene.
The News Journal filed a Freedom of Information Act request on Tuesday with New Castle County and the city for the 911 call related to the incident. The county provided their piece of audio by Thursday morning.
The city did not provide its section of the 911 call before The News Journal published its story.
On Friday afternoon, after dozens of city residents expressed their disappointment in the police response, the chief released the tape as part of "an effort to shed more light on this incident" because "it’s important for the public to hear what the 911 call taker heard," the news release said.
The call is three minutes and six seconds long.
"911, what is your emergency?" the city dispatcher said.
"Hi, please come to the corner of Van Buren and Cool Spring park," said the caller, White's neighbor Heather Hook. "We have a loose pit bull, and it just attacked a dog really badly. We're trying to hold it, and we don't know what to do."
The dispatcher asked where Hook is located, and Hook told her again. Hook then passed the phone to a nearby teenager, who again gave the location.
"Whose dog is it?" the dispatcher asked.
It's not until the two minute and 20-second mark, when White is on the line, that the dispatcher asks, "Are you injured? Do you need an ambulance?"
Animal welfare officials told the Mayor's Office on Friday that no one has stepped forward to claim ownership of pit bull, which has been quarantined to detect whether the animal exhibits symptoms of rabies.
If an owner is found, the animal welfare office will pursue "dangerous dog charges" under the state statute, the city said. If no owner is identified, the animal will be euthanized after the quarantine period ends.
Helen with her surviving dog Stella
The city still has not returned calls from The News Journal about the incident, nor answered questions submitted by email.
White said she is pleased the next animal emergency will get a police response.
"I’m sorry it took a tragedy for it to get changed," she said. "But I’m glad something good came out of it."
DELAWARE -- In the 911 call, Wilmington resident Heather Hook was clear: She needed help.
"There's a pit bull loose, and it's attacking a dog, and we're trying to hold it, and it's hurt a dog," she says frantically on the recording from Monday night.
A New Castle County dispatcher said he would transfer her to Wilmington police.
"No, please! Come right away," she said as the call was sent to the city.
"911, what is your emergency?" the city dispatcher said.
"Hi, please come to the corner of Van Buren and Cool Spring park. We have a loose pit bull, and it just attacked a dog really badly."
Wilmington police didn't show up, according to residents.
The incident exposes a "glitch" in the Police Department's procedure for handling animal incidents, City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh said. "More common sense should’ve been used."
For Cool Spring resident Diane Olin White, 66, the night started like any other. Around 9:30 p.m., she was walking her two dogs – Stella, a brown 50-pound boxer mix, and Darcy, a white 17-pound poodle and Jack Russell mix.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a stray pit bull ran up to her dogs and started viciously attacking them, she said.
It went for Stella first, digging its teeth into her, but when White started hitting the pit bull to protect Stella, the pit went for 12-year-old Darcy.
The "monster" went back and forth between White's two pets for what seemed like forever to White.
Recalling advice from a veterinarian, the former school teacher tried to force her fist into the pit's mouth to prevent it from ripping her animals apart. She said she was bitten in the process.
"I felt like it was in Revelations and Evil had attacked my dogs," she said.
White "screamed and screamed and screamed," alerting neighbors.
Hook heard the commotion and ran into the street to help, she said, but the pit bull had already badly hurt Darcy.
"Diane was lying on the pit bull screaming when I got there, and Darcy was twisted in its jaws," she said. "The Pit Bull was eviscerating her dog, just chomping on it."
Hook called 911 at 9:46 p.m. Soon after Hook was transferred to the city police dispatcher, White was able to release Darcy from the pit's grip. Hook handed the phone to a nearby teenager so she could help Darcy.
"(Darcy's) blood had soaked through my shirt, down my arms," she said. "It was bad."
As for the police, "nobody came," White said.
Hook believes the city referred the case to the state's office of animal welfare because 10 minutes after the 911 call, Hook got a call from a state animal control officer.
According to Hook, he said he was out of the area and wouldn't be able to immediately respond to the scene.
"He said he was backed up and couldn’t make it up there in time," she said.
Hook didn't have much time to protest.
Other neighbors took control of the pit bull, which eventually calmed down, and White and Hook rushed to a vet. Stella suffered puncture wounds and survived, but it was too late for Darcy.
"There was nothing they could do," White said. "He didn’t have a heartbeat. He was gone."
Around 10:35 p.m., state animal control officers picked up the pit bull, neighbor Greg Luna said. That's about an hour after the attack, according to White.
An animal welfare officer met White at the hospital to take a report after 11 p.m., she said. At that point, she felt it was too little, too late.
"If you say you [won't] come, what's Plan B? Obviously, he didn’t have a Plan B."
White said she is devastated by the loss of her beloved dog and disappointed with Wilmington police.
"If there is somebody or something that is being attacked, get there," she said. "I’m angry. And I’m so sad there’s not even a word to describe the grief."
The longtime animal rescuer and 24-year resident of the city said even if police had responded, it may not have saved Darcy's life. But things also could have been worse.
"I could’ve been killed," said White, who has scrapes and bruises, is taking a "powerful antibiotic" and required a tetanus shot.
Hook, too, was surprised the neighborhood was left to fend for itself.
"I assume when you call 911 and tell the police to come, they come," she said.
But apparently, it's not always that simple.
Dispatchers are instructed to send reports about animal-on-animal incidents to the state's Office of Animal Welfare, according to Walsh. That's what they did, Walsh said, but perhaps didn't consider that a person was at risk, too.
"I think the call-taker followed protocol," said Walsh, the City Council's public safety chair. "But they should know they can go off protocol in a very dire situation, and this was a dire situation."
White said she was contacted by a Wilmington police inspector who said the department is reviewing the incident. According to White, the inspector admitted that "there should have been a response" and said the dispatcher will be disciplined.
Officially, Wilmington police would not acknowledge whether a mistake was made.
Despite repeated interview requests over three days, Sgt. Stephanie Castellani, public information officer for the Wilmington Police Department, refused to take questions about this incident.
The News Journal obtained the first part of Hook's 911 call from New Castle County. A request was submitted to the city for the rest of it, but officials have not yet provided it.
Update: The entire 3 minutes has now been released.
AUDIO CALL TO 911:
The Office of Animal Welfare confirmed it got a call Monday night after normal business hours.
"The answering service quickly relayed the report to the on-call officer, who was already in the field due to being dispatched to another call in southern New Castle County, and he immediately headed to Wilmington, arriving on scene in approximately 30 minutes," said Andrea Wojcik of the Office of Health and Risk Communication.
Wojcik declined to answer several specific questions citing an internal policy.
The pit bull was taken to the Brandywine Valley SPCA where it is on rabies quarantine, Wojcik said. At the conclusion of the quarantine, the dog will be euthanized if no owner comes forward.
White wants it to be put down.
"I've never been scared in the city," White said. "This is enough now that I’d like to leave."
