Letter to the Editor: Why choose a pit bull?

CANADA -- Have you ever thought about why people choose the dog they do? After an incident during a visit to the Elk Valley this past weekend I had cause to ponder this question.

Why did I choose a Portuguese Water Dog? The obvious answer is because we live on the side of Kootenay Lake and we thought a water dog was an obvious choice. They are hypo allergenic, also a key feature for our choice. After meeting the breeder and all the dogs she had, we were convinced that these comical, fun loving, active dogs were the right choice for us. In the four years we have had our dog he has proved to us repeatedly that we made the right choice. He loves life, people and all other friendly dogs. So, I am left wondering, why do people choose Pit Bulls?

We (five adults, two children and four dogs) were just at the end of a beautiful walk near Elkford when quite unexpectedly we were surrounded by four very large dogs, their owners too far from them to retrieve them either by voice or hand. All seemed fine as the dogs checked each other and the happy little Portuguese Water Dog invited play to which he received a growl from the Pit Bull. I called my dog in order to leash him, my friend held the Pit Bull while my dog made a beeline for me as he hates aggression. Once the aggressor was released, he headed right for us and before I knew it my dog was in the grip of the Pit Bull.

Thank goodness my friend is strong for he was able to pry the dogʼs mouth open, releasing my bewildered dog. Unfortunately both my friend and my dog sustained puncture wounds. By this time the owner was beside us and she was apologetic and concerned for our situation.

What followed was not pleasant though as we were blamed for the attack. The Pit Bull had never done such a thing before and so of course it was the fault of our dog. How can this be when the research I have done since returning home tells me the Pit Bull tops the vicious dog list and the Portuguese Water Dog doesnʼt even make the list? I understand this was someoneʼs pet but do they not know what these dogs have been bred for? Just in case they donʼt, it is fighting, go for the throat, hang on until death behaviour! It is in them whether a pet or not.

My suggestion for owners of these unpredictable dogs is to always keep them on a leash if there is any chance of meeting others. My dog was lucky only because one of our party had the knowledge and strength to release the grip of the dog. Had I been on my own, my dog may well have died as neither the owner nor I would have been able to get the release. And, of course the inevitable question has to be, “What if this dog is provoked by a child?” Why do people choose Pit Bulls?

My friendʼs thumb is healing as is my dogʼs wound. He was back to chasing snowballs today, making us laugh as he dug down through the snow to emerge with the snowball in his mouth. We are happy with our choice of companion and his fun loving nature. At least I know what to expect from him.

Heather Dean, Nelson

(The Free Press - Feb 6, 2013)

Saginaw Township toddler, mother traumatized after watching 'aggressive' roaming dogs kill family pet

MICHIGAN -- The only positive thing Sara Rucker takes away from the death of her family's pet dog is that it wasn't instead her 3-year-old daughter, who was watching from behind a glass door as two aggressive roaming dogs attacked and killed the family's Maltese poodle, Rango.

"It was (Lily) that I thought they had when I looked out the window," Sara Rucker said.

 

The Rucker family dog, Rango, a 2 year-old Maltese-Poodle mix,
pictured here with 7 year-old Davin Rucker, was killed after being
attacked by two loose neighborhood dogs in the backyard of the
family's Saginaw Township home on Wednesday, Oct. 24.

It was Wednesday, Oct. 24, about 1 p.m. when Rucker was upstairs in the bathroom and spotted the two dogs attacking darting across her yard in Saginaw Township.

 

"I see a very large dog out the corner of my eye and it was seconds later I was running down the stairs yelling her name, 'Lily!" she said.

 

She rushed downstairs to the relief that Lily was standing safely behind the locked glass door.

 

"I knew it was not going to be a good day," she said. "When I saw that (Lily) was ok, I was relieved for sure, but I knew it wasn't going to be a good day."

 

Then she saw Rango, just a few feet away outside the door, being thrashed and bitten by two Akitas, a breed of dog originating in Japan.

 

"They attacked him under the chase lounges like piranhas," she said.

 

Lily was standing and watching the gruesome scene unfold for a moment until her mother came and picked her up.

 

The family moved to the home from Arizona in December, Rucker said. She is originally from Saginaw Township and returned with her husband, David, and their two children to be closer to family.

 

They had never seen the two dogs before, Rucker said.

 

Rucker hurried up with the 911 call so she could warn neighbors, remembering that a 1-year-old infant often sits on a blanket while her mother does gardening.

 

"I didn't know if they were rabid dogs," she said, noting one looked diseased. She described them as 100-plus pound huskys with large chests and heads.

 

Thankfully, she said, no one was hurt, but Rango died later after being rushed to the vet.

 

The two Akitas were captured and put to sleep at the Saginaw County Animal Shelter.

 

After speaking with the dog's owner and an independent breeder, David Rucker said he learned that Akitas can be aggressive around children and and pets if they are not bred and raised properly.

 

The Ruckers assumed it was an isolated incident, but within an hour after the attack, they heard from neighbors about other dog attacks in the area.

 

Sara Rucker says that when she first noticed the strange dogs
 in the backyard of the Rucker's Saginaw Township home, she feared
that they were attacking their 3 year-old daughter, Lily. Relief was
short-lived when she realized that the dogs were actually attacking
the family dog, Rango, a 2 year-old Maltese-Poodle mix.
Rango died after the attack on Wednesday, Oct. 24.

Like an incident in December 2010 when Anne Flegenheimer was taking a regular walk with Lambeau, her 9-year-old Portuguese water dog, in the same neighborhood.

 

At the corner of Somerset and Draper, Flegenheimer heard a woman on the front porch yelling that she saw unfamiliar dogs running through the neighborhood.

 

"As soon as she said the words, three of the dogs just bolted for Lambeau," she said. "Two of them pined him down."

 

Lambeau tried to get away and Flegenheimer pulled did anything she could to try to stop the dogs, pulling on their tails and hitting them with her shoe.

 

"I was positive they were going to kill him so when he looked at me, I'm very close with my animals, I just said well if your going to die I have to at least have tried," Flegenheimer said. "I cant have you standing next to me and looking at me like i'm supposed to protect you and not do anything."

 

But her efforts couldn't stop the two dogs.

 

"They were focused, they were committed," she said.

 

She started screaming and four men, a jogger and three constriction workers, came to help separate the dogs.

 

Lambeau had significant injuries but made a full recovery, though he is reluctant to go for walks, especially in the neighborhood, she said.

 

"I think it aged him a lot, I think it took a lot out of him," Flegenheimer said about Lambeau, 11 years old now.

 

The county prosecuted the case against owner Charles Kelly in 2010, she said, calling for seizure of the dogs, but they were later released to the owner with stipulations.

 

Anne Flegenheimer and her husband, Mark, live in the
same Saginaw Township neighborhood as the Rucker family
with their dog Lambeau, an 11 year-old Portuguese Water
Dog. Flegenheimer says that the same dogs that killed the
Rucker's dog last week also attacked Lambeau almost two
years ago while the pair were out for a walk, resulting in over
30 staples in the skin on Lambeau's neck, rear, and leg.

Lambeau was attacked by the same two Akitas that attacked and killed Rango nearly two years later, she said, and both families believe that the dog's owners did not completely follow court orders handed down during the 2010 case.

 

Flegenheimer now carries pepper spray, meant as a defense against bear attacks, on her walks.

 

Kelly, the former owner of the dogs, said he takes the family's word that his dogs are to blame for the October attack and he voluntarily let them be put to sleep following the incident.

 

Kelly, who lives and kept the dogs on the 700 block of Somerset, said he is working with his insurance company in hopes of resolving the situation with the family.

 

Kelly said he has conformed to every court order given in the past involving his dogs and contends that Rucker has "ulterior motives" for his handling of the case. He would not comment further.

 

The Ruckers said they are not looking for financial gain but instead want their story to encourage responsible pet ownership and to warn communities of the possible dangers of dogs running loose.

 

David Rucker said he hopes his family's story will "raise the bar of responsibility and awareness" for every dog owner.

 

"We hope to find a lawyer who will support our cause and take it all the way to changing the laws in Saginaw and beyond, currently the statutes are way to lax for these types of violations against pets and their families," he said.

 

The Rucker family buried their dog, Rango, a 2 year-old
Maltese-Poodle mix, in the backyard of their Saginaw Township home.
Rango was killed after being attacked by two loose neighborhood
dogs in the family's backyard on Wednesday, Oct. 24.

 

Rucker said he wants accountability for judge M.T. Thompson, who handled the 2010 case, and said he believes if the earlier ruling was handled differently and court orders were enforced, Rango would still be around today.

"I hate making light of Rango's death but we feel like it was him instead of her or the baby next door," Rucker said. "It's kind of bizarre that it was a little dog that ironically took down these two vicious dogs."

 

(MLive - Nov 7, 2012)