Naples woman shoots, kills boyfriend's pregnant dog during argument

FLORIDA -- A Naples woman is accused of shooting and killing her boyfriend's pregnant dog during an argument.

Kelly Gresham, 43, of the 10000 block of Laakso, got into a verbal argument with her boyfriend Sunday during an evening out with four friends.

According to the arrest report, Gresham had several mixed alcoholic beverages. Gresham and her boyfriend began arguing, so the group decided to leave together.

During the ride to Gresham's home, Gresham reached from behind the driver's seat and took the keys from the ignition. She then began punching her boyfriend in the face. Her friends were able to calm her so that they could continue the ride home.

Once home, Gresham proceeded to the bedroom where she said to the boyfriend, "You wanna hear something funny?" Gresham then shot and killed the boyfriend's pregnant pit bull, according to the arrest report.

Gresham was arrested by Collier deputies and faces a felony charges of cruelty to animals, possession of firearm with ammo, shooting missile into dwelling building and a misdemeanor of domestic violence.

Gresham's criminal history revealed that she is a convicted felon.

(Naples News - June 27, 2011)

Pomeranian ripped from grandma's arms

UNITED KINGDOM -- A great-grandmother from Leftwich was left traumatised when her granddaughter’s pet was ripped from her arms and savaged by another dog.

Fortunately Ted, a Pomeranian, was saved from serious injury by his furry coat.

Brenda Bond, 64, was walking Ted outside the shops in Clifton Drive at 11.30am on Saturday.

Brenda with Ted, who is recovering after the attack.

She said: “There were two little girls behind me and this big massive dog came running up at me.

“Ted was in a harness and I picked him up in my arms but the big dog was ragging at my dog’s tail and he ripped my little dog right through his harness.

 “I was screaming and someone said I collapsed.

“I hit the big dog with the lead.

“I was hysterical and the neighbours were trying to get me in the house.”

Brenda, of Balmoral Avenue, was walking Ted on behalf of her granddaugher Demi-Lee, who was looking after her three-week-old baby girl Evie-Lee.

Demi-Lee has two dogs, 18-month-old Ted and three-year-old Tilly Minx, who was not out with Brenda and Ted on Saturday.

Brenda said: “What saved my pom is his fur, he’s a really furry-coated dog.

“If it had been the other dog she would have been dead.

Ted’s furry coat saved him
from more serious injury.

“We took him to the vets and he’s got that many puncture marks all round his private parts.”

Brenda said there were two heroes that managed to separate the dogs, one who kept Ted safe down an alley and another who kept the bigger dog, a Staffordshire bull terrier, at bay.

Brenda said: “If I hadn’t been there with my little dog, would the two little girls behind me have been the next target?”

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: “The dog received minor injuries.
“No members of the public were attacked or received injuries.

“The owners of both animals were spoken to by police.

“No offences were reported.”

(Northwich Guardian - June 28, 2011)

Cat mauled to death by pit bull

TAUNTON, MA -- A harmless, one-and-a-half-year-old cat was mauled to death and dragged away by a pit bull Sunday afternoon, according to the cat’s owner and neighbors.

 

Police say when they arrived at 22 Emma Ave. just before 2:30 p.m. — in response to a call of a pit bull having killed a cat — they observed a brown pit bull dog lying beside the house.

The cat’s 35-year-old owner, described as extremely distraught, was waiting for police in front of the house along with several neighbors.

The owner told cops that she and her husband were in their yard around the corner on Norman Avenue when they noticed the dog on their property and tried to guide him out.

But she said as the dog was walking down their driveway it noticed the family’s 18-month-old cat, who she said was deaf, lying in the mulch bed. The dog allegedly grabbed the cat, mauled it and carried it back to the
Emma Street house.

The owner told cops she tried kicking the dog, and that neighbors also tried helping her, but that the pit bull would not release the cat from its jaws.

The police report states that as an officer spoke to the woman, the dog stood up and slowly made its way to the fence where they were talking. The officer says at that point he administered a short burst of pepper spray to deter the animal from any further attack.

Police said according to the city’s Assistant animal Control Officer Chuck Mosher, as well as several neighbors and even the dog’s owner, this wasn’t the first time the dog had killed a cat in the area.

The dog reportedly was taken to the Taunton animal shelter by Mosher in lieu of a decision either to return it to the owner or have it put down.

Police said they confirmed the cat was deceased and were told by the owner that she would personally bury her pet.

There have been three other reported incidents during the past nine months of a pit bull dog or dogs attacking other animals.

In May, a pit bull reportedly attacked and bit a 20-pound mixed-breed terrier being walked on a leash by its owner. In October 2010 police said two pit bulls mauled a golden retriever confined to its owners’ property, resulting in a vet bill of $3,700.

Also in October, police said a pit bull severely damaged a 15-pound Bichon Shi Tzu being walked by its owner in Weir Village.

(Taunton Gazette - June 27, 2011)

Canada: Owner hangs pit bull after attack on boy

CANADA -- A dog owner in Shirley hanged the animal to death Friday after it attacked a five-year-old boy.

After the attack about 6: 30 p.m. on Anderson Road, police arrived on the scene. The chocolate Labrador / Pit Bull mix was dead and the owner, 39, admitted to hanging it in his backyard with its leash.

Neighbours had heard screaming and crying from up the street during the attack.

"It was the sound of human despair. It was like nothing I ever heard before," said Matt Robertson, who lives on Anderson Road in the community west of Sooke. "It was awful. It was absolutely chilling."

The young boy was sent to hospital, suffering a severe cut to his right cheek, and required emergency surgery.

He is expected to make a full recovery, but his current condition is unknown to police, said Staff Sgt. Steve Wright of Sooke RCMP.

The family knew the neighbour's dog, and the boy had been playing with it before the attack.

The owner grabbed the dog right away and hanged it without anyone seeing him do so.

Sooke RCMP passed the matter to the B.C. SPCA, which will investigate the case. Police have not released the dog owner's name because charges have not been laid.

If there is evidence of an offence, B.C. SPCA constables could recommend charges to the Crown, said Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations.

But because it happened during the weekend, they have not yet received the file.

Dog owners are allowed to stop their pet during an attack, but cruelty after the attack is illegal.

(Times Colonist - June 28, 2011)

Woman tells of dog attack

AUSTRALIA -- A Kentucky Bluegrass woman has told of a terrifying dog attack in the street that left her needing two operations on her arm.

One of the dogs that attacked her ripped a chunk of flesh the size of a golf ball out of her arm.

Kay Clough is recovering slowly after she was
viciously attacked by two dogs while walking her
own dog around the block.

Kay Clough, 68, said she took her small pet dog, Sam, for a walk around the estate last Tuesday, just as they have done almost every day for the past three years.

Mrs Clough said she became aware of a dog following them as they walked.

Then suddenly there were two dogs that launched an attack on them.

“One went for Sam and I let his leash go, and then the next thing the other one jumped up and grabbed my arm,” she said.

“I was screaming out: ‘Help me! Somebody please help me!’”

Mrs Clough said a woman from a nearby house came to her aid and helped her chase the dogs away, and called emergency services for her.

An ambulance took her to emergency at Bundaberg Hospital, and she had to go into the operating theatre twice to repair damage to her arm.

Mrs Clough said Sam was also bitten in the attack, but was probably saved by a thick Brisbane Broncos collar he wears.

He ran straight home afterwards.

“I don’t think I feel comfortable walking around there again,” Mrs Clough said.

“A couple of people have said they have been harassed by roaming dogs.

“There are a lot of young children in the area and it’s school holidays now.”

Bundaberg Regional Council health and environmental services spokeswoman Mary Wilkinson said the council was aware of the attack, and urged dog owners to take responsibility for their animals by ensuring their fencing was adequate.

Cr Wilkinson said dog attacks could not occur if the dogs were properly contained on the owner’s property.

“Unfortunately there are an unacceptably high number of dog attacks occurring within the community which are a reflection of the attitudes of irresponsible dog owners,” she said.

(News Mail - June 28, 2011)

Boy, 3, mauled by pit bull

UNITED KINGDOM -- A 3 year-old boy’s picnic on the riverside in York ended in horror when he was attacked and bitten by a dog.

Preston Sellars suffered puncture wounds to his chest as the dog – believed to be an American Staffordshire Terrier – knocked him to the ground near Clifton Bridge and stood over him.

The animal’s owner pulled it off the screaming boy, and then offered Preston’s mother, Amanda Simpson, a tissue before walking off with the dog, leaving her to call a taxi to take him to hospital.

Amanda, of Carr Lane, off Boroughbridge Road, said today she feared the dog would now attack another child, and she urged its owner – or anyone who knew who it belonged to – to contact police.

She said if the dog had bitten Preston a few inches higher, he could have been left with permanent facial scarring.

She said: “As it is, he now flinches when we walk past a dog and are worried he will be mentally scarred.”

She revealed the wound had been left open and had to be dressed regularly, and Preston had been given antibiotics to ensure he did not get an infection from the dog’s mouth, and he had also had a tetanus jab.

She said: “I am speaking out because I can’t bear the thought of opening the paper or switching on the news in a week’s time and hearing a little kid’s been mauled by the same dog.”

She said the incident happened at about 4pm on Sunday on the riverbank just upstream of Clifton Bridge, not far from the RSPCA animal home.

“It was a nice day, so we decided to go for a picnic by the river, as Preston likes to watch people fishing.

“The dog was like a Staffy, only with long legs – I think it’s known as an American Staffordshire – and it had a collar with a name tag shaped like a bone.

“The dog was off its lead when it went up to my older son, Callum, who’s 11, and nipped his T-shirt. The man, who was in his 50s, saw what happened and put the dog on its lead, but it was quite a long lead and it just went for Preston.

“It knocked him on his back and was standing over him. I was screaming hysterically and the man dragged it off and then asked if I wanted a Kleenex, quite casually.

“I said ‘I think it’ll need more than a Kleenex,’ and then he said he hadn’t any transport and just walked off. I think if it was my dog that had done that, I would have felt like strangling it there and then.”

• North Yorkshire Police said the incident was in the early stages of investigation and it urged any witnesses in the area at the time – including the owner – to phone PC Wesley Cooper on 0845 6060247, quoting crime reference number 12110105980.

A police spokeswoman said: “All dog owners have a responsibility to ensure their animal is kept under control, which includes keeping it on a lead at all times in a public place.

“Allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control is an offence and can result in imprisonment or fine, or both.”

(York Press - June 28, 2011)

Florida: Pit Bulls Attack Animal Control Officer

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- An Animal Control Officer attacked by two pit bulls may be out for work for a week or more.

 The dogs are now under lock and key at the animal shelter while Leon County Animal Control completes its investigation.

Director Richard Zeigler says an officer responded to a stray dog report on Munson Landing Road Friday.

Ziegler says the Officer was charged by one dog and that's when the other attacked from behind.

"She got bit very badly on both legs, arms, wrists and her stomach area," Zeigler said.

And what's the prognosis for her recovery?

"That's day to day right now," Zeigler said.

Zeigler says the officer has a series of doctor's appointments scheduled and he does not expect her back on the job this week.

The Animal Control Officer declined our request for an interview.

Zeigler says he hopes to complete the dangerous dog investigation by the end of the week. Depending on its outcome, the owner could face citations and fines and the dogs could be euthanized.

Zeigler says he does not know why the dogs were running loose. He says he's not sure yet whether the dogs managed to get out or were never confined in the first place.

That's something they'll try to determine in the investigation.

(WCTV - June 27, 2011)