Maumee boy, 8, on mend after attack

OHIO -- Eight-year-old Austin Good had played with Harley and Hemi since they were puppies and knew them well.

The dogs, which the Lucas County Dog Warden's Office said were licensed as boxers, were owned by Mike Shambarger, best friend of Austin's dad, Todd Good. Austin's family even "dog sat" on several occasions in their Maumee home.

During a visit to Mr. Shambarger's home in Richfield Township, the Evergreen Elementary second grader left the house to go out to his father's car. When he didn't return after a few minutes, his father went to the door and witnessed every parent's worst nightmare. His child was being mauled by the dogs that had been playing peacefully in the back yard just moments earlier.

The Nov. 20 incident resulted in 50 percent of the boy's scalp being torn off. One of his ears was severed and the other ear was half torn off. The injuries have required extensive and ongoing medical treatment. After the incident, Austin was transported by air ambulance to Toledo Hospital and hours later to Detroit Children's Hospital for emergency surgery to reattach his scalp.

After more than a month in the hospital, Austin was released Dec. 22 to be home for Christmas. He came home with an IV in his arm so his parents could administer his antibiotics. On Jan. 3, Austin went back to Detroit for a skin graft on the back of his head. Surgeons removed a large piece of skin from his lower back to attach to his scalp, Todd Good said.

Austin returned to school in March after managing to stay caught up with the help of a tutor. He'll have to have more surgery on his ear this summer, but the doctors are letting his small body rest and heal for the moment.

"It's really a miracle he's come through this as well as he has," Mr. Good said.

Several fund-raising dinners have been held to help pay for his ongoing medical care. An account, "Benefit for Austin Good LLC," has been set up, and donations can be made at any Fifth Third Bank branch.

The dogs, which were surrendered by Mr. Shambarger to the dog warden after the incident, were destroyed Dec. 1 because they had a bite history, Ms. Lyle said.

...Austin, who has always loved dogs, has been begging his parents for a puppy despite the incident. They recently acquired "Duke," a 10-week-old boxer puppy.

(Toledo Blade - May 26, 2012)

Wilmer woman speaks about horrifying dog attack

ALABAMA -- A Wilmer woman is recovering after she was attacked by a pack of dogs this weekend.

Mobile County Animal Control said Monday they captured all five dogs that mauled Deborah Quinley near her home on Sunday. Quinley had to receive stitches on her face, arms and legs as a result of he attack.

The incident happened not too far from the Mobile Zoo, where officials said a pack of dogs attacked and killed exotic animals at the zoo several months ago.

Animal control officials said the five mixed breed dogs captured match some of the descriptions of those seen at the zoo, but cannot confirm that they are the same ones. Officials said the leader of the pack, a male labrador retriever was the first to lunge at Quinley, who was on her way to do laundry this weekend.

"I just shooed them," Quinley said grimacing in pain. "I just shooed them off, and stomped my foot to make them go away."

Quinley said that's when her living nightmare began. Officials said the labrador retriever latched on to her arm, and the rest followed.

"He grabbed my arm, and he bit on my arm, and I couldn't make him let go," Quinley said. "A bull dog jumped up, and she bit my face."

Deborah's wife, Jerry Quinley, said he was alerted by their 13-year-old son that something was wrong.

"I stepped out the door, and I heard her screaming," Quinley said, "and I ran down the trail there, back behind the trailer, and when I came around the corner that was the awfulest thing I have ever seen.

"She had a dog on each limb, and one on her face, and they had her completely off of the ground and in a full shake."

Quinley said he ran the pack of dogs off with his wife in his arms, not realizing at first how bad her wounds were.

"Her nose was split from here (pointing to his brow) to her lip," Quinley said, "and one side of her nose was sliding down her face."

"There was blood everywhere," Deborah Quinley said. "I could feel it pouring down my legs like water."

Jerry Quinley said it was something that could have been prevented, he said, if Mobile County Animal Control did more to remove strays from his neighborhood.

"They don't do anything," Quinley said. "every time anybody out there calls, and says there's a dog (that has) been dropped off, they say, 'Ok, we'll see you in two weeks,' and they don't show up.

"My tax dollars pay these people, and now my wife is torn up from these dogs and I don't like it. I'm outraged."

Mobile County Animal Control Field Supervisor Carmelo Miranda called this a "serious incident", and the third call they've received about dogs being dropped off in the Quinley's neighborhood in as many months.

Miranda said, for his team of seven animal control officers, it is an ongoing battle.

"I could go in tomorrow to Bohannon (Road), take all the dogs there," Miranda said. "By tomorrow afternoon, somebody will come by and drop (off) more dogs."

"It's much larger than what we can control. So we fight it every day."

Miranda said the dogs are being treated as strays, though they are healthy and well-fed. He said if the owners do not claim the dogs in seven days the dogs will be euthanized, and sent to a laboratory for rabies testing.

Deborah Quinley said she fears her teenage son, who saw her that day, will live with scars deeper than hers.

"My little boy saw me," Quinley said sobbing. "Oh it was bad. I couldn't even send him to school. He don't want to come out of the house.

"I can't never take that out of his mind. I can't ever erase that."

(Local15TV - May 22, 2012)

Neighbors upset over Pit Bull attack

TEXAS -- Authorities, including police, firefighters and animal services, responded to a south central neighborhood Friday after neighbors said pit bulls began attacking other dogs.

Neighbors said this is not the first time they have had a problem with these dogs and are fed up with the dogs "terrorizing" the neighborhood.

"These dogs get loose, they are very violent dogs," said neighbor Fred Borrejo.

Neighbors said they are concerned because a school is across the street and they fear for their children's safety.

"We also have our school children right across the street. Where it could be a safety issue," said Borrejo.

Animal services told KFOX14 when they responded to the call, the fire department and the dog sitter had the situation under control.

Animal control said the dog sitter was taking the injured dogs to a vet.

"I hope something is done so that we don't go through the problems that Las Cruces have been going through with their dogs," said Borrejo.

A recent increase in pit bull attacks prompted the Dona Ana Sheriff's Department to advise animal control officers to step up enforcement of a state statute restricting vicious or dangerous dogs.

The statue requires owners of any breed deemed potentially dangerous to have a permit.

It does not ban pit bulls, like some cities in the U.S., but animal experts say its not the breed that is the problem.

"Innately pit bulls are not bad aggressive animals. People who own pit bulls do however have the responsibility to ensure that those animals are properly socialized and well trained. And if they do have aggression issues, that they are properly confined," said Betty Hoover, executive director of the El Paso Humane Society.

Hoover added, "Is it confined to the backyard? Is it chained? Is it chained to a dog house? Because all of those later things can cause aggression in animals."

In fact, the El Paso Humane Society mascot, Shelby, is part pit bull. Shelby meets and greets people at the humane society every day.

"She is the perfect model for a well-behaved pit bull," said Hoover.

Neighbors agree its not necessarily the dog's fault.

"We know its not the dog, we are dog lovers," said Borrejo.

But Borrejo added in this case, the history of these dogs violent behavior has the neighborhood very concerned and hoping something can be done to protect residents.

(KFOX - May 25, 2012)

Pensacola woman awarded $643K four years after pit bull attack

FLORIDA -- After an attack by a pit bull four years ago, a week and a half in the hospital, $100,000 in medical bills and a four-day trial this week, Vicki Bentley says she wants to finally get on with her life.

“It’s been a long four years, and I just want to get things behind me and move on,” said Bentley, 55, of Pensacola.

A Santa Rosa County jury awarded her $643,257 to cover her medical bills and pain and suffering after she was attacked by the pit bull in 2008.

“Everything turned out perfectly, and I’m glad it’s over,” Bentley said.

She declined to talk about the incident, but one of her lawyers, Timothy O’Brien of the Levin Papantonio law firm, explained the sequence of events.

On March 14, 2008, Bentley was visiting a sister-in-law who lived with an unrelated family on Greenfield Street in Milton. The only way to enter the house was to go through the gate in the fence surrounding the front yard.

Bentley knew there were dachshunds at the house, but she wasn’t aware that a pit bull was a new addition, O’Brien said.

The pit bull attacked Bentley when she entered the fenced yard. She still bears extensive scarring on her arms and legs.

The crux of the court case came down to whether there was a sign that warned people about the dog when the attack happened, O’Brien said.

The dog’s owner, Gregory Zane Gray, 30, and homeowner George Wetherbee Jr. said the sign had always been visible.

But the neighbor who helped Bentley escape from the dog said Gray posted the sign after the dog attacked.

The pit bull was euthanized, but it wasn’t because of the attack involving Bentley, O’Brien said.
Rather, Gray put the dog down after it attacked one of the family’s dachshunds, he said.

Jacksonville lawyer Kristen Van der Linde of the Boyd & Jenerette firm, who represented Gray and Wetherbee, said she and her clients are sorry that Bentley was attacked.

“Of course, this is something that nobody wanted to have happen,” she said. “But we are disappointed by the verdict, and we’re looking into what our post-trial appeal options are.”

(PNJ - May 26, 2012)

Sheriff: 2 pit bull mixes seized after attack on livestock

MICHIGAN -- Huron County Sheriff's deputies were called to investigate a report that two dogs had attacked a man's livestock at a home on Munford Road in Paris Township. 

The deputy learned that sometime after 8 a.m. Friday, the homeowner had a 500-pound heifer get attacked by two neighborhood dogs. The homeowner said that he had to scare them away in order to keep the dogs from killing the heifer. 

Later in the morning, the homeowner noticed one of his ducks had been killed, which he told authorities was the ninth duck killed within this last week. That's when the homeowner decided to call police. 

Two deputies located the dogs at their home, which was about a mile from the complainant's residence. Both deputy's reported that they attempted to go to the resident's door but were unable to because the angry dogs would not permit them to get out of their vehicles. 

After making several phone calls, a homeowner was located and responded to their residence.  The homeowner cooperated and turned the two dogs over to the deputies. 

The two dogs, which the owner claimed were pit bull mixes, were transported in the department's dog trailer to the Thumb Animal Shelter near Elkton. Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson said charges will be sought and the dogs will remain impounded until further notice.

[These do not look like pit bull mixes to me. A lot of the commenters on the news website agree with me. However, they also blather on about how this is the media's fault that they've been identified as pit bull mixes or that authorities have a hidden agenda to use stories like these to ban pit bulls in Michigan: 

"Here we have two DOGS (I don't see pit in either dog....try lab mix and shepherd mix but the headline is not as eye catching than is it WNEM?)..." - Mary Gibson-Paetz

"Those are not in anyway Pitbull Mix's ,,, Balck one is a Lab Mix and the Brown one is a Shepherd Mix !!! The only reason they say Pit Mix is because it makes good news and scares the public ,, The state ain't going to be happy until they ban Pitbulls from the state of Michigan..The facts are Labs and Shepherds bite more people then pitbulls and this is comming from the Vets,, It's because more people have these dogs as pets.." - jack campbell

They're so concerned with bellowing their pit bull agenda that they failed to read the part in the news article that says, "THE TWO DOGS, WHICH THE OWNER CLAIMED WERE PIT BULL MIXES..."]

(WNEM - May 25, 2012)

Two pit bulls euthanized after vicious attack of man and dog

NEW MEXICO -- Ana County Animal Control officers euthanized two pit bulls after they attacked a 63-year-old man who was walking his dog Wednesday morning near Dalrympleand Trojan Lane.

"Those are killer-type situations," Bill Bowling told KFOX14 as he described the attack.

Bowling said he was walking with his 9-year-old Australian Shepherd Heeler Cross, Carley, around 8 a.m. when he saw two raging pit bulls race toward them.

"They had intentions to hurt us," Bowling said.

Bowling was able to fight the dogs off with a knife he had on him.

"They pulled us down in the ditch and I had a knife," Bowling said.

Bowling said that a neighbor came out to help him and watched over Carley. Bowling went inside his home, grabbed a gun, and shot the other pit bill.

The Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office said that both of the dogs were still alive when they were taken by animal control but were then euthanized.

Carley was severely bitten and is being treated by her veterinarian.

"She's in shock and chewed up but I think she's going to make it," Bowling said. "I'm very blessed to have good neighbors."

Bowling was left with some cuts and bruises to his hands.

The Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office said the owner of the pit bulls is 26-year-old Chris Sanchez, who was cited twice before for not restraining his dogs.

"I feel that those owners, you know, need to be responsible," Bowling said.

Sanchez is charged with two counts of failure to restrain an animal and two counts of having a vicious or dangerous animal.

(KFOX - May 23, 2012)

Earlier:

• Man stabs, shoots at pit bulls after attack

Man says dog in attack was vicious

NEW YORK -- Authorities are trying to track down the owner of the pit bull who attacked a man walking down the street on the city's east side on Thursday.

The dog that attacked the 63-year-old and two others were seized on Landon Street and remain caged at the City Animal Shelter.

Animal control officer Chuck Loubert said, "As we got out of the truck, the one dog in the yard charged us."

He says it was pretty tense after getting the call.

"We don't want to get bit. Nobody wants to get hurt. Our job is to get the dog. The dog that bit the fellow," Loubert said.

Sheila Williams saw the dog go after the man on Thursday.

Williams, who called 911, recounted, "We seen the dogs latch onto him in the middle of the street, and they were biting him, and I kept saying, 'Oh my God, those dogs are biting him. Those dogs are biting him.'"

The man was treated and released from the hospital. Neighbors like Horace Thurman know it could've been a lot worse. He says the dogs chased him over his fence.

"He was vicious, I'm telling you. I had to hop my own gate because I couldn't get back in my door. He ran at me in my yard. And I ripped my fingers, ripped the palm of my hand hoping the gate because it's got the spikes on the top of it," Thurman said.

News 4 was on the scene as the dogs were picked up by animal control. The next step for authorities will be finding and talking to the owner.

"It's tough because when we get situations like this they actually hide. They know we're looking for them. The police are looking for them. So they hide," said Loubert.

It is unclear how two of the dogs got loose. The third seized was pregnant and remained chained up.

(WIVB - May 25, 2012)

Related:

• Neighbor recounts terrifying dog attack