Woman Attacked By Dogs, Seriously Injured

KENTUCKY -- Franklin County officials are investigating a vicious dog attack that sent a woman to UK Hospital with serious injuries. It happened Saturday night on the 400 block of Flat Creek Road in Frankfort.

The Franklin County sheriff tells LEX 18 that 4 dogs mauled the victim, Heather Moore, in her own front yard. The dogs came from another home across the street.

"A little bitty person can't come outside their house without being attacked? It's awful," said friend Jean McCoy.

Investigators say Moore has injuries to her arms, legs and head. She was taken to UK Hospital for surgery.

"I think the worst was some type of eight or nine inch gash from the side around to the back, and the scalp was detached," McCoy tells LEX 18.

Two Pit Bulls and a German Shepherd were captured Saturday night and are being quarantined at the Humane Society.

Gayle Abrams takes care of the dogs for their owner, who is in prison.

"Sometimes I let them loose at night. I let them run, because they always run around here over into the woods and come back," said Abrams.

The sheriff says Abrams may face charges for breaking county leash laws and letting the dogs run free. The county animal control officer is currently searching for a fourth dog, a black Pit Bull, believed to still be on the loose.

(LEX18 Lexington KY News - April 27, 2014)

Pasco dog that mauled girl had bitten child previously

FLORIDA -- A dog that badly injured a 7-year-old girl in Port Richey on Friday had bitten another child, Pasco County deputies said.

The owners of the 90-pound chocolate Labrador retriever had not reported the previous incident, in which the dog bit a child’s hand, deputies said.

About 4 p.m., Friday, a Pasco County animal control officer was called to 10801 Corinth St., where the 7-year old girl and her mother had been staying with friends for a couple weeks. The dog’s owner told the officer the animal was aggressive to children and had been kept in the back room, but the girl had gone to the back room while no one was watching her. The family responded to the screams and discovered the attack.

The girl. who has not been identified by officials, sustained severe lacerations to her face, eyes and nose and may need some form of reconstructive surgery, deputies said.

The dog owner released the dog to county Animal Services. The dog’s owner also said the animal was current on its rabies vaccine, but there was no proof or tag. The dog will be quarantined at the Pasco County shelter until a determination is made about rabies, deputies said.

(Tbo.com - ‎Apr 26, 2014‎)

Dad still defends pit bulls after family pet tries to kill his child

MARYLAND -- For the first time, the father who saved his young son’s life after the family dog mauled the toddler is speaking about the nightmarish ordeal.

Mike Hellgren has his harrowing story.

While the dog was part pit bull, the dad believes this is not about the breed and rejects calls this should start any new debate in Maryland over pit bulls. He just wants everyone to know his son is going to be OK.

 

“I’ve cried so much, I don’t think I can cry anymore,” said John Cherny III.

He spoke to WJZ from the same living room in Essex where it unfolded Tuesday.

“All I heard was screaming, and I saw the dog had my son by his face and I ran in here, grabbed the dog and ripped his jaws open. The wound was really, really bad. He was missing half his face, pretty much,” Cherny said. “I had this dog for three years. Me having to kill it just…it broke my heart, too. But it was either him or my son.”

Police removed the lab/pit bull mix in a garbage bag.

“My son being hurt, I did what any father would do in that situation,” he said.

Cherny says this case should not add fuel to the heated debate over pit bulls in Maryland that ignited after the state’s highest court labeled pits “inherently dangerous,” holding landlords liable for dog bites. The General Assembly just passed a new law holding owners liable, regardless of breed.

“It makes me angry. This is something that could happen to anyone,” Cherny said. “I don’t know where this aggression came from. Maybe she was abused before we got her.”

[Excuses typically given: "it was abused before we got it", "blame the deed and not the breed", "any dog could have done this", "there are no bad dogs, just bad owners". I'm giving this article a tag of "surprised owner" as he fits with the owner who is in denial about it all.]

Cherny says his son has a long road to recovery, but doctors at Johns Hopkins are optimistic.

“The best possible scenario happened. They were able to connect all the nerve tissue in his face,” he said. “I want people to pray for him. Just pray for our family.”

Cherny says he loves dogs but doesn’t plan on getting another one — of any breed — ever again after this.

The injured 2-year-old’s little brother was in the same room at the time of the attack but was unharmed.

The family has asked if anyone has any flowers or stuffed animals–particularly “Toy Story” items–or well wishes, they send them to 14 Barnacle Court in Essex.

(CBS Baltimore - April 23, 2014)

Meet one-woman animal control department

GEORGIA -- Last week was National Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week, so it is a good time to learn more about Newnan’s one-person animal control department, Cyndi Hoffman.

Hoffman has worked for the city for almost eight years, working Monday through Friday and on call 24/7, she said. On an average week, she responds to around 50 calls. Some weeks, she responds to nearly 150. Her regular duties include rescuing lost or hurt pets and wild animals, returning pets to their owners or to a shelter, protecting neighborhoods against nuisance animals and enforcing city ordinances. But she also does much more, including educating offenders about the city’s laws.

“I do not want to have to take away anybody’s pet,” Hoffman said. “I try to work out everything with education, and then, if I have to, issue citations.”

Hoffman said it is surprising how many people in the city will work with her to meet the city’s standard for keeping pets sheltered and vaccinated. She said if money is an issue, she always tries to point the pet owners in the direction of the inexpensive solutions such as rabies clinics.

When Hoffman rescues an animal, the first thing she checks for is a microchip – she has a scanner she uses. Animals lose their collars and their tags all the time, but they can’t lose a microchip.

“I can’t speak enough for microchipping your pets,” Hoffman said. “I strongly recommend it.”

With a microchip, Hoffman can learn where the animal’s home is, how to contact the owners and, hopefully, take it directly home, she said. If not, she takes all rescued animals to the Coweta County Animal Shelter on 91 Selt Road. She said anyone who microchips their pets can see if their animal was rescued by visiting petharbor.com, and those wanting to adopt through the Coweta County shelter can also visit its website at shelterrescueinc.org.

Hoffman said she has rescued a dog from storm drains, rescued a deer stuck in a fence, has rescued hawks and removed squirrels from homes. The only animals she does not rescue are armadillos or dangerous wild animals like coyotes, or animals which could be considered infestations like rats, bats or bees.

Although she is a one-person department, Hoffman said she always gets the help from the public safety departments whenever she needs it. If she ever needs assistance with disorderly animals or people, the Newnan Police Department is always available. The same with the Newnan Fire Department – if she ever needs help rescuing an animal that is far out of reach, they respond with ladders or whatever other equipment is needed.

“I work in the most awesome city,” Hoffman said. “It is a great place to work.”

In 2012, Hoffman received an Exceptional Employee Award from the Southeastern Animal Control Association for her eradication of a pack of dogs which were attacking cats in the SummerGrove neighborhood in Newnan. Now she is working to rid the neighborhood of stray cats that are also attacking residents’ cats.

Hoffman said she is always telling people to spay and neuter their cats and dogs. Along with many medical benefits, such as the prevention of diseases and infections, the process helps reduce the population of cats and dogs.

Now, Hoffman is on the board of directors for the Southeastern Animal Control Association, and she is working on bringing the association’s annual conference to Newnan this August. The plans are for the conference to be held at the Newnan Centre on Lower Fayetteville Road.

On top of everything, Hoffman keeps up with her training. She regularly attends training courses to learn new ways to rescue different kinds of animals, which is very diversified. She has also trained to become nationally certified as an emergency first responder, and she can go into any state and assist in any kind of disaster. She also has a disaster plan for Newnan and Coweta County for how she can focus on rescuing and sheltering animals during a major emergency situation.

Even though she is only a one-person department, Hoffman tries to respond to every call she receives from concerned residents and complainants. She says as soon as anyone sees a loose animal, an animal being mistreated or whatever the situation is, give her a call at the Newnan Police Department, and she will do her best to rectify the situation. Her number at the department is 770-254-2355 ext. 163.

(Newnan Times-Herald - ‎Apr 26, 2014‎)

[She is someone who loves their job and loves helping people and animals. All Animal Control officers should aspire to be like her. Comments left at the Newnan Times-Herald:]

"Great article!!!! She rescued my 5ft iguana when she escaped from our home. She then took 'Norbi' for a ride and some cherry tomatoes. What a stand up citizen and employee-- Thank You Cyndi for all you do for both people and pets in Coweta!"

"Congratulations Cyndi!! You are the only lifeline to these animals. Your are a hardworking and compassionate person. Your hard work is appreciated. Keep up the good work!!"

Went in for the selfie, got a rabies shot

(Reddit.com - April 27, 2014)

Ottawa toddler disfigured by pit bull

CANADA -- An Ottawa toddler has suffered severe facial injuries after being attacked Sunday morning by a pit bull terrier.

The one-year-old girl was rushed to hospital by ambulance with her distraught mother at about 9:30 a.m.

Initial reports suggested she had her nose bitten off by the animal and had suffered tear and puncture wounds to her face, some of which had exposed the bone beneath.

Christine Leclair and daughter Cali.
Photograph by: Facebook image

In a news release, the Ottawa Paramedic Service described the wounds as “multiple, severe lacerations to the face.”

It’s not yet known whether the pit bull was a family pet or a neighborhood dog.

[Update: The family says it had taken in the dog named “Boss” from an old friend the day before. Leclair says she’s always been honest about knowing it had nipped at his child, but was never told it was capable of this kind of attack.]

Ottawa police have secured the animal and, along with Bylaw Services, are investigating the incident, which occurred just after 9 a.m. on Draffin Court in Nepean’s Centrepointe neighborhood.

In a statement, police said the child was bitten while the family was playing with the dog inside their west-end residence.

The girl was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition, where she is receiving treatment. Her injuries are not life-threatening, and no one else was injured, police said.

In Ontario, it’s illegal to own, import or breed an American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier or any similar breed.

People who owned pit bulls before the 2005 ban were allowed to keep their animals, but had to ensure they were neutered or spayed. The dogs also had to be muzzled and leashed in public.

The law banning the animals also gives judges the right to put down the animals if they’ve been involved in an attack.

(Ottawa Citizen - April 27, 2014)

Two years after Maryland court ruling, pit bulls on attack

MARYLAND -- In the two years since the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that pit bulls were inherently dangerous dogs, I developed a hobby: Pit Bull Google. It's a very edifying activity. Anyone with access to the Internet can do it.

You click on Google News to get the search engine's most recent results. You enter the words "pit bull," and "attack" or "police." (If you only enter "pit bull" you get the latest concert reviews for the rapper known as Pitbull.)

Without fail, the search turns up a news story about a vicious dog attack somewhere in the U.S. within the last four to 48 hours.

On Friday, the search turned up a story from California about an 8-year-old Santa Monica girl with "significant wounds" and "flesh ripped away" from an attack by three pit bulls. According to the Los Angeles Times, the attack left bite wounds from the girls' left shoulder down to her foot; her mother was bitten on the forearm.

In the two years that I've been playing Pit Bull Google, I've read and watched news reports about adults and children killed by pit bulls or what police described as "pit bull mixes," about elderly people and toddlers being maimed, or about pit bulls killing other pets.

Sometimes the owner of the pit bull — or the owner's child — is the victim.

That was the case last November when a 56-year-old woman was attacked and killed by her pit bull in the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood of Baltimore.

That was the case last week when a pit bull attacked and injured a 2-year-old boy in Essex; the dog was the family pet.

"The wound was really, really bad," the boy's father told WJZ-TV. "He was missing half his face, pretty much." Baltimore County police said that during the struggle to get the dog off the child, the dog had been killed.

"This is something that could happen to anyone," the dad told 'JZ. "I don't know where this aggression came from."

Actually, Maryland's highest court had an answer to that question.

In a ruling issued April 26, 2012, the court concluded that such aggression is innate and that owners of a pit bull or "a pit bull cross" could be held liable for damages even if their pooch had never bitten anyone before. "When an attack involves pit bulls," the court said, "it is no longer necessary to prove that the particular pit bull or pit bulls are dangerous."

Well, of course, that turned out to be one of the most controversial decisions in the court's 238-year history, with hundreds of animal advocates calling it canine bigotry and saying, "It's not the breed, it's the owner."

I wrote a column concurring with the court's opinion — that one owns a pit bull at one's own risk of injury or litigation, and please keep your pit away from me. Many pit bull lovers took offense, and in the most visceral way.

Some sent photographs of their beloved pets sleeping with toddlers and other small children — proof, in their minds, of the animal's underreported and unappreciated gentle nature.

Animal rights advocates demanded that the Maryland General Assembly take action that would negate the court ruling.

A few weeks ago, the legislature finally came up with a remedy: It made all dogs, regardless of breed, subject to the same liability standard. Supposedly this settles the issue — a breed-neutral approach in which all of us, from pit bull owners to the owners of beagles, are treated the same under the law.
So everyone is happy, sort of.

Tony Solesky, whose son suffered life-threatening injuries in the pit bull case that went to the Court of Appeals, thinks public safety was overlooked in all the howling over the court's decision. "All of the uproar was not about whether you could own dogs safely but about how being held [legally] responsible might affect the public's willingness to own dogs," he said. "Nothing for public safety was advanced."

Solesky has an important point.

He follows a website devoted to recording dog bites. Operators of the site engage in a form of Pit Bull Google and post information almost daily from news reports about bites and fatal attacks by pits and other dangerous dogs.

The latest was about an 83-year-old woman in Texas; she died of injuries sustained "from her head to her toe" in an attack by a neighbor's pit bull, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Solesky's point about safety is lost on people who believe there are no bad breeds, just bad dog owners.

But making no distinction among breeds — if only so we avoid contact with the dangerous ones — seems illogical. Research bears that out. Trauma doctors at the University of Texas looked at 15 years of dog-bite data and found that attacks by pit bulls happen more frequently than other attacks, cost more to treat and pose a higher risk of death.

After playing Pit Bull Google off and on for the last couple of years, those conclusions are too easy for me to believe.

(Baltimore Sun - April 26, 2014)