Pennsylvania: Michael Hornyak, 43, charged with animal cruelty

Full Name: Michael Joseph Hornyak
Alias: Mike Hornyak, Michael J Hornyak
Gender: Male
Birthdate: 12/04/1961
Height: 5'09"
Weight: 160 lbs
Eye Color: BLUE
Arrest Age:43
Arrest Date: 10/10/2005
Arresting Agency: Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
Total Bond: $4640
Charges
#1 FAIL TO USE SAFETY BELT SYSTEM 10
BOND: $928

#2 DRIV WHILE OPER PRIV SUSP OR REVOKED
BOND: $928

#3 DR W/O A LIC
BOND: $928

#4 EXCEED SPEED LIMIT BY 16-25 MPH
BOND: $928

#5 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: ABUSE ANIMALS
BOND: $928

Animal Control Officer suspended after his boss releases aggressive dog

GEORGIA -- Upson County's Animal Control Officer has been suspended by county commissioners over an incident that occurred July 23.

Smart Web has been with the county for eight years, and this is his first formal reprimand.

Web was suspended for five days for allegedly not following procedure in declaring a pit bulldog dangerous after it bit an 8-year-old child in the face on Rualmaine Road.

 According to the Upson County Sheriff's report, the attack was unprovoked, and the young girl required stitches.

According to Web, the grievance is because the dog had been released to the owner.

Web said he did not release the dog, but former County Manager Mark Byrant did.

"I spoke with Mark (Bryant) and he told me that the owner was taking the dog to Pike County and it wasn't our problem anymore," Web said.

"That dog is dangerous. Our problem shouldn't have been given to another county."

The dog was picked up the day of the attack and impounded.

The pit bulldog is owned by a husband and wife who do not live together. She lives in Upson County and he lives in Pike County.

"I told the wife I was going to declare the dog dangerous if she was going to pick it up," Web said.
"I told her that because if she wasn't going to pick the dog up there is no reason for me to declare it dangerous," he said.

If the dog is not picked up by the owner in 10 days, the dog is put down, according to Webb.

During this time Webb was still attending Middle Ga. Police Academy at the county's expense.

"I was at the school the county sent me to," he said.

"I left orders for the dog not to be released. The dog would have been put down Aug. 3, if the owner didn't want to pick the dog up.

"I notified the owner that the dog would be declared dangerous," Web said, "After hearing this, he wanted to pick his dog up."

The Pike County man paid the animal control office via money order Aug. 3, according to their receipt book. The man picked the dog up Aug. 15.

"I didn't know the dog was gone," Web said. "I was still going through normal procedure in declaring the dog dangerous."

Web has since graduated, with honors, receiving a certificate from the basic law enforcement training course.

He said he asked Bryant about the situation.

"When I found out, I asked Mark about it. That's when he told me it wasn't our problem anymore.

"When your boss tells you that it's out of your hands, it's out of your hands. I can't go over his head."

Web said the mistake was not his.

"This is a dangerous dog," he said.

"It was a family dog that attacked without being provoked. I followed procedure, and now I'm being punished because my boss made the decision, not me," Web said.

"This is an unjust situation."

County Commission Chairman Glenn Collins had no comment.

Web said he will appeal this decision at the next meeting of the Upson County Commissioners.

(Thomaston Times - Oct 5, 2005)

Illinois: Sean Hand, 40, pleads not guilty to shooting his neighbor's cat

ILLINOIS -- A Gurnee, Ill., man pleaded not guilty to wounding a neighbor's cat by shooting it twice with a .22-caliber rifle.

Sean Hand, 40, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of animal abuse, animal torture and criminal damage to property and faces a Nov. 28 trial in Lake County, Ill., Circuit Court.

Police told the Chicago Tribune they did not know what prompted the July shootings that left the black tabby with a bullet in the right leg and a broken bone and its owner with a $4,000 veterinary bill.

(UPI - Oct 5, 2005)

Brazil: Boy, 2, mauled to death by his grandparents' pit bull

BRAZIL -- A pit bull killed a 2-year-old boy, attacking the child as he was playing in the backyard of his grandmother’s house in southern Brazil, local media reported Saturday.

Guilherme Vieira was with his 6-year-old brother when the grandmother’s dog suddenly attacked them Thursday night in Ponta Grossa, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Sao Paulo, the Folha Online news service reported.

The boy suffered severe wounds to his neck and head, and died shortly after being admitted to a hospital, firefighters said. His brother escaped unharmed after the grandmother called authorities.

The family said the dog, which was unleashed at the time of the incident, had always been around the children without problems, but neighbors told Folha that it had attacked other people before.

Police was investigating the case, and could charge the grandparents with involuntary manslaughter.

(Latin American Herald Tribune - Oct 2, 2005)

Oklahoma: Claudine Papen, 73, screamed in horror as her two small dogs were attacked by a Pit Bull; one dog didn't survive the mauling

OKLAHOMA -- A Tulsa woman walking her dogs faces a vicious pit bull. The city of Bartlesville just passed an ordinance that is supposed to crack down on dangerous dogs.

This recent attack in Tulsa has some wondering if Tulsa needs the same rules. News on 6 anchor Scott Thompson says it happened Friday morning.

73-year-old Claudine Papen was walking her two dogs just blocks away from her home, when a pit bull came out of nowhere and attacked her pets. Papen says the dog struck 3-year-old Holly first, and then attacked 2-year-old Kricket. Holly was able to escape.

A Good Samaritan held back the pit bull so Papen could take Kricket to a veterinarian. The doctor who treated Kricket says the dog had 15 to 20 puncture wounds where the pit bull had sunk its teeth into the dog's chest. Kricket later died.

Holly was found more than a mile away at LaFortune Park. Vets had to staple her throat shut and patch up her paws which she had worn down to the flesh.

The pit bull's owner asked Papen if he could help.

Claudine Papen: "And I said, 'put the dog down.'

And he said, 'put her to sleep?'

And I said, 'yes.'

I said, 'That could've been a child, it could've been a human.'

And he started to give me his name and phone number and I said, 'I know who you are.'"

(NewsOn6 - August 18, 2005)

Oklahoma: Man and boy given awards by the governor for bravery involving Pit Bull attack

OKLAHOMA -- A Bartlesville man and boy are recipients of the Heroic Oklahoman award for helping save two children from a dog attack.

Governor Brad Henry presented the awards Wednesday to Bill Mathis and 11-year-old Christopher Bailey during a ceremony at the state Capitol.

Christopher was walking home from school with his 8-year-old sister Brittney and 6-year-old brother Aaron on May 9th when a pit bull started to attack. He stood between his sister and brother to protect them as the dog attacked.

Mathis then drove by and stopped to distract the dog until it could be contained.

Christopher is recovering from numerous bite wounds, surgery to reattach his calf muscles, stitches in his left knee and a sprained thumb.

His brother and sister were not seriously injured.

PORTION OF ORIGINAL STORY

Bailey said the owner of the dog who was standing across the street began to yell at the dog, but made no attempt to pull the dog off of the child.

“At that point, Bill (Mathis) happened to be driving by with his own children and saw the attack,” she said. “So he stopped and helped.”

… Mathis charged the animal and succeeded in getting it to momentarily break off its attack on Christopher. At that point, he said, the owner of the dog became concerned that Mathis would hurt her dog.

The attack marks the second reported pit bull attack on a child in the past year.

In October of 2004, a pit bull attacked 6-year old Noah Cross, at the home of a relative. The boy lost part of an ear, sustained fractured bones in his cheeks and an eye socket, and required a thousand stitches as a result of the attack.

Max Bailey [the kids’ father] said that he plans to try and get the city to pass laws concerning pit bulls so that what happened to his children will not have to happen to other kids.

(NewsOn6 - July 20, 2005)

Pennsylvania: No punishment for cop who shot and killed a turtle. LEN GALLI is an embarrassment to law enforcement

PENNSYLVANIA -- As people question why a police sergeant shot and killed a snapping turtle last week, a municipal police training commission recommends the sergeant be placed on administrative leave or administrative duty while an investigation is conducted.

Police Chief John McNeil says that’s nonsense.

“It’s like if an officer decides to shoot a deer hit by a car, it’s his decision.”

McNeil, who was at a conference for the Police Chiefs Association in Valley Forge this week, said he does plan to review Sgt. Len Galli’s report but will not put him on administrative leave.

“I was absent during the incident and only knew about it from the papers,” he said. “I will read his report and move on from there.”

McNeil said a specific report must be filled out whenever an officer fires a weapon.

“If a gun was discharged at a human, the incident would be handled in a totally different way, but it was a turtle,” McNeil said.

Beverly Young, of the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission in Harrisburg, said Monday she does not know the specifics of the incident, but the commission teaches officers to only use force if there is an endangerment of life or property.

“I hope he had a nightstick or contacted animal welfare before discharging the weapon.”

The turtle, estimated to be 50 pounds, was found in the Wyoming Avenue yard of James Fino on the morning of July 8. First Fino tried to poke the turtle away with a broomstick, but the tortoise quickly snapped the stick in two.

When Galli took over, he attempted to pick it up. The turtle nearly bit the sergeant’s back, so he fired two rounds into the turtle’s head.

This is laughable. This guy doesn't deserve to call himself a police officer. He is a complete moron who should be fired.

Young said if the shooting involved another human, the officer would immediately be put on administrative duty. But the policy on discharging a weapon on an animal is different for every department.

Galli did not return calls for comment for this story.

(Times Leader - July 15, 2005)