Pit Bulls

All right, then. You're emotional involvement absolves you of any expectation of rational discourse and allows free license to hyperbole. My bad.

Woman attacked by pit bull clings to life
June 16, 2008, Adam Huening

Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic details that may be unsettling to some readers. Discretion is advised.

A local woman is fighting for her life after being mauled by her own dog.

Annette Williams, 615 W. North St., was reported to be in Methodist Hospital after her pit bull turned on her and attacked the woman in her fenced-in backyard Saturday morning.

Monday, details surrounding the cause of the attack were still unknown. However, the events and injuries were coming to light. According to Greensburg Police Chief Brian Heaton, the GPD received a 911 call at 6:21 a.m. regarding a woman screaming in the 600 block of West North Street. Heaton said an officer canvassed the area but discovered nothing suspicious nor did the officer hear anything out of the ordinary.

Just after 7, Laura Irvine was leaving the home of Joyce Helt, who lives across the alley from Williams. As she walked to her car, Irvine heard a faint call for help behind the brown privacy fence surrounding the backyard of the house next door.

“I heard her cry for help. It was really faint. Then she called out ‘Joyce.’ She must have heard the (back door) shut and called for help. We couldn’t hear her inside,” Irvine said.

The woman went to investigate, walking to the back of Williams’ yard where the fence was lower.

“When I got near the fence, the dog jumped up at the fence, barking and growling right in my face,” Irvine said.

When she stepped back from the fence and looked around the dog, she could see the scene. Williams was laying in the middle of the yard. Red blood stained green blades of grass, the side of the garage and the garage door. Everything in the yard had been knocked over and Williams was barely able to speak.

Irvine called 911 at 7:17 a.m., according to Heaton, and waited with Williams. She tried to keep her calm, she said, as the dog barked, growled and paced back and forth.

“I kept telling her help was on the way,” Irvine said. “Anytime she would yell ‘help’ or try to talk, the dog would run around her and bark at her.”

When officers arrived, the dog stood its ground. Heaton said Lt. Fred Huser and Officer Jarrod McCalvin were unable to enter the backyard. With the dog’s aggressive behavior and the woman’s condition, the officers acted quickly, Heaton said, and drew their weapons, destroying the pit bull.

“They absolutely had no other option but to shoot the dog,” Heaton said. “They both did a superb job. Unfortunately, they had to destroy it, but they did what they had to do to help that person as quickly as possible, and apparently just in time.”

With the dog dead, paramedics could finally access the yard to help Williams. The viciousness of the attack gave her little time as she bled profusely on the lawn. Williams was rushed to the hospital, Heaton said, and later transported to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. According to Irvine and Helt, Williams’ left arm was completely amputated and doctors were waiting to see how the infection healed before determining if she would lose her right arm as well. [Note: She lost her right arm later.] Helt said doctors had not determined if the attack would be fatal.

Heaton said officers had no known cause for the attack. Irvine said Willams and her husband had raised the 3 to 5-year-old male pit bull since it was a puppy. As she tried to comfort Williams, the woman told Irvine she let him out like she did every morning and this time, he turned on her and attacked.

The viciousness of the attack, Heaton said, was evident to anyone who was at the scene. Even officers who had seen their share of brutality had a hard time dealing with it. The pit bull did not merely attack his owner, Heaton said.

“Lt. Huser described it as ‘the grossest thing he had ever seen in 32-plus years on the force,’” Heaton said. “The dog was literally eating her to death.”

Irvine and Helt agreed they had never seen anything like it and hoped this served as a wake up call to people who keep these animals as pets. Irvine said despite the fact it was a vision she may never forget, she wasn’t leaving Williams until the police arrived.

“It was just a mess, blood everywhere, bones, bones sticking out of her flesh, and it wasn’t just bites, it was just chunks taken out,” Irvine recalled, the horror visible on her face as she recalled that Saturday morning. “It’s something that stays with you, all day and into the night. I’m still seeing it in my mind. I still think about it.”

Heaton noted since the dog was owned by Williams, and it was properly contained in accordance to city ordinance, no criminal charges will be followed and the investigation is closed.

How would anyone even exercise them?

What is newsworthy is not what is normal -- that is what makes it newsworthy. That's it, I'm done, cheers.

We can agree to disagree, then. Cheers to you.

Attempting to do something about dangerous killer dogs has a far better chance of success than doing something about killer parents

Pit bull euthanized after attacking, killing owner's aunt
Posted: Thursday, March 4, 2010 2:25 PM EST
By Logan Smith - email

LEE COUNTY, SC (WIS) - A pit bull was euthanized in Lee County Thursday after it attacked and killed its owner's aunt, who had been caring for it while her nephew was out of town.

Lee County Sheriff E.J. Melvin said Ethel Baker Horton, 65, was killed off Stokes Bridge Road near the town of Lucknow while defending her 71-year-old husband, Jerry Horton, from the pit bull.

"You never think of somebody dying that horrible death like that, not someone as close as she is to us," said Brenda Gillespie, who had breakfast with the Hortons just two days ago. "It's just terrible."

The Hortons were dog-sitting their nephew's 10-year-old pit bull named Brutus while the nephew was out of town, Melvin said. The dog had been tied to a 15-foot chain attached to a stake in the ground in the backyard next door.

"I've always been scared of pit bulls, but they weren't scared of them," said Gillespie.

Around 11:40am Thursday, Jerry went out to feed six beagles and two huskies that were also being kept in the backyard. As Jerry was feeding the other dogs, Melvin said the pit bull pulled the chain loose and attacked Jerry.

Ethel ran out and tried to defend her husband with a plastic pipe, but Brutus turned on her and mauled her. Jerry called his son, who in turn called 911.

Ethel was killed in the attack, and Jerry was taken to Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in Hartsville with non-life threatening injuries.

"I know this is gonna just be so hard on him if he makes it, because they were just as one," said Gillespie.

The pit bull has been taken away and euthanized, and is being tested for rabies. The as-yet-unidentified nephew has been notified of the incident, but it's unclear if he will face charges.

The sheriff's department says Brutus never acted out before and in fact, the Hortons were familiar with him since he was a puppy.

"If any stranger comes around he may bark or anything like that but any other family member that's close to the dog, anybody can go up to him," said Major Daniel Simon. "That's what the family told me."

"It's very devastating, because if you're expecting someone to pass away that's not as bad," said Gillespie. "But for something like this, it's kind of hard to comprehend."

Pit bull attacks are not exactly uncommon in the Midlands, even when they don't result in death. In April 2009, different dogs attacked a Florence woman and a Sumter 10-year-old within a month of each other. The previous fall, a pit bull attacked a woman and her puppy, injuring her and killing her dog.

But fatal attacks have also taken place in the Midlands, mainly on children. In 2007, a father was charged with involuntary manslaughter when his five pit bulls killed his 22-month-old child. Later that year, a two-year-old was attacked and killed after wandering into the fenced-in backyard.

Boy, 10, severely mauled by 3 dogs in Arizona City

by Lindsey Collom - Jan. 20, 2011 11:35 AM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Authorities say a 10-year-old boy was seriously injured in a mauling attack by three dogs in Arizona City.

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office said the boy had just exited a school bus Wednesday afternoon and was walking home with his younger brother when they were approached by two Rottweiler mixes and a pit-bull mix.

The boys yelled at the canines to ward them off, but authorities said the dogs continued to advance.
A Sheriff's Office statement said the victim's brother ran for help as the dogs attacked the 10-year-old, biting him in the face, neck, torso and legs.

The boy's brother returned with other children and kicked at the dogs to stop the mauling. The statement said the dogs fled after neighbors began to strike them with baseball bats.

The victim was flown to Phoenix Children's Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, Pinal County Animal Care & Control officers detained two of the dogs at a nearby home, and a third was detained in an area east of the attack.

The dogs are being quarantined at the county Animal Care & Control facility in Casa Grande and will remain there for at least 10 days while an investigation is complete, county spokeswoman Heather Murphy said. The dogs will be tested for rabies and, if cleared, will likely be returned to the owner.

Authorities said the owner has been contacted, but it was not immediately clear whether Animal Care has had previous contact with him or her.

Once an investigation is complete, it will be turned over to the Pinal County Attorney's Office for possible prosecution.

Additionally, the county has the option to cite the owner for the bite incident and for having dogs at large, Murphy said.

Hundreds attend funeral for girl killed in pit bull attack

Written by Chris Dyches - email & Jeff Rivenbark - email & Sharon Smith - bio l email

WAXHAW, NC (WBTV) - It was standing room only at the funeral for a little girl who was attacked and killed by two pit bulls in Union County last week.

Mourners wore pink ribbons for five-year-old Makayla Woodard. Her mother said pink was Makayla's favorite color.

Her casket was taken by a horse-drawn carriage Monday from Davis Funeral Home on East Franklin Street in Monroe, to the cemetery for burial.

Makayla is survived by her parents, Kristin Lea Frady of Waxhaw and Raken Chase Woodard of Marshville.

"I loved my daughter," said Frady. "She was our princess," she said.

The family wrote in the funeral program that Makayla deserved a horse-drawn carriage and would have wanted one to carry out her princess dreams.

Later Monday night the Waxhaw board of commissioners voted to take the first step in what could eventually lead the town to change the way it deals with dogs.

The commissioners want to form a group to look at the town's current rules and way of dealing with problem dogs. The group could include a representative from police, a veterinarian, and others.

Commissioners also received an update from Waxhaw town manager Mike McLaurin. McLaurin talked about rules the town already has on its books, including a leash law and a rule to deal with vicious dogs.

The town also has an animal control officer set to start within two months.

In light of last week's tragedy, commissioners wanted to see if there was anything else the town could do to try to keep residents safe from problem dogs.

"It breaks my heart," said Waxhaw mayor Daune Gardner. "I know that our entire community's heart is just torn up by this. It's tragic."

According to the Waxhaw Police Department, Makayla and her great-grandmother, 67-year-old Nancy Presson, were attacked by the dogs last Wednesday just after 11 a.m. at 325 Rehobeth Road.

Presson was bitten several times on her arm and hand while trying to pull the dogs off Makayla, police and a law firm said.

Makayla and Presson were both transported to Carolinas Medical Center-Union in Monroe where the girl died a short time later.

Presson has been released from the hospital, following treatment for serious wounds.

Following the attack last week, Makayla's mother said she was upset the media described the dogs as vicious, even though the dogs killed her daughter. She said they had always been friendly up until Wednesday's attack.

Amy Plyler, who is a family member, said the girl was attacked while trying to get into a fenced-in yard adjacent to her home. Makayla and her mother lived with Presson.

Makayla was mauled by a pit bull named Rebel which Plyler said "tended to wander the street."

"I don't know if Makayla even saw them coming," she said.

Investigators said Rebel was immediately killed by authorities. The other dog was on the loose for a short time, but was later fatally shot by authorities.

Both dogs belonged to neighbor Michael Gordon. Waxhaw police tell WBTV they had just gone to Gordon's house around Christmas and warned him about restraining the dogs.

Some in the town believe the two pit bulls were abused, but a woman answering the door at Gordon's home Monday night said it wasn't true and that "people make up a whole lot of stuff."

A man who lives nearby on Sweetbay Court told WBTV he heard a woman's scream around 11:10 a.m. Wednesday.

Scott Bland was in his driveway trying to clear snow and ice so he could go to work. (Click to see our complete interview with Scott Bland.)

"She was screaming non-stop, she would catch her breath--there were no words, just screams," said Bland who called 911. "It was like a horror film, just high-pitch squeals, a woman's voice, the screaming just got worse."

Bland says when he spoke with a 911 operator, they had already received other calls concerning the attack.

"It was a little bit unnerving to know the pit bull dogs were running around the neighborhood," Bland said. "This is a perfect example of why people should not allow these dogs to run loose."

The town of Waxhaw does has a leash law which prohibits pet owners from letting their dogs run loose.

On Monday, the Waxhaw Police Department said they were still interviewing neighbors. Once these interviews are complete, police said the case would be presented to the Union County District Attorney's Office, possibly this week.

For now, it appears Gordon could face a charge of voluntary manslaughter or second-degree murder. If convicted on either charge, Gordon could be sentenced to serve time in prison.