Ear reattached, Brooklyn tot mauled by pit bull plays with kin
BY KHADIJAH RENTAS and SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Updated Friday, July 4th 2008, 1:20 AM
At an energetic age 3, Kamar Reynolds isn't about to let a little thing like a chomped ear slow him down.
The Brooklyn tot romped around his Bellevue Hospital bed Thursday, a day after surgeons had to reattach the ear he almost lost in a vicious pit bull attack. Kamar snacked on chicken and rice and played with his three brothers and sisters. His stitches, cuts and bruises kept him from smiling, but his siblings giggled throughout the afternoon.
The boy was in the basement of his cousin's East New York home early Wednesday morning when 24-year-old Frantz Cesar went berserk when his wife, Tiffany, ordered him out of the house, cops said.
Cesar allegedly kicked out an air conditioner and threw his pit bull, Rocky, through the open window. Rocky went wild in the midst of six playing and sleeping children, mauling Kamar, police said. Cesar was arraigned on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon - the dog - last night and held in lieu of $15,000 bail.
Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Robert Kalish also issued orders of protection for the Reynolds family and Cesar's wife. A sullen Cesar, who came to court in baggy black pants and a black T-shirt, kept silent during the hearing. But his lawyer Paul Lieberman said although the case was "horrible and tragic, it was an accident."
Kamar's angry dad, Lamont Reynolds, 31, said he's avoiding Cesar for fear he would hurt Cesar the way his son was hurt. "I might just be behind bars with him," he said.
Rocky was euthanized Thursday and will be tested for rabies, said an Animal Care and Control spokesman. Doctors said they will keep Kamar in the hospital until they know the dog was not rabid, the family said.
The attack was the second pit bull mauling of the week. On Tuesday, two pit bulls pounced on a Staten Island man, critically injuring him. James McNair, 28, the dogs' owner, was arraigned Thursday on assault charges and on an unrelated charge of possessing fireworks.
Police report: Pit bull that injured 10-year-old boy has attacked before
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
BY ROBERTO ACOSTA
ANTWERP TOWNSHIP -- A 10-year-old boy remained hospitalized after losing part of an arm following an attack by his family dog Saturday.
Police, meanwhile, say they received a report that on May 5 the 2-year-old pit bull terrier attacked someone at the same address in the 52000 block of Brachetto Street, said Sgt. Wayne Polomocak of the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office. No other information on the incident was available.
Authorities still have not released the name of the victim, whose arm was amputated above the elbow. He was attacked after his 23-year-old brother went to go to a bank at a time when his parents were out of town, Polomcak said.
The dog was euthanized.
Polomcak said the sheriff's department is still investigating the case and expects to turn it over to the Van Buren County Prosecutor's Office for review.
Boy Attacked by Family Dog
by J.D. Wallace, KOLD News 13 Reporter
About 3:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, Drexel Heights Fire District got the call for a boy attacked by a dog. The district spokeswoman said that the seven year old was playing on a trampoline at the home and that the family dog, a pit bull named Scarface according to its papers at Pima Animal Care, was also outside. The fire district spokeswoman said that the boy's stepmother was inside, heard the boy, and came outside to find the dog attacking him. Drexel Heights paramedics had the boy airlifted to University Medical Center.
A relative said that the dog was attacking two other dogs in the yard when it turned on the boy.
The pit bull will be euthanized and its head removed for a rabies check.
No charges have been filed but the Pima County Sheriff's Office will investigate.
The boy was in serious but stable condition with wounds on his leg from the thigh to the knee and he is expected to recover.
Boy killed by pit bull near Weslaco
Sean Gaffney
June 18, 2008 - 9:21PM
NORTH OF WESLACO -- A 5-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pit bull here Wednesday evening, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño.
The incident occurred about 8 p.m. at a home on North Beto Garcia Road, just north of the intersection of Mile 12 1/2 North and Farm-to-Market Road 88.
Deputies arrived at the scene to find the child's aunt holding his lifeless body in her arms and the dog still in the front yard. The dog fled after a deputy shot and wounded it, and authorities were still trying to subdue the animal late Wednesday.
Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Rosa Treviño pronounced the boy dead at the scene shortly after 9 p.m. She said the condition of the child's body suggested there was no way emergency responders could have saved the boy's life.
Sheriff's deputies were still at the scene investigating late Wednesday, trying to determine if negligence was a factor in the incident. The sheriff declined to speculate on whether any criminal charges would be filed, noting deputies must determine whether the dog had been confined and how the boy came into contact with the animal.
Neighbors told deputies the dog was always chained up, an assertion supported by local activist Beto Garcia - namesake of the road where the mauling occurred. However, one witness told The Monitor the animal was not restrained just before the incident.
Sheriff Treviño declined to identify the boy pending notification of his mother, who lives and works in the state of Washington. The boy's father resides in Mexico.
The sheriff said the boy, whom neighbors identified as Pablo Hernandez, had been living with his aunt and uncle after Child Protective Services placed him with them.
The circumstances of that placement were not immediately known, but the sheriff said his office had no record of being called out to the house before.
Luis Palomo, 20, said he was about four houses down the street playing football with his friends when the trouble began. The boy was at home with a babysitter when a pit bull at the house began running around the front yard in an excited manner, getting a second pit bull inside the home riled up.
The babysitter and boy were inside the house with the second dog and were clearly fearful, Palomo said. He went over to help them and managed to distract the dogs temporarily, but the boy wandered out the back door. One of the dogs grabbed him by the torso and dragged him.
Palomo recalled hearing about 20 seconds of screaming, and then nothing. He said the dog locked its jaws around the boy's neck, quickly killing him.
"These types of accidents can be prevented," Justice of the Peace Treviño said, cautioning the public about owning pit bulls.
"No one needs to keep these types of dogs," she said. "These dogs turn on you."
Young child mauled by pit bull
SPOKANE -- A child is healing from severe dog bites Monday morning and family members are under investigation for how they responded to the attack.
Spokane Valley Police came to a home in the 2000 block of North Ely Sunday afternoon when neighbors informed SVPD that a one-year-old had been mauled by a young pit bull mix, but the child was not taken to the hospital for treatment.
According to an SVPD release, "Thinking she might be in trouble, the mother and a neighbor cleaned the estimated 100 puncture wounds at the home rather than seeking treatment from doctors."
The child had been sleeping with the eight-to-twelve week old puppy when he was attacked in the middle of the night Saturday and the mother found countless bites and blood staining her son's sheets.
The responding officer looked over the attack victim and found "numerous injuries to his ears, face and hands," according to the police department, with the worst of those injuries affecting his now swollen ears.
The officer instructed the mother to take the boy to the hospital, where he was treated with intravenous antibiotics.
"Child Protection Services staff was notified of the incident and contacted the family at the hospital," SVPD said. "The matter remains under investigation."
Investigation continues into boy's mauling
By Nicole Spinuzzi
No charges have been made in a Tuesday night pit bull mauling that left a 3-year-old boy dead, Jackson Police Deputy Chief Gerald Jones said.
"We're still in the preliminary steps of the investigation," Jones said.
The child's family identified him as Tony Evans Jr.
The attack occurred at 112 Maple Ridge Drive as Tony was playing with friends across the street from his home. Police said the toddler wandered from the front yard to the carport where he met the chained dog face-to-face.
The 2 1/2-year-old pit bull, named Blue Eyes, bit into the boy's neck and upper torso. Police said the dog then dragged the boy inside its doghouse.
Animal control will spend the next 10 days observing Blue Eyes, who has been quarantined and is in animal control's custody, before determining whether the dog should be euthanized.
pitbulls bred no to attack humans!
pitbulls trained to be violent!
punish the deed, not the breed my friend.
and throw the mofos in prison who do that **** for real..
BSO: Man Shoots Pit Bull Attacking His Dog
Pit Bull Attack Caught On Tape
POSTED: 9:58 am EDT August 1, 2008
UPDATED: 12:05 pm EDT August 1, 2008
OAKLAND PARK, Fla. --
A man shot and killed a pit bull that was caught on tape attacking his dog in an Oakland Park neighborhood Friday morning.
The Broward Sheriff's Office said the pit bull escaped from its yard at about 8:20 a.m. in a neighborhood near Dixie Highway and Oakland Park Boulevard.
Anthony Dippolito said he heard his dog, Crystal, yelping. When he ran outside, he said he saw the pit bull attacking Crystal inside his fenced-in yard. Dippolito's home surveillance system captured the attack on video.
The video showed the pit bull's owner beating his own dog, trying to get it off of Crystal. Dippolito ran out of the house with a gun in his hand and shot the pit bull.
"It was still alive," he said. "I shot it right in the chest with a .45, and it didn't even fall over. I was quite surprised."
The video showed the pit bull walking away with its owner. The dog was taken to an animal hospital and later died.
Before shooting the pit bull, Dippolito said he beat it with a satellite dish, bending it.
Police said the shooting was justifiable and that Dippolito would not face any charges.
"Nothing was getting the dog off, and that's when I went in the house, got the gun and shot the dog, plain and simple," Dippolito said. "I'm a complete, total animal lover, but I was not going to let my dog be shredded like that."
Crystal had a wound in her neck and some other injuries.
The pit bull's owner said he thought Dippolito was heavy-handed in shooting the dog and that Dippolito should have tried using a water hose before shooting the dog. The pit bull's owner also said he has been cited once before because his dog was running loose in the neighborhood, NBC 6's Steve Litz reported.
JLN, you just have to be joking, and I'm sure you are. Now, a mastiff has face ugly enough to be handsome, but there isn't a darn thing cute about a pit.
By the way, does anyone know if any of the various pepper sprays are effective against a pit bull?
Woman rushed to hospital after being attacked by own pit bull
BLANCHARD, LA (KSLA) - "I can't get the scream out of my head."
The trail of blood that stretches into Christina Voight's driveway tells a story heard all too often these days of people being attacked by pitbull dogs.
"I came outside and he had her pinned down," Voight said.
He is Cato, a three-year-old pitbull that turned on his owner. "I mean he literally took out half of her arm and half of her backside," Voight said.
The attack started inside of the woman's house. Somehow she made her way outside. Neighbors say the victims six-year-old daughter screamed for help as Cato's grip tore through her mother body.
To give you an idea on just how vicious the attack was, the victim stabbed the dog three times with a knife, and neighbors used a metal pipe and wooden board to pry the dog off the woman, but nothing could get him off of her.
"I broke the board over his back and he still wouldn't let go," Voight said. "I wedged it in between his mouth and her, and jumped on it and stomped as hard as I could and he finally let go."
"I've never seen anything like that before," said neighbor Terry Martin, who also saw the attack. "I just called 911 and just told them to get here as fast as they could."
The woman was rushed to LSU Medical Center where she underwent surgery for her injuries.
Neighbors say Cato was a friendly dog, but say the situation could have turned tragic if it were a child.
"Our kids go over there and hangout and play with Cato," said Voight. "There are just no words for it."
Mauled boy needs 200 stitches
By Christian Jennings - bio | email
August 1, 2008
Ty Ty, GA (WALB) - A five year old boy is recovering after more than four hours of reconstructive surgery to repair wounds from a pit bull attack in his own front yard.
The boy was taken to Tift Regional Medical Center after the attack, and he's in good condition in Macon at Central Georgia Children's Hospital.
Wednesday afternoon Jackie Medders' worst nightmare came true. She watched in horror as her five year old grandson was attacked by a pit bull.
"He come just like mad--- and I just curled up over the baby," said Medders.
Five-year-old Larry Pullen, Jr. and his two year old brother Tony were playing outside in the yard. Their dad, Larry Pullen, Senior was next door cutting his neighbor's grass when he heard the screams.
"It ripped from here, all the way down, it took his whole face off," said property owner Lisa Wallace.
After getting the boy away from the dog, Mr. Pullen realized his younger child was missing, only to find him steps away from the pit bull.
His arm was chewed up pretty bad trying to save his two year old.
But the dog didn't stop there. He then charged the officers on the scene. After several gun shots, the dog finally went down, and died. By this time, little Larry Jr. had already been rushed to the hospital.
"I made a decision, the dog had his three year shots, but since the child was bitten in the face, we made the decision to take it to diagnostics lab to have it tested for rabies," said Regina Wells, Animal Control Officer.
But there are still questions about HOW the dog got out of the house.
"It was shut, the backdoor was shut. There was no way the dog was going to get out," said Matt Kelly, Dog-sitter.
The dog's owner has been out of town for over two weeks. Matt Kelly was left as the babysitter, and now has three citations regarding the incident.
Little Larry's family says he's doing just fine. But his grandmother is still shaken up after lying over her grandson, trying to protect his life.
"It was just an instinct that I didn't want him to die. He had done enough," said his grand mother.
Their family and neighbors can now rest in peace, knowing the dog won't attack again.
Larry Pullen Jr. had to get more than 200 stitches to his face.
His family says the boy is doing just sad he'll have to miss his first day of Kindergarten, which starts next week.
Series of Pit Bull Attacks Stirs a Clamor for Laws
By PETER APPLEBOME, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
LEAD: When Raylene Smith sees a pit bull, she sees a killer. Her mind flashes back to the day two years ago when two pit bulls knocked her to the ground, tearing at her stomach, legs, arms and thighs.
When Raylene Smith sees a pit bull, she sees a killer. Her mind flashes back to the day two years ago when two pit bulls knocked her to the ground, tearing at her stomach, legs, arms and thighs.
When Sarah Nugent sees a pit bull, she sees a breed of dog she has raised and loved for 22 years. She blames irresponsible owners and public hysteria for the intense hostility that has made her afraid to take her dogs for a walk.
Angered and frightened by a steady flow of horror stories about pit bull attacks on people, many cities and states are rushing to enact legislation to ban or regulate the animals.
Officials who work with animals say it is the most concentrated legal assault on a specific breed they can recall. The controversy is reflecting both tricky legal issues and troubling social issues as the dogs are increasingly put to violent uses. Steel-Trap Jaws
The term pit bull refers to a wide variety of animals with squat, muscular bodies and steel-trap jaws descended from the fighting bulldogs of 19th-century England. They are known alternately as American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers, and commonly include mixtures with Staffordshire bull terriers, bull terriers and bulldogs. All have in common a genetic history of being bred for fierce combat with other animals or other dogs.
Few definitive figures on dog bites are available. But the Humane Society of the United States says that since July 1983, pit bulls have been responsible for 20 of the 28 deaths after dog bites in the nation, including all five this year. The breed accounts for perhaps 1 percent of all dogs in the nation.
The most publicized recent attack came in June when a chained pit bull guarding a marijuana crop in California killed a 2 1/2-year-old boy. In the past week alone, a 3-year-old Ohio girl lost part of her nose after she was attacked by her family's pit bull and a Michigan man was charged with assault with a deadly weapon when his pit bull attacked a 12-year-old girl.
For victims like Ms. Smith, 45, who still suffers nerve damage from the attack, the emotional effects linger long after the assaults. ''I can't remember the pain, I can only remember the terror. I remember thinking, they're killing me and I can't stop them,'' said Ms. Smith, who lives in Houston. Such incidents have stirred intense emotions around the country. ''From the testimony we heard here, I think we should treat them like bears or tigers,'' said Ethel Sandoval of Tijeras, N.M., a city that banned pit bulls after a 9-year-old girl almost died after being mauled by four pit bulls in 1985. Some Areas Ban Pit Bulls
Largely as a result of pit bulls, more than 600 communities have requested information on animal control ordinances from the Humane Society this year, said Randall Lockwood, its director of higher education.
In Cincinnati, which last year banned pit bulls, officials say they have received well over 150 calls in the last two months asking for information on the ordinance.
Rhode Island, Washington, Ohio and Texas recently have enacted laws dealing with vicious dogs, and other states such as Connecticut are studying them.
In New York, a City Council member, Carolyn Maloney, this week proposed a pit bull ordinance that would require registration and liability insurance of at least $100,000 for current pit bull owners and would prohibit new owning or leasing of the dogs. Violation of the ordinance would be a misdemeanor punishable by fines of $500 to $5,000, up to a year in jail, or both. Breeders Object to Laws
Ordinances specifying pit bulls are in effect in places ranging from Maumelle, Ark., to Buckley, Wash., and from Farmers Branch, Tex., to Lawrence, Kan. But specific laws have been overturned by the courts in Miami and Hollywood, Fla., Odessa, Mo., and St. Paul, Minn.
Breeders of pit bulls and other interested organizations say there is no justification for singling out pit bulls when other breeds such as German shepherds or Doberman pinschers can be equally dangerous.
They also contend it is seldom possible to be sure precisely which dogs sould be classified as pit bulls. Because of legal challenges, only about 10 of some 40 breed-specific ordinances that were passed or proposed are still on the books, Dr. Lockwood said. Canine Defense Fund Started
''It's gotten to the point where anything with four legs, tail on the south and teeth on the north is a pit bull,'' said Jean Fletcher of the American Dog Owners Association in Castleton, N.Y. The group has established the Canine Defense Fund to fight pit bull ordinances.
More common are ''dangerous dog'' ordinances, which mandate registration and bonds or liability insurance for owners of dogs that have bitten people and specify that dogs can be confiscated and their owners fined or imprisoned for a second incident.
''We're seeing a growing propensity to have mean dogs in an age when we're increasingly distrustful of law enforcement,'' Dr. Lockwood said. ''But we're also seeing the general public less willing to put up with people who are unwilling to restrain their danagerous animals. Your right to own a vicious dog stops at the next person's throat.''
Both proponents and critics of the dogs see a similar process at work. They say pit bulls are increasingly being bought by careless owners or owners who are intentionally training them to be vicious watchdogs or attack dogs. The dogs have become increasingly popular with youth gangs and drug dealers, officials say. 'Wild, Savage, Ugly'
As a result, the most dangerous tendencies of the dogs are being enhanced.
''There is a new type of pit bull coming about - wild, savage, ugly, uncontrollable,'' said Samuel McClain, a former investigator with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Philadelphia. ''You can tell by the names - Homicide, Switchblade, Crazy Pete.''
...
Jogger vows to carry hatchet after pit-bull bite
'Dogs that aggressive should not be in public'
Cheryl Chan
The Province
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Another pit-bull attack has one Surrey resident threatening to carry a hatchet to protect himself and his dog.
"I do not want to hear one more news report about a dog that hurt a child or an old person or killed a beloved pet," said David Blair, 50. "If little pit bull is your beloved pet, take care of it."
Blair said he was attacked by a pit bull Monday as he and his 18-month-old German shepherd Sadie jogged along the river near 192nd Street and 45th Avenue.
"As we passed this man, his [leashed] dog just ripped away from him and attacked my dog," said Blair, who kneed the pit bull in the head.
The pit bull still managed to bite Sadie, drawing blood. It also nicked Blair on the knee.
The owner, after regaining control of his dog, just said, "Hey, sorry, man," and kept going, said Blair.
"I just thought, 'My God, this kind of dog shouldn't be out in public.' What if it was a toddler or an elderly lady? It could have been anybody."
In his previous job as a government agent in Dease Lake, Blair has seen his share of wild bears and wolves. "This dog acted exactly the same. It was an instantaneous attack. No noise, no warning," he said.
Blair, who regularly walks Sadie, is nervous about going back to the scene of Monday's attack, but said: "If I have to jog with a hatchet, I will, but I think that is wrong and dogs that aggressive should not be in public."
The attack is the latest in a string of pit-bull incidents in Surrey.
In April, four pit bulls attacked some Pomeranians, who were not injured. The next month, 11-year-old Sean Bajwa was seriously mauled by a pit bull in a schoolyard. The dog was later euthanized.
Last month, Judy Evans and her bichon frise were attacked by three pit bulls. The dog was torn apart and had to be put down.
Mayor Dianne Watts says her city may create a panel to debate whether specific breeds should be banned.
But there is no proof banning breeds reduces the number of dog bites, said Lori Chortyk of the B.C. SPCA, adding such a move only encourages irresponsible owners to switch breeds.
Blair agrees.
"Ultimately it's the owner that creates [the dog's] sense of safety," he said. "If they don't feel safe, they're going to attack, and it's just a matter of time before someone else gets hurt."
90-year-old mauled by dogs in Staten Island's Port Richmond section
by Staten Island Advance
Tuesday July 01, 2008, 5:27 PM
Advance photo/Irving SilversteinEmergency officials prepare to remove two pit bulls from a home on Newark Avenue after an attack on a 90-year-old man.
A 90-year-old man was mauled by two pit bulls in a brutal attack in Staten Island's Port Richmond neighborhood.
The victim, Henry Piotrowski, was taken to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, and is listed in critical condition.
Piotrowski's left leg has been amputated at the knee as a result of the attack, and he'll likely lose one of his arms, said his niece, Lainey Sutton.
"We're pretty sure the [left] arm is going to go, too," said Ms. Sutton. Saving the left arm would require a 10-to-12-hour operation, and doctors are reluctant to submit her elderly uncle to the ordeal, she said. Also, his right leg is fractured.
"The next three days are very critical. He lost a lot of blood," said Ms. Sutton, who drove down to Staten Island from Hillsborough, N.J., after hearing about the attack.
James McNair, 28, the dogs' owner, was arrested Tuesday night in connection with the gruesome incident, police said. The animals were put down.
McNair -- a registered sex offender -- was charged overnight with having unlicensed dogs, not having his dogs on a lease and fireworks possession, polic said.
The attack occurred just after 11 this morning.
"The dogs were actually eating him alive," said neighbor Reginald Bell, who was drawn outside his house on John Street when he heard the victim screaming for help. He spotted the dogs on top of Piotrowski in the man's back yard.
"He was mauled completely," Bell said. "His legs were eaten to the bone. His arms were eaten to the bone."
Bell said he ran inside his home, called 911, then grabbed a butcher's knife and chased the dogs away from their defenseless victim.
The pit bulls had fled by the time police arrived.
Cops searched the neighborhood for the two canines before locating them inside a home on nearby Newark Avenue.
More than an hour after the attack officers were seen carrying the canines, named Popeye and Brutus, out of the home.
The animals were euthanized this afternoon, said Richard Gentles, a spokesman for the city Animal Care and Control. The family is being questioned by police and may face charges.
An 11-year-old boy who lives in the Newark Avenue house told reporters the family discovered the animals bloodied and thought they had gotten into a fight with another animal. One of the dogs had a cut on its face, the boy said.
A woman who came out of the home denied owning the dogs and declined further comment.
2-year-old boy stable after pit bull bites his face in Pacoima
By Tami Abdollah
June 05, 2008
A 2-year-old boy was in stable condition today at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles the day after half his face was bitten by a pit bull in Pacoima, police said.
The toddler was in the backyard of his home in the 13000 block of Louvre Street, playing under his grandmother's supervision, when the family pit bull "for unknown reasons turned around and tackled the child" Wednesday morning, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Rich Suviate.
"The dog bit him from the bridge of his nose right underneath his eye socket, down the bridge of his nose, through his mouth and the entire cheek area. It was a very, very nasty injury," Suviate said. At the same time, he said the doctor at Childrens Hospital said "there was no nasal cavity or sinus cavity injuries, which I guess is huge."
The attack took place shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday. The boy's grandmother immediately jumped on the dog to pull it off the boy, Suviate said. She sustained "some serious bite injuries" including to the back of her right leg and thigh, and punctures to her hand and forearm, he said.
Los Angeles firefighters arrived at the home and had to use a fire extinguisher to spray the pit bull and another dog barking in the front yard, in order to get to the boy, Suviate said.
The boy was airlifted by helicopter from a nearby park and the grandmother traveled with him to the hospital, Suviate said.
"The child's in stable condition, with non-life-threatening injuries, but he will need some plastic surgery to reconstruct his face a little bit," Suviate said.
Police did not know today whether the second dog, also a family pet, was part of the attack. Ownership of both dogs was fully relinquished to animal control officials by the grandfather Wednesday afternoon. Family members said neither animal had any history of violence.
"It was totally unpredictable, and just for no reason," Suviate said. "The child wasn't playing rough with the dog or hit the dog or anything of that nature. The dog, for whatever reason, attacked the boy."
it sucks that people train them to be mean, because of those qualities i just listed. they just excel at everything they do, or everything they are trained to do.
even if they are trained to kill....
