Denver Bans Pit Bulls

I was unaware that it had ever been locked. I had not asked The Girl about our small friend Buddy when last i spoke to her. I hope that he is one the mend--such horrible injuries.

I saw Buddy tonight. He's home til Monday morning, when he goes back to the vet. One paw is bandaged up as it was punctured.

The wounds to his throat and chest have been stitched and will heal well.

His back, his back just looks macerated. They obviously had to shave him down to clean the wounds. There are loose flaps of skin - you can see muscle in a couple of areas. It is ghastly. Looks like steak that's been pounded with a spiked mallet in a couple of spots.

He came by tonight with his mom (Miss Kay will be 90 later this year), and his friend Pepe the Pom and Pepe's mom, Maria. Maria is a nurse and is keeping an eye on the wounds for Kay. Buddy approached both of my dogs - who were properly careful with him. Even the little mouthpiece girl was quiet and respectful. I sat down on the ground and spoke to him til he came to me - he is understandably still very anxious.

The owner of the dogs who attacked him has now agreed to pay the vet bills.

Turned out three of us called bylaw enforcement yesterday. This clearly isn't the end of the matter.

Glad to hear that the vet bills will be covered. I hope that this is not just a gesture to seek sympathy on the by-law situation.

Unforunately for Buddy, this is an after the fact situation that would have been better not to happen.

I don't know what kind of pet owner is, but he obviously does not have well behaved animals. That is the fault of the owner, not the dogs.

The lion analogy made sense to me. Wolf would, too. Just because some people are able to get one to behave doesn't necessarily say anything about the breed.

As in, a very talented owner may be able to keep it in check; a careless owner likely wouldn't; and not even a talented owner has any guarantee.

Not just breed, not just owners.

It seems like the thing to go by in determining whether the breed is a significant factor is looking at larger patterns, not specific incidents (or lack thereof), and the patterns don't seem to bode well for pitbulls.

<nod>

Ehbeth,

Have you had any update to this?

Thank you for asking, Intrepid.

Buddy is healing, slowly.
He's obviously still very nervous.

I found out yesterday that another neighbour, a contractor, was also bitten by one of the dogs. After we talked he said he would also call bylaw enforcement.

We know a bylaw officer went to the house yesterday morning. The dogs are still there - so far.

As more neighbours talk about this, we're really finding out how dangerous those particular dogs are - and how really stupid the owners are. The contractor had LOTS of info.

No one is walking their dogs on that block now.

That's amazing that Buddy is recovering, even if slowly. Good wishes for him and Miss Kay.

It really is tragic, and makes me very angry. Buddy is the best of dogs, who used to stand at the fence of the yard, looking out with a smile, glad just to see the world, and ready to greet anyone he knew. Miss Kay is very elderly, and Buddy is her good companion. I ache at the thought of the horror and heartache this has caused her.

I think having a retired nurse (neighbour Maria) helping to take care of him is helping tremendously. She is watching that sweet pup very carefully - applying ointments - helping to clean the wounds etc. The wounds are going to be pretty ugly. I hope his big Sheltie fur comes back in to cover most of them.

One of the first gifts I sent Setanta about 5 years ago was a tape of Bailey and me going for a walk, with music mixed in. Part way through we went to visit Buddy, who was just a lil puppy then. The growling during puppy play time was ferocious.

Buddy's got a great temperament, and a lot of people (and dogs) who really love him and are watching out for him.

i really feel sorry for buddy, poor guy. my parent's neighbor had their three great danes attacked by a pit bull. well at least they think it was a pitbull-they came home to find one dog completely ok but hiding under the bed, and two very badly mauled in the backyard. however in this case...someone had to have let the dog in the yard...there is no other explanation. their yard is completely fenced and the fence is 6ft. the gate wasn't open when they came home. the two dogs that were hurt spent over 8 hours total in surgery.

now that said, i feel badly also for the pitbulls. they don't know any better, they are dogs. every animal has survival instincts and unfortunately some are trained and raised to defend any action believed to be threatening. however, i still blame the owner...we had a rotty who was just plain bad. we loved him very much, he was downright spoiled rotten, sleeping with me at night and loved immensely. he had warning signs of being bad, guess what? as much as we loved him, as responsible pet owners, we put him down. it hurt, alot. i cried alot, but it was still the right thing to do.

my belief is that as domesticated animals, the owner's are responsible for their animals actions. if they are bad, owner's are responsible for putting their dog down. we did it, it sucked, but it was the right thing. the problem is not "necessarily" the dog, but the owner who doesn't want to or just plain doesn't see the warning signs.

that said, here's a pic of my sweetie, bernard...i just wanted to put a pic of him up cuz i think he's cute...

I'm with ya, Dragon.



I mean, dogs are animals, bottom line - but good discipline and training can make the difference for a lot of borderline dogs. My two dogs are perfect examples - each was days from being put down when I took them in - in both cases (I think) because people were too lazy to do the training. One of them can still use more work - so we're going to Dog Camp

good for you!!! i look at the pic Tico put up and how can you not feel for the dog and hate that owner. you think that dog wanted to bleeding from his nose?

did you get your dogs from the humane society/pound (i am guessing)? the next pooch we get will be one from either a rescue group or the pound. i believe there are enough abandoned/abused ones to go around before i spend $500 on a purebred...

true bernie is a purebred, but i inherited him from an ex so i didn't really choose him, although i love him dearly and love to post his pic..

Bailey's story is here

Cleo's story

thanks, Kuvasz

what cutie pies!!!! you are a lucky person ehbeth! and they are lucky to have someone like you.

Thanks, dragon. I'm definitely lucky to have those two little canines in my life.


and we're going to camp in two weeks!



About Buddy - a bylaw officer is going out to see him today.

wow, camp looks like fun. it amazing, bernard is a brittany, traditional hunting dogs, but he won't fetch worth a poo. points extremely well although he has never been trained, but try to get him to chase a ball...unless their is a squirrel or a bird attached to that ball, it ain't gonna happen. he stares at you like, you gonna go get that because i sure as hell am not!

glad to hear buddy is getting some attention and i hope they lock that dog owner up (not buddy's the one who owns the dog that attacked him). and best guess is that if the dog is attacking others, it should be put down or transferred somewhere that it can't get at other dogs or people.