[Dailydrool] Elmo and the pit bull (Barbara Stacey)

[Vazquez-Soto, Nancy Y]

Dear Barbara,

I totally hate when these things happen! Chained dogs are bad news no matter what breed or mix-breed. My dogs are indoor dogs, period! I own a Basset/Lab, A Shar-Pei mix, and a pitbull type dog. My Basset Hound Roschko passed away back in May and I still miss him so much! :( He was the main reason I joined this group.

Pitbulls are sometimes not easy to identify. For some, a dog that looks "intimidating" is a pitbull. I had a brush coat Black Shar-pei (ATB) and people would ask me if he was a pitbull. We must be very careful with this. I say Pit-bull type dog because it could be a Staffordshire Terrier, an American Pitbull Terrier, or a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

I adore my furry kids and every time I hear a story like this it makes me feel impotent and frustrated by the fact that pitbull type dogs are often demonized thanks to their neglectful and irresponsible owners. I feel for your dog and for you. Having to go through this is not fun. I also feel for the other dogs b/c they will likely be euthanized and I truly believe in dog behavior rehabilitation, no matter what kind of dog. I have seen first-hand the wonderful changes on dogs that were fearful, aggressive, and simply scared of people turn into grateful and loving creatures. It's so rewarding!

Again, I'm very sorry for what happened and suing them is the best way to go, as harsh as it may sound to some.

Best,
Nancy


-----Original Message-----
From: dailydrool-bounces at lists.dailydrool.org [mailto:dailydrool-bounces at lists.dailydrool.org] On Behalf Of dailydrool-request at lists.dailydrool.org
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 6:45 PM
To: dailydrool at lists.dailydrool.org
Subject: Dailydrool Digest, Vol 202, Issue 9


   1. Elmo and the pit bull (Barbara Stacey)
   Message: 1
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:26:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Barbara Stacey <barbara.stacey at sbcglobal.net>
To: dailydrool at lists.dailydrool.org
Subject: [Dailydrool] Elmo and the pit bull
Message-ID: <1329402401.83951.YahooMailRC at web83308.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

About three weeks ago while out for a walk, Elmo was attacked by two pit bulls.?My neighbor walks him as I am unable to take him for long walks due to health problems.?The pits were chained in a yard and broke loose. One attacked Elmo and bit him in the leg while neighbor tried to shoo them away. We live in the county, sort of rural, and she immediately called the sheriff's office, called me, and took Elmo to his vet.

The animal control officer came to see us later and said they have had a lot of complaints about Mr. X and his dogs. We decided to press charges and have a court date of 2/28. Elmo had numerous puncture wounds in his leg so vet lady cleaned them up,gave pain meds and antibiotics and kept him over night in case of infection. Poor little guy was traumatized and shaking. Took him a while to get back to normal.

The officer came to see another neighbor last week because the sam? thing happened to him and his dog. We had to fill out a victim impact statement and recommend punishment. We asked for $313 for the vet bill and that the dogs be removed because they are a danger to the neighborhood.?Has anyone had experience with the courts? I would be interested to know how these things work. Thanks.

Barb and Elmo and Blossom ATB