Neighbor Feud Ensues
Stratford, CT - After four months of appeals, officials determined that Rocky, a 3-year old pit bull, was a "serious danger" and euthanized after attacking a little girl. The victim, 5-year old Payton Stern, lost half of her body's blood in the attack. She now faces considerable reconstructive surgery on her arms and legs and will have scaring for the rest of her life.
After Rocky was finally euthanized, the dog's owner, John Rogers, allegedly hung derogatory signs on a tree facing the Stern's Avon Street home. The sign refers to Payton's mother Lori. Payton's family had wanted the dog euthanized after the attack; they certainly did not want the dog returned to the owner that lived across the street.
"Lori is a murderer -- RIP Rocky."
Because of the signs, Payton's parents, Lori and Brian Stern filed a harassment and intimidation complaint with the police department against Rogers. The mother says that since her daughter was attacked in August while playing with Rogers 13-year old daughter in their home, "he has only expressed concern about getting his dog back." She added:
"It never mattered to him that our little girl could have died, and that the dog had ripped her legs apart."
As a result of the attack and ongoing animosity, the Stern family moved from their Avon Street home. We hope that the Stern family is doing better since the move. Unfortunately, DogsBite.org frequently reads stories like this -- pit bull owners that harass victims and family members after an attack. As Lori points out, they also never apologize or ask about the victim's welfare.
My heart goes out to your family. My six year old son was attacked by a pit bull that was sicked on him by a ten year old girl. He received sixty stitches to close the wounds to his hand, wrist, shoulder and bottom. He has fractures to two fingers and to the palm of his writing hand. We had to send pictures of his injuries and a letter to get the dog removed from the owner who had no insurance, no license, no shots, no cage, no fence, no chain and no collar or leash for the dog. We are waiting for a judge to rule on April 15, 2008. Since the attack on March 12, 2008, our window has been broken, and they threatened to bring the dog back out before animal control took it away(due the letter and pictures). Eight days too late. Some one will have to move. If the landlord does not put them out after we sue him, then we will move.
What person would want a dog like this after it attacked a little girl??! I would have taken the dog outside, shot it and left it’s body to decay in the sun!! No child needs to be attacked like this!John Rogers is an idiot, and it’s plain to see that he is simply pure trash pissed off because that dog probably protected his drug stash! Someone needs to throw Mr. Rogers in a pitbull ring…let the dogs shred him to pieces! Mr.s Roger’s…I wish I lived in your neighborhood…you wouldn’t get away with your immature behavior..you piece of dog crap!
I have worked with animals for many, many years, I will always stick with my statement “There’s no place within the home or society for an aggressive dog”.. What happened to this little girl is terrible and the treatment the family received after the attack is ridiculous!!
People who own powerful dogs need to realize that they must always put the safety of the public first. Irresponsible ownership is all too common with Pitbulls. I own a Rottweiler, (she was recued from an abusive owner) and although she’s a big goofy girl who would never hurt a fly, I would never put anyone in a position where she could hurt them. Afterall, she is an ANIMAL!! I would never consider owning a Pitbull (which may appear to be a conflicting statement considering I’m a dog lover)… In my opinion, to own a pitbull you should have to go thru some kind of application process like you do to buy a firearm… I also think you should be fully accountable for your dog, if it bites someone, YOU should go to jail.. It’s your dangerous animal, so in reality, you’re to blame for it’s actions. If I never see a Pitbull again, it’ll be too soon.
We have had neighbors move in 2 doors down from us who have no less then 3-4 Pitt Bulls. All of them are dangerous. And they do not look after them obviously because on a number of occasiona these dogs all but one have been off their property roaming around. When someone does notice them they will feed and chain them up again. And on three occasions they have had PITT BULL fights in their backyard in the early morning hours. No one would report them. So I did and nothing worth mentioning came from it. They just got told to keep them tied up and kept within the backyard “fenced in” they put up the fence but its never closed. My Shelty made the mistake of wanding into their yard and their biggest Pitt Bull only managed to maul her pretty badly she now cannot use her hind legs due to a spinal/disc injury. These people keep getting away with having these PITT BULLs. It’s a terrible injustice when irresponsible dog owners get the breaks and their victims suffer.
Unbelievable that this family had to go through the horror of having their daughter nearly killed by this dog, then having to endure the abuse from the owners of the dog. I certainly hope that this family has found a better place to live and that their little girl is recovering physically and emotionally from this devastation.
Shame on the people of this nation, that they let this sort of thing occur in it. John Rogers is a vile criminal. His dog almost eats a little girl alive, and then the local police and government will allow him to taunt the victims? A just and respectable government would protect the victims. Shame on the local police. Shame on the mayor. Shame on the judges. Shame on everyone who lacks the intelligence and/or the basic humanity and/or the simple courage to protect these people. What kind of country do we live in? I am ashamed.
Bless you, Payton, you smart little girl!
I will forever shake my head at this lunacy, this inane worship of this most hideous dog breed.