DogsBite.org - A commenter has left a message that describes in chilling detail the reality of a severe dog attack followed by arcane dog laws and animal control policies that fail to punish the dog owner and protect the community from the offending dog. In this case, as in many others, the attacking dog was returned its owner so that the animal can attack again. After the second violent attack, then restrictions are placed on the dog.
These laws are not common sense; they are deadly.
Comment: I was told by a person at the animal control that if a dangerous dog is off their yard and near you, you can kill it and not have any legal problems because the dog was not on their own yard. My grandson was bitten by a pit bull on the back of his head after the dog knocked him to the ground. He was taken to the ER and will have scars for the rest of his life on the back of his head. Thank GOD that his hair covers the scars.
Several of the people in our neighborhood wrote affidavits to the animal control after being told doing so would help them (animal control) in court to prosecute the owners and have the dog removed. I got a call today telling me that they will not remove the animal because there's only been ONE complaint (even though we sent the other 6 complaints of different incidents from our neighbors, in the SAME envelope) and they won't do anything and we can't take them (the owners) to court because the dog was in his own yard and on a chain when my grandson went to pet the dog.
The owners allowed my grandson to enter their yard to play with their son and never told him to stay away from their dog. My 6 yr. old grandson didn't know the dog was dangerous and went to pet it. We didn't know the dog was in their yard and accessable to the children or we would not have let them go play at that house. We thought the dog would have at least been in their back yard on a chain IF it were chained up.
This dog has attacked other animals in the neighborhood, cornered other people and done some really crappy things and he gets to stay with the owner and the owner has NO CONSEQUENCES whatsoever! Why? Because no one complained about anything else until now. What a CROCK! It really REALLY makes me mad that our children in the neighborhood now have to be constantly worrying about being bitten by this dog and no one does anything!
Why should the children in our neighborhood be made to stay in their own yard if it's fenced or in their house, trapped and unable to leave it because a DOG who is dangerous is allowed to roam free if the owners let it or the animal can't be control and is constantly escaping? These "laws" are a joke in my opinion! If you have to deal with this kind of thing with the animals that have already attacked and nearly killed a child and NO ONE does anything why even make the freeking laws??!! Why should someone have to DIE before they do anything???!!
DogsBite.org urges readers to download DogsBite.org's FAQ about breed-specific law and send it to your city council members. The basis of these laws is to regulate dangerous breeds so that future attacks can be prevented. These same laws also give animal control the authority to quickly seize offending dogs. Breed-specific laws protect future victims and the community; many existing laws only protect offending dogs and their owners.
Related articles:
07/15/08: Man Attacked in Groin; Officials Still Determining if Dog is "Vicious"
06/07/08: Victimized Pet Owners Learn Arcane Dog Law the Hard Way
Thank you. You just made my report so much easier.
The public really needs to force the animal control profession to make public safety at least co-equal with humane issues. Too many in the profession are kennel blind.
It’s the Animal Control Paradox – they can’t do anything about vicious dogs unless there are multiple incidences/complaints but no one complains because the type of people that own vicious animals are the last type of people you want to call on in case it gets back to them. And some Animal Controls will only take a report if you give your name and address to weed out petty neighbor stuff. So many times you read an attack story here and the neighbors know the dog was a problem but were afraid to do something because of retribution. Calls to Animal Control need to be anonymous and taken seriously.
For many years there has been story after story just like this gentleman has just experienced. I believe that if they sued these people in civil court who owned the dog they would win. There was a danger to the child and the owners did nothing. Now of course we get into the situation do these people have anything to take? If they do —-go to civil court. Also, you should be relentless in speaking to the towns city council.
The A/C world is plagued by human factor related safety breakdowns which seem to get swept under the rug. In other safety related fields, any accident is thoroughly investigated, recommendations are made to repair any systematic weaknesses and all personnel are trained to avoid repeating the mistake.
The other issue is that dog licensing rates are a pathethic 25 percent nationally, and the A/C world continually whines about being underfunded. I can’t think of a more piss poor stewardship of the taxpayer’s dollar!
Culture change is needed…