Fort Worth Pit Bull Owner, Steven Woods, Pegged as Fraudulent

From left: Steven Woods, his pit bull (in pink) and former attorney Randy Turner.

Dogs Euthanized
UPDATE 08/11/11: Pit bull owner Steven Woods recently made the local news again after his two dogs got loose and attacked a man walking with his pregnant wife and young son. Luckily, victim Gary Latimer had a defense weapon handy. When the male pit bull, King, locked onto his arm, he stabbed the dog repeatedly. The other pit bull, Mimi, who was the focal point of the Steven Woods scandal last year, was involved in the latest incident but did not inflict bites.

It was reported Thursday that a judge ordered both dogs euthanized immediately. Woods, who formerly lied about his military record to help raise over $17,000 to save Mimi from death row last year, did not even show up for the court hearing. Brandon Bennett, director of Fort Worth’s Code Compliance, warned a few weeks ago that Woods could be charged with a felony due to the new biting incident. The district attorney's office is expected to make a decision soon.

Back in July, a separate Save the Mauler campaign was derailed in Virginia after police authorities euthanized a deaf pit bull, named Polar, after it killed a baby.

12/29/10: Pit Bull Owner Lies About War Record
Fort Worth, TX - After weeks of enjoying local celebrity status and raising more than $17,000 for his cause, disabled veteran Steven Woods and his so-called "therapy" pit bull, Mimi, are now on skid row. WFAA/News 8 reported Monday that Woods' sob story, claiming to have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom1 and needed his dog to help him cope with PTSD, was fraudulent. After making inquiries to the Army, WFAA learned that Woods never served in Iraq.

After two alleged biting incidents earlier this year, city officials deemed Mimi dangerous. The designation required Woods to abide by new restrictions, as well as to pay the many violations that were racked up by Mimi and his other pit bulls. Woods' story, echoed by his former lawyer, Randy Turner2 -- who called him a "war hero" and a victim of a "vindictive prosecution" -- enticed pit bull lovers and "no-kill" fanatics to unleash a predictable and vengeful campaign.

Save the two-time mauler at all costs and that includes vilifying and falsely characterizing anyone who gets in the way.

The case of Woods is similar to that of Vanessa Carlton, which began back in May. It also partially mirrors ongoing events in Denver and Aurora where military veterans Allen Grider and Glenn Blecher are filing lawsuits in order to keep their pit bull "service dogs" despite the prohibition of the breed in both cities.3 Did Woods make up his war hero, therapy pit bull story in a vacuum? A Google search on the terms military veteran pit bull suggests otherwise.

Woods is just another pit bull owner using deviant tactics to get his dangerous dog back. But his story does come with a twist. He and his former attorney effectively mobilized the Save the Mauler community with no evidence of his actual past. It is also unusual that a local news station investigated Woods' story. Kudos to WFAA's efforts and Fort Worth city officials who had to put up with the onslaught of unfair accusations brought by these zealous groups.

Woods is a fraud all right. But one should question just how easy it was for him to dupe his former attorney and leverage the Save the Mauler community to help his cause. It must be noted that at least two persons were badly bitten by his dogs -- Mimi was reportedly involved in both incidents. There should be no sympathy for Woods or his two-time mauler. We're just waiting for Tia Torres or Mary Kay to show up and promise the dog's magical rehabilitation.

Blogger Craven Desires has more on Woods.

1And that he served in Tikrit, one of the most dangerous regions, and was disabled by an IED.
2Woods' former animal law attorney, Randy Turner, "spread the story world wide"...
3It must be noted that in 2009 and under uniform policy adoptions, both the U.S. Army and Marines banned pit bulls and other dangerous dog breeds from all privatized housing.

Photos: WFAA.com

6 thoughts on “Fort Worth Pit Bull Owner, Steven Woods, Pegged as Fraudulent”

the extent of steven woods' military service is the arkansas national guard. he wasn't even enlisted in the army.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/steven-woods-112400179.html

(12/28/10) I'm concerned about his former attorney, as well as the no-killers. Unlike Ben Teichberg, Bella's owner, Woods did not call the city a "dog murderer" and other names designed to inflame the nutters, his attorney, however, did. Turner's emails are all over the Internet. I especially like the last one, when he bows out. "I hope you can appreciate my situation." But I can't, he made his own bed!
http://www.lizardmarsh.net/2010/11/ft-worth-tx-wonderful-update-lawyer.html

(12/14/10) "This is the worst case of malicious prosecution I have seen. Steven was told by the city attorney yesterday that that decision “comes from the top”, which obviously means someone way high up in city government." Turner wrote. At what point was Turner going to mention Obama or the CIA? "The city was outraged over the bad publicity it received in this case and has obviously launched a vendetta…"

(12/14/10) "If anyone would like to let the city of Fort Worth know how they feel about this vindictive prosecution of a disabled American war hero here are the contacts. I am only sending this email to a few people and a couple of groups so please feel free to forward." And they did. Turner also supplied email addresses to city officials to ensure onslaught and harassment from nuttery and "no-kill" groups.

"The case became curious fodder in the blogosphere [writes the Star-Telegram 12/24/10], which Turner used to retry his side in public. He said Mimi was a therapy dog essential to Woods' recovery from wounds suffered on the battlefield. Within days, sympathizers responded. Woods said he received more than $18,000 to make the necessary upgrades to his house to keep the dog."
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/24/2726577/disabled-vet-fighting-fort-worth.html

I rest my case. There's more interesting stuff in that Star-Telegram article as well, such as Woods claiming sexual harassment…

usually, i will happily redirect my aggression towards the attorneys involved with pit nutters and dog fighters but i almost feel sorry for this one. maybe it's the holidays that are making me generous.

Gotta wonder if Woods isn't also faking the disability. Grifters are gifters are gifters….
https://maultalk.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/pit-grifter/

Stolen Valor Dog Mimi…one of the greatest Pit Capers of all time!

Randy Turner the Fort Worth, Texas lawyer for Woods did not drop him as a client until a few days after he found out he was a total fraud. At first he tried to spin it as "negative media attention" from the City in retaliation for the negative media attention the lawyer threw at the City. Unbeknown to most he continued to help Woods until at least the middle of January 2011. More info here and here.

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cravendesires on December 30, 2010 at 8:31 am said:
the extent of steven woods' military service is the arkansas national guard. he wasn't even enlisted in the army.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/steven-woods-112400179.html
CharlieT on December 30, 2010 at 2:58 pm said:
(12/28/10) I'm concerned about his former attorney, as well as the no-killers. Unlike Ben Teichberg, Bella's owner, Woods did not call the city a "dog murderer" and other names designed to inflame the nutters, his attorney, however, did. Turner's emails are all over the Internet. I especially like the last one, when he bows out. "I hope you can appreciate my situation." But I can't, he made his own bed!
http://www.lizardmarsh.net/2010/11/ft-worth-tx-wonderful-update-lawyer.html
(12/14/10) "This is the worst case of malicious prosecution I have seen. Steven was told by the city attorney yesterday that that decision “comes from the top”, which obviously means someone way high up in city government." Turner wrote. At what point was Turner going to mention Obama or the CIA? "The city was outraged over the bad publicity it received in this case and has obviously launched a vendetta…"
(12/14/10) "If anyone would like to let the city of Fort Worth know how they feel about this vindictive prosecution of a disabled American war hero here are the contacts. I am only sending this email to a few people and a couple of groups so please feel free to forward." And they did. Turner also supplied email addresses to city officials to ensure onslaught and harassment from nuttery and "no-kill" groups.
"The case became curious fodder in the blogosphere [writes the Star-Telegram 12/24/10], which Turner used to retry his side in public. He said Mimi was a therapy dog essential to Woods' recovery from wounds suffered on the battlefield. Within days, sympathizers responded. Woods said he received more than $18,000 to make the necessary upgrades to his house to keep the dog."
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/24/2726577/disabled-vet-fighting-fort-worth.html
I rest my case. There's more interesting stuff in that Star-Telegram article as well, such as Woods claiming sexual harassment…
cravendesires on December 30, 2010 at 10:43 pm said:
usually, i will happily redirect my aggression towards the attorneys involved with pit nutters and dog fighters but i almost feel sorry for this one. maybe it's the holidays that are making me generous.
truthbird on December 31, 2010 at 2:22 am said:
Gotta wonder if Woods isn't also faking the disability. Grifters are gifters are gifters….
https://maultalk.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/pit-grifter/
vintage on August 13, 2011 at 8:58 am said:
Stolen Valor Dog Mimi…one of the greatest Pit Capers of all time!
0278ecce-c6a3-11e0-a40a-000f20980440 on August 14, 2011 at 6:27 pm said:
Randy Turner the Fort Worth, Texas lawyer for Woods did not drop him as a client until a few days after he found out he was a total fraud. At first he tried to spin it as "negative media attention" from the City in retaliation for the negative media attention the lawyer threw at the City. Unbeknown to most he continued to help Woods until at least the middle of January 2011. More info here and here.