Posted on June 22, 2009 by Colleen Lynn

Fayette, Alabama Passes Pit Bull Ban in City Limits

Ban Passes 5-1
Fayette, AL - Back in March, Christina Selman was terribly mauled by three of her neighbor's pit bulls. She had stepped between her daughter and one of the pit bulls after her daughter tried to pet it. The dogs immediately bit into her leg and pulled her to the ground. Fayette Police Chief Danny Jenkins said her injuries were unlike anything he had ever seen. This debilitating attack was the driving force behind Fayette's new ordinance to ban pit bulls.

The ordinance, passed 5-1, bans new pit bulls or dangerous dogs from living in the city limits and will require current owners to fulfill strict requirements, including structures to contain the dogs, liability insurance and registration for the animals before July 3. It also expands the dangerous dog rules already in place. "The ordinance we had in place was kind of toothless," Jenkins said. Jenkins also reiterated in the article a very important point:

"After this attack we had down in Cotton Mill Village, I think that was the tipping point for something else to come along as far as ordinances go," Jenkins said. "I'd seen dog bites before, but I'd never seen a mauling. A lot of people, if they had seen [Selman's injuries], they would have been like me, and their opinion would have softened if not completely changed."

Councilman Cedric Wilson was the lone opposition vote to the ordinance. He voiced several 25-year old themes about the pit bull debate. As Jenkins points out, however, the real issue is what victims like Christina Selman suffer in these terrible attacks. They do not suffer "dog bites," they suffer life-altering injuries. Following these injuries, they frequently must bear the weight of the medical bills as well. Attaining civil recourse in these attacks is often impossible.

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Colleen Lynn

2009 Dog Bite Fatality: 2 Pit Bulls Kill 10-Year Old Boy in Rusk County, Texas

Justin Clinton, 10-years old, was brutally killed by two pit bulls belonging to a friend.

Family Files Suit
UPDATE 09/05/09: The mother of 10-year old Justin Clinton, who was mauled to death by two pit bulls in June, filed suit against the couple who owned the dogs. Serenia Clinton's lawsuit accuses Ricky and Christi George of gross negligence and carelessness and contends they are liable for Justin Clinton's death. They are seeking more than $100,000 and other damages to be determined by the court, attorney fees, costs of the suit and other relief from the dogs' owners.

The suit revealed that one of the dogs bit Ms. Clinton's son two weeks before the fatal attack on June 15. The earlier attack was concealed from the boy's mother, the lawsuit claimed, and the dogs had on numerous occasions prior to Justin's death been aggressive toward people while running loose in the neighborhood. The owners "knew or should have known of the two dogs' vicious propensities," stated the lawsuit prepared by Ms. Clinton's attorney, Cynthia Stevens Kent.

06/17/09: KLTV Pities Owners
KLTV 7 News dedicated a segment to the owners of the pit bulls that fatally attacked Justin Clinton. The segment appears to be a pit bull apology piece designed to paint the pit bull owners, Ricky and Christi George, as "victims." The story can best be described as deplorable in the wake of a young boy torn apart by the powerful jaws of these dogs. The piece also emphasizes that the dogs were not loose. In other words, the "victim" dog owners are not liable under Lillian's Law.

The segment also confuses1 viewers by calling the dogs American bulldogs2 instead of pit bulls or pit bull-mixes. This is a common tactic taken by pro-pit bull groups to try to lower the staggering number of serious and fatal attacks that have been attributed to pit bulls over the last 30-years. KLTV's attempt to mislabel the dogs (or attempt to confuse viewers) also contradicts Rusk County Sheriff Deputies which stated that there is "no doubt" that the dogs are pit bulls.

1Attempts to mislabel the pit bull as a bulldog stretches back for decades as the two breeds share a common gene pool and are often crossbred. Pit bull experts, such as Diane Jessup, commonly refer to pit bulls as "bulldogs" as well. Jessup even states on her website that the "original working bulldog" is the pit bull.
2The modern American bulldog was not established until the 1970's. The AKC does not recognize the breed, and the UKC only began to in 1999. There are two major lines of the breed: the Johnson type (1st left photo) and Scott type (2nd left). The Scott type was directly developed by crossing early Johnson lines with the American pit bull terrier and has become the breed standard. Without question, the Scott type is a pit bull type dog.

06/17/09: Owners Recently Purchased Dogs
The Kilgore News Herald reports that both dogs had formerly been owned by someone else in Kilgore. It is unknown if prior complaints were filed against them. Authorities said the dogs, a 3-year old male and a 2-year old female, had puppies in mid-February but none remained at the home now. Ricky and Christi George got both dogs, who have always been together, in February. The Georges' homeowners insurance had also reportedly lapsed because Ricky lost his job.

06/16/09: Full Scale Investigation Planned
News sources report that a Rusk County pit bull attack on Friday preceded the fatal pit bull mauling of Justin Clinton on Monday. Justice of the Peace Bob Richardson said a 4-year old girl was seriously attacked by a leashed pit bull in Henderson. During the attack, the dog's owner was walking the pit bull on a leash when it broke free and attacked. Officials were determining what to do with that pit bull when they were notified of the attack that left Justin Clinton dead.

Currently, Rusk County does not have a leash law. Yet as one can see, a leashed pit bull can still pose a significant threat.

TylerPaper.com, which covered the serious pit bull attack on Kristi Langston back in March, also reports that a "full scale investigation" is planned in the aftermath of Justin Clinton's death. Rusk County Sheriff Danny Pirtle said that the owners of the dogs could face felony charges under Lillian's Law. He also said the two pit bulls were put down about 30 minutes after they were confiscated from a home on County Road 133. The owners of the dogs remain unnamed.

06/15/09: Victim: 10-Year Old Justin Clinton
Leverett's Chapel, TX - In a developing story, authorities say two pit bulls fatally mauled a 10-year old boy in an East Texas town. The Rusk County Sheriff's Office said witnesses reported seeing the dogs drag Justin Clinton down the side of the road in the small community of Leverett's Chapel. A Tyler television station reported that a passing motorist pulled the dogs off the boy. The fourth-grader was later pronounced dead at Good Shepherd Hospital in Longview.

The Rev. Edwin Findley, acting on behalf of the dogs' owners, said "both families" have been hurt, even though only one family has a dead son.

The newest Texas fatal pit bull mauling (Rusk County) lies on the other side of Dallas (Stephens County), where 7-old Tanner Joshua Monk was killed by his neighbors four pit bulls in May of 2008. On March 26, 2009, 18-month old Tyson Miller was killed by a chained pit bull outside of his home in Luling (Caldwell County) and on March 31, 2009, 7-month old Izaiah Gregory Cox was mauled to death by his grandmother's two pit bulls in San Antonio (Bexar County).

Canada Supreme Court Upholds Ontario's Pit Bull Ban: Rules Ban is Constitutional

Law Not "Arbitrary"
Ottawa, CA - It was announced last week that the Canada Supreme Court refused the appeal against the Ontario pit bull ban brought by Catherine Cochrane of Toronto, which leaves the Ontario law untouched and constitutionally sound. In October of 2008, the Ontario Court of Appeal overwhelmingly upheld the law, known as the Dog Owners' Liability Act of 2005, that bans the breeding, sale and ownership of pit bulls in the province of Ontario.

The high court refuted that the law was vague and could be used to include half-breeds and mutts. The court stated, "The total ban on pit bulls is not 'arbitrary' or 'grossly disproportionate' in light of the evidence that pit bulls have a tendency to be unpredictable and that even apparently docile pit bulls may attack without warning or provocation." Though Ontario is the only province in Canada to ban the breed, various Canadian cities have done so as well.

In February of 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the Toledo v. Tellings ruling, whereby leaving the State of Ohio's pit bull law intact. The court rejected the appeal on the following grounds: Procedural due process; Substantive due process; Equal protection and Void for vagueness. The Canada Supreme Court now joins a number of U.S. courts in ruling that breed-specific laws are indeed constitutional when properly written.

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Colleen Lynn

DogsBite.org Releases Report: U.S. Police and Citizen Shootings of Pit Bulls 2008

Seattle, WA - On June 3, 2009, DogsBite.org, a national dog bite victims’ group dedicated to reducing serious dog attacks by creating common sense laws, releases its 2008 report on pit bulls shot for public safety reasons. The 20-page report documents 373 incidences in which U.S. law enforcement officers and citizens were forced to shoot a dangerous pit bull to prevent an attack or to stop an ongoing attack.

The findings show that firearm intervention might have prevented at least eight deaths by a pit bull mauling in this period.1

Download Report | View News Release

Report Summary

Of the 373 incidences, 626 bullets were fired and 319 pit bulls were killed.
The vast majority of shooters, 84% (313), were law enforcement officers and 16% (60), were citizens.
148 people suffered pit bull bite injury in these incidences. Of these victims, 81% (120) were citizens and 19% (28) were law enforcement officers.
In at least three instances, the bite injury resulted in amputation. In six instances, the bite injury resulted in death.2
13 people suffered bullet injury as well. Of these victims, 54% (7) were citizens and 46% (6) were law enforcement officers.
States with the highest number of shootings include: California (37), Texas (32), Florida (24), Illinois (23) and Ohio (23).

1Possible prevented deaths by firearm intervention include: Catherine Barber, 70s (Washington D.C.), Tony Burden, 24 (Evansville, IL), Huong Le, 71 (SeaTac, WA), Roger Lindee, 41 (Palm Bay, FL), Denise Rocha, 41 (San Antonio, TX), Cameron Salinas, 4 (Oconee County, SC), Trayshawn Toliver, 6 (Washington D.C.) Annette Williams, 45 (Greensburg, IN).
2Attacks that ended in death include: Isis Krieger, 6 (Anchorage, AK), Kelli Chapman, 24 (Longville, LA), Luna McDaniel, 83 (Ville Platte, LA) Cendi Carey, 4 months (Las Vegas, NV) Tanner Monk, 7, (Breckenridge, TX) and Pablo Lopez Hernandez, 5, (Weslaco, TX)

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