Posted on December 8, 2008 by Colleen Lynn

Expert, James Crosby, Testifies in Aurora Fighting Breed Ban

United States District Court for the District of Colorado on 19th Street in Denver.

Expert Blames Owners for Attacks
Aurora, CO - In a recent blog post, we wrote about the Aurora Fighting Breed ban. Last month, Chief U.S. District Judge Wiley Y. Daniel, ruled in favor of the City of Aurora. A pit bull owner named Florence Sasek, along with the American Canine Foundation (ACF), sued the city saying the city's fighting breed ban was "unconstitutional" and "vague." James Crosby was called on to testify as an expert witness for the plaintiffs. Crosby is listed as an expert on the ACF website. Judge Daniels rejected the plaintiff's claim and presumably Crosby's "expert" testimony.

The plaintiffs brought in an expert witness from Florida who testified that the breed is no more aggressive than any other dog.

James Crosby, the animal control manager in Panama City, Fla., told District Judge Wiley Daniel that dog attacks happen because of the owner, not the breed.

Outside the court, he said politicians go after the dog instead of real solutions.

"It's knee jerk," he said. "Something happens and politicians feel like they have to do something. The easiest thing is to legislate against the breed." - The Denver Channel, November 19, 2008

Back in July, DogsBite.org wrote a blog post about this expert witness. James Crosby is a pit bull owner and is aligned with various pit bull special interest groups, including the ACF, National Canine Research Council and Best Friends Animal Society. According to the DenverChannel, Crosby testified in Daniel's court that dog attacks happen because of the owner, not the breed. Sometime after July and prior to his recent expert testimony, content was removed from Crosby's website that indicated an awareness that pit bulls display unique behaviors when they attack.

Investigating Serious and Fatal Dog Attacks:
A Suggested Protocol, by James W. Crosby

The current protocol document located on Crosby's website (click left navigation: Investigative Protocol), previously had a section titled "Breed-Specific Legislation," which addressed behavioral differences that pit bulls display when they attack. DogsBite.org has included portions of this section below. The original protocol document is still in Google cache and can be accessed at our Scribd page as well. We have underlined areas for emphasis, but otherwise copied his original text exactly (including his typos):

"Enter now the Pit Bull, and other breeds speciﬁcally selected by Man to ﬁght each other. These animals have several concerning behavioral difference from most other canines. When they ﬁght, human intervention has selected for animals that do not turn off, and do not stop ﬁghting until one, or both, are dead. There is no surrender for these animals. A fully submissive body posture is no more than another opportunity for them to disembowel their adversary.

As a corollary to this, these dogs seem to have a shorter negotiation sequence. Many times we hear of a Pit Bull or similar dog that “…just went off…” The expected precursors to a full ﬁght seem to be lacking, much like the quick interactions we see with some teens and young adults these days; one insults another, and the ﬁrst response is to “…pop a cap…” into the offender. Even popular Pit Bull sites on the Internet admit that ﬁghts between Pit Bulls can occur with little or no warning."

"...These dogs already have a propensity for tenacity and continued aggression based on years of selective breeding. One than takes and, through fear, mistreatment, or misguided training, positively reinforces the display of aggressive behavior towards humans without the establishment of a clear set of controls. This animal has now learned to manipulate its environment, to its own benefit and sometimes safety, by directing aggressions towards people, with a genetically selected lack of an off button. A bad situation has now become tragically dangerous."

Part of Aurora's justification for its ban likely relied on evidence that pit bulls show little warning prior to an attack (Lockwood Pg 133). Many cities agree that the "sudden" nature of a pit bull attack presents a grave threat. Crosby's past writings reflected the same "little or no warning" behavior. He also stated that pit bulls "do not turn off." Selective breeding for tenacity -- the ability to keep attacking even after serious pain is inflicted upon it -- is another reason why cities regulate pit bulls. Crosby's writings addressed this aspect as well.

The argument to regulate pit bulls is not about why they attack (bad ownership or otherwise), it's about how a pit bull attack differs from an attack by other dog breeds, and the substantial threat this poses to members of the community.

James Crosby (also known as Jim Crosby) is the animal control manager in Bay County, Florida.

Posted on November 27, 2008 by Colleen Lynn

2008 Dog Bite Fatality: 2-Year Old Boy Killed by Family Pit Bull in Clark County, Nevada

Alexander Adams, 2-years old, was killed by his family's pit bull-mix.

Case Concludes
UPDATE 12/03/08: Police spokesman Bill Cassell could offer no theory as to why the family pit bull killed Alexander Adams. The boy's grandmother was walking with the dog's food bowl into a room where the dog was normally fed. The toddler followed and was attacked, he said. "While it's possible that the presence of food, combined with the young victim in the area where the dog was normally fed, triggered the attack, there is nothing definitive that can be determined," Cassell said.

11/28/08: Dogs Described as Pit Bulls
In an updated report, the Review-Journal reiterated again that police spokesman Bill Cassell described the dogs as part pit bull and that possibly both were involved in the deadly attack. The dogs "were at least pit bull mixes," he told the Journal. It is important to point out that pit bull owners and animal control departments will intentionally mislabel pit bulls as boxer-mixes, lab-mixes and other mixes in order to "protect" the breed after serious and fatal maulings.

A police spokesman, Officer Bill Cassell, says investigators might never know what triggered the Nov. 26 attack at a house in northwest Las Vegas.

But he says it happened after the boy followed his grandmother into a room where the pit bull or pit bull mixed breed dog was being fed.

The boy was fatally mauled and the grandmother suffered minor injuries. - Associated Press, December 3, 2008

11/27/08: Second Death in Clark County
Las Vegas, NV - In a developing story, a 2-year-old boy was fatally attacked by at least one dog at his home on the 6200 block of Warm River Road near Washington Avenue. Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said the boy and his younger brother were being taken care of by their grandmother when the child was fatally bitten. Cassell described the dogs as "mix-breed terriers" and that the dogs also might be a "type of pit bull pit bull" weighing between 40-45 pounds.

On September 12, 4-month-old Cenedi Kia Carey was fatally mauled by her family's two pit bulls in North Las Vegas. In that deadly attack, the child was also under the care of her grandmother.

View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Nevada Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Colleen Lynn

Aurora, Colorado Fighting Breed Ban Prevails in Federal Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado on 19th Street in Denver.

Fighting Breed Ban Upheld
UPDATE 11/20/08: Chief U.S. District Judge Wiley Y. Daniel has ruled in favor of the City of Aurora. Once again, the American Canine Foundation loses, making their "track record" undeniably horrific. The United States Supreme Court has also spoken on breed-specific law. The court rejected all grounds that a dog lobbying group brought forth: Procedural due process, Substantive due process, Equal protection of the laws and Void for vagueness.

Lobbying groups like the American Canine Foundation can intimidate cities with lawsuits. But in virtually all cases, their lawsuits are weak.

11/17/08: Doesn't Like the Muzzle
Aurora, CO - To avoid placing a "muzzle" on her pit bull-mix, Florence Vianzon Sasek is going to U.S. District Court to challenge Aurora's Fighting Breed ban. Aurora currently bans: Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Bulldog, Canary Dog, Cane Corso, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Presa Mall orquin and Tosa. Dogs that existed prior to the ban, such as Sasek's, must adhere to special restrictions.

Chief Judge Wiley Y. Daniel will hear the case. The case was filed on Sasek's behalf by the American Canine Foundation, a Washington state-based pit bull special interest group. Though Colorado State courts and U.S. District Courts have consistently ruled in favor of breed-specific law, Sasek's lawsuit says that Aurora's ban on the breeds is "unconstitutional," that the ordinance is "vague" and that the law was passed unnecessarily.

Aurora's ordinance already has been challenged in state court and was upheld. In January, a U.S. District Court in Colorado rejected a similar case brought against the Denver pit bull ban. The Denver case is currently pending before the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Courts in eleven states have upheld well-written breed-specific laws including: Ohio, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Kentucky.

Good luck Aurora City Attorney Charlie Richardson. It is our understanding that Judge Daniel rejected 3 of the 5 claims of this suit back in May. Today he will hear 2 claims, both of which may prove difficult: the issue of precedence and property seizure.

Posted on November 13, 2008 by Colleen Lynn

2007 Dog Bite Fatality: Kylie Cox, 4-Months Old, Killed by a Rottweiler

Jail Time for Owner
UPDATE 11/12/08: Christopher Fura -- the 21-year-old Warren man whose rottweiler, Chopper, killed an infant last year -- pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter and began a six-month jail sentence today. Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Steve Kaplan said Fura pleaded just before a jury was to be selected for his trial today. Fura previously had entered the same plea, but withdrew it six weeks ago when prosecutors insisted he serve at least 6-months jail time.

The mauling occurred after Alexis Cox brought her daughter, Kylie, to the home on Toepfer Avenue on Sept. 12, 2007. The 17-year-old mother went to the kitchen to prepare a bottle of baby formula, and the Rottweiler, named "Chopper," grabbed Kylie from an unbuckled child seat on the living room floor and flung her. Winters and Fura, who were playing a video game approximately 8 feet away, then pounced on Chopper. - Macomb Daily

Christopher Fura also will be on probation for 3 years, during which time he can’t own any animals. Kaplan said the prosecution’s best evidence came from an incident three days before the fatal mauling on September 12, when Chopper growled at a child, got into a dogfight and bit Fura on the hand. “That shows he knew the dog had violent tendencies,” Kaplan said. Jason Winters, 23, Fura’s stepbrother, already pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to probation.

02/26/08: Negligence Claim Filed
Warren, MI - The grandmother of 4-month-old Kylie Cox, who was mauled to death September 17, 2007 by a rottweiler is suing the owner of the home where the fatal mauling took place. The lawsuit seeks more than $1 million in damages and is expected to be filed today in Macomb County Court. It charges Margaret Elderson, the owner of the home with negligence. Also named in the suit are Craig Winters, who owned the dog, his son, Jason Winters and Christopher Fura.

The defendants "owed a duty of care ... to exercise reasonable care and precautions in the supervision, training and securing of the dog so as to prevent foreseeable harm to (Kylie) and others like her," said the suit, which was to be filed by attorney Daniel Padilla today.

Padilla represents Kylie's grandmother, Lisa Livingston, who was appointed representative of Kylie's estate. - Detroit News

Last September, Alexis Cox brought her baby daughter, Kylie, to a party at Elderson's home on Toepfer Avenue. Two of her acquaintances, Christopher Fura, 19, and his stepbrother Jason Winters, 22, brought a 120-pound rottweiler named "Chopper" to the party as well. The animal attacked and killed the baby after Alexis placed the infant -- still strapped in her car seat -- on the floor in the living room. She had set her down briefly to make her a bottle in the kitchen.

DogsBite blog ::