Nasty dog attack in my neighborhood...

[HyDef]

http://wnep.com/2012/09/18/cops-woma...d-by-pit-bull/

There is a video of the news story in the link.


Cops: Woman, Dog Attacked By Pit Bull

OLYPHANT — Two dogs are dead and a woman had to be rushed to a hospital after a violent dog attack in Lackawanna County Tuesday.

Police in Olyphant say a pit bull, owned by man in the borough, became so aggressive that it attacked and killed another dog and seriously injured a woman. The attack only stopped when a neighbor shot and killed the pit bull.

A neighbor living along Gravity Avenue in Olyphant says a pit bull she had never seen before became aggressive when it ran onto her property around 10:30 a.m.

“I was sniffing everything, jumping up and down, pulling those apart,” the neighbor said.

Then, the neighbor told police the pit bull spotted a woman walking her dog down the street. The pit bull went after them, according to cops, and first latched onto the shih-tzu puppy then bit the woman’s hand.

Another neighbor heard the woman’s screams, came outside, and fired a shot that killed the pit bull. The woman was rushed to the hospital and the puppy later died.

“It was a vicious dog, my puppy was ripped to shreds. And my daughter’s in the hospital now,” said Jill Kidwell, the shih-tzu’s owner, after the attack.

Kidwell says she had never seen the pit bull before either. But, when a humane officer was called in, she found the pit bull had a micro-chip and belonged to a man living only a few blocks away.

Police officers say the man who shot the pit bull won’t face charges. The pit bull’s owner, though, will. Police say the owner violated the Olyphant’s dog leash ordinance.

Humane officers say shooting the pit bull is not a case of animal cruelty, that it may have been necessary in the case. The pit bull will now be tested for rabies.

Newswatch 16 was not able to reach the pit bull’s owner for comment. The pit bull is now in the hands of the Lackawanna County dog warden who will run the rabies tests.

The woman who was attacked was treated at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton and released.

[mpan72]

I hope the dog was not rabid. The woman has dealt with enough and I would hate to hear if she has to get rabies shots.

Breaks my heart to hear about a dog injuring other dogs and people. Sometimes people see it for something it was not.

[SAB215]

Sucks that it was a Pit Bull too, it's just going to push the stereotype further.

They're awesome dogs with a loving owner. My parents rescued a Pit and he's the nicest thing ever.

Good thing that neighbor was around and alert. Imagine what could've happened otherwise?

[spblademaker]

They said, "shih-tzu"!

[EvoRich]

Sucks that it was a Pit Bull too, it's just going to push the stereotype further.

They're awesome dogs with a loving owner. My parents rescued a Pit and he's the nicest thing ever.

Good thing that neighbor was around and alert. Imagine what could've happened otherwise?

I agree 100%

However, I will say, this is the first story of a dog being shot I've read in awhile that actually sounds legitimate. According to the story, I would have done the same as the man who shot the dog, and I'm usually against shooting dogs if at all possible.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Shame that Pits get a bad rap,they can be great family pets.

[gascolator]

Rabies shots aren't so bad any more. Just like a few flu-shots a week or two apart. Amen on the pit-bull thing. We constantly encounter pits and staffordshire terriers in the hands of responsible owner/rescuers. Unfailingly they are the most affectionate animals, even towards strangers. It's the assholes who train them to be aggressive with unbelievable cruelty, who need to be "put down."

[jerkin]

Yeah, they get a bad rap all right, with good reason. Why is it that every other time something like this happens it's a pit? There are a million types of dogs out there yet more than half the times one of them attacks someone it's a pitbull. There are stereotypes for a reason. Ghettos are dangerous, same as pits. Yeah, I've known gentle ones too, still didn't trust them as far as I could throw them.

When is the last time you read about a beagle attack?

[dannyb]

Yeah, they get a bad rap all right, with good reason. Why is it that every other time something like this happens it's a pit? There are a million types of dogs out there yet more than half the times one of them attacks someone it's a pitbull. There are stereotypes for a reason. Ghettos are dangerous, same as pits. Yeah, I've known gentle ones too, still didn't trust them as far as I could throw them.

When is the last time you read about a beagle attack?

When was the last time that you heard of somebody buying or adopting a beagle to "train" (ie, abuse to the point of hating humans) as an attack dog? If you're enough of an idiot to want to do this, you're going to want a big and scary dog. If they ever truly ban pit bulls, you'll see a new wave of Rottweiler and German Shepherd attacks because that's what the idiots will turn to next.

Personally, I prefer a nice yappy terrier to alert me that there are strangers in the driveway.

[PisnNapalm]

Pit bulls and Rottweilers account for 65% of deaths by dog attack. Those two breeds alone. http://dogbitelaw.com/dog-bite-stati...y-to-kill.html

This is just from 2012. http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-sta...ities-2012.php

There is a valid reason for the pit bull "stereotype".