Pit Bull Attacks: Neighbors Pack Dallas Animal Shelter, But Be Careful Walking In Our ‘Hood
Like maybe we all need bullet proof vests. It was an unprecedented meeting yesterday down at 1818 North Westmoreland with more than 100 people jamming the dangerous dog hearing, and I did snap some pictures of “Chill” — that’s the 80 pound muscular pit bull who has attacked twice in our neighborhood now in 30 days. However, yesterday I learned that Chill has apparently been aggressive on one other occasion for a total of three attacks. The owner, John Harris, was at the meeting (without an attorney) and very cooperative, very contrite. He explained that he and his wife do not raise pit bulls — they adopted Chill and Callie and raised them in a loving environment since they were puppies. Chill was a stray; they are pampered dogs and Harris said he was confident about them being around his grandchildren. He is not planning on bringing them back to the neighborhood. Meantime, I learned from my neighbors that almost everyone around here is packing heat on dog walks, which kind of scares me.
9 Comments to “Pit Bull Attacks: Neighbors Pack Dallas Animal Shelter, But Be Careful Walking In Our ‘Hood”
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where are the pictures of the pooch?
Get your facts straight… I know this family very well and Chill is not a stray dog, he is the son of Callie… Callie is also not a stray dog… she was given to them by another family when she was born… get your facts straight please your making these dogs out to be alot more dangerous then they really are… and why are your neighbors walking around “packing heat” when the dogs are in quarantine and you know it… sounds like your just trying to cause stress and heartache for everyone involved…
Friend of Family — I live in this neighborhood and do not care where these dogs came from. My only concern is getting rid of them. I am stunned that you would suggest that there is an exaggeration of their dangerousness. They are of a known-dangerous breed and have attacked three times. I am relieved that the owners have indicated they do not intend to bring the dogs back to the neighborhood. I would hate for there to be another tragedy, perhaps involving the death of dog or serious injury to a child. We have severely restricted our dog walking activity, and do not take our children becuase of this incident.
Friend of Family, ERG is correct and maybe you should get your story straight. No one cares if the dogs came from the other side of the planet. They have attacked. Not once, not twice, but three times. Three strikes = you’re out.
Candy, ERG and anyone else living in this neighborhood has a right to walk their non-aggressive dogs, children, turtles or ferrets if they so choose. That right trumps any other family’s right to maintain dogs on their property that have attacked numerous times and show a propensity to attack again.
The bigger problem will be if the dogs are returned to their owners and neighbors are packing heat or baseball bats. No one will win in that situation.
Friend of Family: Perhaps they were nervous at the Hearing yesterday, but I was there and Mr. Harris SAID that the dogs — plural — were rescue dogs. I do not wish to cause more stress and heartache for everyone involved. I want to give Mr. Harris a chance to tell us his side of the story. It is important to know they are not “raising pit bulls” but are simply good people who tried to love dogs. I am very concerned that many of my neighbors have decided to walk with a weapon. Clearly the situation is causing everyone a lot of stress. Were YOU at the meeting?????
All the commotion over the dog attacks in the last month has led to a number of rumors, accusations, and inferences about the prejudices and motivations of the involved parties. There are also some legislative responses on the horizon that, in an attempt to improve the situation, may, in my opinion, make it worse.
First, this was never a breed-specific issue. One of our dogs’ best friends and playmates is a pit bull. There are many mild mannered, docile, companion dogs that have a right to exist in modern society. Unfortunately, there are other dogs, whether through breeding, training, or just chance occurrence, are not fit to be allowed in civilized society. The fact that there are people who want a dog as a weapon and therefore choose a dog that fits their idea of the ultimate canine weapon (Pit bull, Rottweiler, Shepherd, Akita, etc., etc.) is probably a large part of why these dogs are implicated in a disproportionate number of attacks. Any dog can be made mean through abuse, training, and/or neglect. Any dog can bite if it is provoked or threatened, or misinterprets a situation as threatening. The problem is that when a dog shows itself to be dangerous, there must be an immediate remedy to protect the public. This is the owner’s responsibility, best summed up by Jennifer Crumley, Akita owner, in a letter to the hearing officer, “…no questions, no excuses, and no room for error.”
One of the solutions, currently being considered by the City of Dallas is to charge owners whose dogs have not been sterilized a $500 per year registration fee. While this may, at first blush, seem to be a deterrent to senseless breeding, it may invoke the law of unintended consequences. Those irresponsible dog owners who are the real problem are probably more likely to just forgo registering their dogs, and if they are not registered, there is no scrutiny of their rabies vaccination status. We may end up with more unregistered, unvaccinated dogs.
Better the city enforce the existing leash laws, get the loose dogs off the streets, and hit the owners with serious penalties for repeated offenses. Any dog picked up by Animal Services should be required to be micro-chipped for identification purposes as a condition of its return. Any dog owner with their dog off a leash in a public area, perhaps with the exception of designated dog parks, should be cited by the police. The city must take this issue seriously and we, as responsible citizens, must keep the pressure on until they do.
The best way to stop a pit bull is with lead. Packing heat is easier than walking around with a baseball bat, particularly since bats aren’t always effective. The “responsible” owner John Harris could also pass out Break Sticks to neighbors too. A Break Stick is a device used to pry open a pit bull’s mouth — responsible pit bull owners are supposed to have them on hand.
http://www.pbrc.net/breaksticks.html
Candy, your a loon. This Pit Bull is your own personal vendetta. Why are you scared of people “packing heat” If a person has abided by the law and has a CHL why shouldn’t they pack heat? They have shown they are responsible law abiding people. They are taking responsibility and more law abiding people should pack heat. You think thugs are going to quit packing heat because your scared?
EGR. You don’t care about facts as long as the end result is the dogs are gone? How sad.
Trigger: Did you just fall out of a truck? I’m sure an attacking Pit Bull will let you just shove this stick in their mouth. What are you going to do when you have them biting the stick, Play fetch? How moronic a suggestion you give.
Thats it. Let Candy continue to lie and make up accusations and you all just have it spoon fed to you. I got some ocean front property in Arizona if you so inclined.
05/27/2008 was the date that two Pit Bull dogs weaseled their way through our wrought iron fence on Stanford Ave in Devonshire neighborhood. My wife and our two Greyhounds were in our garden, minding their own business, and were attacked by the two loose killing machines. Police, Animal Control, injuries to my wife and one Greyhound, etc. The dogs will be released from quarantine to resume their reign of terror. There has been no contact by the owner, no offer to pay medical and vet bills — just the arrogance of irresponsible owners. What do you think?