This evening I had the opportunity to speak to our city council regarding the numerous attacks by Pitt Bulls in our community. Here is what I said:
Thank you to the City Council for allowing me the opportunity to speak this evening. I am here to speak on behalf of my mother. She and her dog were the victims of an attack by two American Staffordshire Terriers, more commonly know as Pitt Bulls, on February 1st here in Yucaipa. As a result of this attack my mother has been suffering not only from physical ramifications such as heart palpitations but also anxiety and a tendency to be suddenly overwhelmed by emotion, thus my being her tonight.
The morning of the attack my mom was taking her daily walk with her dog Maggie. It’s important to note that she was doing this in compliance with all of our laws and city ordinance; Maggie has had her shots, is licensed and was on a leash. After rounding the corner of our block she saw the two dogs running up the street erratically. In the time it took her to make a decision as to how to proceed, the Pitt Bulls had descended upon them, knocking both my mother and her dog (a 105 lb Bernese Mountain Dog) down into the gutter, pinning them to the ground on their backs. My mother was able so scramble to her feet and scream for help, which arrived in the form of several neighbors. Two of whom were pummeling the violent animals with baseball bats, to no avail. At the behest of another neighbor who had arrived on the scene, my mother and Maggie were able to scramble into the woman’s van, thereby ending the attack. My mother was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and I took Maggie to the vet. With the aide of time, medication and countless trips to doctors they are thankfully on the road to recovery.
My greater concern as a member of the community was the manner in which this incident was handled by our local Sheriffs Department and Animal Control. By the time the Sheriff and Animal Control arrived on the scene my mother was already en route to the hospital, leaving them only able to speak with the owners of the animals. No neighbors or witnesses were interviewed or even contacted. We had to call the Sheriff in order to file a report only to have them tell us that this was under the jurisdiction of Animal Control. My mother was not contacted by Animal Control to give her statement until the following day after I called and spoke with a Lt. Brawly. They did not seek her out. They did not follow up on their own. They did not dispatch an officer to get her side of the story and take a report from the victim until ‘a concerned neighbor’ called to complain. Please tell me how this procedure expedites justice? Had I not called to question why the dogs had been left in home quarantine she would never have been contacted. I find that very curious and question, is it not the responsibility of Animal Control to seek out and correctly document information regarding incidents like these?
To that end, I further question a department who makes the determination to leave two vicious animals in the home from which they escaped to maul, especially when that home is thirty feet from an elementary school. Once again, no action was taken on the part of Animal Control to remove these animals from the home until my father made fliers regarding their proximity to the school and dispersed them to the unknowing parents. Between that campaign generating 77 calls to their office and my speaking with Lt. Brawly, the animals were removed from the property for the remainder of the quarantine period and ultimately destroyed.
When an officer was finally dispatched to speak with my mother, the officer was rude and abrupt as though we were inconveniencing her by asking her to follow up properly and take a report; A report which she accounted far too briefly and very inaccurately. And the salt in the 50 bite wounds was that when we finally received a copy of the official incident report the attack was listed as a provoked attack. Provoked. Implying that somehow my mother caused this to happen. She called to question this hoping that it was simply a clerical error and found that per Animal Control policy, if you ‘interfere’ in any way with the attack by trying to defend yourself or your animal then they list it as a provoked attack. I find this sickening and offensive. This was a completely innocent, law abiding woman taking a stroll with her dog getting brutally violated and repeatedly torn into by two out of control beasts. I hope that by bringing this to light we can put pressure on the Department of Animal Control to do the job that we pay them to do, to protect our community from violent animals.
Prior to this incident I was neither a proponent nor a critic of Pitt Bulls. I have subsequently taken a firm footed stance against this breed. DogsBite.org just released a 3 year Fatality Study citing that between January 2006 and December 2008 that 19 dog breeds contributed to 88 fatalities. Pit bulls accounted for 59% of these deaths. That was just fatalities, and just of people. This didn’t even take into account the deaths of beloved pets. This is a frightening breed.
• Owners and lovers of Pitt Bulls will tell you that not all Pitts are vicious.
I would argue that not all Pitts have been vicious….YET. Every breed of dog has certain inherent tendencies, innate characteristics which make it unique, and unfortunately Pitt Bulls have been bred for strength, aggression and fighting. They are ticking time bombs waiting to go off and when they do the results are scary, painful, and often catastrophic. Just as a Labrador was bred to retrieve, the breeds that encompass the title of Pitt Bull were bred to seek and destroy. That is hardwired into their brains and not always something that can be overcome with training. If you are one of the people who say that you have had Pitts in your home who were loving and kind, I suggest that you were lucky.
• Owners and lovers of Pitt Bulls will tell you that it is bad owners that make bad dogs.
To a certain degree this is true. Yes, an irresponsible owner can treat the gentlest of breeds in such a way that they will become mean and aggressive. And yes, many people who own Pitt Bull are bad people who treat their animals badly. But that is not always the case when these animals attack. It wasn’t the case in my mother’s attack. The Pitt Bulls that attacked her and her dog (causing over 50 puncture wounds) were well cared for, well loved family pets. They were treated with respect and were well maintained although they were not licensed. Until the morning of the attack they had shown no signs of aggression. Quite simply, for an unknown reason, those dogs had something triggered in their brains and they reverted to the most primal of forms…that of killing machines.
In the case of Mr. Greene being heard tonight we have a victim of an animal who had attacked previously. Unfortunately, we cannot count on or legislate people to be responsible pet owners. We cannot expect a dog who was bred for violence can be loved enough to override the hardwiring of their brains. We cannot trust Animal Control to properly and accurately account and follow up when incidents occur. Perhaps then, the safest thing for our community would be to ban these animals so that next time it isn’t you, your pet, or God forbid like in the case in Fontana, your child that is victimized by these predators and their ignorant owners. If something is established to be a potential threat then our due diligence as a community would be to remove that threat.
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