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Neighbor's pit bull attacked my dog!

raccoon city

Supporter
Neighbor's dangerous dog attacked my dog

Warning: My story is tamer than the average dangerous dog attack, but it's still somewhat disturbing. Some of the 15 photos in this thread are a little bloody. If you cannot handle the sight of blood, you should skip this thread now.

My next door neighbor (let's call him "Jason") acquired a dangerous dog some time in July 2010. Then on July 31st (Saturday) Jason decided to take down part of the wooden fence that separates his front yard from our front yard. He replaced it with a new one-foot-taller fence. The problem is that there are gaps between the new fence and the old fence.

On Tuesday, Jason's dangerous dog got into our yard. The lactating dangerous dog attacked our male German Shepherd, Garth. The dangerous dog practically ripped off Garth's left ear. I was at an unrelated doctor's appointment at the time of the attack, so my mom took Garth to the vet; they performed surgery on Tuesday and Thursday. The vet had to completely remove Garth's ear and sew the area shut, so now Garth can only hear with his right ear. Garth also has some smaller injuries on his legs.

My mom is furious with Jason and his dangerous dog. She called the police, and Animal Control came to the scene. My mom is pressing charges and will most likely be suing Jason in small claims court to pay for Garth's $600-and-growing medical bills. By the way, our two cats and our other dog are unharmed. Our other dog, Charlie, witnessed the attack and for a while was afraid to go into the front yard. We will be putting the dogs in the back yard until the gaps in the front yard fencing get fixed.


Here's the V-shaped gap in the fence. The old fence is gray and the new fence is redwood.
01Gapinfence.jpg



Here's a close-up of the gap.
02Close-upofgap.jpg



This is the reverse angle of the gap.
03Reverseangleofgap.jpg



Here's the female dangerous dog.
04Pitbull.jpg


Right after the attack, the far half of the dangerous dog's face was covered in blood. The dog's owners tried to clean up the dangerous dog before these pics were taken.
05Pitbullclose-up1.jpg



In this pic, the dangerous dog looks injured, but as far as I know the dog was never taken to the vet.
06Pitbulllooksinjured.jpg



More close-ups.
07Pitbullclose-up2.jpg



You don't want to mess with this dangerous dog.
08Pitbullisgonnagetyou.jpg



Here's Charlie from before the attack. He was a witness to the attack, but escaped uninjured. He's a lot faster than Garth.
09Charlie.jpg



Here's Garth from before the attack. Notice he has two ears.
10Garthbeforeattack.jpg



Here's Garth after his stay at the vet. This is his good side. The red liquid in these pics is discharge. The discharge is supposed to drain out of the dog, whereas blood is supposed to stay in the dog. In other words, it's good that the red liquid is draining out.
11Garthsgoodside.jpg



Here's some close-ups of Garth's stitching.
12Garthclose-up1.jpg



13Garthclose-up2.jpg



14Garthclose-up3.jpg



15Garthclose-up4.jpg



I think that owning a dangerous dog is like owning an uncontrollable, pet-able, gun. I also think that Jason should have to get rid of the dangerous dog; we'll have to wait and see how Animal Control handles the situation.

Anyways, there's my somewhat lengthy dangerous dog attack story.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to checking out everyone's reaction to this senseless violence,
raccoon city
a.k.a. John
 
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OMG, I am soooo sorry for you and your dog. You did the right thing by calling animal control, did they take the pitbull away? I had a similar problem a few years ago, and because the neighbors dog was wolf/pitbull mix, they were told they needed a zoo handlers license and when outside he had to be crated all the time. They got rid of him. He was VERY mean, and kept digging under the fence. I will say a prayer for a speedy recovery for your dog. I love animals, but when they display this mean side, I firmly believe they should be put down!!!!
 
this breaks my heart, to see such violence from what is supposed to be an domesticated animal, did jason offer to get rid of the dog, or is he defending what the pit did, pits can be very loving and gentle animals, but as with all mother animals, they can be vicious for now apparent reason even after the pups/ children are gone.
i do wish garth a speedy recovery, looks as if he is on in years,what a pitty he'll have to adjust because of jasons carelessness, he should have been very sure of his fencing before getting such an animal.
 
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what's even more scary is that if the pb was lactating, then there are puppies with her temperment around.
My prayers are with your dog
 
that pit needs to be shot......
 
It's sad, because dog attacks happen a lot, but pitbulls are so strong, so their attacks are more damaging. I have met the nicest pitbulls, and some mean ones. However, the ratio of decent/insane pitbulls is really no different than other dogs, from my experience. Both my mother and my grandmother ran dog boarding kennels, so dogs are something I know a bit about.
While the actions of this pitbull were terrible, it is not the fault of the breed, but of the owner. He obviously did not care for the animal correctly, and his shoddy fence work is inexcusable. I wish that more people that actually cared for animals bought pits, as opposed to people who just get them because they look tough, or for whatever reason. Also; The studded collar on that pit looks ridiculous.
I am so sorry about what has happened to your dogs, both physically and emotionally, and I wish them a speedy recovery. Hopefully Garth will heal up well, and adjust alright. Poor pup.
I hate irresponsible pet owners.
 
any dog that breaks into another persons yard to attack another dog needs to be shot cause it can not be trusted.....a dog protecting its own turf is another issue entirely.....

have dealt with this exact issue before except it was a great pyrenees that jumped into my buddies yard and nearly killed one of his dogs that i had to put down cause it could not be saved......the GP was dead with in a half hour of killing my buddies dog....

dogs like this reguardless of breed need to be put down......and if im on the jury you can shoot the owner and ill let yah off on "temporary insanity" defense.....
 
As a shepherd owner, my heart goes out to you. I'd be devastated if my dog was attacked and mauled that badly. When I saw pics of Garth, my stomach filled with butterflies.
I can't say that I blame the pitbull. It was probably poorly socialized. The responsibility lies completely in those raising the dog. The LEAST they can do is cover your vet bills, and that's at the very MINIMUM!

That dog needs to be registered as a dangerous dog - meaning that it cannot go outside without a responsible adult and usually needs to be leashed. Find out more about your rights here:

http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stuscafoodagcode31601.htm
 
im a dog guy......got 2 of them on the couch next to me as i type this and a third one in the backyard working off breakfast.....i fully realize this is 100% on the owners head and i know of good pitbulls, my brother had one that was in my top 5 favorite dogs that i have ever been around.....

that said given the current laws do not let yah take a baseball bat to the idiot owner the dog needs to be put down as the owner has proven he cant handle the dog and unfortunatly it takes a ton of work to reverce this kinda behavior......as i said i dont fault any dog that protects his own turf, even if that means killing another......but i do not tolerate a dog that will bust through a fence to get to a dog in another yard....
 
  • #10
Thank you everyone for your kind words and helpful advice. I have 16 new photos. I'll let the photos tell some of the story.


2010-08-08 Check out Garth's leg wounds.
162010-08-08CheckoutGarthslegwounds.jpg



2010-08-10 Garth resting.
172010-08-10Garthresting.jpg



2010-08-18 Garth had a staple fall out.
182010-08-18Garthhadastaplefallout1.jpg



192010-08-18Garthhadastaplefallout2.jpg



2010-08-18 Close-up of staple that fell out.
202010-08-18Close-upofstaplethatfellout.jpg



2010-08-18 Garth restapled.
212010-08-18Garthrestapled.jpg



2010-08-10 Dangerous dog sticking her head through gap in fence.
222010-08-10Dangerousdogstickingherheadthroughgapinfence1.jpg



232010-08-11Dangerousdogstickingherheadthroughgapinfence2.jpg



2010-08-18 Gaps in fence.
242010-08-18Gapinfence1.jpg



252010-08-18Gapinfence2.jpg



262010-08-18Gapinfence3.jpg



272010-08-18Gapinfence4.jpg



2010-08-18 This is where the dogs usually bark at each other.
282010-08-18Thisiswherethedogsususuallytobarkateachother.jpg



2010-08-18 Gap in fence "temporarily" blocked.
292010-08-18Gapinfencehalfwayblocked1.jpg



302010-08-19Gapinfencehalfwayblocked2.jpg



2010-08-22 My mom put up a dangerous dog sign on one of our Mulberry trees.
312010-08-22Dangerousdogsign.jpg



The pictures don't tell the whole story, so now you'll have to read to learn about all of the ridiculousness that has been going on. Garth's stitching fell apart in several places, so that's why he got the staples. A couple of staples fell out but he's all stapled up good now. Forgot to mention, Garth had his drainage tubes taken out a while ago. Also, Garth is 12 years old; he has arthritis and valley fever (Coccidioidomycosis.) He takes medicine for his illnesseses and is healing from the dangerous dog attack at a slower rate than our veterinarian expected.

The owner of the dangerous animal, "Jason", avoided animal control for almost a week after the attack. On August 11th, animal control finally took the dangerous dog away. My family actually felt safe, but only for a week. On August 18th, animal control returned the dangerous dog! Jason had been working on the fence, but as the photos prove, there are still several gaps in the fence where the the dangerous dog could fit through.

My mom moved to our current home in 2005. For maybe a year, when we had fence problems on Jason's side of the fence, Jason would fix the fence. But starting sometime in 2006, when we had more fence problems, Jason wouldn't do anything about it. He would promise to fix the problems that he is responsible for, but he was just lying. He didn't try to fix any fence problems until shortly before the dangerous dog attack (in 2010.) My mom and my sister would usually talk to Jason, but it turned out that he is a compulsive liar. I almost never talk to Jason because he is a liar. Also, when he gets angry, which happens frequently, he gets verbally abusive. So, unfortunately, he is not worth talking to.

Last Thursday morning, about a day after the dangerous dog was back, my Mom didn't know what to do, so she put up a sign that said, "Pit bull next door." This enraged Jason. Thursday evening, I was pulling sedge grass out of one of my Sarracenia mini-bogs. Jason started up a conversation with me, but I ignored him because I can't stand him. He was angry about the sign and began to verbally abuse me. He was abusive for several minutes. Maybe I should have told him off, but I didn't. Then on Friday, Jason and his girlfriend/wife harassed my mom. They brought with them a camcorder, hoping to record my mom being angry. Although my mom didn't like them harassing her, she made them look like fools; she's pretty smart like that. Eventually they turned off the camcorder and my mom told them to turn it back on (because they were looking like fools.) Instead they left the camcorder off and screamed at her for another few minutes, then walked back to their home.

In addition to putting up the sign, my mom called two different animal control cops. They never called her back. Instead someone else from animal control contacted my mom. Apparently Jason has been telling more lies because the person from animal control chewed out my mom for harassing Jason. Although it is true that Jason had been working on the fence, there are still gaps in the fence. This whole situation is frustrating our family, and we do not feel safe. We should be getting a camcorder in the mail sometime this week so that we'll have video evidence of any further harassment. I picked out a JVC Everio GZ-MS230 camcorder; I hope that it'll be a decent enough standard definition camcorder; I'm usually the one responsible for picking out electronics for our family. By the way, the photographs in this thread were taken by a Canon Powershot A590 IS, which used to be one of the better digital cameras available when I picked out the camera about a year ago.

Today my mom changed the sign out front to read, "Dangerous dog next yard." Apparently animal control cares more about "dangerous dogs" than "pit bulls". The court case is about two weeks away. I don't have a specific date yet, but we should be receiving info in the mail pretty soon for the court date; I can't hardly wait. One final thought: Garth's medical bills now exceed $700.

John
 
  • #11
sorry to read about this unfortunate incident John. I don't get it..... this is just insane. How can animal control return that dog? How come the police are not involved?
 
  • #12
I totally feel for you. I hope that your neighbor's dog is branded as 'dangerous' and never gets to go out without supervision and a muzzle. Little consolation to Garth. Poor guy! :(
 
  • #13
232010-08-11Dangerousdogstickingherheadthroughgapinfence2.jpg


two words..... Louisville Slugger.......right between the running lights.......
 
  • #14
or a good old steeltoe boot to the throat...
No, i dont advocate animal cruelty or violence, but something needs to be done about this particular animal, the police should be involved, and the dog should be detained and properly taken care of, where i grew up, these dogs were put down...
This owner had better not walk away from this without an empty pocket, that poor dog....i am so sorry to hear about this, i have always loves animals, and this just breaks my heart....i hope that owner never lives this down, freaking lazy people halfassing their jobs...
 
  • #15
I'm so sorry that you have to deal with a terrible owner who fails to properly train and provide productive outlets for their animals high energy personality. This is a sad but too common story.
 
  • #16
I actually started crying looking at the second set of pictures.
I hope Garth heals quickly and something is done with Jason's Pitbul.
 
  • #17
I don't know about your state, but IN has a leash law. It gives you legal authority to shoot, or dispose of in any way you see fit, any trespassing dog.

That included the neighbor's dog that lived 1/2 mile away, came over here, and wouldn't let me out my own back door some years ago. It also included several other dogs that have come through my yard over the years and terrorized my own dogs, cats, yard birds, goats (at the time), etc. I have an electric fence, but they still chased them from the other side.

Your neighbor is lucky I'm not living next door to him. The "dangerous dog" would already be dead. Kind of late after the fact now and you have mounding vet bills. So sue him for your vet bills. You have photos. Go get him.


David
 
  • #19

This right here tell the whole story.
Piss poor owner is all i have to say. As a soon to be Vet tech I hate to say this but that Terrier is far out of control.

Hope your dog has a speedy recovery.
 
  • #20
I hate that vicious dog just looking at it. I am so sorry for you and my heart and love goes out to you and your sweet dog. I hope that your dog has a full recovery. I say get that vicious dog taken care of and gotten rid of, even if you have to do it yourself because that dog also poses a threat to you and your family, not just your dog, which I understand fully as an animal owner myself is also family as well.
I also say sue the owners of that thing. You shouldn't have to pick up the vet bill.

My best wishes go out to you and your lovely dog again and always.
 
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