Nov 24, 2004 Roselle Pit Bull Attacked Kindergartner; Owner Fined $600

Roselle - The owner of a pit bull that bit a Roselle kindergartner last month was fined $600 this week.
Jason Devincent, 18, who says he is homeless, pleaded guilty in DuPage County Circuit Court on Monday to owning a dog at large and not having a dog license.

The dog, Buster, got loose from a yard in the 700 block of Autumn Drive, where Devincent was staying for a few days, and bit Anthony Duffy Jr., 5, who lived on that block.
The boy suffered 4- and 6-inch wounds to the back of his head that required surgery. He was released from the hospital after a day.

The pit bull was euthanized several hours after the incident.

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Oct 28, 2004 Roselle Pit Bull Severely Attacked Young Boy

Roselle - A Roselle kindergartner who was attacked by a pit bull mix was resting at home Wednesday after undergoing plastic surgery to repair wounds in the back of his head, his father said.

Anthony Duffy Jr. was getting off the school bus in front of his home in the 700 block of Autumn Drive about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday when the dog, which was twice his size, knocked him to the ground, said his father, Anthony.


The dog bit the boy in the head, leaving 4-inch and 6-inch wounds, before a contractor working on a nearby home rushed over and helped the boy's mother pull the dog away, Duffy said.

"He ran across shouting and basically got the dog off him for enough time that my wife could get him in the house," Duffy said. "It was pretty traumatic."

Anthony Jr. underwent surgery in Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village Tuesday night and was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, his father said.

"He's gonna be OK," Duffy said. "We're just really thankful that it wasn't worse."

The dog also bit the hand of a 56-year-old woman who was walking in the neighborhood, police said. The woman was treated and released from the same hospital.

The dog's owner, Jason Devincent, who lives on the same block, was cited for having a dog at-large and not licensing the dog. Devincent told police he had not realized his dog had escaped from a fenced yard.

The dog was turned over to DuPage County Animal Care & Control and euthanized Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

Anthony Jr. is the youngest of five children, and the family does not have any pets, Duffy said.

"We were talking about maybe getting a puppy for his birthday, but I think we're going to put that on the back burner," he said.

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Oct 19, 2004 Chicago Pit Bull Owner Ordered His Pit Bulls to Attack Police Officers

Chicago -  A man who allegedly signaled for his two pit bulls to attack police officers executing a search warrant at his home was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bail on Monday.
Reynaldo Reyes, 31, of the 1500 block of West Wellington Avenue, is charged with aggravated battery of a police officer and possession of a controlled substance, Assistant State's Atty. Lorraine Scaduto said.

Two officers executed the search warrant looking for drugs and weapons at Reyes' home Saturday evening. Reyes ran from his living room to a bedroom and used a hand signal to order his two pit bulls to go after the officers, Scaduto said. The officers shot and killed the dogs.

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Aug 14, 2003 Pit bull launches devastating attack, consumes girl's thumb
Jan 12, 2003 Pit bull mixes attack two joggers, killing one and seriously injuring the other
Oct 15, 2001 Rockford Pit Bull Attacked Man, is Killed By Police

Sep 02, 2004 Two Carbondale Pit Bulls Seriously Attack Letter Carriers

Carbondale - A letter carrier on a Carbondale route was severely bitten on the hand Wednesday by a pit bull at a residence on the 1300 block of West Schwartz Street, postal officials confirmed.

Doug Meadows, 50, of Anna, who works out of the Carbondale Post Office, was treated at the emergency room of Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. Dan Finnegan, supervisor of customer service at the post office, confirmed that "the carrier was very seriously bitten by a pit bull.

"The carrier was delivering mail on the porch of a residence when the dog burst through an unlatched screen door and attacked him," Finnegan said.

Others in the emergency room said Meadows' wedding ring had to be cut off his hand so he could be treated and that his uniform was covered with blood.

Carbondale police confirmed Wednesday that Cindy Nelson, the city's animal control officer, has received a report on the incident. Nelson was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Meadows was resting at his home on Wednesday night, but still being kept comfortable by the effects of the Morphine he had received at the hospital earlier. He described the dog as seeming "to come out of nowhere."

"I'm a carrier tech," he said. "I do a different route every day, but there was not card in the slot saying that there was a dangerous dog at that house, probably because the owners kept it inside. Unfortunately I was the one doing the route on the day that the dog decided to come outside."

"I went up to the box to deliver the mail and take out the mail that the owner had to be picked up." Meadows continued. "The box was right next to the door. I heard him bark from inside the house, but when he leapt against the door and the door flew open, he was right on me. I shoved the mail at him, just as an instinct, to get him to take it -- anything but me, and I kicked at him. Luckily, the owner was there and called him off. I can even think about what would have happened if he hadn't backed off." 
"I had 14 stitches in my hand," Meadows said. "They had to cut my wedding ring off, and couldn't even do that at first because it was stopping the bleeding. They finally used a blood pressure cuff to stop the blood while they cut the ring off. Even the wedding ring was dented from the dog's teeth. I had four big lacerations and four deep puncture wounds from the dog's teeth. It bled profusely. That's what really had me worried, was all the blood."

The dog's owner drove Meadows to the hospital and reported the incident to animal control.

"I really want people to think about it -- that a dog may be their pet and they say it doesn't bite. Well it doesn't bite you, but just because it has never bitten before doesn't mean it won't. Those are all my friends out there day to day trying to deliver their mail."

Meadows, who is steward for Branch 1197 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, helped coordinate the group's annual food drive in May.

Branch 1197 includes more than 100 post offices from Effingham south to Cairo, and from the Mississippi to the Ohio River. The Carbondale Post Office collected 3,193 pounds of food -- nearly double the previous year's total -- and delivered it to Good Samaritan Food Pantry in Carbondale.

This was the second reported incident in Southern Illinois. Earlier this year, Orient Postmaster Charlene Irwin was bitten July 23 by a large dog that was partially blocking the post office door.

The dog was panting, and Irwin set a bowl of water down, hoping it would drink the water, then go away. Instead, it grabbed her hand and arm and dragged her toward the sidewalk. It also bit her on the leg. Irwin was taken to Franklin County Hospital in Benton, where she received stitches on her left leg and treatment for 13 lacerations on her left forearm and hand. That dog was described as a mixture of German shepherd and pit bull.

Finnegan said the postal service gives plenty of training to city carriers on how to protect themselves from dog bites.

"It's a serious problem nationally," he said, with "staggering numbers" of bites reported each year.

"We want to use this opportunity to encourage people to restrain their animals, both to ensure the safety of our carriers and to reduce liability for the homeowners," he added.

All letter carriers receive training, "one time a year at minimum," in how to defend themselves against dogs, Finnegan said. They carry dog spray, and are trained to use the mail pouch or satchel as a barrier between them and the dog.

Nationwide, the postal service reported 3,423 dog bites in fiscal year 2003. In the Gateway District, which includes Southern Illinois and part of Missouri from St. Louis west to Columbia, the total for fiscal year 2003 was 66 dog bites, a significant reduction from the 89 recorded the previous fiscal year, Finnegan said.

"That makes us think our efforts on education and awareness are working." 

The Southern, September 02, 2004
Animal Attacks in the News
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Jul 28, 2004 Pit Bull Attacks Joliet Mailman

Joliet - A loose pit bull mauled a mailman and bit him on the top of his head Monday. The 47-year-old postal worker told police he was walking through a yard on Doris Avenue about 4:30 p.m. when a pit bull ran up to him, knocked him off his feet and bit him on the top of his head. The mailman told police he recognized the dog as the property of the man living at 211 Doris Ave.Police stopped by this man's home and learned from him that he let the dog -- a 2-year-old female

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Jun 24, 2004 Pit Bull Used as Weapon in Bowling Alley

An unknown offender was driving through the parking lot of Diversey River Bowl at “reckless speed.” The offender got into an argument with a 30-year-old man in the parking lot. The argument ended but minutes later the offender returned and unleashed a pitbull dog on him. The offender then struck him in the head with an unknown object, possibly a tire iron. The victim left the scene, went home and later called police. He refused medical attention despite the gash on his scalp. The attack took place at approximately 10:30pm on June 17.

The previous information was compiled, with permission, from the Chicago Police Department’s 14th District review files. Not all incidents that occurred are listed. Anyone named in reports has only been charged with a crime an cases have not been adjudicated.


Jun 09, 2004 Suburb wants to kill pit bull

Judge to decide if it has the right

By Rachel Osterman, Tribune staff reporter.

A pit bull killed two of Josephine Zylkowski's three tiny Maltese dogs and left the 71-year-old Hoffman Estates woman afraid to leave her home.

Now a Cook County judge will hear arguments about whether that sudden attack, the violent end to Zylkowski's afternoon stroll through her neighborhood on May 5, gives the village the right to kill the pit bull, which owner Victor Sandoval contends is just a family pet.


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Jun 05, 2004 Father, Son Guilty In Dogfight Case

Lake County — A father and son were sentenced to community service and ordered to pay $9,000 to Lake County Animal Control after pleading guilty Friday to cruelty to animals for staging dogfights.

Jason Mitsias, 29, and Arthur Mitsias, 61, of the 500 block of Ridge Circle, Streamwood, were charged in September 2002 with nine counts of animal cruelty. Jason Mitsias also was charged with possession of equipment for dog fighting. All charges were misdemeanors.

Authorities found 15 malnourished pit bulls near Wadsworth. A sheriff's deputy shot one dog to death at the site in the 16700 block of Wadsworth Road. Lake County animal control officers took the rest. Two were stolen from the county's animal control facility in Mundelein, nine were put to sleep, and the others were adopted.

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