Dec 30, 2011 Irresponsible Owner's Pit Bull with Bite History Shot While Wandering Neighborhood

Mary Gholston had an un-spayed pit bull terrier with a bite history that she routinely let outside to wander the neighborhood. Gholston admits to the dog having one litter of puppies.
On Christmas day, while it was off property, unattended and uncontrolled, someone in the neighborhood shot it.
And Brian Stanley of the Herald Tribune paints this most incredibly irresponsible owner as a victim. Why should a neighborhood be held hostage by a free roaming pit bull with a bite history?

Dog’s Christmas Day slaying ‘so cruel’
By Brian Stanley bstanley@stmedianetwork.com

Joliet Township - It was around 11:15 a.m. when she opened the back door of her house in the 200 block of Louis Road so Angel could go out into the yard. “She’d go to the bathroom by the fence and then sometimes go next door, but she never ran around and would come back,” Gholston said.
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Herald News
Accessed: 2011-12-31. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/64LnFqz9h)


Dec 27, 2011 Wilmette boy treated for injuries after pit bull attack

Wilmette - A Wilmette dog owner was cited after her pit bull attacked a 13-year-old boy on Christmas Eve.

The boy was taken to Evanston Hospital for treatment of injuries to his left triceps, upper right torso, both legs and buttocks, according to a police report. The injuries were not life-threatening, but resulted in lacerations, punctures and bruises to his body and led doctors to X-ray his chest for possible broken ribs.

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Dec 20, 2011 Arlington Hgts. toughens penalties for dangerous animals following pit bull attack

The attack that inspired this new dangerous dog legislation involved two unleashed pit bulls that attacked a leashed poodle/labrador retreiver mix off property and unprovoked.

Arlington Heights -  Previously, a dangerous animal would need to be convicted in three or more physical attacks before a court could rule to put the animal to sleep or order the owner to pay a fine, said Robin Ward, manager of the village legal department.

Now, if the first attack is serious enough, the dog can be destroyed.

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Daily Herald  Accessed: 2011-12-21.(Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/646wrHPYQ)

Dec 19, 2011 Dogs Attack Students During Recess as SW Suburban Elementary

So, a pit bull and a pekingese attack school children...Don't miss the part where the reporter says a teacher kicked "one of the dogs" that had knocked a child down. Wonder if that was the pekingese?

Evergreen Park - Three first-grade students at an elementary school in south west suburban Evergreen Park were at recess Tuesday when stray dogs attacked. Two faculty members came to their rescue.
Two dogs, a pit bull and a Pekingese, escaped from a house in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community and wandered to Southeast Elementary School at 9800 S. Francisco Ave., according to police reports.

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Dec 12, 2011 Heights Family's Dog Shot by Unknown Gunman



A 34-year-old Chicago Heights woman told police her son let Plexa, a brown medium-sized pit bull, out of their home unleashed to relieve itself, and the dog returned a few minutes later bleeding heavily.
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There had been several neighborhood complaints of Plexa running unleashed, according to the woman, who said those complaints were unfounded.

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Patch Chicago Heights

Dec 07, 2011 Rockford woman dies after attack by her pit bull

Rockford - A woman died Tuesday after being mauled by one of her two pit bulls in November.

Tonia C. Parks, 39, was attacked by one of her two 8-year-old pit bulls as she had a seizure in her home Nov. 18 in the 3200 block of Collins Street, said Jennifer Stacy, deputy director of Winnebago County Animal Services.  Reports say she suffered injuries to her head and that her jugular vein had been bitten.  Had remained in critical condition until she passed away.

This fatal pit bull attack was not picked up by national news outlets. The initial local reports correctly identified the dogs as pit bulls though subsequent reports suggested the dogs were american bulldogs.  AP Illinois' miniscule coverage mentioned no breed in a report a month after local Animal Services confirmed the dogs were pit bulls through a FOI request from the Rockford Register Star.

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Rockford Register Star Nov. 18  (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/6XgbRT9yr)
Rockford Register Star  Dec 7  (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/63rgSHJW0)

Dec 02, 2011 Dog bites all too common in Texas