Pit Bull Attacks and Dogfighting in Illinois: Galesburg

Showing posts with label Galesburg. Show all posts

Mar 02, 2017 Galesburg Pit Bull with Bite History May Be Up For Adoption

Galesburg - Residents believe that the Knox County Humane Society may be adopting out a dangerous pit bull with an extensive bite history. Will they never learn?

Apr 01, 2015 Galesburg Minimizing Pit Bull Attacks - Again

Remember and Honor the Memory of Ryan Maxwell by Making Galesburg Safe from Pit Bull Attacks

Galesburg - In a letter to the editor, Paul Lepka alleges that Galesburg animal control minimized the severity of a pit bull attack in a sloppy investigation that misidentified the pit bull as a "terrier" and did not get a statement from the victim dog's owner among other problems.

If true, this sloppy, unprofessional behavior is exactly the behavior that has been alleged in the past. The owners of a golden retriever named Chloe that was attacked by a pit bull described how their dog's attack was minimized and nothing was done about the dangerous pit bull at a public hearing about pit bulls after Ryan Maxwell's tragic death.

Chloe, Another Galesburg Pit Bull Attack Victim

Letter:
Editor, Register-Mail: A few weeks ago before the anniversary of the sudden death of a child by a vicious pit bull, a responsible pet owner’s own dog was also attacked by a pit bull. A lady was walking her leashed dog on public property when a loose pit bull came charging up and attacked her dog from behind. The incident occurred approximately 100 feet off of the property of the attack dog. With one horrible bite, the pit bull tore a hunk of flesh off of the hind quarters of the leashed dog before it retreated back home. The pet owner was able to get her dog home in spite of it bleeding profusely all the way. The police were immediately called. The owner of the attack dog then had the audacity to show up at the home of the injured dog and complain to the pet owner about having police intervention. The injured dog was immediately taken to the closest veterinary clinic which the Vet verified that in order to close the wound, it required 15 external stitches and so many internal stitches that staff eventually lost count.
After an investigation was completed by Animal Control, their report was riddled with misinformation and inaccuracies. The report concluded that the victim dog instigated the attack and the wound was described only as a “nip.” The report also stated that the attack dog was a terrier and the breed of the victim dog was incorrectly listed as well as the legal owner’s name. Animal control also did not interview the owner of the victimized dog and concluded that this was an isolated incident. Therefore, the attack dog was not deemed a vicious animal according to city codes. To prove that the investigation was so sloppily incomplete, this same dog was documented in a 2012 police report as being at large and aggressive to neighboring dogs and their pet owners.
In conclusion, it seems that this investigation lacked credibility and professionalism and unless city officials take the irresponsibility of certain pet owners seriously, there could be another tragedy looming on the horizon. — Paul Lepka, Freeport

Read more:
The Register-Mail

Related posts:
Mar 18, 2013 Galesburg pit bull attacks golden retriever
Galesburg It is your turn to get it right
Mar 03, 2013 Galesburg Pit Bulls Kill 7 year old Ryan Maxwell

Oct 13, 2014 Galesburg Still Dealing with Pit Bull Issues

Galesburg - Over a year after, Ryan Maxwell, one of Galesburg's children was horrifically killed by a pit bull, and after Galesburg refused to take breed specific measures, Galesburg is still suffering from pit bull attacks.

Citizens are still contacting the police about dangerous and/or loose dogs believing that their call is a report that will become part of the record on the dog that will get the dog deemed dangerous, but the calls are not reported. And neither the police nor animal control seem willing to convey this important bit of information to residents.

Alderman Jeremy Karlin said that a part of the problem is that animal control services are handled by the Knox County Humane Society. The suggestion is made that the humane society is unwilling to inform residents that they should file a dangerous dog report when an attack happens to make sure the dangerous dog is taken care of because they're only concerned with the humane treatment of animals and not the humane treatment of humans.

City Manager Todd Thompson said that citizens should not attempt to make a dangerous dog report with animal control and urged citizens to go to the police and specifically request that report be made. And when they do so, they should not allow themselves to be "dissuaded" from filing a report.

How insane is this? Instead of making citizens fight with city agencies that seem to want to protect dangerous dogs and give not one whit about the citizens who pay their salaries, why doesn't the city of Galesburg require police and Animal Control to do their jobs and file a dangerous dog report when they are contacted by a citizen about one?

Read More:
WGIL

Related posts:
Galesburg pit bull attacks

Jun 03, 2014 Galesburg pit bull released during fist fight attacks man

What kind of dog would help you get arrested for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm during a fist fight? The Galesburg Register Mail is making us guess because they omitted the breed description in their article.

Here's Ace, Danny Britt's pit bull:

May 29, 2014

Galesburg - Police viewed a cellphone recording of two men involved in a fist fight when one of the men, Danny Britt, let his pit bull out of a car. The pit bull, named Ace, attacked the other man, Devon Crawford.

Crawford went to the hospital for treatment of apparent dog bites.

Britt was arrested for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. He is free on $10,000 bail, his next court date scheduled for June 2 at 11:00 a.m.

Crawford was issued a notice to appear for battery

Galesburg Register Mail

Oct 31, 2013 What kind of dog does a man use as a weapon to commit a hate crime?

Jan 14, 2013 Man let pit bull attack his mother three times.

Dec 16, 2012 Pit bulls killed by police during drug bust

July 12, 2013 Yet Another Pit bull Attack in Galesburg

Galesburg - Bosco, a brindle boxer, was attacked by a big, mean pit bull while on a walk with his owner, Ron Schofield. Bosco is the center of Schofield's life and when Bosco escaped his collar and ran for his life, Schofield was devastated.

Bosco came home injured Monday morning. When Schofield went to Prairieland Humane Society to report the incident and file a complaint, he was treated with a ticket for not having Bosco registered by Chris King.

Galesburg residents contend that the pit bull that attacked Bosco is known to be mean and that people have called in complaints about it. But just as with the pit bull that killed Ryan Maxwell, there seems to be no record of those calls and complaints at the Humane Society. No paper trail for the pit bull means no way to have it declared dangerous.

Once again, Chris King does not seem to understand that his job as an animal control officer is to protect people and pets from dangerous dogs, and seems to not care about people and pets that are attacked by pit bulls.

Instead of trying to get on board and recognize they need to re-evaluate their priorities, they simply cry "witch hunt" and suggest people are out to get them and, more importantly, take away a significant amount of their generous $250,000 a year contract with the city.

Read more:
Register Mail - Tom Loewy
Animal shelter staff decries ‘witch hunt’

Related posts:
Galesburg It is your turn to get it right
Galesburg Meet Liz Ellis: drowning your city in pit bulls

Galesburg Meet Liz Ellis: drowning your city in pit bulls

Liz Ellis is the adoption coordinator at the Kane County Humane Society (PAWC) which has a contract with Galesburg to take in local strays. Ellis loves pit bulls. I mean she just adores pit bulls. She even mentioned on her facebook page that she felt guilty that she counted a non-pit bull as one of her favorite dogs at the shelter one time.

Liz Ellis and Chris King of the Knox County Humane Society (PAWC)

She also seems to be good at adopting out dogs. Just recently she bragged that PAWC had not only adopted out all the local strays and drop offs that came to the Knox County Humane Society, by October 2012 they had "pulled" 73 dogs from other shelters in other areas, importing them into Knox county to be adopted out locally. And at the end of October, she was told to go pull some more.

How freaking cool is that? It depends on what kind of dogs Ellis imported into Knox county to be permanent canine residents. She chose Houston area strays! Many of 'em pit bulls!

Yep, Ellis loves pit bulls so much that she drove down to Houston to pick up some homeless pit bulls to bring back to Galesburg to adopt out. Houston, by the way, is known for its dogfighters, dogfighting, pit fighting dogs, strays, and sky high bite and attack statistics. Five people have been killed by pit bulls in the Houston area, two of those in 2011. Before this year, there are no recorded fatal pit bull attacks in Knox county, Illinois.

And man, such fast turn around for these Houston strays. December 17th this "male dominant" (meaning they know it will attack male dogs) stray named Big Boy is picked up.

And BOOM, December 19th this aggressive stray is in some lucky Galesburg neighborhood! Were the neighbors warned that Big Boy will attack their dogs?

And how about this one. This is a pit bull that fought another pit bull and lost part of its face.

For pit bull rescuers, the thing to do is call all dogs with fighting injuries "bait dogs" which makes everyone think those dogs were just scared and didn't want to fight, and the dogfighters threw them in with the nasty pit bulls and let them get beat up for practice.

But some pit bulls are just the losers. They're fighters, just not good enough fighters to win against the best pit bulls in the fighting pit. But even a second or third rate fighting dog is capable of killing anything living in Galesburg - including people. Who knows if he'll decide to chomp down on some easy target some day? We don't know. This pit bull was born and raised and fought by a dogfighter. It sustained gross injury and had been in the shelter system in Houston for a little while while recuperating, and then was picked up from Houston by Liz on December 17th with the other pit bulls and dogs and brought to Galesburg, IL.

About TWENTY FIVE DAYS later, we can see this fighting dog IN A GRADE SCHOOL in Galesburg with grade schoolers touching it.

Notice the tail is tucked which is a sign of fear. This pit has not been in a stable living experience long enough to even get its bearings. It has only lived in a house less than a month! In fact, three months after this photo was taken, Chase's owner notes that Chase has still not adjusted to life in a home, which is understandable.

Twenty five days is nowhere nowhere near long enough time for an abused and injured dog's true temperament and quirks to be known. And just forget about it being enough time for ANY dog to be to be trained and conditioned to be safe in a school with unfamiliar children touching it.

After Ryan Maxwell lost his life to a pit bull, Ellis and her co-worker at the Humane Society Chris King, displayed their true concerns.

Chris King, the PAWC medical coordinator/animal control, chose to make his sentiments known by placing an obsolete anti-BSL propaganda poster on his facebook page erroneously suggesting that pit bulls "only" kill three people year (try 23 in 2012). The message is that not very many people get killed by pit bulls, so it is it is just not big enough of a problem to even consider regulating who owns one. That is a downright bizarrely heartless message Chris King sends when just minutes away from him a family and their friends, and members of the same community are grieving, not for a statistic, but for the horrendous loss of their child whose name is Ryan Maxwell. Chris King shows no public concern about Ryan on his page, but shows concern that pit bulls might be regulated in the wake of Ryan Maxwell's death precisely because Ryan's death is insignificant.

Ellis had much to say before Ryan Maxwell was mauled to death. Here she is in January shaming someone for voicing the very thing that everyone in Galesburg now knows - interacting with a pit bull that is not on its best behavior can be fatal:

And then two weeks after Ryan Maxwell was killed, she brought her own pit bull to an elementary school for children to pet. Do you think she asked parents if they wanted their children to interact with a pit bull?

Less than a month after Ryan died, Ellis threw this poster up on her facebook page criticizing the parenting skills of anyone who dares to be concerned about her beloved but dangerous pit bulls. Why is she pointing fingers at parents right after parents lost their child minutes away from where she sits?

I know some people in Galesburg decided they didn't want their pit bull anymore. The following picture shows two things. One, this boy's parents did not want their pit bull back after it ran away after Ryan's death. Two, Ellis reveals yet another pit bull imported by her into the Galesburg area from elsewhere.

(Flame was indeed another pit bull offered by PAWC)

And if you look at oodle, you can clearly see that the major purveyor of pit bulls is Liz at the Knox County Humane Society (PAWC).

On April 23, Oodle market place had listings for a 24 individual dogs, 3 litters of puppies, and a listing from a puppy miller that offered several breeds in a 25 mile radius of Galesburg, IL. Of the 24 individual dogs listed, 13 were not pit bulls and 11 were pit bulls or pit bull mixes. Of the 11 pit bulls listed, all but one were being offered by Liz Ellis of the Knox County Humane society.

Collie - 1
yorkshire terrier - 1
english bulldog - 2
Boston Terrier - 1 litter
Pit bull terrier - 3 (contact Liz)
labrador retriever 2, 1 litter
staffordshire bull terrier (pit bull) 3 (contact Liz)
American Staffordshire Terrier (pit bull) 5 (contact Liz)
Siberian Husky - 1 litter
Jack Russell Terrier - 1
pit bull mix 2 (contact Liz)
Pug/beagle mix 1
Shepherd mix 1
Great Dane 1
mixed breed 1
Plott Hound 1
Jack Russell Terrier/Corgi mix 1
pit bull mix 1 - not liz
American Eskimos - puppy mill
Pomeranians - puppy mill
Mini Dachshunds - puppy mill
Norwegian Elkhounds - puppy mill

Galesburg does not seem to have a problem with pit bull backyard breeders in their area. How many of those pit bulls offered by the Humane Society have been imported into the area by Liz Ellis? It seems that Galesburg and Knox County are borrowing trouble when they don't have a problem with local back yard pit bull breeders. The priorities and goals of the Humane Society must be reevaluated. Put people first.

The time for action is now because if pit bull ownership and breeding becomes prevalent in Galesburg, the days of being able to adopt out all the local strays and owner surrenders are over. Along with rising bite and mauling statistics, Galesburg will experience a dog population explosion. Soon Galesburg's shelter will look like other shelters and city leaders will get regular reports from animal control begging for more money citing an "urgent need."

And for heaven's sake, the city of Galesburg should not take the word of pit bull advocates at face value that a ban cannot be put in place. Galesburg is a home rule city and they must seriously research their local power to ban or regulate pit bulls before taking that option off the table.

Read more:
Houston dogfighting
Houston area serious and fatal pit bull maulings
WHBF-TV

Towns all over Illinois are struggling with a dangerous dog problem that always amounts to a pit bull problem:
Apr 11, 2013 Bloomington pit bull attack prompts change in dangerous, vicious dog ordinance
Jan 30, 2013 Lake County defines "animal aggressive" as new category of dangerous dogs
It is Time, Elgin
Jul 13, 2012 Talk of the County Waukegan outlaw pit bulls
Jul 10, 2012 Waukegan woman’s canine companion killed by pit bull
Jun 23, 2012 Cary will look into dog bites
May 25, 2012 Carmi citizens want pit bull ban
May 21, 2012 Skokie considers stricter law after 3 pit bull-on-dog attacks
May 16, 2012 Bloomington may review pet registration law after pit bull attack
May 09, 2012 Waukegan approves pet ordinance
Feb 07, 2012 Family’s pet mauled by pit-bull type dog
Dec 20, 2011 Arlington Hgts. toughens penalties for dangerous animals following pit bull attack
Aug 08, 2011 Police want more teeth to proposed dangerous dog ordinance
Nov 16, 2010 Pit bull that inspired Machesney Park law faces euthanasia

Mar 18, 2013 Galesburg pit bull attacks golden retriever

Owner recounts horror of the pit bull attack on her golden retriever when pummeling couldn’t force pit bull to release retriever

Galesburg - Chloe a leashed golden retriever was attacked by a pit bull that dug out of its yard and made a bee line to the innocent dog in order to attack.

The owners, Sue and Stephanie Baker, believed Chloe was sure to be mauled to death because no matter how hard they pounded on the pit bull, it would not stop attacking poor, innocent Chloe.

A passersby stopped and helped them to finally pry the beasts' jaws off poor Chloe. The Bakers rushed Chloe to the veterinarian fearing that she may not survive.

“We need to live in a safe community, and right now, it’s not safe,” Baker said. “If a dog has one vicious attack, I think it should be put down. If you’re a drunk driver, it’s one time and you’re out. There should be a (similar) zero tolerance policy.”

Baker would like to see pit bulls banned, but Knox county shelter manager Erin Buckmaster thinks pits should stay in Galesburg despite the very recent fatal attack on Ryan Maxwell and other attacks on innocent dogs like Chloe and their owners. She would rather focus on the dangers presented by the vicious chihuahuas and spaniels she claims she has in her shelter.

Read more:
Register Mail

Related posts:

Jul 25, 2012 Pit bull attacks mail carrier - Postal official says attack are up and wants city to step in

Oct 08, 2011 Tom Loewy: Pit bull attacks on service dog must stop

Oct 30, 2010 Pit bulls attack owner

Aug 16, 2010 Pit Bulls Jump Fence, Attack Girl and Pup

Jan 04, 2010 Galesburg Shelter deemed 14 dogs dangerous all pit bulls wants mandatory spay & neuter
Sep 23, 2009 Tom Loewy: Pit bulls serious and divisive problem

Mar 03, 2013 Galesburg Pit Bulls Kill 7 year old Ryan Maxwell

Rest in Peace Ryan Maxwell

Illinois pit bull fatality map
Click here to go to the actual map created by dogsbite.org

Galesburg - A seven year old boy playing in the backyard of a home he was visiting was killed by a pit bull that may have broken its restraint to get to the boy.

The pit bull was still attacking the boy when police arrived who were able to get the pit bull off the boy. The pit bull then began attacking the police and was shot.

The boy died at Cottage hospital.

The sole Illinois news outlet that has covered this story is local and has not disclosed the type of dog involved. The first outlet to speak to investigators and report the type of dog was KWQC in Iowa.

In the 2011 fatal pit bull mauling in Rockford, AP Illinois never acknowledged that the dogs were pit bulls and this fatality received very little media attention.

UPDATE: Another local outlet, WGIL, reported the story, repeating earlier stories and confirming that the police had not released the identity of the child or the kind of dog involved.

However WHBF-TV out of Rock Island, IL interviewed the owners of the pit bull who said they'd owned the pit bull for one and a half years. and that it not ever shown aggression before. They describe the horror of a vicious pit bull attack that they were unable to stop.

"Family members say they'll never forget the screaming and the brutal scene of their dog mauling a child."

UPDATE: Ryan Maxwell is the name of the seven year old fatal pit bull attack victim. The Peoria Journal Star news report gave us some insights into the little light lost to pit bulls. He was generous and helpful. He touched and engaged everyone at Nielson elementary where he attended second grade. He was popular and liked by students and staff ever helpful and wanting to please. Rest in Peace.

Read more:
WQAD
WHBF
PJSTAR Accessed 2013-03-04. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6ErvHEOsf)
WHBF-TV Accessed: 2013-03-03. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6Er4LQ1pU)

KWQC Accessed: 2013-03-03. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6EqwNFPLM)
KWQC update

Jul 25, 2012 Galesburg Pit bull attacks mail carrier - Postal official says attack are up and wants city to step in

Galesburg - After city letter carrier Joe Weech was bitten by a pit bull during his delivery route, members of the Galesburg Post Office are hoping the city will take steps to help prevent similar attacks in the future.

It’s not unusual to deal with unruly dogs while delivering mail, Weech said. He averages one or two encounters with dogs per month, although he said he has noticed an upswing in the past few years.

“I’ve had a lot of close calls,” Weech said. “But the dog bites (overall) are getting to be more serious, and I’ve probably faced more dog situations in the last two years than I have in the previous 10.”

Read more:
Register Mail Accessed: 2012-07-25. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/69QacR65y)

Related posts:
Oct 08, 2011 Tom Loewy: A plea to put a leash on bad dogs
Aug 16, 2010 Pit Bulls Jump Fence, Attack Girl and Pup
Jan 04, 2010 Galesburg Shelter Wants Mandatory Spay & Neuter for pit bulls' welfare

Mar 23, 2012 Galesburg dog owner says friend’s neglect led to pet’s death

File photo

Galesburg - According to police reports, when officers responded to 1916 E. Main St., the owner said she had gone to Macomb and left her two pit bulls and a lab mix with a friend. When she returned home, her daughter found one of the dogs had been attacked and partially eaten by another.
–––––––
The friend said she called the owner around 7 p.m. Wednesday to tell her to come home and take care of the dogs. The animals would not let either her or her husband in to feed them...

Read more:
pjstar
Accessed: 2012-03-30. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/66YTcHjj9)

Oct 08, 2011 Tom Loewy: Pit bull attacks on service dog must stop

Galesburg – Art Cartee and Bernie went on their version of a walk Tuesday morning — the 60-year-old man riding in his scooter and the black Lab work dog leashed to the scooter’s handle.

It was close to 10 a.m. Minutes later they were rushed by a brindle pit bull that crawled from under the back fence of a home on Cottage Avenue — just one block east of South Chambers Street.

“The dog came at us and went right for Bernie’s legs,” Cartee said. “I didn’t know what to do — punch the pit bull or what. I finally got Bernie away from the other dog and got him home.”

Unfortunately, Cartee and Bernie are no strangers to dog attacks. Including Tuesday’s incident, the pair have been attacked three times in the last 18 months.

“I’m tired of this,” Cartee said. “Audra, my wife, and I live in fear of the neighbors’ dogs. There is no reason for this.

Galesburg Register Mail Accessed: 2011-12-06. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/63jouxOf8)

Oct 30, 2010 Woman Injured by Her Pit Bulls

Galesburg — Officers responded to 630 N. Cedar St. Friday in response to a woman who had been injured trying to separate her two fighting pit bulls. The pit bulls were turned over to be euthanized. The woman's injuries were serious and included a broken hand.

Aug 16, 2010 Galesburg Pit Bulls Jump Fence, Attack Girl and Pup

Galesburg - At just after 3 p.m., as the seventh-grader at Lombard Middle School and her puppy neared the corner of First and Academy streets, wild barking and a flurry of activity drew the attention of the girl and her dog.

“I heard barking and Ray-Ray just stopped. I saw three pit bulls come over the fence of the backyard across Academy,” Gutierrez said. “They were coming for Ray-Ray. I was very scared and I tried to get in between them and the dog.

It is believed all three pit bulls escaped from the backyard of 712 S. Academy St., located on the south corner of First and South Academy streets. The backyard is surrounded by 6-foot wood fence.

“I see pit bulls running around here quite a bit,” Lane said. “You just never know when they will come after you.”

Jan 04, 2010 Galesburg 14 dogs deemed dangerous all pit bulls shelter wants mandatory spay & neuter

Galesburg - Pit bulls are notoriously hard to adopt, according to Erin Buckmaster, adoption coordinator at Prairieland Animal Welfare Center. And with about half the dogs at the shelter pit bulls or pit bull mixes, that is a big concern for her.

Fourteen dogs, all pit bulls, were deemed dangerous in 2008 and 2009 to date. Only one person opted to pay the extra fees to continue to own the dog.

“I just wish there was a law that forced owners of pit bulls to have them spayed or neutered,” said Buckmaster. “Then we wouldn’t have so many of these dogs without homes.”

Read more:
The Register-Mail Accessed: 2011-12-16. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/63zQk6qCR)

Sep 23, 2009 Tom Loewy: Pit bulls serious and divisive problem

Galesburg - "The echoes from the single shot fired Sunday night on Day Street will ring out for a long time.

The incident — Galesburg Police Officer Maurice Johnson’s shooting of a pit bull named Aries — is sure to divide the community."

"Police probably hate calls involving dogs as much as any other call,” he said. “But the fact is our community has to come to grips with how we are going to enforce our laws concerning pets. This is something lurking in the shadows and it bothers me.

"We had an (earlier) incident on Pearl Street where it came to light an entire neighborhood was terrorized by dogs."

Register-Mail Accessed: 2011-12-16. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/63zSFmyKg)
Register-Mail Accessed: 2013-04-19. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6G0Et0Iwq)