Pit Bull Attacks and Dogfighting in Illinois: victim update

Showing posts with label victim update. Show all posts

Aug 25, 2017 Chicago Child Horrifically Mauled by Pit Bulls Update 10 years later

Chicago - Update on a child who was horrifically mauled ten years ago. Today he is off to college hoping to learn to help others with art therapy. MUST READ!

Pit Bull Attack Victim Joshua Dixon's Self Portrait
He credits art with helping him get through his continued recovery

"The boxes stacked in the living room held all the things Joshua Dixon thought he would need in a dormitory. Bedsheets and a matching comforter. Bluetooth speakers, a computer printer and, most important, photos of his younger self.

When the 18-year-old is thousands of miles away at Maine College of Art in Portland, he'll use the pictures to remember — and to explain to new friends — exactly how far he's come.

Ten years ago, Dixon was mauled by his family's two pit bulls in his backyard when he returned home from school. The dogs tore off most of Dixon's face — his nose, ears, layers of skin and muscle — all gone in the seconds before his parents made the gruesome discovery and frantically called 911."

The Chicago Tribune used to report on pit bull attacks in the past, but presently ignores the problem for the most part. Two days ago, while not reporting on current pit bull attacks, the Tribune posted a eulogy to a pit bull with a facebook following.

Chicago Tribune

Dec 06, 2007 Pit bull severely mauls boy on Far South Side
Jul 22, 2015 Chicago Dog Attack Victim Says Owners Not Punished Enough
Feb 15, 2013 Pit bull attack survivor prevails 10 years later
Nov 5, 2005 Nick Foley Survives Agony of a Pit Bull Rampaging Attack

Jul 22, 2015 Chicago Dog Attack Victim Says Owners Not Punished Enough

Chicago - Marilyn Grimes sought media help get the word out that not enough is being done for the victims of severe pit bull attacks.

Marilyn Grimes was severely attacked by three pit bulls that got out because their irresponsible owner didn’t make sure the gate was latched to keep people safe from her maulers. Her little dog was killed in the attack and she almost lost both her legs.

Reporter Mai Martinez dug up some background information on dog bites in Cook County and Chicago:

“A review of city and county records from 2012-2014 shows more than 5,700 dog bites were reported in Chicago, and another 8,600 in Cook County.

The city deemed only 280 of those dogs dangerous, the county, just 27. A small number were euthanized and most owners faced maximum fines of just $500.”

And there were no consequences for the irresponsible owner, Katesha Curtiss. Marilyn Grimes wants that to change.

CBS Local

Mar 02, 2014 Remembering Ryan Maxwell one year later

Tom Loewy of the Galesburg Register-Mail talks to Ryan Maxwell's family on the anniversary of his death. Ryan was mauled by a pit bull one year ago today, and as his family tells Tom, the pain is still great, but they want to turn their pain into motivation to help protect other children from pit bulls and other dangerous dogs.

From the interview:

It’s been a year since a pit bull named Ghost mauled 28-year-old Sarah’s first-born child. She and Ryan’s grandparents, Tom and Tina Mead, still struggle with their memories of the beloved boy and the horror of how he was killed.
“Little things remind me of him every day,” Tina explained. “Sarah and I will see a bunch of kids getting off a school bus. Or we see his friends.
“Seeing other little kids around his age has to be the hardest part. It reminds all three of us, I think, of all he’s missed out on. The things that are supposed to be fun family things just don’t really feel right any more.”
Ryan should have turned 8 years old May 7, 2013. He supposed to be there for Christmas like he always was, up early and bugging grandparents. He missed his beloved little brother Jayden’s birthday party at the end of December.

Tom Mead, Ryan's grandfather, has joined a group called Dax's Friends to help spread the word about dangerous dogs. Daxton Borchardt was killed by a pit bull in Wisconsin just a few days after Ryan was killed.

Thank you to the Meads and Tom Loewy for keeping Ryan's memory alive for the community and for
helping to educate about the dangers of pit bulls and other dangerous dogs.

Three children were killed by pit bulls in Illinois in a span of 10 months, a rate previously unheard of in Illinois.

Pit bulls and related dangerous dogs are attacking at an escalating rate all over the country.

Dec 8, 2013 Chicago Fatal Pit Bull Attack: 2 year old Jah'Niyah White

Jan 18, 2014 Bloomington family pit bull kills four year old Kara Hartrich.
Mar 2, 2008 Pit bull attacks on the rise, Ledy VanKavage thwarts all attempts to protect people and pets

Jan 30, 2014 McClean County euthanizes pit bulls that killed Kara Hartrich

It has been almost 2 weeks since four year old Kara Hartrich was killed. No major city outlets have picked up the story in Chicago or St. Louis. No national news outlets have reported this story. But there is an update.

The owners of the dogs relinquished ownership of the pit bulls allowing McClean county animal control to humanely euthanize them after a ten day rabies hold. All three pit bulls were put down. Two intact males were determined to have participated in the attack, but it could not be determined whether the female also participated.

No charges will be brought because an investigation turned up no documented history of attacks.

CINewsNow reported in a news report that they had to submit a Freedom of Information request to obtain information about this pit bull attack. This is a common necessity when reporting on pit bull attacks in Illinois. In 2011, the Rockford Star filed a freedom of information request with animal control to get verification that the dogs that killed their owner, Tonia C. Parks, were pit bulls. In both cases, updated versions of the story deleted the mention of the freedom of information request.

CINewsNow, news reported that Kara's death was the second death due to pit bulls within a year (presumably in Illinois). They are wrong. Kara is the third child killed by a pit bull in Illinois within 10 months. On March 3, 2013, Ryan Maxwell was killed in Galesburg, IL. And just over a month before Kara was killed, Jah'Niyah White was killed by her grandfather's pit bull in Chicago on December 8, 2013.

CINewsNow's report uses 90 words to incorrectly report on the pit bull mauling deaths in Illinois and then proceeds to use 290 words to explain that pit bulls are great! And then they quote the Peoria County Animal Control director as saying that Kara, who was supervised in her own home, simply "was in the wrong circumstances at the wrong time."

The reporting in Illinois is so inadequate that a fatal pit bull attack barely makes the news, and serious pit bull attacks that end with a police shooting in a suburban residential neighborhood do not make it into the news at all.

Fatal attacks and non-fatal maiming attacks by pit bulls are skyrocketing in recent years, not just in Illinois, but across North America. But, without adequate reporting in Illinois, residents are are unaware of the dangers pit bull pose and are especially vulnerable.

With the escalation of pit bull attacks, people who have experienced serious attacks or lost a loved one to an attack are beginning to speak out about the dangers, some of them owned the pit bulls that attacked or killed. People are beginning to realize that even well-raised pit bulls launch unprovoked, serious or lethal attacks.

Two 501(c)3 foundations have been formed by families whose child was killed by a pit bull in 2013. Their goals are to educate and change laws regarding pit bulls and other dangerous dogs.

The Baby Beau foundation was founded by the mother of Beau Rutlege. His family owned a pit bull named Kissy Face for 8 years. Kissy Face was part of the family as the Rutlege's first child was born and grew. In an instant, Beau Rutlege was killed by the family pet.

Daxton's Friends has been formed by the family of Daxton Borchart. His story is here.

Bite Back For Kids, third 501(c)3 is being formed by the parent of a surviving victim.

Read More:
Pantagraph
CINewsNow

Related posts:
Jan 18, 2014 Bloomington family pit bull kills four year old Kara Hartrich
Dec 8, 2013 Chicago Fatal Pit Bull Attack: 2 year old Jah'Niyah White
Mar 03, 2013 Galesburg Pit Bulls Kill 7 year old Ryan Maxwell
Sep 11, 2013 Bloomington pit bull commits two separate attacks on people
Oct 25, 2012 Boomington couple attacked by pit bulls, hospitalized with very serious injuries
Aug 16, 2012 Man Killed By Own Pit Bulls In Englewood

Unreported Illinois attacks that have been uncovered.

Jan 10, 2014 Pit Bull Owner Tanya Holland Pleads Guilty to Reckless Conduct

Williamson Co - Tanya Holland pled guilty to charges after her loose pit bull mix breed dogs severely mauled 5 year old Winston Bankston at Bush Village Park in August 2010. Reporting does not include an update on how Winston is doing.

Read more:
Williamson County Woman Pleads Guilty in 2010 Dog Attack
Woman pleads guilty in connection to pit bull attack

Aug 07 2010 Pit Bulls Attack 5 Year Old Winston Bankston

Feb 28, 2013 Victim of severe pit bull mauling left with expenses

Bloomington - Criminally negligent pit bull owner SHANIE DOSS is being charged with reckless conduct with possibility of causing great bodily harm, a Class 4 felony after she allowed her pit bull to escape her house and attack two people.

In Illinois a class 4 felony calls for incarceration between one and three years and ordinarily provides for fines of up to $25,000. However, only a small proportion of convicts actually do prison time with most receiving suspended prison sentences and probation.

And yet another irresponsible pit bull owner forces the victim to pay for her own horrific mauling in every conceivable way.

There is the life altering injury. After $73,000, and extended hospital stay in December, two surgeries, the first one lasting four hours, with more to come, Connie Ijams still has no feeling in her arms.

Then there's the emotional consequences. She is naturally jumpy after having gone through such a harrowing experience. “I’m just always really nervous,” she said. “I drop things. I shake. I have nightmares. I still cry. I’m in pain constantly..."

And there's the actual monetary expenses. While insurance has paid for some of it, Connie and her husband Scott must do their own fundraising to pay for the mounting medical expenses.

Here are the details:

****************Fundraiser***************

**********What: Benefit for Scott and Connie Ijams*********

When: 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday March 3

Where: The Eagles Aerie No. 527, 313 S. Main St., Bloomington

Highlights: Bands; food; silent auctions and drawings with all proceeds going to cover medical expenses

Feb 15, 2013 Pit bull attack survivor prevails 10 years later

Angelica Osusky has prevailed since surviving a pit bull attack

Romeoville - Ten years ago, 8 year old Angelica Osusky was horrifically mauled by a pit bull. In an instant, it bit off and consumed her thumb and then took a chunk out of her neck the size of half an apple.

The pit bull was shot by police and taken to the same hospital as Angelica so surgeons could remove the thumb from its stomach, but two sets of surgeons were unable reattach Angelica's thumb.

Despite the loss of her thumb, she is tied as the second-leading scorer for her basketball team, the Spartans, at Romeoville High School this year

She will be going to college next year, and has met the extra challenges she faces now. People say "it's only a thumb" but Osusky knows all to well how much people use their thumbs for just about everything.

She has a cat. She likes some dogs. But she is afraid to be around pit bulls - like so many others who have been attacked.

Angelica's attack took place almost exactly seven months after pit bulls mauled two nurses, one, Anna Cieslewicz, fatally. The nurse who survived, Mary Murphy-Smith, lost her career as a midwife when she lost the use of her arm in a twenty minute battle with the pit bulls. Murphy-Smith was strongly supportive of a pit bull ban, saying "What do you say about the children who are being attacked by these dogs?"

Read more:
Herald News Accessed: 2013-02-15. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/6ESnfKqgO)

Related posts:
Aug 14, 2003 Pit bull launches devastating attack, consumes girl's thumb
Nov 5, 2005 Nick Foley Survives Agony of a Pit Bull Rampaging Attack

Sep 12, 2012 The Troubled Past Of Teen Pit Bull Victim Charged In Fatal Highland Park Crash

UPDATE: Carly Rousso who was 18 when she crashed into a family killing a 5 year old girl in 2012 has been released from prison after serving 3.5 years of her 5 year sentence.

Highland Park - A teen-aged girl hit a group of people with her car killing a five-year-old girl. Years before, the driver had been a victim of a pit bull attack that left her with scars, and psychological problems which led to substance abuse.

Last week, Rousso, 18, was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of an intoxicating compound after a crash that killed a 5-year-old girl in Highland Park and injured her mother and two brothers.

On Tuesday — the same day the funeral was held for the girl, Jaclyn Santos-Sacramento — Rousso was briefly jailed before she was released on bond with a curfew and an agreement not to drive or consume any intoxicants. During a court appearance, her lawyer also revealed that she is receiving outpatient treatment, though he did not specify for what.

Carly Rousso said she was afraid to sleep. After the Highland Park teenager was attacked by a pit bull three years ago, she had frequent nightmares in which an animal — often a dog but always something with teeth — would attack her.

She switched schools; her grades fell. She reported hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, according to court records filed in a lawsuit against the pit bull's owner.

Court records reveal that Rousso has had past struggles with substance use and emotional problems that stretch back years. Her family claimed in a lawsuit against the pit bull owner responsible for her attack that the attack led to many of her troubles. She also was later cited for marijuana possession and as a result participated in a 12-step rehab program, court records show. The information gathered from court records reveals a more complex portrait of the woman charged in the Labor Day crash.

Through a family spokesman, Rousso's parents declined to comment about the pit bull attack or their daughter's past struggles.

On May 1, 2009, Rousso was visiting a friend's home in Highland Park when a pit bull her friend's brother was walking on a leash suddenly attacked her without provocation, according to the lawsuit.

Read more:
UPDATE Chicago Tribune Archive
Chicago Tribune
http://trib.in/1EP3mKm

Related posts:

Jun 26, 2009 Highland Park, Elgin consider restrictions on pit bulls
May 15, 2009 Highland Park Crumbles On Pit-Bull Ban Failing Victim
May 4, 2009 Highland Park Mulls Pit Bull Ban After Attack

Jun 15, 2011 Young victim of serious pit bull attack refusing to quit

By JASON NEVEL (jason.nevel@sj-r.com)

Springfield – Two pit bulls may have chewed up her body, but they didn’t seize Harmony Dawdy’s spirit, according to her mother, Amber Dawdy.

Four days after the dogs nearly mauled Harmony to death — coming within a millimeter of her femoral artery — Amber Dawdy said Harmony’s vital signs are strong, she’s alert, and she’s even managed to laugh.

“She’s in really good spirits considering everything that’s happened to her and all the pain that she’s going through,” her mother said. “She’s refusing to quit and continues to be as happy as she can be.”

Dawdy said the two pit bulls shredded Harmony’s left leg, left gaping wounds on her right leg, ripped part of her ear off and bit nearly every inch of her young body.

Cards welcome

Amber Dawdy, the mother of dog-attack victim Harmony Dawdy, said Wednesday a fund for monetary donations has not set up for her daughter. However, people can send cards of support to:

Care of St Johns Hospital PICU – Harmony Dawdy, 800 E. Carpenter St., Springfield, IL 62769.

Non-family visitors are not allowed to visit Harmony, she said.

State Journal-Register Accessed: 2012-01-16. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/64j8OuhMa)

State Journal-Register Accessed: 2012-01-16. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/64j8XMhC6)

Illinois Home Page

Nov 5, 2005 Nick Foley Survives Agony of a Pit Bull Rampaging Attack

The enduring agony of a pit bull rampage

Memories of a mauling and a boy's struggle to survive haunt a quiet community

three parts

Brooks Foley heard a soft whimper and stopped still in the hallway. The sound was barely audible at first over the hiss of a shower, but it grew louder and louder until it was a heartbreaking sob.

His 10-year-old son was falling apart.

Four months had passed since the rain-soaked November afternoon outside of Cary when a neighbor's three pit bulls attacked Nick Foley. The dogs tore pounds of flesh from his arms and legs. They broke bones, slashed nerves, spilled half of his blood onto the wet grass.

Read more of this compelling reportage here:

Part 1: The enduring agony of a pit bull rampage Accessed: 2011-12-21. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/647587Ep7)

Part 2: A rebuilt body, a fragile spirit Accessed: 2011-12-21. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6475FEXtn)

Part 3: Finding strength to be a kid Accessed: 2011-12-21. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6475NTxTX)

By Carolyn Starks and John KeilmanTribune staff reporters August 13, 2006

Animal Bites in Emergency Medicine Clinical Presentation

Dad of mauled boy urges tougher laws

Brooks Foley speaks about son's pit bull attack VIDEO

10-year-old Jourdan Lamarre attacked by pit bull VIDEO

Nick Foley Approaches High School; Mother Denounces 'Rehabilitating' Fighting Dogs

ABC Local