Pit Bull Attacks and Dogfighting in Illinois

Aug 08, 2014 Rantoul Pit Bull-Mastiff Mix Attacks A Doberman Unprovoked - Must Leave Town

Rantoul - A pit bull-mastiff mix escaped from its home, ran down the street approached a doberman seemingly wanting to play, and then launched an unprovoked, vicious, off-property attack.

The irresponsible pit bull owner wants to keep the mauler in the neighborhood. And the mauler owner's attorney wants people to believe that yelling, "Come get your dog!" provoked the pit bull to attack which would excuse the mauler from being deemed vicious.

Finally an agreement was made in which the owner would take her dog some place else to live - out of Rantoul, endangering pets in another community.

Read more:
News-Gazette
News-Gazette

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Jun 25, 2013 Champaign Pit bull attacks Man; Police officer shoots it

Feb 03, 2013 Threat of lawsuits prompts Champaign police to stand idle when pit bulls maul dogs

Aug 06, 2014 Threatening Pit Bull Dies After Being Tased

Peoria - Police attempted to use non-lethal means to subdue a threatening dog Tuesday but ended up killing the animal anyway, according to a report.
Officers were called about 6 p.m. to the 1500 block of South Livingston Street for two pit bulls running loose and attacking people.
When the first officer arrived on scene, one dog growled, showed its teeth and lunged for the squad car before the officer exited the vehicle, according to a report.

Read more:
Journal Star

Aug 5, 2014 Southside Pit Bull Seriously Mauls and Hospitalizes Boy in Critical Condition

UPDATE: Both the dogs have been identified as pit bulls and the owner has been found, but it is not known if the owner will be charged. (It's Chicago, where pit bulls prey on south and west side children regularly, so probably not)

Be sure to watch the video in the ABC 7 link. It shows the pit bull acting like any dog that got out to have an adventure, but then, for no reason but its artificially selected, inbred instincts, attacks a child horrendously.

Chicago - Armani McKinnis was at a friend's birthday party when two stray dogs, a pit bull and a rottweiler, came down the street.

Armani's handsome face before and after being mauled by a pit bull

The pit bull launched an unprovoked, uninhibited, off property attack on Armani for enjoyment.

The pit bull acting friendly and wagging its tail when it sees the
the children and decides to go attack Arami.

A neighbor recorded the horror that played out on his phone where a human child is preyed upon like an animal.

Jul 31, 2014 Sangamon County Board Member’s Bull Breed Dogs Attack Dogs

Sangamon Co. - "A member of the Sangamon County citizens advisory board on animal control has been repeatedly caught allowing unaltered dogs to run loose with no proof of rabies vaccination. At least one of her dogs may be declared dangerous following an unprovoked attack on a dog and a Springfield woman."

On June 26, Christine Groves was walking Bella, her dachshund-beagle-chihuahua mix, at the intersection of Lincoln and Ash streets when two dogs owned by animal control board member Sheryle Henry attacked. One of the two dogs was unleashed, according to Groves and a Leland Groves police report. The other was being walked by a man identified as Henry’s brother, and witnesses reported that he had to repeatedly kick one of the dogs, which resembled a pit bull, to end the attack. The dogs were bull terriers, according to animal control records, that each weigh more than 40 pounds.

“This wasn’t a bite, this was a mauling – Bella weighs 20 pounds,” Groves said. “These dogs are not family pets. I thought they were pit bulls. She (Henry) has never contacted me. Early on, this would have been ‘I’m so sorry, let me pay your vet bill.’ But that is not what has happened. … When I sue her, it’s going to be ‘Sheryle Henry, animal control board member’ on the lawsuit.

Bella is recovering from bite wounds – the veterinarian bill came to $700. Groves suffered minor bites on her hands when she tried rescuing Bella

It was not Henry’s first visit to animal control, where records show that Pompeii had been impounded at least four times after being found running loose prior to the attack on Bella. On at least one prior occasion, in April of 2011, Pompeii was given a rabies vaccination after impoundment when animal control officials found no proof of vaccination. Animal control officials eventually required Henry to spay Pompeii, and the procedure was completed in the spring of 2013, after the fourth time the dog was picked up.

The vet bill for Bella Abzug, left, came to $700 after the pooch was bitten by dogs owned by a member of the Sangamon County citizens advisory board on animal control.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTINE GROVES

The state’s attorney’s office may get involved.

In addition to run-ins with animal control, Henry, who is an office administrator for the Illinois Department of Public Health, has twice pleaded guilty to misdemeanor shoplifting charges and has also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor marijuana possession, according to Sangamon County Circuit Court records.

Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.

Read more:

Illinois Times

Jul 28, 2014 Hometown Police Officer Fired for Killing Menacing Pit Bull

Hometown - Apollo the pit bull mix had run out of the front door. Hometown police had been alerted, and encountered the dog as he returned to the front yard. Echlin says she tried coaxing Apollo back in the house, but he turned and bared his teeth at one of the officers. According to police, that's when the officer withdrew his weapon and fired one shot, striking the dog.

Echlin says she questioned the use of deadly force- especially in front of her daughter- but she says the officer showed no remorse.

Read more:
ABC 7 Chicago

This is one of the hundred of pit bulls that have been shot to stop an attack

Related posts:
Pit bulls that were shot to stop an attack.

Jul 15, 2014 Pit Bull Owners Stiff Cabbie, Sic Pit Bull on Police Who Shoot it

Joliet - Real winner pit bull owners, who police say appeared very wasted, stiffed a cabbie in front of their house. When the cabbie called police, the couple refused to talk to police, threatened to sic their crazy pit bull on them, and then did sic their crazy aggressive pit bull on police who were forced to shoot and kill it. The pit bull owners were charged with several offenses including possession of drug paraphernalia, battery and theft of labor.

Such a lovely tribute for the mauler unleashed on the police

BL - is that jim beam

DN - Damn thing's got a saddle on him.

Joyce Lewandowski- you funny D! that's his harness,,,lmao,,lmfao

DN - and who's gonna stop him if he wanes to run? he could pull a car

RARS - Beautiful dog!! Oh you too Joyce.

Joyce Lewandowski - can't stop him dave thats why i thinkn bout the shock collar,,,he's a beast, and a lap puppy

Joyce Lewandowski - That dogs beautiful,,yes em is,,yex em is,,,,

KD - We have to take this picture have it printed and framed because he is a beautiful dog and this is a beautiful picture. yez he is...yez he is... but he's a mean SOB

Joyce Lewandowski - He was laying on my leg, he was so happy I was home, prob. Wont leave him that long again, it was sweet to see how much he loves me, but terribly pitt a full...

KD - Aww. I wish he was nicer I would have come over there and been with him so he wouldn't have been alone you know sit with him lay with him and stuff like that poor baby....

Jul 09, 2014 Alton Police Forced To Shoot Loose Pit Bull

Alton - According to the department, officers responded to the apartment complex on the 2900 block of College Avenue at approximately 6:07 p.m. on July 3 for an incident not related to the dog or its owners. Once there, the officers encountered the dog, which was said to be barking and growling at the officers, according to Public Information Officer Emily Hejna. Officers requested that the dog be taken inside more than once, Hejna said.

The dog’s owner, Antoinette Skelton, said she attempted to take the dog into her apartment but the dog got loose as she grappled with it while also holding her four-year-old son.

When the dog ran at the officer he feared he would be attacked, Hejna said, prompting him to fire his weapon.

Read more:
The Telegraph