Pit Bull Attacks and Dogfighting in Illinois

May 08, 2015 Police Blotter: Oakbrook Terrace: Pit Bull Bites Man

Oakbrook Terrace - Jose L. Leon, 44, of the 1S400 block of Leahy Road, Oakbrook Terrace, was charged with keeping a vicious animal at 3:51 p.m. May 4 after his white pit bull bit a 61-year-old man at Leon's residence. The victim refused medical treatment; the dog was place in quarantine in a local veterinary clinic.

Read more:
Chicago Tribune

May 06, 2015 Alsip Pit Bull Seriously Mauled Boy

Alsip - Notice that the headline on the original Tribune story was altered for this blog post to reflect appropriate and normal human values and priorities. (Chicago Tribune's headline: Pit bull could be euthanized after mauling Alsip boy)

Also of note, there was no news coverage of this boy's extremely serious mauling. The mauling did not become news until it was found that a pit bull might be found legally vicious and might be put down after attacking a dog and seriously mauling a boy. That is considered important news - the pit bull's fate, not the fate of the child or the safety of the community.

10-year-old Matthew Dancho after he was seriously mauled
by a pit bull because he knocked on his friend's door

A reading of the Chicago Tribune's news story reveals how ridiculously difficult and rare it is to have a pit bull declared vicious in Illinois.

Illinois' dangerous and vicious dog laws were written by Ledy VanKavage, a lobbyist who is head of the Pit Bull Initiatives at Best Friends Animal Society, who has bragged that the law is purposefully written to make it difficult have a vicious dog declared vicious and safeguard the citizens of Illinois. "Under Illinois law, it is very easy to get a dog declared dangerous. Not vicious. That's a much more involved procedure involving the court system." Note that local officials must involve the State's Attorney with a full blown investigation and file a complaint in circuit court just to have a dog that has viciously attacked be declared vicious. It is no surprise that some municipalities choose not to initiate this process even when they should do so.

The Law:
(510 ILCS 5/15) (from Ch. 8, par. 365)
Sec. 15. (a) In order to have a dog deemed "vicious", the Administrator, Deputy Administrator, or law enforcement officer must give notice of the infraction that is the basis of the investigation to the owner, conduct a thorough investigation, interview any witnesses, including the owner, gather any existing medical records, veterinary medical records or behavioral evidence, and make a detailed report recommending a finding that the dog is a vicious dog and give the report to the States Attorney's Office and the owner. The Administrator, State's Attorney, Director or any citizen of the county in which the dog exists may file a complaint in the circuit court in the name of the People of the State of Illinois to deem a dog to be a vicious dog. Testimony of a certified applied behaviorist, a board certified veterinary behaviorist, or another recognized expert may be relevant to the court's determination of whether the dog's behavior was justified. The petitioner must prove the dog is a vicious dog by clear and convincing evidence. The Administrator shall determine where the animal shall be confined during the pendency of the case

Here is an excerpt from a 2006 article about the 2003 changes to Illinois law:

Lawmakers three years ago changed the standard of proof in vicious-dogcases from preponderance of evidence to clear and convincing evidence. The difference can be huge. “Preponderance” meant that the doggie cops needed to show it was more likely than not that a dog needed confinement — if 51 percent of the evidence is against a dog, it loses. “‘Clear and convincing’ is 70 percent,” Carey says. The folks who pick up the carcasses and impound the biters and sometimes wield the euthanizing needle say that they don’t have enough discretion or power. Largent and other animal-control officers are asking lawmakers to restore their authority to declare a dog vicious and order it confined. They say that it’s too difficult to get a dog declared vicious in Illinois. “If you look at the Animal Control Act, there’s an almost infinite number of excuses that could be conjured up by an owner to prevent a dog from being declared vicious,” Largent says.
Illinois Times, February 02 2006

May 06, 2015 Wood River Boy Seriously Mauled by Family's Bullmastiff.

UPDATE: Conner, the 8 year-old boy victim was hospitalized for 8 days. When he was found, Conner was unconscious. It was feared that Conner might lose his leg, but he has kept his leg despite losing muscle and veins in his leg. He has gone through extensive physical and occupational therapy.

The dog is now being called an English mastiff and was 18 months old at the time of the attack. The family had only owned the dog for two weeks prior to the attack.

Wood River - A 5-year-old Wood River boy was flown by helicopter to a St. Louis hospital Wednesday afternoon after being mauled by the family’s Bullmastiff.

The boy, a son of a Wood River police officer, according to Wood River Deputy Chief Dan Bunt, was being treated for multiple injuries after the attack, which happened at approximately 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Wood River Fire Chief Steve Alexander said the child sustained “a number of injuries to the (lower) extremities.”

The boy was air lifted to St. Louis Children's Hospital. The bullmastiff, a family pet, was put down.

Read more:
KSDK
The Telegraph
http://bit.ly/1Kmo0BX

Related posts:
Jul 29, 2013 Zion Teen Receives $1.125 Million After Bullmastiff Attack
Nov 11, 2012 Kane County Health Dept. Confirms That First Responder Dawn Brown Killed by Bullmastiff

May 05, 2015 Looking for Pit Bull Owner of Pit Bull that Bit Jogger

Chicago - I realize this is a long shot, but I was bitten by a dog while running in Humboldt Park a couple of weeks ago (4/19) and have been unsuccessfully trying to locate owner, so I'm posting to see if anyone possibly has any leads.

All I got from the owner is her first name and a phone number. She is of Indian descent, and said her name is Diana. But when i call her, it goes to voicemail (appears to be a google voice #), and the message says her name is something along the lines of Aidan (though the message has changed and it previously appeared to be affiliated with a henna shop or something like that - I could be wrong, but this is based on what my friends and I could understand when it would go to voicemail).

At the time of the attack, she had two medium-sized black dogs attached to her body with ropes/leashes - they appeared to be mixed breeds, either mixed with Cane Corso and/or Staffordshire terrier (based on the fur pattern). She headed off in the direction northwest of the park (I got bit by the pond just south of the beach/field house, behind the baseball field), so I'm guessing she lives either west and/or northwest of Humboldt Park. If anyone possibly has any leads, no matter how small, I would greatly appreciate it. I would really like to track her down and am pretty sure she lives in the area.

Just FYI, the dog was leashed to its owner, and the attack was completely unprovoked as I ran past them on the trail. At first the owner was nice but got defensive and left when I said I would have to report it to the police and animal control (standard protocol for dog bites). It was a deep gash for which I had to go to the ER, and it was a painful, 2 week long recovery. The owner is supposed to take certain steps, but she has not been responsive to me, the police, or animal control. I'm most concerned about the fact that the dog might bite again.Thanks in advance for any help!

Chicago Everyblock

Apr 30, 2015 Illinois Pit Bull Abuse Roundup

These pages don't usually track abuse of pit bulls or pit bull owner/breeder drama, but this past week pit bull owners, breeders, and professional advocates have outdone themselves. It has been said that pit bull owners and "expert" rescuers are a pit bull's worst enemy. These accounts validate that observation.

Chicago - Workers found a pit bull that had been forgotten in a Chicago Animal Care and Control van for a "few" days after an adoption event at a Chicago Wolves game. The pit bull was found Thursday or Friday and the most recent previous Chicago Wolves game was the previous Sunday. She had to be removed from the adoption event because she was "having problems." She was "barely alive" when she was found. But, no charges because it was an accident.
Four Legged Friends and Enemies

Waukegan - A man viciously killed three of his pit bulls with a sledgehammer, a claw hammer, and a plastic bag and then buried the bodies in his backyard.
Chicago Sun Times
http://bit.ly/1JKtmee

Chicago - a backyard breeder claims that armed and masked robbers stole three pit bulls at gunpoint. He contends that his pit bulls are worth $15,000 (or more) a piece. One shot was fired. These masked thieves of backyard bred pit bulls were able to avoid being seen on any of the neighborhood surveillance cameras.
NBC Chicago
http://bit.ly/1EJX7Yd

Apr 30, 2015 Murphysboro Will Euthanize Pit Bull Deemed Vicious

Murphysboro - Under its Vicious Dog Ordinance, the Council ordered the destruction of a pit bull charged with biting three people. The animal is already in the custody of the Animal Control.

File photo

No mention of when, where or which attacks led to the vicious dog desgination.

Read more:
The Southern
Accessed: 2015-05-03. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6YFjNgak2)

Related posts:
Dec 30, 2014 Voice of the Reader: Rusty A Sweet Little Dog Killed by Pit Bull
Jan 11, 2013 Pit bulls deemed vicious and put down
Feb 20, 2011 Two Injured in Pit Bull Attack
Feb 02, 2010 Pit Bulls and Ignorance Equal "a Recipe for a Really Wicked Soup"

Apr 26, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Attacked Girl, 12, in Albany Park

Chicago - A 12-year-old girl was injured when a pit bull attacked her.

It happened Sunday night in the 4900 block of North Troy in the city’s Albany Park neighborhood.
The girl and her family were dog-sitting when the dog bit her on the arm.

The girl was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston with injuries to her arm. She’s in stable condition and the fire department says her injuries are not life threatening.

Police officers shot the dog when they arrived to the scene. The owner was issued citations.

Read more:
WGN TV

Related posts:
Apr 26, 2015 Chicago Police Shoot Pit Bull Used as Weapon
Apr 18, 2015 Chicago South Side Woman Accused of Dogfighting and Animal Abuse
Apr 03, 2015 Leashed Chicago Pit Bull Kills Leashed Pekingese
Apr 01, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Attacks Man, Teenage Girl on West Side
Apr 01, 2015 Chicago: Leashed Out of Control Pit Bull Attacks Small Dog