Pit Bull Attacks and Dogfighting in Illinois: 02/01/2016

Feb 25, 2016 Another Joliet Pit Bull Attack Reveals Weakness in Law

Joliet - Stewart Warren was walking her two Yorkshire terriers on Marion street when a pit bull attacked on of them. The injured dog was treated for a broken rib and a dislocated shoulder. The animal hospital charged Warren $3,512.

Warren told the council, “This dog is still in my neighborhood.”

“I’ve had people tell me to get a concealed carry permit in case something like this happens again.”

Committee members studying the problem note that the changes to the Dangerous Dog Ordinance does not address what happens at the time of an attack. No provisions have been made to mandate who must respond to a dog attack call 24/7 or how to make sure the dangerous dog is removed from the neighborhood. They note that it is wrong that people be terrorized by dangerous dogs left in the neighborhood until a hearing can take place.

Their concerns are well placed and hopefully they will address those issues. But a breed neutral ordinance that only comes into effect after the fact will not stop little dogs, their owners or children from being horrifically attacked. Joliet needs a ban on new pit bulls.

The Herald-News

WJOL

Feb 10, 2016 Joliet City Council Committee Continues to Look at Vicious Dog Ordinance

Jan 25, 2016 Joliet Pit Bull Attacks Prompt Demands for Tougher Vicious Dog Laws

Jan 22, 2016 Joliet Pit Bulls Break Owner's Bones and Maul Dog

Jan 11, 2016 Four Joliet Pit bulls Attack Home Health Care Worker On the Job

UPDATE Dec 31, 2014 Joliet Dangerous Pit Bulls and Vicious Rottweiler Terrorizing North Reed Street

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

Feb 13, 2016 Roodhouse Bullmastiff Kills Small Dog in His Own Yard

ROODHOUSE — Nancy Edwards was horrified by what she saw last Saturday outside her back door.

She said she watched helplessly as her 3-year-old Yorkshire terrier/dachshund mix dog was attacked and killed by a bullmastiff dog police said got away from its owner.

Fighting back tears, Edwards said she wants a small-breed puppy to replace her dog, Pokey, and made a plea to owners of big dogs that may be aggressive to be more careful.

“Anyone who has a … dog should know how fast they can harm a person or another animal,” Edwards said.

Edwards had let Pokey out about 6:30 p.m. Saturday to “do his business.”

“He was on his chain, which was about 8 feet long, when I heard him bark,” Edwards said. “He barked when it was time to come in. I went to the back door and a bullmastiff dog was [on top of] Pokey.”

Two men and two women tried to get the larger dog off Pokey, who weighed about 10 pounds.

“One of the women came over and pulled on the big dog’s collar to try and get him off Pokey, but he wouldn’t let go,” she said. “He had Pokey in his mouth and was shaking him.”

Despite the efforts, the big dog ran off with Pokey in its mouth. A Roodhouse police officer later found Edwards’ dog dead.

“I got Pokey when he was about 6 to 8 weeks old,” Edwards said. “He was just a happy dog. He slept with me every night. He was very protective of me.”

The bullmastiff’s owner has been cited on a charge of running a dog at large, according to police.

“The dog was wearing a harness,” Roodhouse Police Chief Kyle Robison said. “However, according to the owner of the dog, the dog got out of the house by accident.”

Robison said pet owners in Roodhouse are required to keep all dogs on a leash or in a kennel at all times. He said the bullmastiff is scheduled to be euthanized.

“This is unfortunate for both parties involved,” Robison said. “However, it is especially unfortunate for the Edwards family, who lost their family dog.”

He said the owners of the larger dog were remorseful and were cooperative throughout the process.

My Journal Courier

Sep 13, 2015 Defining Provocation - A Chicago Bullmastiff Attack

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

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

Apr 28, 2011 Pit Bull Allegedly Attacks, Kills Neighbor's Dog

Feb 22, 1912 Carrollton Bulldog Case Soon Tried

Feb 12, 2016 Fairview Pit Bull Attacked Dog and Owner

Fairview - This is another attack found on facebook that the media did not report. The poster's typo should say "pit" and says that the attacking dog was a pit bull in the comments as well.

Feb 10, 2016 Joliet City Council Committee Continues to Look at Vicious Dog Ordinance

Joliet - The City Council Land Use and Legislative Committee continues to work on a vicious dog ordinance. And the basics are already in place.

Joliet City Attorney Marty Shannahan presented a proposal to the committee Tuesday night. And while some fine-tuning is still needed when it comes to verbiage and enforcement, committee member Jan Quillman says the idea of taking extreme last resort action such as euthanization is in there; when it’s a dog that has been determined to cause servere injury or even death to another animal or a person. This would happen after three major incidents.Meanwhile, if there is a first incident, there would be an official dog registration, where neighbors moving in could see if there are dangerous dogs nearby. But Quillman points out that the dog owner would be able to appeal the incidents to a hearing officer.

Another important thing, Quillman says, would be judging each situation individually. Because sometimes, as we know, dogs are provoked; by children or by adults.

Quillman added that this is not designed to protect people from specific breeds, it’s designed to protect people from irresponsible dog owners. And first and foremost, it’s still a matter of getting township, city, and county authorities together; so that if something happens after the township animal control office is closed, immediate action can be taken. The committee hopes to have a final ordinance before the City Council in the near future.

WJOL

Jan 22, 2016 Joliet Pit Bulls Break Owner's Bones and Maul Dog

Jan 11, 2016 Four Joliet Pit bulls Attack Home Health Care Worker On the Job

Dec 31, 2014 Joliet Dangerous Pit Bulls and Vicious Rottweiler Terrorizing North Reed Street

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

Jun 13, 2010 Pit Bull Attacks Child in Father's Arms

May 14, 2010 Four Pit Bulls Escape Joliet Yard, Kill Neighbor's Dog Mar 18, 2010 Joliet Pit Bull Shot After Attack

Dec 03, 2008 Man kills pit bull during mauling

Jan 29, 2008 Joliet Girl Recovering From Pit Bull Attack

Jun 18, 2007 Joliet Woman Hospitalized in Pit Bull Attack

Jul 28, 2004 Pit Bull Attacks Joliet Mailman

Feb 09, 2016 Not One Lincolnwood Resident Opposed Removing BSL After Pit Bull Attacks

Lincolnwood - Not even the victims of pit bull attacks bothered to tell Lincolnwood city officials that they would rather keep their pit bull safety regulation. Even though there is a statewide ban on implementing breed specific regulation, home rule cities in Illinois can still legally implement pit bull regulation. Lincolnwood was one of the few cities in Illinois that legally regulated pit bulls for the safety of its residents.

The removal of the Lincolnwood BSL follows the familiar, idiotic Illinois pattern. Two vicious, disgusting pit bull attacks prompt city officials to REMOVE the only protections from pit bull they have.

Children Say Good Bye To Fifi Before She is Euthanized
After Being Paralyzed by a Pit Bull Attack. RIP Fifi. How
much do you think the veterinarians who put down Fifi
charged the family? How much did the veterinarians
profit from this pit bull attack?

Besides, the attack on Fifi, another pit bull mauled a Lincolnwood dog in May 2015. Luckily, that victim dog survived. The media did not bother to report that attack.

The city consulted four veterinarians who told them pit bulls are AOK with them. Those veterinarians better waive their fees for sewing up and putting down victims of pit bulls in their practices from now on so it doesn’t appear that they had a conflict of interest.

This odd statement is taken from Lincolnwood board meeting minutes on December 15, 2016:

‘At its December 15 COTW meeting, the Board discussed staff’s recommended changes to the Village’s “Vicious Dog” Ordinance. During its discussion, the Board requested that staff look into potentially changing the Ordinance further by removing the provision that defines certain breeds as “vicious” regardless of whether there were any documented
problems with that particular breed.’

Even though Lincolnwood is a home rule city and, as such, Lincolnwood can legally implement BSL, the village decided to remove their pit bull regulation in the face of a rash of documented problems with pit bulls. Why would that be? It probably has to do with communications Lincolnwood city leaders had received from pit bull advocates saying they would be sued. At the end of December, Best Friends Animal Society sent a letter falsely claiming that their pit bull regulation was illegal according to the Illinois statewide ban on BSL.

“Your ongoing attempts to further discriminate against a specific classifications of dogs is also illegal under the law. Together, the Village is exposing itself to needless litigation.”
“That said, we would be open to working with the Village to amend the current ordinance to bring you into compliance with state law.”
“Let us help you avoid needless litigation. We can work collaboratively to make Lincolnwood…”

Even though Lincolnwood's pit bull safety laws are legal, a resident could still sue the village and if the resident were promised free legal help from Best Friends Animal Society, a disgruntled pit bull owner would be encouraged to file suit. BFAS is letting Lincolnwood know they will put their money behind such a lawsuit. After the legal and financial threats, Best Friends Animal Society’s lawyer Lee Greenwood then said BFAS would love to collaborate with the City of Lincolnwood - for free - to eliminate what meagre protections from pit bulls they already have!

So, despite having “documented problems” with the particular pit bull breed, the city of Lincolnwood sought plausible reasons they should abandon ordinances that were designed to protect pets and people from the known and demonstrated dangerous pit bull problems.

City staff gathered evidence that would support their move to abandon safety protections including the AVMA’s “Literature Review on the Welfare Implications of The Role of Breed in Dog Bite Risk and Prevention.” This review of literature shares facts and findings from various sources ranging from newsletters to peer-reviewed studies. Each statement in the review is referenced to the source it came from. Except one. And that one unsubstantiated statement is one of two statements culled from the literature review to support abandoning pit bull regulation.

The assertion that “controlled studies have not identified this breed group (pit bull types) as disproportionately dangerous” is stated twice in the literature review, but is supported by no sources.

The other statement from the same AVMA literature review, “there is no evidence that breed-specific bans reduce the rate or severity of bite injuries” is a misinterpretation of the two studies the review references. Both studies’ findings show that hospitalizations due to dog bites are lower in areas that ban or regulate pit bulls and other dangerous breeds of dogs.

The City of Lincolnwood abandoned its pit bull safety ordinance out of fear of a lawsuit using faulty “expert” papers that contradicted their own experience with pit bulls.

Chicago Tribune

Aug 01, 2015 Lincolnwood Pit Bull Kills Yorkie in Front of Children Walking Their Pet

Feb 05, 2016 Illinois Pit Bull Advocates Behaving Badly

Karma is a Bitch for Chicago Animal Care and Control

Chicago Animal Care and Control is experiencing what some might call a karmic event. After years of promoting pit bulls, fighting all regulation of pit bulls, pushing more and more pit bulls into neighborhoods and doing nothing to protect people and pets from pit bull attacks and deaths with their pro-pit bull policies, pit bulls are coming back and biting CACC in the rear.

CACC is being raked over the coals by “animal activists” for the alleged poor treatment of animals in its care and for not responding to calls of possible animal cruelty. WBBM Newsradio and the non-profit government watchdog Better Government Association launched investigations.

In a side note, CACC might be overwhelmed with possible animal cruelty calls because some Chicago residents have learned that they have no hope of getting their call answered if they are merely concerned about their own safety, the safety of their children or their pets from stray dogs, mostly pit bulls. Some have found that their only chance to get a menacing pit bull removed from the neighborhood is to call it in as animal neglect or cruelty when the dangerous dog is left out in a yard or barks non-stop inside of an apartment, for example. But, it seems that practice may have caught on and CACC can no longer keep up with those calls either.

In addition to not answering calls, their handling of three dogs in particular is being called out as inhumane and unprofessional. All those dogs are pit bulls and two of them had known behavior problems.

In April 2014, a pit bull named Chance was euthanized after he was first placed on the mandatory 5-day stray hold and then was placed on rescue status where he remained for 4 additional days. According to CACC, no rescue came forward in those 9 days to put a rescue hold on him. Rescuers claim that someone with CACC failed to put the pit bull on hold after a rescue said they would take him.

For some reason, CACC, the BGA and the animal activists are all calling this pit bull a “mixed breed dog” and the video of him was taken down from youtube. Here is a screen grab made by BGA showing that he was indeed a pit bull.

In a second incident, in April 2015, a CACC pit bull named Missy that was up for adoption was behaving badly at a hockey game. What was a homeless pit bull doing at a hockey game? It was being offered for adoption to any hockey fan in attendance with money, along with over a dozen other dogs. In Chicago you can go to a hockey game, pick out a dog before the game and pick it up on your way out.

However, Missy was having behavior problems and was put back in the van while the rest of the dogs were adopted. After the event, the driver returned to van to CACC. Missy was forgotten and left in the van for 5 days with little food or water before anyone found her. CACC turned her over, underweight, to a private rescue who said she would need weeks of behavior training before she could be adopted.

The third incident was revealed by a FOIA request from BGA for security video which CACC refused to make public after a very aggressive pit bull was brought in to CACC on two catch poles. The pit bull was apparently strangled to unconsciousnes, and then dragged by the neck. The workers dragging the unconscious pit bull may have believed the pit bull was dead but a veterinary examination revealed the pit bull was still alive. The dangerously aggressive pit bull was then scheduled for euthanasia, but died 30 minutes before the scheduled appointment with the needle.

CACC created this situation where Chicago is drowning in aggressive and unwanted pit bulls. And now they’re having to handle the consequences of their creation - and they’re not handling it well. It is interesting that these dog incidents have prompted media and government watchdog investigations, but the serious mauling of a CACC employee by yet another pit bull got virtually no coverage, zero followup, and no known investigation into CACC safety practices.

And in Elgin - More Pit Bull Advocates Behaving Badly

Elgin animal control officer James Rog was charged with two Class 3 felony counts of theft and two Class 3 felony counts of official misconduct. He is accused of stealing over $6,000 from a police-affiliated youth program called Elgin Law Enforcement Explorer Post 1445.

Elgin officals decided to look into their own Explorer program after the leader of the Fox Lake Explorer program, Lt. “GI Joe” Gliniewicz, killed himself when he realized his theft of Explorer funds was going to be exposed. Gliniewicz staged his own suicide to make it look like he was a hero cop killed in the line of duty.

The Chicago Tribune interviewed Rog about Gliniewicz' illegal activities and Rog is quoted as saying that "...people are going to make mistakes." (!!!) That quote may be what prompted Elgin officials to look into Rog's program.

It turns out that James Rog is also one of Ledy VanKavage’s protogees. Van Kavage is one of the most influential pit bull advocates in the country. Rog probably became acquainted with VanKavage as he worked to torpedo several attempts to enact a pit bull ban in Elgin. He is one of only three people, and the only animal control officer in the state, listed as a resource person for one of Ledy VanKavage’s programs for Illinois Police Officers, “Animal Abuse and Cruelty; Canine Behavior and Police Response.” The other two resource people are Ledy VanKavage herself, and Cherie Travis, former executive director of CACC.

Wholesome Threesome
Cherie Travis, Ledy VanKavage, James Rog

VanKavage pushed for courses to train Illinois police officers not to shoot dogs. Her interest in that lies in the fact that most of the dogs shot by police are pit bulls - and they are usually shot with good reason. She got legislation enacted to require training for Illinois police to reduce dog shootings, co-wrote the book used as reference and developed classes for police officers. This is her baby and she entrusted only two people in the entire state besides herself to teach these classes. Rog, charged with 4 felony counts, and Cherie Travis, former executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control.

In 2009, Travis was hired as the executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control and immediately did the bidding of VanKavage and VanKavage's employer, Best Friends Animal Society, by changing CACC policies so that fight bust pit bulls could be adopted to the public. In 2010, as executive director of CACC, Travis famously refused to admit the dogs that killed Johnny Wilson in Chicago were pit bulls even though police, the owners, and neighbors all identified them as pit bulls. Travis also praised “the character” of the irresponsible pit bull owner who let his known-aggressive pit bulls escape from their yard and maul a jogger named Joseph Finley so badly that he lost his leg in 2012.

CACC under Travis’ direction was the subject of an undercover news investigation that showed overcrowding and animals in poor condition as Travis tried to enact No Kill policies. When asked by a reporter to define the No Kill philosophy, Travis could not explain it and told the reporter she would need to ask Best Friends Animal Society to define No Kill.

In 2012 Cherie Travis was summarily fired with no reason given other than the city “decided to go in another direction.” The reason for her firing became apparent a few months later when it was revealed that she was being sued by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office for alleged misuse of funds from her own non-profit animal rescue group.

In 2013 the state settled with Travis. She agreed to repay with interest the improper loans she made to her mother and friend from her nonprofit. In addition, she is banned for life from running the non-profit she founded and she was banned for three years from serving in a leadership capacity with any other nonprofit organization.

Travis is now the assistant general counsel for the Cook County Sheriff’s Department. She also works for Ledy VanKavage and gives presentations on the problem of dog shootings by police (mostly pit bulls) in Chicago and trains Illinois police officers to not shoot pit bulls.

These are the people teaching cops to risk their lives by giving pit bulls they encounter the benefit of the doubt when experts have said time and again that pit bulls are notorious for not giving signs or signals before an attack - and worse, pit bulls can give misleading signals. In the text used for these police training courses, co-written by Ledy VanKavage, police officers are warned that if they shoot a a dog, they could be sued.

I wonder if Rog is still going to lead his upcoming scheduled class on February 16. He will need the money. Ledy is probably savvy enough to know not to give either of these two access to the budget.

Read more:
NBC Chicago - Chance Killed
ABC 7 Chicago - Pit Bull Left in Van
Better Government Association (video) - Dangerous Pit Bull
Chicago Tribune - Jame Rog
Chicago Tribune - James Rog
Chicago Tribune - Cherie Travis Fired
Chicago Tribune - Cherie Travis Lawsuit Settlement
Animal Legal Defense Fund
Police Training Course
Police Training Course James Rog

Related posts:
May 22, 2015 CBS Chicago Investigative Reporter Follows Up on Pit Bull Left in CACC Van
Feb 12, 2014 Chicago woman gives up walking her dog because of pit bull and other dangerous dog attacks
Oct 10, 2012 Loose aggressive pit bulls menace Humboldt Park resident and her dog
Cherie Travis helps North Chicago with Animal Law
It Is Time, Elgin
Who runs CACC and why won't Chicago Punish Irresponsible Pit Bull Owners?

Feb 04, 2016 Sidney Pit Bulls Maul a Sheltie Unprovoked

Sidney - A Sheltie named Buddy was walking on his leash with his owner when he was attacked by two pit bull that escaped from their yard.

In classic pit bull style, one pit bull took each end of the helpless little dog and mauled him. After he got away and began running home, one of the pit bulls kept biting at him. And another classic outcome of a pit bull attack is that the victims are left traumatized and upset long after the attack was over.

Despite the deep wounds, the pit bull owner somehow still denies this was an attack.

Screen Grab from WCIA video to illustrate how severe
Buddy's injuries were

The sheltie owner wants dangerous dogs banned from the city.

The pro-pit local news outlet refused to mention that the dogs were pit bulls but there was enough stereotypic pit bull defense language to make it clear these were pit bulls.

The victim’s owner said, "What I want is our board to prohibit dangerous dogs. I'm not picking on a breed, but we don't need it here."

And the pit bulls’ owner said that she “doesn't want them (her dogs) to be viewed in a negative light.”

The pit bull owner’s pit bulls were declared dangerous.

Read more:
Illinois Home Page

Related post:
Apr 21, 2015 Illinois Times Reported on a Great Dane Inflicting a Serious Mauling on a Child

Read how the Illinois Times reports extensively on a very serious Great Dane attack, but somehow missed all the local pit bull attacks in the previous seven years - some which were just as severe as the Great Dane attack.

Feb 04, 2016 Peoria Pit Bulls Attacking Three People Were Shot by Police

Peoria - The racist and stupid Ramona confusedly describes pit bulls menacing and attacking three people as "kids" teasing the pit bulls, but does give a location.

Ramona Meischner

March 1, 2016

That's the ignorance of most people. That's exactly what I was talking about earlier most people have no common sense whatsoever in this world. If you don't use the common sense that you were born with you don't need to be here. And that goes for all these ignorant f****** cops out there too. They're so quick to pull their gun on a pit bull or anything that looks like a pitbull. We just had two of them shot down on Humboldt Street in the south side of Peoria Illinois period saw the video no apparent reason whatsoever. There were three black kids that were teasing those dogs one had to run up on a car the other one standing out on the sidewalk with a board in his hand and the other little tired was running around the other side of the car. The cop pulls up with his lights blazing the dogs are barking at those niggars and the cop is hastily pulling out his gun and shot and killed both of them. Why? You got me! I am furious that people are this damn stupid ass ignorant. Ignorance is bliss I guess in some people's eyes but in my eyes it's a waste of space.