Pit Bull Attacks and Dogfighting in Illinois

Jan 02, 2013 Pit bull bites visiting family member in the face

Midlothian - Pit bull bites person unprovoked. The victim was treated at the emergency room and received stitches.

Read more:
Oak Forest Patch

Jan 2, 2013 Jogger who lost leg wants pit bull regulation

Joseph Finley's detailed description of his attack on ABC local from a year ago:

Chicago - Joseph Finley lost his leg on January 1, 2012 after he was attacked by two pit bulls that escaped their yard. A year later, Finley is still recovering mentally and physically from the attack.

Finley says it has been difficult to overcome a "mental state of not wanting to accept that my leg wasn’t there anymore."

Finley wants to remind people that the recovery from this kind of of devastating attack will take years. He wants to use his experience to call for tougher pit bull legislation in Chicago and Illinois to save others from the devastation and disability he will take years to overcome.

Help Joseph Finley get the word out that Chicago and Illinois need strong pit bull laws:

Chicago Mayor's Office:
City of Chicago Feedback form
Twitter - Mayor's Office
Twitter - Rahm Emanuel
Facebook - Chicago's Mayor's Office
Facebook - Rahm Emanuel
Phone:
within Chicago: 311
outside of Chicago: 312.744.5000

Chicago Wards and Alderman email addresses

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez
phone: 312.603.5440
statesattorney@cookcountyil.gov

Metropolitan Mayors Caucus - 272 mayors from the Chicago metropolitan area
David E. Bennett, Executive Director
phone: 312.201.4505
fax: 312.258.1851
e-mail: dbennett@mayorscaucus.org

Allison Mild Clements, Director of Housing Initiatives:
phone: 312.201.4507
fax: 312.258.1851
e-mail: amilld@mayorscaucus.org

Edith Makra, Director of Environmental Initiatives
phone: 312.201.4506
fax: 312.258.1851
e-mail: emakra@mayorscaucus.org

Illinois Attorney General - Lisa Madigan
email
Phone: Chicago office: 312.814.3000
Springfield office: 217.782.1090

Read more:
CBS local Accessed: 2013-01-02. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6DNbdyE26)

Related posts:
Oct 25, 2012 Boomington couple attacked by pit bulls, hospitalized with very serious injuries
Oct 18, 2012 Pit bull that attacks elderly woman and her dog is shot dead
Sep 13, 2012 Berwyn pit bulls attack woman, police officer and kill small dog
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 dog-on-dog attacks

May 16, 2012 Bloomington may review pet registration law after pit bull attack

Aug 08, 2011 Police want more teeth to proposed dangerous dog ordinance

The Nature of the Beasts: Illinois pit bull bullies

Who runs CACC and why won't Chicago Punish Irresponsible Pit Bull Owners?

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

Dec 24, 2012 Pit bull bites man in front of store; owner bails

Chicago - A West Town man was bitten by a pit bull tied outside a grocery store. The owner just left the man bleeding.
Witnesses say that she regularly ties her pit bull out on the street even though it is "crazy, not normal."
Just another responsible pit bull owner - blaming the victim and running away.

Read more:
DNAinfo.com Chicago

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

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Dec 06, 2012 Dog fight bust in Dolton, IL

UPDATE: photos of the dogfighters who, if pit bull advocates have their way, will get no jail time in exchange for blood money to put fighting dogs in your neighbor's home:

Dolton - Eight people were arrested and four pit bulls were recovered when police broke up a dog fight in progress. The dog fighters scurried like rats every which way and six of them were found hiding in the rafters - like rats.

Chicago area media, well-tutored by the pit bull promoters, reported that the dogs "looked like pit bulls" or didn't ascribe a breed to them at all and reported that the dogs had been "rescued."

Here is a fight bust dog next to a champion pure bred fighting pit bull:

And as usual, because this is Chicago, commenters are hoping that the "poor babies" can be adopted out. No thank you. I do not want a fight bust dog owned by a nincompoop who thinks they have to be forced to fight landing in my neighbor's yard.

Here is what these bad boys are all about:

Dec 05, 2012 Chicago police shoot pit bull sicced on them by thieves

Chicago - One of the six people who robbed a pizza delivery driver released a pit bull to attack pursuing Chicago police. Officers shot the pit bull twice, but it survived. Police caught all six robbers and no one was hurt.

This occurred just a few days after the Seattle Times published a story about a new study by the NCRC, a pit bull advocacy group, that laments the number of dogs shot by police as largely avoidable if only police understood dog body language. Why is a pit bull advocacy group leading the charge? Statistics of police shootings of dogs from a couple of Illinois cities might make that clear:

Between 2008 and July 2012 Elgin police were forced to shoot 23 dogs, 20 of which were pit bulls.
In the same time period Aurora police shot 8 dogs, 5 or 6 of which were pit bulls.
Illinois Pit Bull Attacks has found 78 accounts of pit bulls being shot. Roughly 76 were shot by police.

Now it becomes clear why the NCRC has published this study - because the vast majority of dogs shot by police are pit bulls.

The Seattle Times article leads with this statement:

There has never been a documented case of a dog killing a police officer.

I'm just spit balling here, but that might be because police officers are armed and are willing and able to fire on dogs to protect themselves when they are threatened.

There certainly are cops who wrongly shoot pets. Officers need education and discipline to avoid that. However, very few of the 76 or so police shootings of pit bulls that have been reported in this blog suggest that the officer was unjustified. Often, pit bulls can only be stopped from attacking by shooting them.

But, if cops seem more willing to shoot all kinds of dogs since pit bulls have come on the scene and more and more cops are witnessing pit bull attacks believing they are typical of all dog bites, well, then that is simply yet another way that selfish pit bull owners are hurting us and our normal dogs by bringing their fighting dogs into our communities.

The only way to make sure fewer pit bulls are shot is to make sure there are fewer pit bulls.

Pit bull owners, it might be noted, give their blessings to cops who shoot their pit bulls when the pit bulls are attacking them, the owner.

Read more:
CBS local
Chicago Tribune
Police One

Related posts:
Sep 13, 2012 Berwyn pit bulls attack woman, police officer and kill small dog
Aug 06, 2012 Police: South Elgin officer kills pit bull attacking family
It is Time, Elgin
Apr 12, 2012 Cook County Cop Details Off Property, Unprovoked, Serial Attack to Defend Pit Bulls
Jun 29, 2011 Victim Of Dog Attack Speaks Out
Nov 25, 2010 Rockford alderman, daughter bitten in pit bull attack
Aug 07 2010 Pit Bulls Attack 5 Year Old Boy

Nov 26, 2012 Woodridge pit bull fatally mauls gentle maltipoo

UPDATE: More information has been received that the attacking pit bull had a previous dog attack that was not reported in exchange for the pit bull owner paying for medical bills. And since the fatal attack on Buddy, the attacking pit bull was designated dangerous, but that did not stop the owner from negligently letting his dog run loose and it was picked up in April. Can you imagine this dog that absolutely loves attacking and killing dogs running loose? And NONE of this was reported in the media.

Woodridge - Ann Kramer sent in an account about the fatal pit bull attack that killed her sweet companion dog, Buddy. She says that she wants to share the experience even though it was painful to sit and write it down. She wants to share her story because she wants pit bull attacks to stop. The media did not cover this.

Part of what makes sharing her story difficult is knowing she would have done things differently had she known how dangerous and lethal pit bulls are. And now that she knows, she looks back in sorrow, feeling guilt that she should have done more to protect Buddy because Buddy looked to her for protection. She wants to share her story so other people can know and protect their beloved pets from pit bulls.

RIP sweet Buddy

Her story:
My experience was last year November 25th. It was a really beautiful Sunday afternoon and my granddaughter and I had been sick for the 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. But I felt great that day and wanted to take Buddy my little Maltipoo out for a long walk.

My Granddaughter was not with me when I decided to take Buddy for a walk, she was visiting with her mom.

I went out of my door ( I live in a condo on the 2nd floor) and started walking down the hall. I heard something down the stairs (I had seen my neighbor walking out with their Pit Bull earlier) and figured it must be them coming back in. So instead of going directly to the stairway, I stayed back and looked over to see who or what I could see. I saw the dog coming up the stairs but didn't see the owner. I know the dog was on a leash but I could also tell it was a retractable leash. I stepped back and said "I'll wait back here until you take your dog home" I don't really know what he said maybe he said OK. Not sure at this time. But I stayed back and was up against the wall watching the dog continue to come toward us. I asked him "hey is your dog going to be ok?" because at that time the dog was coming closer and I realized I wasn't far enough away from the dog. Buddy got behind me up against the wall. The Pit came closer and I never saw the owner. Then the dog was standing next to us against the wall looking down at Buddy. The next thing I know was the dog just grabbed Buddy, and I started screaming "come and get your dog" Just then I saw the owner for the first time. But the dog took Buddy and got in another position in front of us. At that point the owner started punching the Pit but it never let go. At some point the owners brother came out and tried punching at the dog also but the dog never let go. Finally and what seemed like a very long time of screaming and screaming and feeling like I was going to pass out. I think I was screaming and crying as much as Buddy was crying. This is so hard to go over again. Then my neighbor came out and came running toward us and he was the one that got the Pit to let go.

I brought Buddy to the vet she had one puncture wound and two other wounds that didn't break the skin. She had drains and stitches and they let me take her home. But the shaking is what did the damage. It seemed like it never ended. She actually passed away on 11/26.

I hope that you can use my story for some good. My sweet little Buddy wouldn't hurt a fly and I just couldn't get over how awful this was for her. I know Buddy looked to me for protection and I feel like I failed her. I will not ever get over how horrible this was.

Thank you, Ann, for sharing your heartbreaking story so others can save their pets.

Other pit bull attacks not reported in the media:
Aug 27, 2013 Bolingbrook police shoot pit bull attacking puggle
Jul 29, 2013 Zion teen receives $1.125 million after bullmastiff attack
Mar 06 2012 Pit Bulls seriously maul two dogs in Logan Square
Apr 18, 2011 Unreported Pit Bull Attacks in Chicago's 33rd Ward