Jul 17, 2015 East Alton Pit Bull Used As Weapon Maims Victim

East Alton - “Police are searching for a 19-year-old male who has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery and seek the public’s help.
Kenneth Boner
The man – Kenneth Boner – of the 100 block of Herman in East Alton, is being sought for an incident where he allegedly ordered two pit bulls to attack two brothers in East Alton near the B and R Tavern in the 300 block of West St. Louis Avenue in East Alton on June 22.

 Detective Christian Cranmer said apparently Boner, who lives across the street from the bar, became upset when he thought the two men were talking in loud fashion and exchanged words with the men. Then he allegedly ordered the two pit bulls to attack the brothers, although he didn’t own the dogs at the time.

 “One thing led to another and he threatened to let the two pit bulls go and did,” Cranmer said. “One of the guys was hurt pretty bad. They had to stab the dogs to get them off them. I was able to tie in leads and witnesses who were good enough where I presented a case then the charges were authorized.”

 The dogs were shipped to Madison County Animal Control and during early July were put down. Boner lived in the basement of the home across the street, Cranmer said.

The suspect may have left the area since the incident and is now wanted on these charges.

“I showed the extent of injuries, the older victim is likely permanently disfigured and his right hand changed forever," Cranmer said. "He has lost feeling in his thumb and pinky. The dog dug into his forearm and tore tendons and ligaments that had to be reattached. The two brothers were knocked to the ground and the dogs were chewing on them. The other guy had injuries to his chest and it was clear it was some type of animal bite. He also had bites to his leg. The older man had to be transported on to Barnes Hospital.”

Once police responded, the dogs were taken into custody by animal control.

Anyone with any information about the suspect, please contact the East Alton Police Department at 618-259-6212.“

Read more:
River Bender News

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All posts labeled "dog used as weapon" (all pit bulls)

Jul 16, 2015 Midlothian Pit Bull Kills Yorkie Mix

Midlothian - A resident told police she was forced to euthanize her small dog, a Yorkie mix, after it was attacked by a pit bill while she walking the dog July 16 in the 14800 block of Pulaski Road. The pit bull's owner was arrested on a Robbins warrant and ticketed for having a dog at large without a rabies vaccine or license.

Read more:
Daily Southtown

Related posts:
7 or more attacks on Yorkshire Terriers by pit bulls in Illinois

Jun 29, 2015 Chicago Girl Attacked by Pit Bull On South Side

Chicago - A 9-year-old girl in the hospital after she was bit by a pit bull on the city's South Side. It happened around 8 p.m. Monday near 48th and Racine. The girl's injuries are not believed to be serious.

Read more:
ABC 7 Chicago

Jun 28, 2015 Oswego Boy Bitten by “Boxer mix” on Prairie Path: Police

Oswego - A twelve year old boy was taken to the hospital after being bitten by a dog identified as a “boxer mix.”  Pit bulls are often identified as boxer mixes by dog rescues and owners.

No photo was shown of the "boxer mix" that attacked a boy in Oswego, but here are some "boxer mixes" for reference.
This "boxer mix" is a pit bull:

This "boxer mix" is a pit bull:

This “boxer mix” that requires “an experienced adopter” is a pit bull:

This “boxer mix” that can’t go to a home with children or pets is a pit bull:


Read more:
Only Oswego



Jun 09, 2015 Juan Zamora Faces 21 Felony Charges for Dog Fighting and Cruelty

Chicago - A Chicago man is facing 21 felony charges alleging animal cruelty and dog fighting after police say they found 10 pit bulls in bad conditions in his home.
Juan Zamora faces dogfighting charges in Chicago
Chicago police said Tuesday that that 49-year-old Juan Zamora had turned himself in to face 10 counts of animal cruelty, 10 counts of failing to perform animal owner duties, and one count of possessing dog fighting equipment.

Police say a search of Zamora’s southeast side home Thursday found the dogs living in “deplorable” conditions. The dogs were turned over to Animal Care and Control for treatment.
Zamora was due to appear in bond court later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney who could comment on his case.

Read more:
WGN TV

Related posts:
Illinois dogfighting

Jun 01, 2015 Arthur Pit Bulls Invade Yard to Kill Small Beloved Maltese, Fluffy

Arthur - A woman had to watch her beloved pet be mauled to death by a pack of pit bulls and Illinois law is putting a neighborhood at risk and allowing the pit bulls back with the owner.  Cheryl Prez gave her daughter, Trinity, this 4-pound Maltese to keep her company, and now they want an ordinance against dangerous dogs.
Sweet Fluffy
Arthur, Illinois - a safe family place except for pit bulls
Trina Prez can’t even call up the memory of her 4 pound maltese named Fluffy without seeing the  pit bulls killing her sweet little dog all over again.

‘Prez says, about a month ago, five or six pitbulls attacked Fluffy in her backyard.

"This is where we buried her."
Fluffy was four years old
Before Fluffy was mauled, Prez says she'd call police about the pitbulls. She'd seen them roaming her street several times, but had no idea they'd go into her yard until she heard her dog crying.

"I mean, I was kind of already preparing myself that it might be something big, but I just wasn't expecting that."

Animal control took the dogs away from the owner for a short time, but now they're back with their owner who lives two doors down. The fence he's supposed to build isn't up yet.
Killer Pit Bull At Large
Killer Pit Bull At Large
"Right now, we're scared now that something worse is going to happen." ‘

Read more:
Illinois Homepage 
Arthur Illinois 

Related posts:
May 18, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Kills Two Little Dogs in Lakeview
Apr 16, 2015 Wataga Pit Bull Killed Small Dog 
Apr 03, 2015 Chicago: Leashed Pit Bull Kills Leashed Pekingese
Jun 25, 2014 West Chicago Dog Rescuer Allows Her Own Pit Bulls to Kill for the Second Time

UPDATE: May 26, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Fatally Mauls 5 Year Old Boy

 UPDATE - "James Nevils III and his 7-year-old sister had been outside with the dog while staying at their cousin's home in the 8900 block of South Carpenter Street Monday night, according to a police report. Their mother let the dog and the children back into the house and was locking the door when the dog bit into the boy's neck, the report said."

UPDATE - Police say they issued two citations to the owner of a pit bull that killed a five year old boy, but no charges will be brought against the man whose identity is being protected.

UPDATE - Chicago Animal Care and Control is once again refusing to acknowledge a pit bull that launched a fatal attack is a pit bull.
"Brad Powers, a spokesman for the Commission on Animal Care and Control, said the dog was "large and muscular."
"While we have no way to confirm a dog breed based on physical characteristics alone, the animal has features consistent with the Dogo Argentino breed," he said in an email."

People can identify pit bulls by physical appearance.  That obvious fact has been upheld by court decisions.

Powers' other statement is true, however, because every single pit bull does, in fact, have features consistent with the Dogo Argentino breed because pit bulls and other related gripping dog breeds were all foundation stock for the development of Dogo Argentinos which were developed for the exact same purposes as pit bulls and all gripping dogs - dog fighting and "hunting" by attacking large game. See this link and this link for more about Dogos and their relationship to pit bulls.

Thankfully, the dangerous gripping breed Dogo Argentino is still fairly scarce in the United States.  On two pages of Dogo Argentino Breeder websites, no puppies were available immediately and all were being bred as catch dogs for hog dogging.  On BYB breeder sites, there was one single Dogo puppy listed for $1800.  The rest of the Dogo puppies were listed for between $2400 and $3300. 

So, the expert handlers at CACC looked at a white (and some say white and brown) pit bull, with supposedly no other information, and jumped to the conclusion that instead of a pit bull mix, they were looking at different, rare, expensive, related pit fighting/big game hunting dog.

This is not the first time that CACC has tried to hide the pit bull.  In 2010, after Johnny Wilson was killed by his daughter's 6 pit bulls, then director Cherie Travis contended that the killer dogs were completely unidentifiable mixed breeds

It is downright frightening that CACC persists in misleading the public in order to protect pit bulls.

 UPDATE - An autopsy on Tuesday found James W. Nevils III died of multiple sharp and blunt force injuries to his head and his neck. His death was ruled an accident.

Chicago - A 5 year old boy, James W. Nevils III, was fatally attacked by a pit bull according to witnesses.  The pit bull had the boy by the throat and was shaking him around.  Neighbors came and beat, bludegeoned and stabbed the pit bull to death with a brick, pole and knife to get it to stop the attack. 
RIP sweet boy
The attack evidently began inside a home the victim was visiting with his mother. A neighbor said,

“They were trying to drag it out of the house, I guess so people could help. So my brother went across the street to get a chair to get the dog off the baby but it didn’t work.”

In what is typical of pit bull attacks, after the pit bull was disengaged from the victim once, it went back to attack.  When they finally had killed the pit bull to stop the attack, James Nevils was lifeless. 

Witnesses reported that seeing this lifeless boy was the worst thing they'd ever seen.

The dog owner, the victim's adult cousin, was not there when the attack happened.  He returned home after James was taken to the hospital.

Neighbor Lamar Lewis said, "All I heard was, 'Why y'all let the dog out?' Because he knew what kind of dog he had. So them letting the dog out, he knew what was possible to happen."

Several outlets are reporting this, including a couple local and one national outlet.  All but the Tribune and Fox news have mentioned that witnesses had seen the dog around the neighborhood, were familiar with it, and identified it as a pit bull.
 
Read more:
Chicago Tribune
ABC News
CBS Chicago 
ABC Houston
ABC Chicago
ABC News
Chicago Sun Times
CLTV
Chicago Tribune
Fox News Chicago

Related posts - Illinois' Fatal Pit Bull Attacks:
May 26, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Fatally Mauls 5 Year Old Boy
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
Nov 11, 2012 Kane Co Health Department: Bullmastiff Killed First Responder Dawn Brown
Aug 16, 2012 Man Killed By Own Pit Bulls In Englewood
Dec 07, 2011 Rockford woman dies after attack by her pit bull
Aug 25, 2010 LaSalle Pit bulls kill 7 year old Jason Walter
Jan 18, 2010 Cops: Chicago Man Mauled to Death by Daughter's Pit Bulls
Dec 01, 2009 Flora, Illinois Woman Killed in American Pit Bull Terrier Attack
Jun 27, 2009 Pit Bulls Fatally Maul 3 year old Boy Johnston City
Jan 27, 2005 Police believe dog attack, hypothermia killed Erie girl, 14
Jan 12, 2003 Pit bull mixes attack two joggers, killing one and seriously injuring the other
Jul 19, 1990 Chicago Pit Bull Killed 6 Month Old Tionna Kenny
Jun 29, 1990 Dolton Pit Bull Kills Baby
Nov 12, 1988 Dekalb Pit Bull Kills NIU Student
May 22, 1951 Fairfield Boy, 3, Killed By A Bulldog 
May 27, 1931 Chicago Pet Bulldog's Attack Fatal to Woman
Jun 06, 1912 Chicago infant fatally mauled by bulldog
May 08, 1911 Mount Vernon Bulldog kills 4 year old boy
May 11, 1910 Chicago Bulldogs Fatally Attacked an Old Lady
Jul 08, 1905 Chicago Baby is Killed by a Bulldog
Aug 16 1901 Springfield Sheriff's wife killed by bulldog
Jun 23, 1892 Chicago Family Bulldog Kills Child in Terrible Attack
Mar 11, 1886 Chicago Child Torn to Pieces by Bulldog on Street - Fatal Attack