Sep 18, 2015 Wood River Pit Bull Attacked A Dog and Rescuer

Wood River - “Police responded to the report of a dog attacking another dog and a bystander on Thursday morning.  A responding police officer used his Taser to stop the dog from attacking a man, forcing the pit bull to release its hold and run away.  The dog was later captured.

The incident began around 8am as a man was walking his dog on West Jennings.  The pit bull reportedly jumped over a fence and started biting the other dog, a black lab.  The owner of the lab yelled for help, and a neighbor called police.  In the meantime, at least two other people tried to stop the pit bull, one using a broom handle and another a wooden chair.  The man using the chair was then attacked by the pit bull when the dog bit his arm.  The police officer arrived shortly after, and used the Taser on the animal.  Madison County Animal Control is currently holding the pit bull as the investigation continues. “

Neighbors credit a thick leather collar the lab was wearing for saving the lab's life because the pit bulls was savagely attacking the lab.

Read more:
Alton Daily News
The Telegraph
http://bit.ly/1LnSgAX

Related Posts:
Jul 17, 2015 East Alton Pit Bull Used As Weapon Maims Victim
May 06, 2015 Wood River Boy Seriously Mauled by Family's BullmastiffJul 09, 2014 Alton Police Forced To Shoot Loose Pit Bull
Jun 06, 2014 Same Granite City Pit Bulls climb another fence and kill yet another dog

Historical post:
May 22, 1951 Fairfield Boy, 3, Killed By A Bulldog
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Sep 13, 2015 Defining Provocation - A Chicago Bullmastiff Attack

Chicago - In 2013 NIKKI ZOLLAR’s 100 pound male bullmastiff escaped from its home and attacked Jib, a female 39 pound Portuguese water dog that was being walked on a leash in an alley.
File photo of a Bullmastiff
NIKKI ZOLLAR’s bullmastiff was declared dangerous and ZOLLAR appealed, contending that the bullmastiff was only playing, and that the attack didn’t occur until Jib’s owner kicked the bullmastiff in an effort to get it away from Jib which in turn provoked the bullmastiff to attack.

The “provocation” defense is used heavily by pit bull and dangerous dog owners in and out of court in Illinois and around the country as a defense and as an excuse for dangerous dog behavior.  These excuses are accepted depressingly often by people who should know better.

For example, in 2013 in Eldorado Illinois, before people with common sense prevailed upon these two men, the head of animal control and the city attorney stated that when a pit bull dug out of its enclosure, charged across the street and disemboweled a small puppy at the feet of a young boy, the pit bull was provoked because people hit the pit bull trying to get it to stop the attack and because the puppy was not on a leash.  They asserted the provoked pit bull could not therefore be labeled dangerous.  This judgment was reversed eventually.

Luckily, NIKKI ZOLLAR’s argument that her bullmastiff must have been provoked (she was not present at the attack, and was merely guessing) did not prevail for one simple reason.  The city of Chicago created a legal definition for the term “provocation” as it applies to exempting a dog from being labeled dangerous or vicious.

In the city of Chicago the only provocation that justifies a dog’s aggression are illegal actions by a person.  Legally, a dog’s actions against another dog cannot justify a dog’s aggression.

From the city ordinance:
‘“Provocation” means that the threat, injury or damage caused by the animal was sustained by a person who, at the time, was committing a willful trespass or other tort upon the premises occupied by the owner of the animal, or was tormenting, abusing, or assaulting the animal, or was committing or attempting to commit a crime.’

Clearly, a person who hits an attacking dog in an attempt to protect another animal from attack does not justify any aggression against that person or the other dog.

All cities and counties should establish similar narrow legal definitions for the term “provocation” as it applies to their dangerous dog ordinances.  Defense and protection against an attack should be clearly spelled out in the definition.

This gem of wisdom about pet aggression comes from the Peoria County Animal Services:
“Even if an attack can be explained (the pet was scared, the child stepped on the pet's tail, the pet is afraid of people in uniform), it can rarely be excused.”
Read more:
Cook County Record
NIKKI ZOLLAR v. CITY OF CHICAGO DEPT. OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS AND CACC COMMISSION
A list of provocations meant to excuse pit bull attacks gathered by Dogsbite.org from news accounts
Self-styled dog attack expert describes how people fighting for their lives provoked a pit bull to kill

Related posts:
Jul 31, 2013 Eldorado city leaders refuse to protect neighborhood from vicious pit bull

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Sep 10, 2015 McHenry County Pit bulls That Attacked Dog, 2 People Return to Owner


McHenry Co -
“Two pit bulls who attacked a (leashed) puppy last year — also injuring [the puppy's two owners] who intervened — were spared a death sentence Thursday and were ordered to be returned to their owner.

McHenry County Judge Michael Caldwell called pit bull breeds "ticking time bombs" who are trained to fight and said he doesn't understand why people would want to own such dogs.

But the judge said authorities failed to provide "clear and convincing evidence" that Molly and Sawyer, the dogs who attacked a 6-month-old golden retriever Sept. 9 of last year, should be legally deemed vicious and euthanized.

The judge's ruling came despite a recommendation from McHenry County Animal Control that the dogs be put down. The animals were removed from the owner's home in McHenry following the attack.”

Illinois legal definition of a “Vicious dog”:
 (510 ILCS 5/2.19b) 
    Sec. 2.19b. "Vicious dog" means a dog that, without justification, attacks a person and causes serious physical injury or death or any individual dog that has been found to be a "dangerous dog" upon 3 separate occasions. 
(Source: P.A. 93-548, eff. 8-19-03.)

Despite 13 additional complaints or statements, the pit bulls had evidently never been declared dangerous and so the judge’s hands were tied.

Illinois legal definition of a “Dangerous dog”:
(510 ILCS 5/2.05a) 
    Sec. 2.05a. "Dangerous dog" means (i) any individual dog anywhere other than upon the property of the owner or custodian of the dog and unmuzzled, unleashed, or unattended by its owner or custodian that behaves in a manner that a reasonable person would believe poses a serious and unjustified imminent threat of serious physical injury or death to a person or a companion animal or (ii) a dog that, without justification, bites a person and does not cause serious physical injury. 
(Source: P.A. 93-548, eff. 8-19-03; 94-639, eff. 8-22-05.)

Notice that the law is so poorly worded that menacing behavior by a dog toward a pet while unattended or loose can trigger a dangerous dog designation, but an actual bite or killing of a pet by a leashed or attended dog will not trigger a dangerous dog designation.  There also is no mandate that animal control officers must declare animals dangerous when complaints are received.  Often the victims must press animal control to act, and then AC may not even keep track of dogs deemed dangerous so subsequent attacks don't trigger harsher penalties or help relieve a neighborhood of a vicious dog (see related posts).

Amazingly, the Tribune reporting did not mention whether the pit bulls had been declared dangerous even this time.  The report only mentions that LARA COLER’s lawyer says that it could not be determined which dog had bitten  the Cuders, the owners of the golden retriever that was attacked, suggesting that their bite injuries might have been inflicted by their own golden retriever puppy as it was being attacked.

The pit bull owner LARA COLER, who has since gotten a third pit bull, will get the two maulers back.

Illinois residents must press for dangerous dog designations for each and every instance they feel threatened by loose or dangerous acting dogs.  Remember, calling in to complain does not automatically generate a formal complaint.  You must specifically demand that a complaint be written and that you get a copy of it and that the dog be declared dangerous.  Depending on the county, you must file a complaint with police, animal control or both agencies.

Read below in related links about a woman who did go the extra mile after her dog was killed by a loose pit bull.  Authorities were going to do nothing until she, herself, dug up the history of the dog finding that it had previously been declared dangerous.

Read below in related links how a county commissioner whose dog was attacked got the county law changed so that bites and attacks on pets also lead to dangerous and vicious dog designations.

Read more:
Chicago Tribune
http://bit.ly/1Nm9m1S
MySuburbanLife
http://bit.ly/1OKERSc
Illinois Compiled Statutes

Related posts:
Sep 11, 2013 Owners of pit bull mauling victim Shibui want felony charge
Jan 30, 2013 Lake County defines "animal aggressive" as new category of dangerous dogs
Mar 2, 2008 Pit bull attacks on the rise, Ledy VanKavage thwarts all attempts to protect people and pets
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Sep 10, 2015 Decatur Pit Bulls Attacking Pets And Nothing Being Done

Decatur – Pit bulls are holding an entire neighborhood hostage.  They frequently get loose and they are attacking people and pets and have killed a cat on its own porch.  “One had one paw and one had the other.”

Another 11 year old gentle dog was attacked in her owner’s arms.  Other people just don’t let their dogs outside anymore.

Animal Control took statements for reports on Thursday morning.  A Macon County Sheriff’s Deputy also talked with residents. But nothing is being done according to the news report.

Read more:
WAND 17
http://bit.ly/1Lngsik

Related posts:
Sep 19, 2014 Chicago Pit bulls attack 5 people and kill 1 cat in 5 months and NOTHING is done
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Sep 05, 2015 Chicago Man charged with running dogfighting ring in Fuller Park neighborhood

Chicago - “A 43-year-old Fuller Park man was ordered held in Cook County Jail after he was charged with 10 felonies in connection with a dogfighting ring he's accused of running, according to police.
Chicago Man Accused of Dogfighting 
Clifford McNeil, was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, felony dogfighting, misdemeanor animal owner duty violations and eight misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals.

Police obtained "credible intelligence of animal cruelty and dog fighting activity" and gained entry to the yard and garage of a home in the 4800 block of South Shields about 10 a.m. Friday.”

“Police found 16 pit bulls on the property, including seven pit bulls connected to heavy chains in the yard, one pit bull in a cage filled with feces and a pit bull in a cage inside the garage, which was with seven two-week old pit bull puppies with no access to food or water, prosecutors said.
One of the fighting dogs confiscated
The yard and the dog houses in the yard were littered with feces, prosecutors said. No people lived in the garage.

Inside the garage, Police also discovered a modified treadmill with a chain and wooden boards designed to narrow the dog’s path, a modification “commonly indicative of training dogs to fight,” prosecutors said.”

“Neighbors raised questions about the charges against McNeil Saturday, and several agreed that McNeil had a “heart of gold.”

They said McNeil was simply a dog lover, and someone who anchored the neighborhood with his generosity. He cut neighbors’ lawns, worked on landscaping and allowed the neighbors to park their cars at the garage he maintained as an alternative to street parking.”

Read more:
Chicago Tribune

Related posts:
Jun 09, 2015 Juan Zamora Faces 21 Felony Charges for Dog Fighting and Cruelty
Apr 18, 2015 Chicago South Side Woman Accused of Dogfighting and Animal Abuse
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2015 Elgin's Pit Bulls Still Attacking; Media Not Covering Them

Elgin has had documented problems with pit bulls and dangerous dogs attacking since at least 2002.  There were at least three attempts to pass a pit bull ban to solve this problem.  But each attempt was thwarted, the last by interference and intimidation by Best Friends Animal Society in 2010.

Instead, Elgin passed breed neutral ordinances that relied on extremely high fines and restrictions of dogs labeled dangerous or vicious.  In an attempt to make their ordinance pro-active, officials have the power to deem dogs that exhibit menacing behaviors as dangerous.  But, the result of not directly addressing the problem and not banning pit bulls and instead deeming dogs that bark and growl at people dangerous has created the usual absurd results.
Dakota attacked a neighbor's dog and was declared
dangerous.  His owner takes him to see the elderly
as a therapy dog.

Elgin is home to a chihuahua that never bit anyone that has been put on the dangerous dog list for life.  Among the requirements for keeping the chihuahua is a 6 foot fence to contain it.  Elgin is also home to a supposed “therapy” pit bull that is also on the dangerous dog list.  The pit bull attacked another dog, but the owner believes it has been rehabilitated and is safe and appropriate to bring around the elderly.  Neither of these absurd results would have come about if Elgin had recognized breed differences, banned pit bulls, and acknowledged that an aggressive chihuahua might require different restrictions than an aggressive pit bull.

The dangerous therapy pit bull’s owner wanted to change the ordinance so that dogs could be removed from the dangerous dog list after a number of years of good behavior.  Thankfully, though Elgin did modify the ordinance, only dogs that have never attacked or bitten are eligible for removal from the dangerous dog list.  Now the chihuahua is off the dangerous dog list and in a year a German Shepherd that never bit or attacked can be take off if it behaves.  The dangerous therapy pit bull will remain on the list.  The dangerous therapy pit bull’s owner claims the therapy dog certification organization and the organization that allows her pit bull to hang out with the elderly know that the pit bull is dangerous.
Another pit bull will be added to the dangerous dog list
after attacking these dogs and their owner
Since 2012, after an excellent, in depth look at Elgin's dog bite problem by Mike Danahey, someone evidently had a little talk with news agencies because they no longer report on pit bull attacks in Elgin.  Though there have been virtually no dog attacks reported in news outlets, pit bulls haven’t stopped attacking.  In August of this year the Tribune reported a sampling of the 83 dangerous and 13 vicious dogs listed in Elgin.  Six of the 8 dogs they sampled were pits or pit mixes including a pit bull that attacked a chihuahua while the chi was playing with two little girls, another pit bull that burst through a window screen to kill a poodle and another that busted through a fence and attacked two people.  In addition, a 7th dog was called a “boxer mix.”
Read more:

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Aug 31, 2015 Leland Grove mayor removed from volunteer position at Sangamon County Animal Control Center



Leland Grove - Leland grove is a tiny town of 1,500 incorporated in the 1950s on the outskirts of Springfield. The town has the highest per capita income of any city outside of the Chicago metropolitan area. Leland Grove’s mayor, Jill Egizii, also volunteers at the Sangamon County Animal Control Center. Egizii has been suspended from her volunteer job for two months.

An incident with a kennel card occurred when a new volunteer, a 16-year-old girl, attempted to take a dog named Alpha for a walk. This occurred Aug. 24, a Monday, after the dog had been inside his kennel for a day-and-a-half and was excited to finally get outside.
In his excitement, Alpha scratched the girl, and the girl told staff members. Staff members then wrote on the kennel card that Alpha had scratched his walker.
“I told them that if you are going to put that on his kennel card, you might as well put him to sleep because nobody is going to look at this dog with that on there… I get scratched all the time because these dogs are excited,” Egizii said.

County officials said Egizii removed the kennel card that mentioned the scratching incident and replaced it with one that did not mention the scratching.

The new card had Alpha’s name and a note that said, “Good Boy.” In the section for “energy level,” the box for “high” was marked. “It’s a different way to say the same thing, really, but in a more positive light. It allows the dog to be pulled out so that somebody could look at him for a potential forever home,” Egizii said.

Read more:
State Journal-Register
Alpha




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