Pit Bull Attacks and Dogfighting in Illinois

Oct 28, 2015 Zion Pit Bull Viciously Attacks, Shot By Police; Attack Not Reported

Zion - This attack happened several weeks ago. It was not reported at the time. It was included in this piece that attempts to show that pit bulls are no more dangerous than other dogs.

“In early October, an 8-year-old Zion girl was viciously attacked and bit on the face by her family's 18-month-old pit bull, Smokey. The dog was euthanized by police immediately after the attack with the owner's consent.
Zion police arrived at the Joanna Avenue home just after the Oct. 4 attack, according to a police report. An adult and several children were outside the home while three other children remained inside and barricaded in a bedroom, police said.

One officer checked on the girl, who was holding a towel to her face to stop the bleeding, while other officers and neighbors rescued three boys by helping them through a bedroom window.
According to authorities, there were six children — ranging from 2 to 13 years old — at the home before or during the unprovoked attack. One of the children, police said, told officers that Smokey had previously bitten three people and everyone was afraid of him. The mother, according to the police report, said the dog had become increasingly aggressive in recent weeks and had attacked another dog a month and a half prior, but had never bitten any people.’

The family declined to be interviewed, but the young girl is recovering at home.”

The rest of the article explains that pit bulls aren’t a danger and that labs bite more. How many labs had to be shot by police? How many people barricaded themselves in a bedroom and had to be rescued through a window because of a rampaging german shepherd?

Read more:
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune Archive

Related posts:
Mar 16, 2015 Waukegan Pit Bull Attacks 5 Year Old Girl - also unreported

May 06, 2015 Alsip Pit Bull Seriously Mauled Boy- also unreported

Dec 05, 2013 Chicago Tribune: Pit bulls flood shelters, strain rescuers

Jul 29, 2013 Zion teen receives $1.125 million after bullmastiff attack

Oct 09, 2015 Ashton Woman Seriously Mauled by Her Own Pit Bulls

Ashton - On Thursday morning Lee County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call at 809 Main Street in Ashton, from a woman being attacked by her pit bull dogs.
Upon arrival, Deputies found 37 year old Denise Stephan in her home injured, due to bites from her 2 pit bull dogs. Deputies were able to secure the dogs and render aid to Stephan. She was eventually transported by the Ashton Fire Department to the Rochelle Hospital for treatment as the result of her injuries. She has since been released from the hospital.
The incident is also being investigated by the Lee County Animal Control Office, who took possession of the pit bulls.

Facebook comments indicated that the pit bull had adopted from Animal Control two months before the accident and that Stephan had serious injuries that required over 100 stitches.

Read more:
Rock River Radio

Oct 06, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Seriously Mauls Girl and Woman in Gage Park

Chicago - Pit bull hauled away after it attacked its own family members. An 8-year-old girl and her 56 year-old grandmother were seriously mauled. The girl is in serious condition while the woman is in critical condition.

"I feel so nervous, so scared, sad because I know that lady. I see how she looked, and there was a lot of blood," said Martina Zabala, a neighbor. A pit bull was taken, and may have been new to the family. Reports did not mention if the other dogs were also pit bulls.

Read more:
ABC 7 Chicago
http://bit.ly/2nFWzQw

NBC 5 Chicago
http://bit.ly/2nJtRji

Sep 25, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Attacks UPS Driver in West Side, Police Say

UPDATE: Right before the pit bull attacked Jesus Toledo, the owner said not to worry, it was a nice dog. Toledo asked three times for them to not open the door to get the package until he was gone and he tried to race away before the dog could get out, but the pit bull owner opened the door anyway and the pit bull attacked. Then, as the pit bull attacked, the pit bull owner did nothing to help. Toledo said he could not believe that this long time customer, whom he'd served for so long, just stood there and did nothing as her pit bull ripped him apart. Toledo lost his thumb and his ear and required surgery to put his hand back together again. Toledo thanked the postal worker who saved him.
And CACC, city workers who are paid by tax payers, refused to make any comment about whether they're even going to put the mauling pit bull down.

Hero mail carrier who saved Jesus Toledo's life

The pit bull bit through tough work boots

Chicago - “A UPS driver was rescued by a postal carrier after being attacked by a pit bull on his route Friday morning.

Jesus Toledo is a UPS worker Who Was Attacked
By A Pit Bull On the Job

The incident happened in the North Austin neighborhood, near North Cicero Avenue and West Cortland Street, in the city's West Side.

The UPS driver, Jesus Toledo, said the dog escaped through the front door when the woman opened it. A postal worker nearby heard Toledo yelling and ran to help pull the dog off the UPS driver and wrestled it to the ground.

Toledo is hospitalized with cuts on his head and ankle but is said to be doing OK.

The dog has been impounded by Animal Control and is currently undergoing a 10-day rabies observation.”

Read more:
CBS Local
http://bit.ly/1KQAdhK
ABC 7 Chicago
http://bit.ly/1iD4YQt

Related posts:
Sep 20, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Seriously Attacks 8-year-old Boy And Rescuer
Jul 22, 2015 Chicago Dog Attack Victim Says Owners Not Punished Enough
UPDATE: May 26, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Fatally Mauls 5 Year Old Boy

Sep 20, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Seriously Attacks 8-year-old Boy And Rescuer

Chicago - An 8-year-old boy was severely mauled by a pit bull in the Chatham neighborhood and might have been killed had it not been for the intervention of 48 year-old man, Danell Nicholson, a former US Olympic team boxer.

Hero Olympic Athlete, Danell Nicholson

‘”When I turned around I saw the dog had a little kid on the ground on the street," Nicholson said.

Nicholson recognized the boy as a friend of his niece's. A former 1992 U.S. Olympic team boxer, he raced to help, but soon found himself being attacked as well.

"I'm trying to get the dog off him, so I finally got the dog, beating him off him, the dog attacks me," he said. "Luckily I had some kind of skill boxing. It really helped me out of that battle.”’

The pit bull escaped from its 73 year-old owner’s home, ran outside and mauled the 8 year-old boy’s leg and then mauled his rescuer’s face. Both victims were initially taken to the MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, but the child was transported to Christ Hospital, which has a Level I trauma center, because of the severity of his injuries. He may have permanent damage to one of his legs.

The dog’s owner was cited for failure to restrain the dog and for not having a dog license. And get this - police don’t know if the animal was seized by Animal Care & Control.

Either the reporter was too lazy to call CACC or the public servants at Chicago Animal Care and Control are flat out refusing talk to reporters or police at all regarding a human health and safety issue they are legally responsible for.

Read more:
ABC 7 Chicago
CBS Chicago
NBC 5 Chicago

Related posts:
Chatham neighborhood attacks
Jul 24, 2015 Chicago Pit Bull Fatally Shot by Police Officer
Sep 19, 2014 Chicago Pit bulls attack 5 people and kill 1 cat in 5 months and NOTHING is done

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 Bullmastiff Jul 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

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.”