"The jogger's death was the latest of at least five deadly dog attacks in California in the past two years.
"Last month, Claudia Gallardo, 38, of Stockton, was mauled to death by a pit bull in the front yard of a home where the dog lived.
"In February, Elsie Grace, 91, of Hemet, was killed by a pair of pit bulls at a motel.
"In June 2011, two pit bulls escaped from their yard and mauled a neighbor in her San Diego backyard. Emako Mendoza, 75, suffered arm and leg amputations before dying months later. The dog's two owners were convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
"In June 2012, an 8-month-old boy, Tyzhel Latella McWilliams, was mauled to death by a pit bull at a home in Lemon Grove, near San Diego."
4 pit bulls blamed for S. Calif. jogger's killing
The Associated Press
05.09.13
PALMDALE, Calif. -- A pack of dogs remained under quarantine at a Mojave Desert shelter on Friday as investigators tried to determine whether they were involved in a mauling that killed a jogger.
By afternoon, Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide investigators had not announced any DNA match between the six pit bulls seized Thursday and the four believed to have attacked the woman in the high desert neighborhood of Littlerock earlier in the day, Deputy Guillermina Saldana said.
The county coroner's office identified her on Friday as Pamela Marie Devitt, 63, a local resident.
A woman in a car saw pit bulls attacking the runner in the area 65 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The driver called 911 and honked her horn to try to get the dogs to stop, sheriff's Lt. John Corina said.
An arriving deputy saw a single dog still attacking the jogger and tried to chase it off, Corina said.
"The dog ran off into the desert, then turned around and attacked the deputy," who took a shot at the animal before it ran off, Corina said.
The woman died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital, said Evelina Villa, spokeswoman for the county Department of Animal Care and Control.
Hours later, sheriff's and animal control officials served a search warrant on a home near the site of the attack and took away eight dogs, six pit bulls and two mixed-breeds. A 29-year-old man from the house was arrested on suspicion of cultivating marijuana.
The owner was cited previously because one of the dogs had attacked a horse, Villa said. She did not immediately have details.
The dogs were being kept under quarantine for rabies observation at a Lancaster shelter, said Marcia Mayeda, the county's animal control director.
"They're fine now," she said of their behavior. "They're all separated so they're not able to engage in a pack behavior, where they group up together and may act aggressively."
Their strange surroundings also may have intimidated them, she said.
Mayeda said the animals, five females and three males, are all adults weighing between 40 and 70 pounds, with the biggest being an overweight female Australian shepherd mix. The other mixed-breed appears to be a Labrador-collie, she said.
Not all of the dogs are licensed, spayed or neutered as required by county and state law, she said.
The agency will seek to have any dogs involved in the attack destroyed, Mayeda said. The others will be licensed, spayed or neutered as required and three of them - the legal limit - will be returned to the owner while the rest will be placed for adoption if they are friendly, Mayeda said.
However, there still was a chance that the attacking animals were strays.
"In these areas, you might have a situation where people dump animals out in rural areas," said John Mlynar, a spokesman for the nearby city of Palmdale.
People living near the site of the attack said stray dogs constantly roam the area and have attacked people before.
"It's really scary," Diane Huffman, of Littlerock, told KABC-TV. "I don't know what to think. I really think I'm going to be getting a gun to protect myself."...
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/09/3390061/calif-authorities-search-for-dogs.html#storylink=cpy
Showing posts with label pit bull dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pit bull dog. Show all posts
Friday, May 24, 2013
CORONA: Girl and her dog recuperating after mauling by pit bull dog
CORONA: Girl and her dog recuperating after mauling
BY RICHARD BROOKS
Press Enterprise
May 12, 2013
Two days after she and her dog were mauled by a pit bull, 15-year-old Alex Cuevas is recuperating from having her right ear surgically reattached — but is haunted by the violence.
“I relive that moment in my head: Seeing my own blood hit the pavement when the (pit bull) was attacking,” said the 15-year-old Corona high school sophomore. “I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to do.
“I was just cowering and screaming. I just laid in a ball (on the sidewalk) with my dog.”
Alex spoke while holding Cocoa the 14-month-old Shih Tzu on her lap. The tiny dog’s neck was ringed by a plastic cone to prevent her from scratching her stitched and swollen left eye that veterinarians had to reinsert into the eye socket.
“I’m just grateful that it wasn’t worse than what it was,” said Alex’s mom, Tammy Cuevas.
Specifically, she’s thankful that her daughter survived and that a neighbor saved Alex, reportedly by hitting the pit bull in the head with a shovel.
VIDEO: Corona teen describes terrifying pit bull attack
But she, too, can’t forget the flurry of shocking phone calls that began at 4:18 p.m. Friday, May 10.
Her daughter had been badly hurt while walking Cocoa on a leash at Morales Way and Honors Lane, just two blocks from the family’s home in south Corona.
When Alex’s parents arrived, they saw a crowd of neighbors, an ambulance crew, firefighters and their daughter — bleeding from the ear, head and neck.
“She had blood everywhere,” Alex’s mother recalls. “Her hair was soaked.”
The pit bull attacked after escaping from its owner’s backyard, police said. Alex said she saw the dog coming and tried to back out of the way, but it attacked Cocoa.
Alex tried to rescue her battered and bloody dog by picking up Cocoa and clutching her to her chest. The pit bull knocked her down and started biting at the side of her face.
“I was screaming and it just kept biting repetitively at my face, and I saw the neighbor swing something, and he was hollering and trying to get the dog away,” she said. “And I don’t remember anything much after that.”
She thinks she blacked out, but she does recall people surrounding her trying to help, and screaming for her mom.
“I wasn’t sure if my ear was all the way off completely or what; I couldn’t tell,” Alex said. “I couldn’t hear out of that ear, it was filled with blood … It was really terrifying.”
Animal control officers have quarantined the pit bull, which authorities say was unlicensed. The owner also did not have proof of vaccination, officials have said.
No one has been ticketed because the investigation is not complete.
The Cuevases say they are speaking out about the incident because they want to raise public awareness, and they hope that ways can be found to prevent such incidents.
If swimming pools can be made safer by surrounding them with fences and self-closing gates, why can’t the same be required around backyards that contain pit bulls, Alex wonders.
The Cuevases don’t claim to be experts on the subject. But saddled with hundreds of dollars in vet bills, terrifying memories of the attack, and the knowledge that many other people have been mauled, they say it’s time to find and implement solutions.
“They need to get it under control,” said Alex’s mom. “How do I know something (like this) isn’t going to happen again?”
BY RICHARD BROOKS
Press Enterprise
May 12, 2013
Two days after she and her dog were mauled by a pit bull, 15-year-old Alex Cuevas is recuperating from having her right ear surgically reattached — but is haunted by the violence.
“I relive that moment in my head: Seeing my own blood hit the pavement when the (pit bull) was attacking,” said the 15-year-old Corona high school sophomore. “I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to do.
“I was just cowering and screaming. I just laid in a ball (on the sidewalk) with my dog.”
Alex spoke while holding Cocoa the 14-month-old Shih Tzu on her lap. The tiny dog’s neck was ringed by a plastic cone to prevent her from scratching her stitched and swollen left eye that veterinarians had to reinsert into the eye socket.
“I’m just grateful that it wasn’t worse than what it was,” said Alex’s mom, Tammy Cuevas.
Specifically, she’s thankful that her daughter survived and that a neighbor saved Alex, reportedly by hitting the pit bull in the head with a shovel.
VIDEO: Corona teen describes terrifying pit bull attack
But she, too, can’t forget the flurry of shocking phone calls that began at 4:18 p.m. Friday, May 10.
Her daughter had been badly hurt while walking Cocoa on a leash at Morales Way and Honors Lane, just two blocks from the family’s home in south Corona.
When Alex’s parents arrived, they saw a crowd of neighbors, an ambulance crew, firefighters and their daughter — bleeding from the ear, head and neck.
“She had blood everywhere,” Alex’s mother recalls. “Her hair was soaked.”
The pit bull attacked after escaping from its owner’s backyard, police said. Alex said she saw the dog coming and tried to back out of the way, but it attacked Cocoa.
Alex tried to rescue her battered and bloody dog by picking up Cocoa and clutching her to her chest. The pit bull knocked her down and started biting at the side of her face.
“I was screaming and it just kept biting repetitively at my face, and I saw the neighbor swing something, and he was hollering and trying to get the dog away,” she said. “And I don’t remember anything much after that.”
She thinks she blacked out, but she does recall people surrounding her trying to help, and screaming for her mom.
“I wasn’t sure if my ear was all the way off completely or what; I couldn’t tell,” Alex said. “I couldn’t hear out of that ear, it was filled with blood … It was really terrifying.”
Animal control officers have quarantined the pit bull, which authorities say was unlicensed. The owner also did not have proof of vaccination, officials have said.
No one has been ticketed because the investigation is not complete.
The Cuevases say they are speaking out about the incident because they want to raise public awareness, and they hope that ways can be found to prevent such incidents.
If swimming pools can be made safer by surrounding them with fences and self-closing gates, why can’t the same be required around backyards that contain pit bulls, Alex wonders.
The Cuevases don’t claim to be experts on the subject. But saddled with hundreds of dollars in vet bills, terrifying memories of the attack, and the knowledge that many other people have been mauled, they say it’s time to find and implement solutions.
“They need to get it under control,” said Alex’s mom. “How do I know something (like this) isn’t going to happen again?”
Monday, May 31, 2010
Toddler killed by San Bernardino family's pit bull
Why didn't the other dog protect the boy? Shouldn't she have disciplined the younger dog when he attacked the boy? I just don't see the evidence that pit bulls make good pets. Why do people love them so much? I believe that the precise reason that people like these dogs is their reputation for fierceness and for having powerful jaws that won't let go. People think the dogs will protect them. The evidence is mounting, however, that the dogs are prone to attacking children.
Toddler killed by San Bernardino family's pit bull
May 28, 2010
By LAURIE LUCAS and RICHARD BROOKS
The Press-Enterprise
A family pet has killed a 2-year-old San Bernardino boy whose parents briefly left him alone as he rode his tricycle in their enclosed side yard.
Nathan Aguirre died Friday at Loma Linda University Medical Center from severe head and neck injuries after one of the family's two pit bulls attacked him the night before, said Sgt. Gary Robertson.
Nathan was the second toddler to die in the last four months in San Bernardino County from a pit bull attack. In January, 3-year-old Omar Martinez died from injuries from being mauled by his family's pit bull at his Apple Valley home, about 40 miles north of San Bernardino.
In February, a pack of five dogs escaped from their yard in Fontana, attacking three children who were walking by. Five-year-old Destiny Colon had a punctured lung and was put on life support for a while; 6-year-old Hector Perez needed 235 stitches in his legs; and 7-year-old Princess Colon needed 18In April, in neighboring Riverside County, a 6-month-old boy was mauled in his carrier by two dogs at the home of a family friend. The pit bull and pit bull mix tore the infant's diaper off and bit off his testicles...
The blinds were drawn Friday and no one answered the door at Nathan's house. Jim Keller said the family was with relatives. The driveway, smeared with dried blood where the mauling occurred, painted the grim story. A Red Flyer wagon and Little Tikes tricycle languished a few feet away. Nearby lay a torn, blood-stained T-shirt that said: "You can move a mountain. You can't budge a dog."
Pasted in a front window is a sticker for Atomic Dog, a magazine dedicated to the "bully breed" -- pit bulls. Only one of the dogs attacked Nathan, but city animal control has impounded both for 10-day quarantine before deciding their fates, Robertson said.
At the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter at Chandler Way, the pit bulls, housed in kennel 9, wagged their tails and barked occasionally as visitors peered into their cage. Police said the family owned the attacker for three months -- the 1½-year-old black male. The older and bigger dog, a blue female, wasn't involved, Robertson said...
Toddler killed by San Bernardino family's pit bull
May 28, 2010
By LAURIE LUCAS and RICHARD BROOKS
The Press-Enterprise
A family pet has killed a 2-year-old San Bernardino boy whose parents briefly left him alone as he rode his tricycle in their enclosed side yard.
Nathan Aguirre died Friday at Loma Linda University Medical Center from severe head and neck injuries after one of the family's two pit bulls attacked him the night before, said Sgt. Gary Robertson.
Nathan was the second toddler to die in the last four months in San Bernardino County from a pit bull attack. In January, 3-year-old Omar Martinez died from injuries from being mauled by his family's pit bull at his Apple Valley home, about 40 miles north of San Bernardino.
In February, a pack of five dogs escaped from their yard in Fontana, attacking three children who were walking by. Five-year-old Destiny Colon had a punctured lung and was put on life support for a while; 6-year-old Hector Perez needed 235 stitches in his legs; and 7-year-old Princess Colon needed 18In April, in neighboring Riverside County, a 6-month-old boy was mauled in his carrier by two dogs at the home of a family friend. The pit bull and pit bull mix tore the infant's diaper off and bit off his testicles...
The blinds were drawn Friday and no one answered the door at Nathan's house. Jim Keller said the family was with relatives. The driveway, smeared with dried blood where the mauling occurred, painted the grim story. A Red Flyer wagon and Little Tikes tricycle languished a few feet away. Nearby lay a torn, blood-stained T-shirt that said: "You can move a mountain. You can't budge a dog."
Pasted in a front window is a sticker for Atomic Dog, a magazine dedicated to the "bully breed" -- pit bulls. Only one of the dogs attacked Nathan, but city animal control has impounded both for 10-day quarantine before deciding their fates, Robertson said.
At the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter at Chandler Way, the pit bulls, housed in kennel 9, wagged their tails and barked occasionally as visitors peered into their cage. Police said the family owned the attacker for three months -- the 1½-year-old black male. The older and bigger dog, a blue female, wasn't involved, Robertson said...
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