MINNESOTA ATTACKS SINCE 11/13/09

Jan. 13, 2010 FATALITY
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/01/pit_bulls_kill.php When the pit bull spotted Sophie, a West Highland Terrier, it tore across its lawn, jumped the fence and grabbed the puppy. The dog shook the puppy until it was dead and dragged it over to the fence so the neighbor's other pit bull could get in on the attack.
"Oh, it was awful," Marilyn Lambert said on WCCO. "I don't ever want to see anything like that again."Lambert said she worried about the pit bulls next door, but never imagined they would jump the fence to kill. She even checked to make sure she didn't see the dogs out before she let Sophie into the backyard. Police found the dead puppy and the pit bulls still near by. The first pit bull advanced toward the officer, who then shot and killed it. The other pit bull is in quarantine. Police say they received numerous complaints about the dogs and the owner had been warned or cited at least seven times since August. NUTTERS ARE SLOW LEARNERS.

March 26, 2010 FATALITY
http://www.marshallindependent.com/page/content.detail/id/515788.html?nav=5015 Paula Lee, the owner of a mixed-breed dog that was killed by two pit bulls in a dog attack Monday night in Marshall, knows the wounds to her hand she suffered during the incident will heal. It's the emotional scars left behind after she lost an almost 15-year-old dog she's had since it was four months old that she won't be able to recover from.But Lee, who says she practically spends more money on dog food than on feeding herself, doesn't harbor any ill feelings toward the dogs that left her with those physical scars. She does, however, want something positive to come out of what happened four days ago in the trailer park where she lives."It's ridiculous that people get by with this; they get some itty-bitty fine, and it's the animals that are put down," Lee said Thursday. "It's always the animals that get blamed. They get put down and they don't know why."Lee actually owns two dogs that are part pit bull; other members of her family in Illinois also have pit bulls."Pit bulls is a good breed," Lee said. "All dogs are good breeds. It's the people that have them that need to recognize that you have to spend time with them, have to train them. I know from experience when you get two dogs together, they're going to be more aggressive; that's just the way life is. It's just like when you get two drunks together - they're more aggressive."Lee's not about to advocate for a ban of any breed in Marshall, but does want to see something done, whether it's a change in the city ordinance or the implementation of a new law."It's all about awareness," she said. "For instance if you have two golden retrievers or some other kind of dogs chained up but they're too close together, the chains are gonna get wrapped together. You have to have a swivel on the end of the chain. If you don't all the chains are gonna do is tangle up and choke that animal to death. These dogs are just too close together. I know people love their animals, but situations like that, it's stupid. The laws should change. And people have to know how to handle their dogs."Other pit bull owners are tired of the perception many have about pit bulls and say the public and the media jump to conclusions after an attack, assuming a pit bull must be involved."I just think there's a negative perception of them," said pit bull owner Jordan Paradis of Marshall. "When the TV station reports on a dog bite they don't always get it right; sometimes it's a mixed-breed and they just say it's a pit bull."Paradis agrees with Lee in that the dog shouldn't always be the one to blame after a dog bite incident or attack."Some pit bull owners do bad stuff to their dog, mistreat them, or they don't train them or spend any time with them," he said. "They're the ones that give good dog owners a bad name. I don't see bad in dogs at all."Lee said dog owners should train their dogs and pay attention to them instead of just having them in their home. She wants pet owners to be held accountable for their pets, especially when they're outside."Where I come from, when something like that happens, the police or dog pound people would come out and look at the situation right then, which they do here, too, and give people a warning and tell them they will be back and then come back," said Lee."Maybe they're not aware that this is happening. I do believe that somebody needs to be on their case all the time. There needs to be people out here who can do something."Lee is also a proponent of animal population control. She has three dogs and some cats and said all her pets are spayed or neutered."Everything I got has been fixed; we don't need no more animals in this world," she said. "If you want one, go to the pound and adopt one. Those are the most loving dogs because they know what you've done - you saved their life."Lee, who has a fence at her home to protect her animals, not herself, she said, has contacted the city attorney about Monday's incident, but she's not necessarily looking for money."If I should get $1,000 or something like that, I would put that into something for animals," Lee said. "I'd give it to my vet to set something up for people who can't afford to treat their animal. To get money off the death of my dog, that's not what I'm for. I'm not money hungry." PITS KILL HER 15 YEAR OLD DOG AND ALL THIS NUTTER CAN TALK ABOUT IS HOW GOOD PITS ARE.

April 24, 2010
http://wcco.com/pets/pit.bulls.attack.2.1654819.html Eugene Dickerson said he was taking a walk on the 1600 block of Morgan Avenue North in Minneapolis Friday night when he was attacked by two pit bulls. He said the dogs were in a fenced yard and on leashes. Dickerson, who uses a cane to walk, said the dogs got out of the fence and came after him. He said he tried to use his cane to keep the dogs back, but they were vicious and determined to bite. "They seen me and they come charging and they surrounded me. I was backing up and trying to get them off of me and I fell backwards. Then the black one, he bit me on the ankle," said Dickerson. The dog took a huge chunk out of Dickerson's right ankle. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. The two dogs were taken to the Minneapolis animal care and control center. Minneapolis police said more than likely the dogs will be put down. Dickerson said the dog bite went down to the bone. Right now he is having a hard time getting around and is in a lot of pain. No word yet on if the dogs' owners will face charges. DON'T GO ON WALKS, STAY AT HOME WITH BARRED WINDOWS AND DOORS.

April 29, 2010
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/pit-bull-attacks-neighbor-and-dog-in-buffalo-april-29-2010 BUFFALO, Minn. - A 100-pound pit bull named Bow will test Wright County’s new dangerous dog ordinance. The ordinance passed earlier this year allows for dogs that attack other animals or people to be destroyed.On Tuesday night, 13-year-old Katie Harty was playing in her yard on 48th Street NE, when the neighbor’s pit bull freed itself from its collar and trotted across the street attacked the Harty family’s German Shepard named Cash. She says the dog had its jaws locked on Cash’s neck and ear. Harty says she jumped on top of the pit bull to try and free the dogs.“I’m trying to pull him off and I’m trying to punch his mouth and kicking his mouth, and somewhere in there I got bit on my arm,” said Harty. First Responders took Harty to the hospital where doctors gave her 11 stitches in her right arm and leg.Katie’s mother, Lisa says her own and neighboring children hit the pit bull with a ladder and an ice chipper, but it would let go of Cash.“When I finally pulled the thing back and twisted it and was dragging it backwards that’s when it was trying to figure out how to wing back and get me,” said Katie’s mother. “And that’s when the owner finally grabbed him.”The owner, Derek Gustafson told Wright County Sheriff’s Deputies that his dog Bow was “chained up in the back yard and slipped out of his collar.”In the incident report, Gustafson also told deputies that Bow was recently hit by a car and was on pain killers. He said Bow had not been acting the same since he was on the medication. Bow is now under ten days quarantine at the Crossroads Animal shelter in Buffalo.Assistant County Attorney Shane Simonds says the county board just passed a brand new dangerous dog ordinance in January that would apply to this case. Under the new ordinance, Gustafson will have to prove to the shelter that his dog is not dangerous. It must have the proper restraints, insurance, and muzzle.Additionally, it must also have all of its shots up to date. The Sheriff’s report indicates Bow’s rabies immunizations expired in January. If Gustafson cannot meet the requirements, the shelter can order the dog to be destroyed. Gustafson would have the right to challenge the order at a hearing.Katie’s father, Jim Harty, doesn’t want the dog back in the neighborhood.“I don’t want to see that dog back because once they get a taste for blood they’re coming back for more,” said Jim Harty. HOW DOES ONE SHOW A BREED OF DOG BRED TO KILL IS NOT DANGEROUS??

May 14, 2010
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/93827169.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr Vinny has been given a reprieve from doggy death row -- at least for now.He can thank the Minnesota Court of Appeals.It's unusual for a dog to gain the attention of such lofty folks, but Vinny's case is anything but usual. In fact, Vinny's (master's) lawyer says the dog was the real victim.Here's how it came down:In the late spring of 2009, after biting one of his humans twice, the St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections ruled the 70-pound black lab/pitbull mix a "dangerous dog" and ordered him destroyed.Vinny's co-owner, Travis Nelson, appealed. The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the order earlier this week and remanded the order to kill Vinny, who has lived at the dog pound in St. Paul for almost a year. Now his family will try to figure out what needs to be done to get Vinny home.Nelson, his girlfriend, Brenda Radack, and her two sons, Alex Radack, 10, and Kolton Alger, 6, live on St. Paul's West Side. They've owned Vinny since he was a pup. He's almost 5 now."Vinny, he's never been really bad," said Nelson, 37. "The biggest problem we had with him was eating the cat food."Brenda Radack, 32, was taking medication for depression and help her sleep after undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer in 2008. In the spring of 2009, she mixed the meds with alcohol.That's when the trouble began.According to court documents and the couple, on March 25 and May 10, 2009, Radack was "severely intoxicated" when she slapped and punched Vinny because he was barking.Both times, the dog grabbed her arm, breaking the skin. After the second bite, the nurse who treated Radack reported the incident to police.Radack and Nelson said Vinny acted in self-defense.Less than a month later, however, Vinny was in lockup at the pound. He was just a day or two from euthanasia, when Nelson appealed and attorney Marshall Tanick stepped in. SO NOW WHEN A "LOYAL" PIT BITES IT'S OWNER, IT IS CALLED "SELF DEFENSE". THINK ABOUT THAT ONE.