UTAH ATTACKS SINCE 11/13/09

Feb. 16, 2010
http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/Police-shoot-pit-bull-after-suspected-attack-on/joaAQgRXvkmY2evftW0kYQ.cspx SANDY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Police say officers shot a pit bull dog after it jumped on two girls at a Salt Lake City park on Tuesday.Police also captured a second dog involved in the incident.According to police, an officer fired multiple shots at one of the dogs that was seriously injured in the incident and later taken to a veterinarian for treatment.The girls were not hurt in the incident, but were extremely frightened and screamed for help after the dogs began jumping on them.An officer who saw the dogs running loose had been tracking them when he saw them jumping on the girls.Police say the officer told the girls to step aside and then fired his weapon at one of them. The other dog was located a few blocks away and taken into custody.The Dogs' owner was also notified of the incident. C'MON NUTTERS, SAY THE PITS WERE JUST TRYING TO "PLAY".

March 6, 2010
http://www.standard.net/topics/safety/2010/03/06/constables-rescue-woman-pit-bull-melee OGDEN -- Two city constables found themselves in rescue mode upon stumbling across a woman caught in the middle of a pit bull melee."We were walking off the porch when we heard the screams," said Constable Nick Hughes. There to serve a warrant on what turned out to be a prior resident long gone, Hughes and Constable Chris Von Beuge had been knocking on the door and listening to dogs barking and banging around inside the residence in the 900 block of Capitol Street for several minutes."We usually expect we may have to fight with someone who doesn't want to go to jail," Hughes said. "We've done some wrestling. They usually give in after two of us grab them."But this was different."As the woman's screams began amid the dogs howling, the two yelled for her to open the locked door."It had taken a minute before we could tell it was a human screaming and not the dogs," Hughes recalled. With no response, they braced to kick the door in when the woman finally opened it, having crawled there."The young lady was on the ground with a pit bull latched to her leg," Hughes said, describing the scene as the door opened. A second dog was attached to the first dog. Blood, they said, was "everywhere.""The dogs were fighting and she was in the midst of them," Von Beuge said.Hughes emptied a can of pepper spray on the animals, which distracted them long enough for the two to pull the woman out of the residence. As they slammed the door and locked it, the dogs kept fighting. The officers called for an ambulance and animal control while tending to the woman's punctured leg.She was in shock, answering questions incoherently, apparently having tried to intervene when the dogs, one hers, tangled. She was house-sitting for a friend.In the 10 minutes before animal control arrived, an ambulance took her to a hospital while the dogs continued brawling inside, heard slamming into walls.The constables joined the animal control officer in entering the house, hands on their holstered guns as they now had no faith in the pepper spray.As the dogs separated, a smaller, apparently recently adopted stray pit bull mix, retreated to the basement. A full-blood pit bull, the woman's dog, hunkered in a corner of the blood-soaked kitchen.The two were basically subdued at this point, but as soon as the animal control catch-pole -- a pole with a rope noose at the end -- deployed, "They went nuts again," Van Beuge said. "They were both pretty irate."Even the smaller pit bull mix, who got the worst of the fight and was "basically eaten up," totally covered in blood, Hughes said, fought with the officers.The pit bulls have been in 10-day quarantine at the Ogden Animal Shelter since the Feb. 25 incident, monitored for any signs of rabies as per policy in dog bite cases.The dogs are getting the necessary veterinary care, said Jay Lowder, Ogden City Public Services director. The owners can reclaim them upon payment of fines and fees, including vicious animal charges. If not reclaimed, or adopted, within three days after the quarantine end, Lowder said, they will be destroyed."It could have been a lot worse for the young lady," Von Beuge said. "More injuries than just her leg. The possibility of death maybe. Who knows how far those dogs would have taken it?""We were seconds from being out of earshot," said Hughes, who with Von Beuge works in the Ogden City Justice Court, where they double as bailiffs. They haven't heard back from the woman.They never got her name and the Ogden Fire Department, which ran the ambulance, by law could say only she was conveyed to McKay-Dee Hospital.Hughes and Von Beuge, both members of the Ogden Police Department reserve officer squad at times, remain undeterred in their goal to become full-time police officers. "We're probably going to see a lot worse things before we're through," Hughes said.
WONDER IF THEY WERE ADOPTED FROM BEST FIENDS.

April 9, 2010 USED AS A WEAPON
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14853350 Salt Lake City police say a store clerk was attacked by a pit bull after he refused to sell an herbal smoking blend called spice to a man who could not produce required identification. Sgt. Robin Snyder said Friday that the man, described as about 19 years old, came into the Penny Wise Market at 245 S. 900 West about 11 p.m. Thursday. He asked to buy some Black Mamba brand spice but was rebuffed without proof of identity. The man left the store, followed by the clerk. Outside the store, the man was joined by a teen about 14 years old who had a yellow pit bull. The teen ordered the dog to attack the clerk, who was bitten on the thigh. The teen then entered the store and stole a bag of chips before he and the man left. Spice allegedly produces marijuana-like effects, and is legally sold in smoke shops. WHO NEEDS A GUN WHEN YOU OWN A PIT??

April 20, 2010
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10467910 HURRICANE -- Many owners of American pit bull terriers say the dogs get a bad rap, that they can be as sweet as any other breed and can make great family pets. But if a pit bull attacks, one Utah mother says the results can be devastating. A pit bull mauled Katie Weeks' 5-year-old daughter, Saleena Wickward, in Hurricane Monday night. The little girl is now recovering from reconstructive facial surgery. "She's already asked her mom for a mirror, and we're waiting on that," Weeks says. Right now, Saleena's face only resembles what she used to look like: swelling, stitches and staples consume her innocent face. "I was so afraid to walk into that room and see my little girl because I just thought she would never look the same again," Weeks says. But she says her daughter already looks better than she did right after the attack. It happened Monday night in Hurricane around 5:30. Weeks says her daughter wandered to the next yard over to catch a caterpillar. According to the dog owner, Saleena was throwing rocks at the pit bull. Then, it lunged at her face.The dog was on a chain, but he grabbed her and didn't let go," Weeks says. The owner had to pry the jaws off of Saleena's head. Neighbors called 911. Saleena stayed conscious while waiting for an ambulance. "We got a towel and pushed the skin up against her, and just wrapped it around and held it there until 911 got there, and just rocked her and tried to comfort her the best we could," Weeks says. At Dixie Regional Medical Center, the 5-year-old had six and a half hours of reconstructive surgery. Two plastic surgeons helped put Saleena's face back together. Stitches go from the middle of her lip, to her nose and cheek, then around her ear. A plate and screw are stabilizing her fractured cheek. Now, doctors and family members will have to wait to see if there's any nerve damage. In the meantime, weeks says her emotions are all over the place. "Fear, hope, more prayers than I've ever said in my life," she says. The dog owner didn't want to comment. Weeks doesn't place blame on the owner. She says the dog had played with her kids before. Hurricane police say the pit bull is with animal control. WHEN WILL NUTTERS ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT THEIR PITS DO? BLAMING A 5 YEAR OLD IS SICK.