Pit! Bull! Attack!

[scoon]

So I'm on a work call, pacing from the back of the house to the front as I usually do.  As reach the front window I notice a man walking his small, white dog.  The dog stops, and I make sure that he doesn't do his business on the lawn.  The man looks kinda familiar and I notice the dog is just sniffing around...  nothing to see here.  Move along.

The man suddenly snatches his dog into the air by his harness and then holds him over his head.

"Well, that's odd."

Before I can even contemplate what the hell he is doing I see two large pit bulls charging him.

He's holding his dog above his head and I run to the door.  I open it yelling for him to get inside as the dogs knock him to the ground.  I grab my pepper spray from the coat hook by the door and run outside.

For some reason, I have the presence of mind to tell my coworker to hold on, a man is being attacked by dogs.

I'm spraying these dogs square in the face, and it does nothing.  Doesn't faze them.  Not even slightly.

Me?  I start having trouble breathing.  (Could be because I'm flabby and out of shape.)

But I did manage to distract the dogs and turn their attention to me...  at which point they charged after me.  Great.

While running like a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flaling Tube Man, they tackle me and I plant my knee into the sidewalk.  I spray some more and they turn their attention back towards the man and his dog who nearly made it up the stairs and to the front door.

Unfortunately didn't make it in.  One of the dogs jumps on the screen door and slams it closed.  I try to drag the dogs off of him while he was pinned against the door.

The owner shows up, confirming my suspicions that the dogs are the ones kenneled in basement of 2946 OPA, grabs one and I'm able to drag the other off so the man with the dog can get into the house.

Being a genius, the owner let's go of the dog he grabbed and grabs mine, so I had to grab the other one as it goes towards the door.  Finally some synapses fire and he grabs both of them and drags them back to his yard.

At this point I tell my coworker that I'll have to call him back.

I get into the house breathless and shaking.  I wasn't the only one.

"Sorry....  if....  I....  sprayed....  you...."

My new friend Eric said he was ok, his dog Maximus was good, only missing a tuft of fur...  meanwhile I had a skinned knee, torn jeans, a ripped sock, and broken glass in the screen door. 

When the police arrived, the owner came over holding a towel to his left cheek and mumbled a weak "Sorry" and explained that the cable guy left the gate open.

I couldn't stand it.  "It seems the cable guy leaves the gate open quite a bit."

Long story short, this is just another incident with these piss poor neighbors who brought the ghetto with them when they were given money to buy their soon to be foreclosed upon house.  (That's fact, not shit talking.)  There were given a ticket and a complaint, but will be allowed to crap up my neighborhood indefinitely.

On the plus side, Eric and his girlfriend seem to be very nice people and we might meet them at their favorite place for a drink tonite.  But I hear scary politicians hang out at OoT and I'm not sure I want to go there.  (Now that is NOT, NOT fact.  That is shit talking.)

Kudos as always to the BPD for handling this incident...  and I didn't mind the amount of response we received to hopefully get the point across to these people that I'm not messing around with them anymore.

As a wise man once said...  They don't know who I think I am.

[AmazonAnne]

Just a ticket is all this a...hole receives, these dogs should be removed from his home, why would they let him off soo easily??

[Berwyn Patsy]

Sorry Scoon those kind of incidents should just not happen in Berwyn or any where else for that matter, except the ghetto where they bring it from.
I just read a book called  "The Devil's Punchbowl".  In it they talk about a dog named a Bully Kutta,
Trained to silently kill and eat humans.  Hope you never run into one of these.
Sounds like you need more then pepper spray near your front door!

[psychomom]

I don't know if this will be helpful, but this is what the Berwyn  ordinance 616.4 says:

(A)     No person shall own, control or keep a dangerous animal on any real property in the city, except in zoos or business enterprises legally operated in areas properly zoned for the usage, where adequate caging or safeguards shall be provided to protect the general public.

     (B)     No person shall conduct an exhibition or parade of wild animals without first obtaining a permit therefor from Council.

     (C)     It shall be unlawful for any person to have, keep, maintain or have in his or her possession or control within the corporate limits any dangerous animal, as defined in § 616.01.

          (1)     No dog shall be determined to be dangerous until a dangerous dog declaration has been issued by the Chief of Police after a review of the facts in each case. Once a dog has been declared dangerous, notice of the declaration shall be served upon the owner of record within three days following dangerous dog declaration.

          (2)     Upon receipt of notice of a dangerous dog declaration, the owner may request a hearing regarding the determination by providing written notice to the Chief of Police within five days following receipt of a dangerous dog declaration. Upon receipt by the Chief of Police, the request for hearing shall be forwarded to the Mayor for the scheduling of an administrative hearing before the Mayor or his or her designee. The determination of the Mayor or his or her designee is final.

Agressive and dangerous animals are defined in Ordinance 616.1:

AGGRESSIVE DOG.  Any dog deemed running at large and without provocation, that chases or approaches any person in an apparent attitude of attack, on any public property or in any place outside or over the boundaries of its owner's property, and where the dog has been declared aggressive by the Chief of Police after a review of the facts in each case.

     DANGEROUS ANIMAL. An animal which, by reason of its species, is by nature ferocious or has a dangerous propensity, such as but not limited to lions, tigers, bears, elephants and wolves. As used in this section, the term DANGEROUS ANIMAL means any animal meeting any one of the following criteria, including domestic dogs:

          (1)     Any animal which bites, inflicts injury on, kills or otherwise attacks a human being or domestic animal without provocation on any public or private property;

          (2)     Any animal which has been declared aggressive and, without provocation, chases or approaches any person in an apparent attitude of attack, on any public property or in any place outside or over the boundaries of its owner's property;

          (3)     Any animal owned or harbored, primarily or in part, for the purpose of dog or other animal fighting or any animal trained for dog or other animal fighting;

          (4)     Any dog that is used by a commercial venture to guard public or private property, except those owned by a governmental or law enforcement unit; or

          (5)     Any animal which has been found to be a vicious dog under state law.

[berwynguy]

Somebody on the city council needs to grow a set of balls and propose an ordinance outright banning pit bull ownership in Berwyn.  Who gives a shit what the "pittie" loving loons of Berwyn think.  The problem is that to many shit heads now call this city their home and unfortunately we can't ban the owners, so we will have to ban the dogs that are a favorite of low life thugs.  Enough is enough already. 

Chicago 2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti is looking to ban pit bulls in Chicago after the latest attack on a jogger at Rainbow Beach Park on Chicago's South Side.

[Crunchie]

What does a ticket and complaint normally cost the offender in these cases?

[scoon]

Realized there was another casualty... The chicken tinga I was making for dinner...

[seebee]

Ouch. Ruined the tinga? Damn.
Listen, I'm a dog lover, ask anyone I know. If those dogs are a continuous problem, like you are describing, I would start thinking about where the good knives are for next time. I'd have my pepper spray and my good santoku and gutted them bastids. If the owner cannot control them, sorry. If the question is my safety or your dogs'lives? I win every time. End of story. Don't care if it's a pitbull, or a rot, or a lab or a shi tzu either. You control your dogs, or I will. And I'll do the polite thing and call the cops for you while the thing is bleeding out. Scoon, you are indeed more diplomatic than I would have been, for sure. Kudos for actually helping out someone in need instead of being a spectator as well.

[berwyn senator]

Dogs that attack once will do it again,and should have been immediately removed for  observation.Screw the ticket! What if the next time they kill or injure a child or an old fart like myself.? When I first moved to my present home we had no fences,a couple doors down across the alley a cop from another town lived,he had two pit bulls. They would get loose and were very aggressive,until one day,while in my garage,the dogs came running through the yards I picked up a baseball bat,my other neighbor a crazy old Czech did me one better,a 38 Smith.The owner came out hollering not to shoot, he chased the dogs home.That was the last time we saw the dogs, the neighbor moved soon afterward.

[berwynguy]

Ouch. Ruined the tinga? Damn.
Listen, I'm a dog lover, ask anyone I know. If those dogs are a continuous problem, like you are describing, I would start thinking about where the good knives are for next time. I'd have my pepper spray and my good santoku and gutted them bastids. If the owner cannot control them, sorry. If the question is my safety or your dogs'lives? I win every time. End of story. Don't care if it's a pitbull, or a rot, or a lab or a shi tzu either. You control your dogs, or I will. And I'll do the polite thing and call the cops for you while the thing is bleeding out. Scoon, you are indeed more diplomatic than I would have been, for sure. Kudos for actually helping out someone in need instead of being a spectator as well.

+100.  Screw the dog loving nonsense, I would have put a slug in it, period.  If it's between some unsuspecting mope walking his dog who gets attacked, or some pit bull, I will side with the safety of the human over the dog every time. 

These dogs need to be outlawed from Berwyn.  We have been round and round on this ride to many times in Berwyn.  "Urban" pit bull owning assholes have proven that *as a whole* they are irresponsiable dog owners.  These dirt balls clearly don't know how to train, control, and secure these dogs.  Enough is enough.  BAN THIS BREED OF DOGS FROM BERWYN!!!

[berwynguy]

You know, the more I think about this incident and the countless others that have occured in Berwyn over the years the more pissed I get. 

Someone, anyone, on the city council just draft the friggin ordinance, let's pass it, and ban the damn things.  Let's just do it and screw the fallout.  I for one would be MORE THEN willing to pay the extra tax dollars for Berwyn's legal department to fight the lawsuit of the asshole that challenges the ordnance in court. 

[justme]

From my experience, many times the city seemed scared of offending certain people so they let things slide, or they give a slap on the wrist. Everyone knows that the only reason that 99.9% of the pit bull owners have them is because they are guarding their precious drugs and the property of gang bangers. The scum of the earth that was able to buy in Berwyn because they were given loans they didn't deserve during the housing boom and as house prices here fall especially on foreclosures,they are given money-or sell enough drugs-to buy a $32,000 drug den (yes I have seen houses in Berwyn sell for that low and as they continue to stay low, the scum will continue to come in. We won't get the young professionals, we will get the scum)

And so they get a ticket. Wow. They just don't pay it. They don't go to court. Nothing happens. No one comes after them.   

This is another instance where I ask "What does it take for people to wake up?" Does someone have to get killed by a pit bull? Even if they ban them, who is going to enforce it? We have a lot of laws here that are not enforced. What ever came out of that hoarding situation? Or that house fire? These things seem to make big news and then fall silent. I want to know what the city's plan of action is to try to avoid or at least highly discourage things like this from happening again.

Scoon's story made me mad...this stuff should just not be happening here-or anywhere really.

[berwyn senator]

I would say a good start is everyone start calling their alderman,drive them nuts, until something is proposed to get these dogs out of Berwyn.I would like to know just how many times these dogs were involved where another person or dog were injured.Any other ideas?

[Crunchie]

We've been down this street before. You've got to go after the owner. The owner is responsible for controlling his dog.

[mustang54]

I would say a good start is everyone start calling their alderman,drive them nuts, until something is proposed to get these dogs out of Berwyn.I would like to know just how many times these dogs were involved where another person or dog were injured.Any other ideas?

Take it farther ban them in all of Crook County. If anyone is offended tell em to move to Dupage.

[zilla545]

How horrible for the dog walker and for scoon for having to go through that!!   Something has got to be done!

[Homebody]

It's not just a ticket. It's a court date. Please call the police department and ask when the court date is and testify to the attack. I suggest asking to speak with Commander Paolucci or Marsh Cohen. I have appeared at hearings to support 3rd Ward residents standing up to owners of dangerous dogs. Ask that the dogs be declared "dangerous" under the city ordinance. The matter gets referred to Chief Ritz and then to the Mayor. They hold a hearing with the owners and make a determination as to whether or not the dog(s) stay in the city. Also, consider civil action against the owner. Marge

[Bonster]

I just read a book called  "The Devil's Punchbowl". In it they talk about a dog named a Bully Kutta,
Trained to silently kill and eat humans.  Hope you never run into one of these.

That's what pit bulls do!  They kill and eat humans.   
You know those "missing children" on the sides of milk cartons?  Yep, gone forever, digested by a pit bull, somewhere.
Everyone focuses on freaky white perverts, but it's the pit bulls eating and shitting our children out on a daily basis.

[~LL~]

[BAN THIS BREED OF DOGS FROM BERWYN!!![/size][/b]

BREED?  You mean people who think like you -- right? 
Fear/Ignorance?  Both?

ANY kind dog can be made to be 'vicious'.  I've been cornered in an alley by 3 scary Chiauas who did a major number on my legs.

If you want to start 'banning' -- how about those drug dealers who remain in our neighborhoods even after they are arrested for dealing.  You know - those 'fine' neighbors who cause constant disturbances and attract other scum-of-the-earth to our blocks - and who pay not dime one of taxes.
Lets start with that...

I am so sorry to apparently be in the company of people who choose to remain ignorant about 'breeds' of dogs.  Meanwhile, I shall continue to volunteer for a group who rescues and successfully rehomes the dog commonly called a 'pitbull' -- even though there is no such 'breed'.
American Staffordshire Terrier is the breed.

And, for the record, neighbors and I did have one such "Staffy" removed from a known drug house - because it was being neglected and, thus, a menace to other neighbors.  The City helped us accomplish this through the process described in another post.

[berwyn senator]

When you fine the owner,take the dog away,another just comes back I nave seen this happen.When you see one of these animals with a choker of metal sticking into the neck and it does not stop the dog at all,is this a house pet?Why would anyone want a pet that exhibits such traits? What everyone forgets is dogs are animals and can be unpredictable,the pet can become aggressive, turning on any one it so chooses at any time.Certain breeds can be trained to be more aggressive than others,or inbreed to the point of having genetic defeats.When a person purchases a dog is there proof of the dogs blood line given,I would say no! Ever hear of puppy mills? Ever see one? There was one operating right here in Cicero within a residential area,people never had any idea this place ever existed.the place is long gone,it was the saddist thing to see.When a certain breed of dog becomes popular,puppy mills thrive.The people that purchase these dogs have no idea how to train and handle such an animal,they only want them for their own egos,this is where the problems occur.I believe if a dog purchased from a reputable breeder,is raised properly in a good home the dog should be fine.Maybe we should ban the owners?