Man fatally mauled, dog killed, by pit bulls on dog walk

[Sswor]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l…203-story.html

74-year-old Lincoln Heights man was critically injured Thursday after he was attacked by two pit bulls who mauled his Pomeranian to death during a neighborhood walk, officials said.

The mauling occurred about 5:44 p.m. in the 2600 block of North Lincoln Park Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The man, whose family identified him as Valentin Herrera, was walking his 5-year-old dog named Dodger without a leash when the pit bulls attacked, KTLA-TV reported.

The dogs pounced on Dodger, killing it. As Herrera looked for help, the dogs attacked him, the television news station reported. Neighbors saw the attack and immediately called 911.

An animal control officer took the dogs to a Los Angeles area shelter.

The unlicensed dogs will be in quarantine for at least 10 days, according to Brenda Barnette, general manager for Los Angeles Animal Services. Authorities will hold a meeting to determine the dogs’ fate.

He should have had his dog on a leash but I honestly doubt that would have made any difference.

I can’t believe we need a “meeting” to decide whether or not to cull these dogs. Outrageous. This is where it all goes wrong.

[Nezzy]

Horrible.

[CanadianTrotter]

[QUOTE=Sswor;9036342]
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pitbull-attack-man-kill-dog-lincoln-heights-20170203-story.html

He should have had his dog on a leash but I honestly doubt that would have made any difference.

I can’t believe we need a “meeting” to decide whether or not to cull these dogs. Outrageous. This is where it all goes wrong.[/QUOTE]

A dog running around off leash would be a more likely target than one under control. We don’t know the entire story yet but with my experience with small dogs off leash, they are usually running around yapping and barking. That being said you’re right, these pit bulls have attacked before and whether this little dog was leashed or not probably wouldn’t have made any difference in the outcome.

I think that the man that was attacked should be charged with having a dog off leash once he recouperates, if the law in that area allows it. I feel bad for the victim and even worse for the innocent dog that was killed, but the victim was being irresponsible as well.

Regardless of what happened we are supposed to be a civilized society, not having a meeting to decide on the dogs fate would be the opposite of civilized. We all know these dogs need to be destroyed but proper protocol should be followed.

I hope the owner of these pit bulls is charged to the fullest extent of the law available in this area. I also hope a BSL on pit bulls is enstated in this and all other pit bull problem areas because nothing else is going to work with the non-compliant and irresponsible dog owners in the interim.

[Sswor]

Color me skeptical but I think the chances of identifying the owner of these pit bulls is about as likely as hen’s teeth.

Agreed the victim should be issued a ticket for leash law violation if there is a leash law–should he actually recover. He’s in critical condition and in his upper 70’s. That ship may have sailed.

There is the argument that the consequences he has suffered have already far exceeded the “crime” he committed. His little dog is dead; killed in horrific manner. He will suffer far beyond the immediate injuries–he may never recover, physically or emotionally, from the attack. It would be exceeding cruel of the State to issue him a ticket for the leash violation of his dog that went through a shredder alive right before his eyes.

The pit bulls should already be dead. Any funds devoted to their current care are a ridiculous waste of resources. This is truly where it all goes wrong.

I submit the thought that shelters are, and will remain, full of pit bulls because invariably no one wants them.

[CanadianTrotter]

Wasn’t the owner in the house and had pulled one of the pit bulls off the attack?

Mind you that doesn’t mean the person in the house is the legal owner and with no licenses on the dogs it can only be proven through witness accounts of who was caring for the dogs prior to this attack.

It may be seen and thought of as cruel to issue the man a ticket if he survives, but the law is the law and not giving him a ticket is sending a message to other irresponsible owners that it’s okay to walk your dog off leash.

I believe the majority of the large number of pit bulls that were euthanized in the beginning of our Ontario pit bull ban were the abandoned and unwanted.

[Bluey]

Here, every dog bite the dog has to be impounded for ten days because of rabies regulations.
That may be why they do that there, then decide what to do with the dogs.

Our animal control shelter is under new management than I knew for long time, so don’t know what they are doing the past few years.
Before, there was a whole wing for pit bulls and the public was not permitted in there to look to adopt a dog, period, because of the dog fighting problem so many of those dogs came from.

As for any one terrible incident, for the millions of dog and many of those pit bulls out there that don’t cause any trouble, well, terribly sad as those few cases are, it is hard not to use some perspective and realize that most pit bulls are not out there killing people.

Similar to the ban gun problem, the few that may cause problems, be it pit bulls or people with guns, bring the zealots with little sense of perspective and for bans out.

We had decades ago plenty of people feeling against GSD and later dobies the same as some do today about pit bulls.
The reality, we had all kinds of dogs come to our dog club’s lessons to the public, all breeds and sizes.
In all those years we had one malamute, one samoyed and one scottie that were scary aggressive, never a pit bull.

I had at the vet one pit bull jump my older, quiet rat terrier.
I also had at a dog match a samoyed do that to our toy poodle, barely got her out of the way before she was lunch.
Those incidents are because of dogs being dogs and dogs of any breed may do that, it is the dogs and the handler, not the breed, that cause those accidents.

For those that say a chi would not kill someone?
Remember, you are talking size then, not dog breed, so to be rational you need to say, lets ban all dogs over whatever size you think are dangerous, not just pit bulls.

We need to educate people and their pets.
That lack of education is what is putting dog and those they may come into contact at risk if put in risky situations, like roaming, not neutering, not culling for disposition, more than which breed or size a dog may be.

[JanM]

Some cites or counties have the dangerous dog hearing as a part of the animal control ordinances. The attack on the animal might not be actionable anyway, as some places don’t have laws controlling animal on animal attacks.

I know San Francisco had a court when they were filming the Animal Cops SF show, and some of their decisions amazed me. The police/animal control officer judge allowed a dog that had attacked passersby on two occasions, with severe injuries both times. One dog involved was put down, the other was allowed to be rehomed to a relative in San Diego.

[roseymare]

Yes the ten day quarantine is more than likely less expensive than rabies submission.

[Horsegal984]

Yep, quarantine is to ensure they weren’t harboring rabies and putting the victim at more risk. Rabies testing is very good, but it’s possible to be inconclusive or false negative, so a quarantine is the better option. I would be shocked if these dogs weren’t destroyed at the end of the quarantine. The hearing is simply a matter of legality.

[vacation1]

So much for the “dog aggression isn’t human aggression!” theory. In these circumstances, even bringing up the victim dog being off-leash is ridiculous. I understand the desire to bring it up first to defend it, but jeez, it’s like noting that a man who was shot to death on the freeway had in his truck a mattress with the tag cut off.

[CanadianTrotter]

[QUOTE=vacation1;9037056]
So much for the “dog aggression isn’t human aggression!” theory. In these circumstances, even bringing up the victim dog being off-leash is ridiculous. I understand the desire to bring it up first to defend it, but jeez, it’s like noting that a man who was shot to death on the freeway had in his truck a mattress with the tag cut off.[/QUOTE]

I doubt a man on the freeway is going to be shot to death because he has a mattress with the tag cut off on his truck.

One of the reasons for bringing up the dog being off the leash is because there is a possibility the pit bulls may not have attacked it if it was on a leash and under control. I’m not defending the pit bulls in any way, I am mentioning that the attack may have been entirely preventable.

[Sswor]

[QUOTE=CanadianTrotter;9037283]
I doubt a man on the freeway is going to be shot to death because he has a mattress with the tag cut off on his truck.

One of the reasons for bringing up the dog being off the leash is because there is a possibility the pit bulls may not have attacked it if it was on a leash and under control. I’m not defending the pit bulls in any way, I am mentioning that the attack may have been entirely preventable.[/QUOTE]

I actually doubt that, sincerely. The only leash that would have saved that little dog and his owner was one that should have been on the pit bulls.

[vineyridge]

Dogs that size are more like vermin than dogs. I have some vermin killing dogs on my farm who would probably attack an off leash tiny dog; I’m not sure they would even recognize that it was a dog and not a rat or chipmunk or fox. Mine have a great deal of terrier in them.

[Sswor]

Then they don’t belong on the city streets unleashed, vineyridge.

Calling small dogs vermin in defense of aggressive pit bulls is a little sick to be honest.

[vineyridge]

I agree that the dogs shouldn’t have been running loose, but given that they were, what the terriers did is perfectly normal for a terrier.

Dogs are famous for killing cats and they are no larger than a tiny dog, maybe even smaller. You can’t change nature.

[Sswor]

So maybe we should rethink the unfettered legality of owning a giant terrier/mastiff cross being marketed as a “babysitter” family pet?

[vacation1]

vineyridge: I agree that the dogs shouldn’t have been running loose, but given that they were, what the terriers did is perfectly normal

No, it is not perfectly normal for two dogs to attack and kill another dog.

for a terrier.

Pit bulls are not terriers. They are bulldogs. It is past time to stop blaming “terriers” for the extreme violence shown by the pit bulls.

Dogs are famous for killing cats and they are no larger than a tiny dog, maybe even smaller.

Maybe your dogs. Dogs in general do not typically chase, attack and kill cats. A majority will chase a cat; most don’t do the other two parts of the sequence.

You can’t change nature.
It is not “nature” for an animal to attack and kill another member of its own species without provocation or reason. That’s called “extinction.”

Dogs that size are more like vermin than dogs.

The “small dogs are like vermin” concept isn’t just sick, it’s silly. Dogs don’t often use their eyesight as their primary sense. The size of a tiny dog is irrelevant to a species which uses scent to navigate the universe. The pit bulls in this case knew they were attacking and killing a member of their own species, and that is absolutely not normal.

[DrBeckett]

So it’s the Pomeranian’s fault for being a little dog, or vermin? And little dogs off leash are barking and yapping, therefore, asking to be eaten? WOW. We aren’t talking wolves here. We’re talking about people’s supposedly domesticated dogs. Vacation1 is correct. This is NOT normal behavior.

[cloudyandcallie]

I don’t own a small dog but it really makes me mad when people think that a small dog (or cat or maybe a small child like those 2 kidsin Atlanta?) “off leash” is something that contributes to a pitt bull attack. Pitt owners who use their dogs to fight steal small dogs and cats and throw them to the pitts to kill for practice. Herding dogs and pointers/setters/retrievers are NOT
BRED to kill. But even then, they should not be allowed to roam unleashed.

Pitt bulls are bred to fight and to kill. Period.
You can breed this out of them, but breeders chose not to do so.
Collies no longer are bred for herding.
Poodles are no longer bred to retrieve ducks.
Pitt bulls are still bred to fight and to kill.

People without small dogs are killed by pitts. One case to look at is the old one, from when I lived in Atlanta, but that case was over in Dekalb not in my county, where an old man was at his mailbox when 2 pitts pulled him down and killed him. The owner of the pitts was named Snodgrass. He was convicted of murder and received a life sentence for letting his killer dogs do that. I thought that was the proper sentence. He’s probably out now and probably has more killer dogs.

[sisu27]

I may not have worded it the same but to a degree I agree with Viney.

I hate to even point it out because I have been completely lambasted in the past here but I own a dog killing dog. A 23lb Jagdterrier. I do not know her full history and she is a fairly solid citizen now but she has and will kill other dogs. Not with me and not in the last 8 years. Her canines were cut off. That did little to diminish her lethality (not a word but you know what I mean). She has issues that were difficult to overcome and if an unleashed Pom approached her it would be over in a split second.

To say they “know” they are killing a member of their own species and that it is not normal is not true. I also had a Fox Terrier that would kill other dogs. I have had a Dobe that would have without hesitation and I have known many other dogs that are not picky about species. Dogs left to their own devices fight and will kill each other. Not all but many.

My dogs would kill coyote along with many other members of this forum. Canines so whats the difference?

Non of that makes this any less of an awful story. Yes the Pom should not have been loose. The Pitts should not have been loose. The one common thing with all of these stories regardless of breed involved is that of people not containing their dogs. That is what makes me irate. Why is it so damn hard for people to just keep their dogs contained?