Pit Bull ATTACK

C

Casey

New member
Yesterday morning began as most others. About 7:30AM I left the house for my normal 1-hour/3.5 mile walk around the neighborhood. It was Beautiful.

At about 8AM three very large, very fast, very mean pit bulls attacked me from behind; I never saw them coming and there was no barking, circling, or growling, just a full blown Attack! In an instant it became clear to me these dogs intended to kill 'ol Casey and I needed to do something immediately or Sandy'd be reading about me in today's obit's.

Fortunately I walk with a standard trekking-type pole. It's a piss-poor weapon, but when it's the only thing available, it probably made the difference. I was in the open, so retreat wasn't an option either.

I ended up with some pretty respectable bites behind my right leg (they were trying to "hamstring" me to take me down), but I managed to keep upright and keep fighting. I think I did some damage to a couple of the dogs but I didn't see any blood other than mine; but wasn't for lack of trying.

The dogs were captured and quarantined, and I drove myself to the ER over in Cottonwood and got fixed up. Much better now, but still kinda sore. ...but the dog's are still in Jail, so I guess it was a 'draw.

Turns out the dogs were being taken care of by some folks who'd kid's were over in California. The dog's got out, and I guess I was the only thing between them and Freedom.

Lots of oldsters walk the loop around here. If it had been one of them, I'm quite sure there would have been a fatality. Three pit bulls do keep one pretty busy during an attack.

Other than that it's been pretty quiet.

Casey
Lake Montezuma, AZ
 
Sort of like automatic weapons, why do people think they need something that can maim or kill.

Ya ya, I know , weapons don't kill, people do. BUT you know what, know one needs a weapon that fires more than one shot in 5 seconds. And know one needs an animal that is as aggressive as what has been described.
 
Holy smokes! Good thing you didn't have your little guy along. As loyal as that pup is he would have tried to defend you and ended up as a snack.

Kids in CA is a poor excuse. Did someone come to your aid or did you fend them off entirely on your own until they went away?
 
hi casey,
very sorry to hear of your misfortune, but glad to hear you are doing better. the owners of these vicious dogs need to be held accountable for their pets actions. you are entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering. i would strongly recommend seeking a lawyer's opinion. you could have been killed or disabled. the pet owners must feel your pain or they will continue to make very poor decisions.
best of luck
pat
 
hi anna,
i appreciate your thoughts regarding weapons. wish we didn't need them, however the reason you and i can purchase property and not worry about someone taking it from us, other than the stupid irs, but that's another subject, is because we have a military, willing, able and capable of defending our rights. if there were no protectors, anyone wanting your stuff would just kill you and take it. it's the weapons that secure our freedom, but you probably already knew that.
best regards
pat
 
Hope you are ok. when I was driving a propane truck I came close to getting nailed a few times. the closes I got to getting killed was two rottweilers. Same thing as your ordeal. never heard them coming, never barked, just rushed me and tried to take me down.. good reason to carry a pistol that shoots more then 1 round every five second...... wish I had one at that time, would have saved me some ware and tare.

the owners and who ever is taking care of them need to be held responsible.

little know fact. most likely dog it bite you is a poodle.
 
Wow Casey, you must have done just the right thing and had some darn good luck too to come out of that kind of attack as well as you did. I wouldn't want to fend off one pit with a treckking stick, especially if it attacked me unawares from behind to start, let alone three. Would have been a good time for some bear spray or maybe not, going around in circles spraying you just might have blinded yourself. Good thing you stayed on your feet. Once down I agree with your thinking on being OUT. Hope those bites don't get infected on you.

I had a neighbors pit come at me right at the house a couple years ago. Looked very similiar to the way a bear comes on with head very low. Fortunately I was just outside the door and was able to just make it inside. Dog was put down shortly thereafter.

Best to You,

Jay
 
Casey, do you have or considered getting a concealed carry permit?
Open carry is legal in AZ and in limbo in FL.
As you well know, when seconds count help is only minutes away.

Pepper or even wasp spray is useful but I doubt it could deter three vicious dogs.
 
Sorry to read about your ordeal Casey but glad it had a good outcome. The owner should pay for your emergency room visit at the very least. I think we might start walking with our mace now.
 
Pepper spray works very well. I've seen it used on an aggressive pit bull at an off leash dog park in Sarasota. I now carry it when I take my retriever to the park. In Florida it can be purchased over the counter for less than $10. :thup
 
Last year my dog Ben and I were attacked by a large great dane. I wasn't hurt but Ben's vet fees were over $500. His longest laceration was 13 centimeters (about 5 inches). Ben weighs 60 pounds and the great dane shook him like a rat. Now when we go for I walk I carry a stockman's cane. The pepper spray seems a good idea too. I'll get some.

This big black great dane was only interested in killing my dog, and I happened to be in the way. It must've been an ordeal, fighting off three pit bulls attacking you directly. There's no excuse for having animals like that. They had to've been trained to act like that, or have been badly mistreated. The owners definitely should be held accountable.
 
Sorry to hear of this Casey, but so glad you are here to write about it. I sincerely hope you left major dents in their skulls. We know you will do what needs to be done; very irresponsible on the part of the owners/dog-sitters.

You two are in our thoughts.

Jim & Joan
 
Some interesting replies. I'll comment on a few:

David (Anna Leigh). Actually, I agree with you. In my opinion a fully automatic weapon probably wastes too much ammunition; but a simple semi-automatic Sig/Glock would have been most handy under the circumstances. A twelve round rate of fire (one every five seconds) would have been useless. Again, my Sig P229 would have been perfect, and heavy enough to be an effective club if/when empty (my Sig P232 would have been too light to be an effective club. We live and learn, eh?). A trekking pole was just barely up to the task; but still better than nothing.

Tyboo: You're right, our Norwich would have only been a tidbit, but given their attitude would have gone down fighting. When I came out of my fighting-mode haze there were five people present and no dog's; I have no idea what broke-off the attack but it seemed to end as quickly as it began. I suspect the whole event was less than two minutes ... but it was a Long two minutes!

Pat: I'm not considering "legal action" per se, but have asked the deputy to check for any related records on the dogs or the owners. The owners were just a little too quick to offer paying for my ER expenses...they may well have been through this before. They didn't want to put it on their homeowner's liability insurance. Hmmm.... In any case, I will likely ask to have the dogs put-down, and/or offer to do it myself.

Jay: I've thought about pepper spray but questioned it's usefulness (Phil answered that...). ...but I may begin walking with an aluminum baseball bat and save the trekking pole for hiking.

Chester: I've had a CCW permit for quite a while; but seldom 'carry. ...I may rethink that. "Situational Awareness" didn't work this time.

Russ/Toni: Already covered, but the owner's have already offered to pay ER. I'll let them deal with TriCare (my health insurance). If nothing else, having to deal with the bureaucracy will drive them Nuts.

Smitty: Reflecting on the attack, it seemed so coordinated it was either very strong instinct - or training. The dog's seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Happily, so did I.

Jim/Joan: Trying to dent a pit bull skull would be futile, but I get your point. I was trying for body shots (softer targets), and it was a "target-rich environment.

Otherwise, the wounds seem to be healing nicely, and not particularly sore. Sandy's hospice nurse will be here about eleven, and I plan to have her inspect/redress the holes.

Casey
 
OMG Casey, what a horrible ordeal. How fortunate that you had your trekking pole with you. I agree, those dogs need to be put down. I'm so glad to hear you're ok. Let us know how it turns out with those dogs.
 
casey glad to hear you have it undercontrol. and nice to know your neighbors came out to help. many places people just walk by or stay inside.

pepper spray is nice but you have not had fun until you have opened a 6inch propane fill hose in the face of a charging dog. it freezes thier face and eyes shut. scares the living hell out of them and leaves no evidince for the owners to complain about , they just wander why fido is hiding in the corner of the yard every time I fill the tank
:twisted: " its the noise ma, they hate the noise"
 
When I was 11 I was attacked by a pit bull that belonged to a distant cousin of my dad who was spending the summer parked in our apple orchard in their travel trailer... It went for my throat with no warning whatever... I must have instinctively snapped my arm across my throat because it got my left upper arm.... I was not a big kid and it was a big dog and it waved me around like a stuffed toy... I clearly remember the fangs grating against the bone and the way it would glare at me and growl - but no pain, like zero - and even at that moment and that age I remember being surprised by the lack of pain...
Anyway, the men came running from all over the farm... Dad had to choke the dog until it passed out to make it let go - and only then did the jaws release...

Anyway, on the way back from getting sutured up at the doctors office (1950's rural village doctor) I kept arguing with dad who said he was going to shoot the dog and I told him he couldn't do that (I always was a sucker for some hapless critter)... Lo and behold, when we got there the trailer was gone...

We found out later they were actually hiding from the law in our orchard because the dog bit a kid in Detroit... They went from us to Georgia where the dog savaged a kid pretty badly and they managed to just get over the state line into Florida a mile or two ahead of the police on that one... For the youngsters on here, in the old days police could not cross a state line even in hot pursuit, just like in those old B&W movies late at night...
Then in Florida, doggie made a miscalculation... They went shopping and when they came back the dog would not let them back into the trailer, charging the screen door every time they tried to open it... They called for animal control to come help them (being big city folks)... But in those days in rural Florida, animal control was the town cop... With them babbling at his heels about how it must be the heat and all they needed to do was get into the trailer and spray him down with cool water, the grizzled old cop took one look at the dog with yellow eyes and slaver dripping from the jaws and which was bulging the screen door trying to get at the cop, he pulled out his .38 and popped him right between the eyes... End of problem...
 
Those who know me (and some of you who don't), are well aware of my love for dogs. Still - I make no bones about my distaste for Pit Bulls. Having a greater appreciation for individual freedoms and respecting one's personal choices, I'm not in favor of any kind of regulation for them - but I take every opportunity I can, to dissuade ownership and breeding of them.

First off, yes - I'll completely agree with their supporters, in recognizing that many Pits are friendly as can be, and don't seem to have an aggressive bone in their body. I've seen plenty of them that happily play with kids, and get along with other dogs just fine. There's also plenty to be said for how they are raised, and I'm not oblivious to the fact that many are trained to be aggressive by the macho and/or criminal element that commonly owns this breed.

However, there's no doubt what they were bred for - dog fighting. One can argue all day long about temperament and training, but in the end, genetics is tough to overcome. It's not uncommon at all, for previously docile Pits to lash out - particularly at other dogs - with no warning. And as illustrated by Casey's tale, when they do attack - it's in a most insidious manner. Silent, fast and effective.

Pit supporters often cite statistics about dog bites, something else I'll not argue with. Doesn't surprise me for a second, that little yappy dogs are number one on the bite list. But I'll take 100 encounters with something I can kick through the air, over a single aggressive instance of a Pit. Bite percentage doesn't mean squat - it's the damage inflicted once it happens, that is important.

My personal Pit story:

Dana and I were on our normal nightly dog walk a couple years back, along a route we've been on countless times. We know most of the hazards...our three dogs makes for an enticing target, for other off-leash critters.

We came around a corner, and I spotted two Pits playing on a lawn a couple houses up that I'd never seen before. Our usual M.O. - I hand off my dog(s) to Dana, then position myself between her and the pooches, and the threat. I do whatever's necessary to make the other dog(s) retreat, but the vast majority of time a bit of hand waving and yelling does the trick...not this time.

The two Pits rushed us, and I had no time to hand off Yogi to Dana. The younger, more aggressive Pit came after me and Yogi, the older one after Dana and the two girls.

Suffice it to say...I wish it could have been caught on film, as we were like Conan and Zena, kicking the ever loving sh!t out of two Pit Bulls, while keeping our hounds safe. We were so wound up in our own individual battles, that neither of us saw what the other was going through.

After everything died down, we chatted about what we each went through and how we reacted, and what an absolutely amazing thing adrenaline combined with instinct is. We both basically did the same thing...choked up our own dogs nice and tight, keeping them behind us, while simultaneously kicking the crap out of the aggressive dogs that wanted a piece of our babies. I laid 5 or 6 full swinging kicks, that made complete contact, right into the male Pit's gut. This was no easy task, as Yogi wanted a piece of the dog, not knowing what an ass-kicking he'd get if left to his own defenses. The Pit finally backed off, and went back to his house.

Fortunately, the Pit attacking Dana and our two girls was older and more of a wimp. Dana did the same thing as me, but one solid connect with her shoe and it got the message. One thing I learned that day - in our 30 years together, I never knew until then, just how fearless and vicious my kind hearted spouse can be when provoked. We don't have kids, but I think I'm now quite familiar with parental protective instincts...

Thankfully, and unlike Casey's encounter, no teeth made contact between dogs, or between dog and human. Still, after a couple hours of cooling down, I went back to the house to confront the owner. Upon answering the door, I was greeted by an incredibly nice middle aged couple, who were completely surprised at what had transpired. I also spoke with neighbors of theirs over the ensuing weeks, who were also surprised at the dogs' behavior. Evidently, these were two of those "great Pits" that never showed any such signs of aggressiveness...but obviously, they had it in them.

For those who own them - I only wish they would accept what their dogs are truly capable of, and be ever vigilant when they have them in public. Unfrotunately, this seems to be the exception.
 
Wow, Casey, what a story--and good thinking! Our thoughts are with you both!

Bill, your story also is very compelling. I also had thought about many pit bulls as being harmless, but with the instinct to attack.

Tom--not sure where you got the stats about poodles, (disclaimer, we own a minature poodle--not a yipper and not agressive) but what I found on the internet was that the most likely dog to bite was the the Dachshund, next the Chihuahua, followed by the Jack Russell Terrier. However many dog bites are never reported.

I have only had one incident when I was attacked and it was during Hurricane Katrina, when a shepard/chow (rescued dog) we owned attacked me--and would not let go for my wrist. Marie was out of town, and I wanted to discuss it with her and our vet before taking action. I put on a padded suit, and wore gloves--with a .38 in my pocket--just in case the rest of that night when dealing with the dog. The vet confirmed that severe storms could disrupt the behavior and we put the dog down the next day. We had never been comfortable with that dog and our grandchildren--since we didn't know his history.

We never know what may trigger an attack or what has happened in the past of a dog which might make it attack. Also even "play" with a dog can trigger agressive behavior accidently. So one should be gentle when playing with dogs.

I read the posts to Marie, who has spent a lot of time training dogs, and she agrees that the pit bulls who attacked Casey should be put down.

I am also a person who CCW--however the new Florida law does not allow open carry. It does not punish a person who is a CCW who accidently exposes a weapon. I do believe that there are places for semiauto weapons in our society--but there remains the problem of drawing a concealed weapon and using it "safely" without risking injury to bystanders when dealing with a dog attack. We carry bear spray when hiking, but it is a large canister and not really suitable for neighborhood walks...The smaller mace/pepper spray remains an option for some states, but is either illegal, or requires a permit in others.
 
No problems to date and glad you are ok. We been around dogs and cats for years. No dogs now just 7 rescue cats.
It seems to be a common practice in rescue shelters or other names to put down cats before dogs and a few cats found us!

CDC has a web page on dog bite prevention located at
http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalS ... ntion.html

Do they report animnal bites to health officals in your state?

Indiana State Dept of Health uses this form https://forms.in.gov/Download.aspx?id=4758

I dont work that in that program area but have seen many nasty cultures from infected bite wounds that my other job.

see
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/768875-overview
 
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