UPDATE 11/05/09: Apparently some of these stories of attacks were exaggerated.
Over the past 2 weeks there have been several dog attacks at local dog park.
The first was on September 25 at Magnuson park in the Sandpoint neighborhood of Seattle. Three pit bulls attacked a boxer and boston terrier. The owner of the pit bulls did not intervene immediately but finally called the dogs off. The boxer died 2 hours later and the terrier survived, severely injured.
The second attack occurred on October 2nd at Magnuson as well. Three pit bulls attacked an adult and puppy husky. Apparently, again, the owner did not intervene right away. One of the huskies ended up with a broken leg.
Here is more info on the Magnuson attacks from KOMO.
The third attack happened at the Edmonds dog park on Wednesday. Here is the report:
I was at the Edmonds Dog Beach at about 3pm with my sister, dog Maddie (GShep mix, 1yo, 75lbs) and Luke (Husky, 4yo, 80lbs). We were playing in the water when a red pit (approx 60lbs) and a black staffordshire terrier (aprox 40lbs) approached us. They started playing a little agressivley (which says alot for Maddie) and were called off by the owners. Later, the black one came up again. The black one, “Junior,” was playing with Maddie a bit too agressivley, and when the red saw this, he bolted over (knocking me over) and began the attack. The two ganged up on Maddie, biting at her hocks and throat. I tried to pull them off but could only pull one off at a time, and after about a minute, the owner came over and pulled them off. He returned to his girlfriend, and they began laughing aobut how I got knocked over when Junior chased Maddie down the beach. I continued to watch for other incidents, but did not call police. Before we left, Approx 4pm, I approached the couple and told them “It doesn’t bother me that this happened, but there are other people who will call the police so please watch for agressive behaviour.”
The female ( About 5’6″, 190+ lbs, late twenties/early thirties) proceeded to get in my face and scream about how, since her animals were neutered, they were good owners and that I should call the police. The male (About 5’8″, 200lbs, mid/early thirties) stood behind her. At this point in time, my sister walked over and began telling her to back off, and she continues to get in my sister’s face, screaming obscenities and threatining to call the police. During this, the red pit for the third time attacked Maddie, and the male grabbed him and drug him back. After five minutes of heated conversation (with yelling and screaming), my sister and I walked away, taking our dogs and heading toward the exit.
We got into the car and drove to the other side of the parking lot, watching them walk to thier car. They kept walking, and I drove away. I stopped just past the closest dry dock area, backed into a parking spot, and waited about five minutes. The couple drove by, and I began driving out of the parking lot. Twice, the female attempted to pull into the parking lot, and the third time she tried to block the exit. I drove past, wrote down the plate, and drove away quickly.
The couple is described as a heavily tattoo man in his 20’s and a female 5’6 190 lbs late in her 20’s with three pit bulls.
Apparently police officials have their license plate number and are in the process of tracking them down. For now, if you seen them at the MLT dog park, I’d suggest leaving immediately and contacting Jim Ito, president of MLT DOG, at 4mltdog@gmail.com
[image courtesy Cocoabiscuit]
Thanks for this post. I'm the President of the Edmonds City Council, and I'll forward this to our chief of police to keep an eye on.Good local reporting. Nice work.
Thanks DJ. Let me know if anything comes of it. Would love to see these people held accountable.By the way, if you haven't yet, you should check out the new Edmonds site https://edmondsnews.wordpress.com/
I make a habit of bring my iPhone with me just in case something like this happens. If these two folks ever show up at the MLT park, I'll be sure to take a photograph of them and make sure I take my dog to the opposite side of the park. It's up to us, the “regulars,” to stand up and NOT allow these kinds of bullies to ruin the wonderful opportunity we have in the off leash parks.
Thanks for this post. I’m the President of the Edmonds City Council, and I’ll forward this to our chief of police to keep an eye on.nnGood local reporting. Nice work.nn
Thanks DJ. Let me know if anything comes of it. Would love to see these people held accountable.nnBy the way, if you haven’t yet, you should check out the new Edmonds site https://edmondsnews.wordpress.com/
I make a habit of bring my iPhone with me just in case something like this happens. If these two folks ever show up at the MLT park, I’ll be sure to take a photograph of them and make sure I take my dog to the opposite side of the park. It’s up to us, the “regulars,” to stand up and NOT allow these kinds of bullies to ruin the wonderful opportunity we have in the off leash parks.
It seems that every time you hear about a dog attack it involves pit bulls. They are just so aggressive. As the CDC found:”the data indicate that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human dog bite-related fatalities in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities.”My sister was mauled by doberman pinschers when she was in grade school. I still remember that sunny, summer day when she came home crying with blood all over her. The owners left their gate open and the dogs attacked her.Some people may disagree about pit bulls being aggressive and dangerous. Our society allows people to have dangerous breeds of dogs just as much as they allow people to talk on cell phones while driving. (I realize that talking on your cell phone while driving is illegal, but the law has no teeth and fines are negligible.)Everyone should be allowed to have any dog that they like, but I wonder if some breeds are simply too dangerous. Come to think of it, a woman was walking on the grounds of an apartment complex near the freeway here in Mountlake Terrace a couple of years ago and was attached and mauled pretty badly by a pit bull. A police officer arrived and shot the dog, but the dog was in such a state of attack that the officer had to shoot the dog several times. Sounds worse than a bear attack. At least with a bear you can make enough noise to scare it away.
It seems that every time you hear about a dog attack it involves pit bulls. They are just so aggressive. As the CDC found:nn”the data indicate that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human dog bite-related fatalities in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities.”nnMy sister was mauled by doberman pinschers when she was in grade school. I still remember that sunny, summer day when she came home crying with blood all over her. The owners left their gate open and the dogs attacked her.nnSome people may disagree about pit bulls being aggressive and dangerous. Our society allows people to have dangerous breeds of dogs just as much as they allow people to talk on cell phones while driving. (I realize that talking on your cell phone while driving is illegal, but the law has no teeth and fines are negligible.)nnEveryone should be allowed to have any dog that they like, but I wonder if some breeds are simply too dangerous. Come to think of it, a woman was walking on the grounds of an apartment complex near the freeway here in Mountlake Terrace a couple of years ago and was attached and mauled pretty badly by a pit bull. A police officer arrived and shot the dog, but the dog was in such a state of attack that the officer had to shoot the dog several times. Sounds worse than a bear attack. At least with a bear you can make enough noise to scare it away.
It seems that every time you hear about a dog attack it involves pit bulls. They are just so aggressive. As the CDC found:”the data indicate that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human dog bite-related fatalities in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities.”My sister was mauled by doberman pinschers when she was in grade school. I still remember that sunny, summer day when she came home crying with blood all over her. The owners left their gate open and the dogs attacked her.Some people may disagree about pit bulls being aggressive and dangerous. Our society allows people to have dangerous breeds of dogs just as much as they allow people to talk on cell phones while driving. (I realize that talking on your cell phone while driving is illegal, but the law has no teeth and fines are negligible.)Everyone should be allowed to have any dog that they like, but I wonder if some breeds are simply too dangerous. Come to think of it, a woman was walking on the grounds of an apartment complex near the freeway here in Mountlake Terrace a couple of years ago and was attached and mauled pretty badly by a pit bull. A police officer arrived and shot the dog, but the dog was in such a state of attack that the officer had to shoot the dog several times. Sounds worse than a bear attack. At least with a bear you can make enough noise to scare it away.
I do not agree at all. Worse than a bear attack? Please…I’ve had pit-bulls, as well as other breeds, all of my life, and I have to say that they pit-bulls were the best and most well behaved dogs I’ve ever had or been fortunate enough to meet. It’s not the dogs that are the problem. It’s the idiots that have them. Unfortunately anyone can have a dog. Even ignorant, careless people. To reference your analogy, it’s not the cell phones crashing cars, my friend. It’s the negligent people using them.
I have to ‘pit-bulls’ and a bulldog. They are not aggressive in any way, and yet I don’t take them to dog parks, especially off leash ones, only for their own safety. In a world full of people, how many of us are really responsible?
Sorry for the typing errors. Forgot to check it before hitting ‘submit’.
Today I witnessed a pit bull attack an American Eskimo dog at the MLT Dog Park. The pit bull gave no warning and sunk her teeth into the dog while the dog shrieked in fear and pain. At least five people tried to pull the pit bull away from the dog. The owner slammed his dog into the ground but the dog got loose and ran after the little white dog AGAIN! It was horrifying and an unprovoked attack.
The American Eskimo suffered substantial damage to one of his ears and had a puncture wound in his neck. He had surgery this afternoon to repair the damage.
THAT pit bull was very sweet and nice to everyone too – up to 30 seconds before the attack. We contacted the MLT police and made a report. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it, but that dog SNAPPED.
I will never trust a pit bull again, believe me.