There still considering whether to charge the owners????
ELBERT COUNTY - A pack of roaming pit bulls neighbors say have been aggressive in the past mauled a woman to death Sunday morning and injured two men, the Elbert County Sheriff' s Office said.
Jennifer Brooke, 40, died Sunday after being airlifted to Swedish Medical Center.
Brooke left her home about 7 a.m. to take care of her horses in a barn near her home in a rural community east of Parker.
About 10 a.m., her friend Bjorn Osmunsen, 24, became concerned that she hadn' t returned from doing her chores.
Around the same time, Osmunsen and another person were chased inside by three dogs. They noticed blood on the dogs' fur, Rattlesnake Fire District chief Dale Goetz said.
Osmunsen called 911 and reported Brooke missing, then went to look for her.
When he arrived at the barn, he was mauled by the dogs, as well, sheriff' s officials said. He was later treated and released from Swedish.
A little before 11 a.m., Lynn Baker stepped out of his house about 500 yards away. The three dogs attacked him, gnashing his arms.
" It was awful," Baker said. " It was terrible."
Baker had walked to his pickup and was about to head for the store when he heard growling and suddenly saw the dogs snapping at him.
" The next thing I know, I' m being attacked by three pit bulls," he said. " One was leaping for my throat as one was dragging me down by my hand."
With the dogs hanging onto him, he tried to make it to the bed of his truck.
" I did make it to the back of the truck, or I wouldn' t be here now," Baker said. " I kicked the big pit bull and yanked my hand down. It was scary. I thought I was dying."
The dogs attempted to jump in the bed of the truck and nearly made it when Baker started yelling, screaming so loudly that neighbors a quarter-mile away heard the shouts. He hollered for his mother to call 911 and for his 16-year-old son, Cody, to grab a gun.
Cody shot at the dogs with a 12-gauge shotgun, blinding one, knocking one down and disorienting the third.
The distraction was enough for Baker to jump down, grab his truck keys from the driveway and climb into the cab of the pickup. He drove it close enough to the house to scurry inside, he said.
" I told my son, ' It' s my turn.' So, I grabbed the gun," Baker said.
Baker said he shot the largest pit bull twice with birdshot.
" I needed something bigger," he said. " When I shot him the first time he just come a running toward me, so I shot him again."
Baker then ran back inside the house, and the pit bull waited on the front porch.
" It' s unreal," he said. " It' s like those dogs have no soul. ... They were just looking for people."
All of the dogs were eventually killed by Elbert County sheriff' s deputies, he said.
Baker was taken to Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, where he was treated and released.
Dawn Woods said she could hear the shouting and gunfire from her house. She said the dogs had caused problems in the neighborhood before.
" They got out and attacked a jogger," she said.
" Another time, the dogs chased a woman into her home and persistently clawed the glass at her deck door until officers arrived," Woods said.
" You just don' t expect things like that to happen out here," said Teri Koren, who lives in the area. " People let dogs run wild out here. "
There is a $50 fine for pet owners who let their dogs roam, Elbert County Sheriff Bill Frangis said.
Goetz, who responded to the call, described Sunday' s attack as " gruesome" and said eight men have received counseling over the incident.
" I' ve been doing this 37 years," Goetz said. " I' ve never had anything like that."
Firefighters hosed Baker' s home and blood-stained pickup Sunday night, fearing the pit bulls may have had rabies. The dogs' bodies will be examined to determine whether they had the disease.
Frangis said it was undecided whether charges would be filed against the dog owners.
Underwood did not release the name of the dogs' owner, but neighbors said the dogs come from a fenced yard in the 42000 block of Ricki Drive, less than a mile from Brooke' s barn. There are other dogs on the property, Woods said.
A large sign on the gate warns " Beware of Dogs."
" They came to the wrong house when they came up here," Baker said.
Baker grieved for Brooke on Sunday night, calling her a friend.
The barn where she was mauled is about 500 yards from his home, and they often helped each other with their horses.
" I' m going to be fine compared to what my poor neighbor went through," Baker said. " Compared to what I went through, what she went through must have been horrible."
My son was mauled by my own German shepard, I put him down that day. If I hadn' t and he had attacked some one else I would have never been able to live with myself. These people should be arrested.
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Absolutely they should be held directly responsible for thier pets actions. A person should have the right to go about thier business without being attack by other peoples animals. I have had to kill a few dogs that I thought may be a threat to others.
Thats rather hars there, Big. It isn' t always the owner' s fault that the dogs get loose. They break chains, tear through leashes, pull out of the owner' s hands, there are a million variables. People who just let their dogs out and let them run free without trying to restrain them SHOULD be fined.
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I agree with you that there may be many variables...and the owner should not be charged " simply" because the dog(s) are loose. But I do believe the owner SHOULD be held accountable for WHATEVER the dogs' behavior is. Not all dogs that accidently get loose result in the death of an innocent person. And particularly if you own big and/or powerful dogs you should be more " attentive" to the dogs, their whereabouts, and their behavior.
If the owner(s) have already been warned once and the dog(s) presents a problem for the second time....there should be a " stiff" remedial action. (Fines, loss of ownership, etc.)
I have lived near people that owned " numerous" (at different times from one to seven or eight) dogs. (Heck, we even had to walk their cow home to them several times.) And after two years of us asking them to restrain their dogs, and a call to animal control, I was prepared to destroy the dogs if necessary. (Several of them had made threatening gestures towards our son, who was in a wheel chair, and animal control told us to destroy the animal(s) if it/they were a threat.) Finally, after the owner(s) learned their dogs would be shot...if necessary....they restrained them. Clearly a case of inconsiderate owners.
If a person can' t control their animal(s), they should not have any. (And once again I' m not referring to the instances where the dog " broke loose" . I' m talking about the people that could give a darn less about where and what their pets are doing! And there are plenty of people like that.) And one of the quickest ways to insure responsible behavior.....is to hold people accountable for " less than responsible" behavior!
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RE: Woman killed by Dogs
My big question is, why were the dogs so aggressive? I know pits can be
aggressive, I used to have one. It just seems like these three dogs were
trained to be aggressive, be it for fighting or what have you. You ask me,
any one who trains an already aggressive animal to be even more aggressive,
should be held largely responsible when that animal goes nuts.
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Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 24,185
RE: Woman killed by Dogs
Quote:
If the owner(s) have already been warned once and the dog(s) presents a problem for the second time....there should be a " stiff" remedial action. (Fines, loss of ownership, etc.)
You hit the nail on the head akbound
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kaafir mushrik
Unintended consequences and God have one thing in common: Liberals don’t believe in either of them.
Some one told me once, " that there truly are few bad dogs.....but there are many bad dog owners" ! And therein is the crux of the problem. We have owned numerous large/powerful dog breeds and have never had a problem, (with one exception). A significant amount of the problem in these cases is that you have " physcotic behaving people buying large, powerful, dogs for machismo" . And of course the dog " reflects" its' owners personality.....because the owner " handles" the dog that way. And these people are a big part of the problem.
Another problem, that many pet owners refuse to believe, is that " Fido" , when running with a pack.....will frequently resort to " Pack" behavior. (They don' t have canine teeth for nothing.....!!!!!!) I know, I know, but " Fluffy" would never hurt a fly! My response is....." she has teeth doesn' t she" ?!?!
Owners should be responsible, and accountable, for the behavior of their pets. Don' t want the responsibility.....don' t own the animal, it' s simple!
The one exception I referred to earlier was a previously abused Mastiff we had adopted. He was a large (about 145 pounds) animal and usually acted very docile. But I saw him turn and snarl at my daughter of 12 (at that time) because she had scolded him. And when I rebuked him for it he showed his teeth. After that incident I contacted a friend that owned an estate in Vermont, (we were living in Maryland) at the time. This gentleman wanted a large dog to freely roam in a fenced in area surrounding his property. And the dog would be cared for properly....he just would not be put in a position of needing to be trusted around children, etc. And I knew that to be true! So I decided to allow this friend to have Bruno...as I thought it would be best for us....and the dog.
In short...if you can not properly control and care for animals...don' t own them! And if you own them...expect to held accountable....as you should be!
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Thats rather hars there, Big. It isn' t always the owner' s fault that the dogs get loose. They break chains, tear through leashes, pull out of the owner' s hands, there are a million variables
that' s the biggest pile of bull$hit I' ve ever read.
Owners of all dogs must be accountable for the actions of the dogs.
Whether the owners will face criminal charges is, of course, up to the local D.A. However, all the injured parties should take civil action against the owners. Anyone who harbors and shelters such creatures is certainly liable for any damage they do to people of property....
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Woman killed by Dogs
