Name: M.F.
Victim: Adult, Child, Pet
Location: In our shared driveway, Illinois
Year of attack: 2022

Tell us about the attack

My oldest daughter was bringing my two other small children and our sweet maltipoo, King Louie, inside from playing in the backyard when our neighbor said something to her. My daughter took three steps toward her to hear her & our dog walked up to the neighbor’s fence to smell at the bottom and say his usual hellos to their pit bulls on the other side.

Unbeknownst to my daughter, there was a giant hole in the neighbor’s fence that I had alerted them to by documented text on the 24th of May 2022. The attack happened the 7th of June 2022. When my dog was sniffing, their pit bull reached its head out of the fence hole and snatched my dog by his face and pulled him through the fence. I have the entire attack on video.

I, 27 weeks pregnant, had to then go in and punch this pit bull in its face for over two minutes to get it to release my dog. It ripped my dog’s bone out of his leg.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
The attack caused the amputation of my dog’s hind leg. But beyond that, my daughters will never be the same. This was the most traumatic event that’s ever happened in my life and I just can’t even imagine what impact it’s had on them. So far, what I’ve noticed right away is that my very active outside kids have not one time asked to go outside. They’re so scared the pit bull will get out and get them. They had to see my dog’s leg bone dangling from his body which is probably the most gruesome thing that they’ve ever seen in their life.

Legal Consequences
The owner of the dangerous pit bull has had ZERO repercussions! No euthanizing. No removal besides a B.S. quarantine. They have not even adequately fixed the broken fence.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
THIS IS NOT OKAY!! I’m stuck with the almost $3,000 in vet bills because the pit bull owning neighbor’s have no renter’s insurance! Why is there not an option to automatically bill the other people when you have a police report, and VIDEO?!?

Name: MMS
Victim: Adult
Location: On sidewalk in front of my home, Illinois
Year of attack: 2020

Tell us about the attack

I was taking an after-dinner walk. My neighbors from down the street were walking a pit bull on a leash. I moved off the sidewalk to let them pass. They stopped to say hello, but I kept my distance. Just as they said not to be afraid of their pit bull because it was the most gentile loving pet ever, it leapt with no sound or warning and seized my arm in its maw.

It took a minute to pull the pit bull off my arm, revealing a bloody mess of now-exposed raw muscle. The man was now holding the pit bull by the collar, but it was too strong for him: it jumped again and bit down on my upper lip and the bottom of my chin.

When I got to the hospital I was told how lucky I was that they could repair my lips and chin and that I wouldn’t lose them. However, a horrible bacterial infection settled into my arm muscle and it took many months of antibiotics to help heal the swelling and pain.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
I grew up with labs and always had a dog. I am now terrified of dogs.

I occasionally still experience residual pain in my wrist.

Legal Consequences
Since the pit bull belonged to their daughter who lived an hour away in the city of Chicago, and she took it back there right away, nothing was done with it. My county said they couldn’t do anything, either.

The pit bull owning family would not give me proof of the pit bull having had vaccines. Their homeowners’ insurance paid my hospital bills and plastic surgery bill. I was compensated $10,000 for pain and suffering. Since I care for my 92-year-old mother and am not working they said that’s all they could do for me.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
Pit bulls were bred to fight and they are fighters. They clamp their jaws stubbornly and it is hard to get them to release. They are aggressive and don’t stop.

Name: NS
Victim: Pet
Location: Pet owner’s front lawn, Illinois
Year of attack: 2020

Tell us about the attack

I had just come in from a walk with my teacup Pomeranian, “Chai”, as I put him down and unclipped his harness in the lobby of my business I reached for my phone on the desk and as soon as I turned around to pick him up again Chai began alerting and dashed into the front yard. I went running after him and saw him start approaching the man walking on our lawn with his pit bull. The man stood there as my dog was alerting and instead of walking on, he let his dog continue provoking mine. The pit bull yanked his owner so hard he slid forward nearly three feet, almost throwing him down, and in that instant the pit bull knocked over my dog and bit him and began to shake him violently. I began to fight with it, where it finally released and the man and pit bull ran away.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
I lost my only companion that was attached to my side from 2016 until his death in 2020. He was the most important life force from waking up to falling asleep everyday. I am totally traumatized at both his loss and the playback of the violent last moment we saw each other. My hand was injured while I was trying to pry open the pit bull’s mouth and attempting to hit it over the head. I am a machinist and the lack of hand strength means I cannot do my job properly, let alone mow the lawn for the past week after the accident.

Legal Consequences
The police refuse to charge the man with trespassing or name him directly on the report, but instead identified the owner of the business where he works. They told me that it would “severely limit the guys freedoms” if I pressed trespassing on him, and they refused it. They also did not list the dog as a pit bull, but instead as a “lab-mix”. My local police also refused to take another of my neighbor’s complaints for trespassing on their property also by the same individual and his pit bull… The local police told me they are passing the investigation to Dupage County Animal Control Sherriff. Local cop threatened he could/but won’t blame me for leash laws, however it is not applicable as this all occurred on my lawn and due to the trespassing and provocation of the pit bull’s owner.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
Pit bulls should be banned. The death toll and injury count of innocent people is rising by the day. There is no way that law enforcement, the legal system, public activism through social media will ever solve this problem.