Tag Archives: Neighborhood terrorized

Wooden backyard fence

Pit bull tears through backyard wooden fence trying to get at intended victims

Name: Marilyn
Victim: Pet
Location: Home, Colorado
Year of attack: 2018

Tell us about the attack

One day our neighbor’s pit bull tore up our wooden fence trying to get at me and my dog in my own backyard. I grabbed my small dog and ran into my house. Why do we have to live in a society where the threat of a horrific death revolves around an idiot neighbor? We now have a double fence in our yard, which is beyond imaginable that we had to take that step. The whole neighborhood is terrified of the pit bull.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?

If you ask anyone what the most terrifying way to die would be, aside from irrational phobias, most people would agree that being eaten alive by a large fanged animal would be the most painful and horrific. There are regularly news stories of small children being killed or maimed by pit bulls, 5 times bigger than them, owned by parents or other family members. That would be like an average size adult being killed by an 800 pound animal. I regularly meet people with small children who think their pit bulls are so cute. Can’t these adults put themselves in the shoes of their own babies, and realize what they are risking just to show off that they own a killing machine?

Pit bull owners should be accountable and liable. They own a dangerous weapon, yet statistics show that the deaths caused by their pit bulls are usually ruled accidental. What part of those deaths is accidental? Common sense should dictate that any pit bull owner is well aware of the dangers, and it is crazy that they can get away with negligence that results in a child or a person dying the most horrific and terrifying death or maiming possible.

Pit bull

Pit bull terrorizing neighborhood; animal control has done nothing

Name: ss
Victim: Adult, Pet
Location: While walking my dog on the other side of the street, Wisconsin
Year of attack: July 2022

Tell us about the attack

I was walking my dog in the early morning around 6 a.m. this past Friday. A pit bull bolted across the street out of nowhere and viciously attacked my husky with no provocation or warning. My husky needed several stitches on his forehead and neck, and a pipe to drain the fluids from his neck.

According to the Stoughton WI non emergency police report, this pit bull has already attacked four other dogs previously and nothing has been done so far. It appears no action was taken. I did file a compliant with the non-emergency police department of Stoughton WI, but pit bull has still  not been removed from the property. I feel that it is  not safe to walk on the street anymore.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
I feel unsafe to walk outside and feel like Stoughton WI is not a safe place. And I will not recommend this place as safe to any responsible pet owners who love and care for their pets. This attack has traumatized me and I’m terrified of walking on the street, especially when I hear the bark of the pit bull.

Legal Consequences
The pit bull owner has not been fined. I’m not sure what the city is waiting for as my pet is its fifth victim.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
Pit bulls are lethal weapons a person can have if not trained properly. It should be abandoned from the city limits and the owner should be heavily fined for not training the dogs or have no control over their pit bulls. These owners should not be allowed to own a pit bull again in their lifetime. After the vicious attacks on pets / humans the pit bull should be removed from the property immediately, once the compliant is filed with the animal control or in my situation the non-emergency Stoughton police department in WI should take actions to remove the pit bull from the property. However, the pit bull is still not removed and is roaming and barking in my neighbor’s yard terrorizing the neighborhood.

White picket fence

Backyard unsafe as pit bulls jump fence to attack

Name: Donna B.
Victim: Pet
Location: In my fenced in back yard, Florida
Year of attack: 2014

Tell us about the attack

In March 2014 I was sitting on my covered back porch which I love. Suddenly, ten feet away from me, two pit bulls jumped over my fence into my yard, and came after me and one of my cats.

We both were able to escape harm: that is, until the next morning. The same two pit bulls came back, grabbed my cat and took off with me running behind them, trying to save my cat. I didn’t fear for my safety at that time, I just wanted to save her but it was too late. I called both the police and animal control and they were able to catch the pit bulls. They were put down.

The next day I tried to do something normal. I grabbed my camera to take nature photos, but yet again I was chased by another pit bull. A man helped me escape.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?

After dealing with several more loose random pit bulls on top of the ones I mentioned, I just gave up going anywhere outside for quite awhile. I go on my back porch but keep bear spray handy.

I now have a startle reflex at any sudden loud noise, especially if I hear barking outside. And I’m being treated for PTSD, which I now suffer from.

Legal Consequences
Nobody came forward to claim the two pit bulls that were put down. They, like all the others, were loose random pit bulls.

I had my district commissioner come to my house to plead with him to do something. He was having pit bull problems himself. Metal signs were placed throughout my neighborhood that said there would be a $500 fine for unleashed dogs and it did help some. The signs were eventually covered with graffiti and I called him again, insisting they be replaced, and they were.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
Please, if you insist on having pit bulls as pets, inspect your fences often and figure out how they escape and do something about it. If you walk them please use a leash.

Pit bulls terrorize suburban neighborhood

Pit bulls terrorize suburban neighborhood

Name: Cynthia
Victim: Pet
Location: front yard, Massachusetts
Year of attack: 2020

Tell us about the attack
Two loose pit bulls charged out of a wooded area and circled me with my horse as I rode down my street. Upon returning home, while trying to alert my family including elderly parents and young nephews who were waiting outside in my yard, the pit bulls stopped circling the horse and ran straight for the 4 family dogs (2 Welsh corgis, one golden retriever and one black lab). Before the humans and animals could be rushed inside to safety, the two pit bulls attacked the black lab, latched onto and bit his hind leg. The police were called and the pit bulls were trapped in a nearby fenced horse paddock. The pit bull owners were out of town and the dog sitter had not noticed their escape. The black lab was transported to emergency vet for treatment and the pit bulls were ordered to quarantine.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
I was convinced these pit bulls would attack me and the horse as we traveled down the street. They circled us and I was fearful for them to attack me at any moment. They bit at the horse’s hind legs and when I tried kicking them away, they didn’t care. This is an event I won’t soon forget. The police department was not cooperative (these attacks are not common in my town) and they said we don’t have any power to do anything as there is no leash law. I discovered where the pit bulls lived only by knocking on doors in my neighborhood. One neighbor told me these pit bulls had chewed a bumper off his car while they were trying to get at a rodent that had made its way into the engine area. I am now afraid these pit bulls will return since they know where my animals live and my other dogs, family and horses.

Legal Consequences
The owner tells me she will pay my $1,000 vet bill but I still have not seen the police report I requested. I will write to my local paper and explain the incident to get attention if she doesn’t relocate the pit bulls. I will also need to take her to court if she doesn’t pay the vet bill. My dog is traumatized from this experience and I can no longer feel safe allowing him outside within his own invisible-fenced yard.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
Pit bulls are not family pets and have no place in suburban neighborhoods.

Pit bull attacks two dogs within four months on Pittsburgh street

Pit bull attacks two dogs within four months on Pittsburgh street

Name: M. Todd Rice
Victim: Pet
Location: Street, walking leashed dog, Pennsylvania
Year of attack: Saturday, July 11, 2020

Tell us about the attack
There is a dangerous, unprovoked, repeat-offender, pit bull terrier in our neighborhood that attacked my dogs on our walk on Saturday, July 11, 2020, on our street, at approximately 08:55 hrs. She mauled one of my dogs, Ayva, who sustained multiple bites to the chest, shoulder and leg, which required emergency treatment. A thoracic x-ray which noted air tracking along the chest wall with veterinary concern for tracheal puncture, anesthesia, wound washouts, an indwelling chest wall drain and multiple sutures to the thoracic laceration, and a prescribed two week course of antibiotics with pain medications. This same pit bull had previously attacked our neighbor’s lab mix, Fleurey, on their walk on March 1, 2020. She died of wound complications. Police reports were made. We’re trying to get PA’s dangerous dog law applied.

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
Many of us in the neighborhood go out of our way to not walk our dogs or exercise in that part of the street. I have started a website to document this case: https://dangerousdoginpennhills.com/

Legal Consequences
In our neighbor’s attack in March, 2020, a police report was made. The pit bull owners were fined for violations of pet licensing and vaccinations. However, no action was taken regarding protecting the public from the aggressive animal or enforcing any type of owner responsibility for containment. Subsequently, local dog control has initiated charges in Wilkinsburg magisterial district court to attempt to apply the dangerous dog law and the restrictions and remedies that entails.

In my case, police made a report, but no action was taken against the owners of the pit bull in this second attack within 4 months. I have been talking with local dog control who is filing charges in my district’s magisterial court.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
We residents need to be aware of dog threats in our areas. If we witness loose and aggressive behaviors, these need to be documented and reported in order to contain these animals before a trauma occurs. In the event that these activities have not been documented, when an attack occurs, the police, dog control and courts have no established basis to suspect patterns of problems and therefore little legal recourse to deal with the animal or its owners. In our case, a dog had died in recent months after this pit bull’s earlier attack. No neighbors had previously reported the pit bull being out and aggressive, which it had been on multiple occasions. As a result, no swift action has been taken, leaving the pit bull and its owner to be risks for others, like my own dog who was attacked by it on July 11.