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.