"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” can stop the United States Postal Service’s 617,000 postal workers from delivering over 155 billion pieces of mail per year. But there’s one thing that can stop a mail carrier in their tracks — a snarling, territorial dog. Now, new statistics show that last year, letter carriers were bitten by dogs 5,767 times. The statistics were released as part of an annual dog attack report prepared by the USPS. The number is up slightly from last year, when 5,581 bites were recorded. Though they’re only a fraction of the roughly 4.4 million dog bites that occur in the United States each year, they’re a real problem for postal workers whose jobs involve bringing mail to homes that can host aggressive dogs. Los Angeles had the most dog-on-mail-carrier incidents in 2014 (74 attacks), followed by Houston (62), San Diego (47) and Chicago (45). USPS Service Manager of Safety Linda DeCarlo notes that though owners often refuse to believe their dogs will … [Read more...]
Dog Attacks Millard School Employee, Owners Kept Dog Illegally
Monday WOWT 6 News obtained security video of a dog attack at Millard Central Middle School. The Nebraska Humane Society said the dog shown in the video has a violent past, and officials were not aware the dog was in Omaha, let alone on school grounds. The dog had been officially labeled as a potentially dangerous animal due to previous violent episodes. In the video, recorded April 2, a school counselor/teacher approaches a door inside a vestibule. He opens the door in an attempt to “shoo” the dog, named Sam, away. At that moment, the dog attacks the school employee. The employee quickly makes his way back inside. School officials said students were outside playing at the time of the attack. The employee told the Nebraska Humane Society the dog’s bite didn't catch his leg, just his clothing. But, what the Humane Society said is most concerning, is the fact that this attack should have never happened.“This owner, for almost a year and a half period, did not follow city ordinances … [Read more...]
Two dogs attack 7 people in Plano
Seven people are recovering after being attacked by two dogs in Plano. Police say the incident began at the Park Springs Townhomes off Alma Drive Sunday at about 7:15 p.m. when the dogs escaped from a nearby townhome. After they attacked six people, including a 5-year-old girl, Plano police officers chased them to a nearby park where one officer was attacked. Another officer then shot and killed one of the dogs. The other dog returned home and was quarantined by Animal Control officers.The police officer who was attacked was taken to a local hospital with a minor leg injury. The other six victims have minor injuries. Police say the dogs, described as shepherd mixes, have been known to be aggressive in the past. It is unknown whether charges are pending for the dogs' owner at this time. Read the full article … [Read more...]
De’Trick Johnson, 36-years old | Jefferson County, AR
De'Trick Johnson, 36-years old, was killed by a pack of pit bulls belonging to John Chester Smith, the owner of C.J.'s Garage. Johnson had driven to the business to have his car serviced. When he exited his vehicle, seven pit bulls tore through the bottom of the garage's front gate and savagely attacked him. It is unknown how long Johnson was being mauled before the first 911 call came in, which lasted from 5 to 8 minutes, according to different media reports. He was pronounced dead on scene; the initial cause of death was listed as "massive trauma." Johnson's life partner, John Smith III, is the son of the dogs' owner. Smith said there were multiple victims of these dogs before Johnson's death. Family members had warned his father to "get rid of those dogs," Smith said. Eight months earlier, the pit bulls had escaped the property in the same way and attacked man who fled by climbing up a tree. On April 22, authorities charged John Chester Smith with felony manslaughter in connection … [Read more...]
Dog attacks Bastrop animal shelter volunteer
BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) — A volunteer at the animal shelter in Bastrop was mauled by a dog she was trying to help. The woman was walking a pit bull when it started barking at another dog behind a fence. The volunteer reached in to try and get the dog moving again and that’s when it turned on her. Some of her fellow volunteers stepped in to restrain the dog but by then the woman had already suffered serious injuries. The county says they are looking over all of their shelter policies.”Things like rating the animals,” said Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape. “How dangerous might an animal be based on its background, why it’s at the animal shelter to begin with.” The dog underwent a rabies test after being put down. The woman is still recovering in a hospital. Read the Full Article … [Read more...]
Beware of Dog: A recent (and vicious) pit bull attack on a pool pro underscores a need for techs to stay canine-safe.
It was like a scene from a gripping courtroom drama: The victim, bandaged and animated as he described how he was viciously attacked by the perpetrator; the perpetrator’s family, sitting in disbelief as grisly details came forth. Only this wasn’t a courtroom, not in the traditional sense. This hearing took place October 2014 at the Riverside County Department of Animal Services in San Jacinto, Calif. The victim was a longtime pool maintenance pro whose near-fatal run-in with the alleged perpetrator — a pit bull/Labrador mix — was a graphic reminder that man’s best friend isn’t always the pool man’s. Here, PSN recounts several real-life canine encounters gone horribly wrong. Consider them cautionary tales — then take to heart the advice from an expert who trains field workers to defend themselves against four-legged threats. Read the full article … [Read more...]
County tries to get handle on dog attacks
Springfield, MO -- Part of the problem surrounds the animal control department. It used to be where the calls for vicious animals come in from Greene County but not anymore. All the county's calls go straight to the sheriff's office when an animal attacks because of budget cuts. "It's been a little overwhelming," said Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott, "We had two calls just yesterday." But because he's the sheriff and not an animal control officer, he says his deputies have no choice when it comes to a vicious animal. "We really are not capable of capturing an animal, the only thing we can do is kill one if it's being aggressive or cause an issue where it's actively biting someone," said Arnott. It's a job the sheriff's department has been voluntarily doing after the county cut funding for animal control. It's a job the sheriff calls a dis-service to the community. Full Article … [Read more...]
Detroit man has arm amputated following pit bull attack, sues owners.
Detroit, MI -- The owners of a dozen dogs that attacked Steven Constantine on Oct 2 are not currently facing any criminal charges, but are being sued, based on a Friday filing by Mark Bernstein of the Sam Bernstein Law Firm. The lawsuit says the pack of nearly 12 dogs, some of them puppies according to Detroit police, attacked Constantine on the 4500 block of Pennsylvania and "began eating him alive." They're owned by Derrick and Elizabeth C. Felton, according to the lawsuit. When police arrived, they shot and killed one of the dogs, causing the remaining to flee into the nearby home from where they'd escaped. Police and animal control workers removed and euthanized the dogs, described as pit bulls. Constantine lay in the hospital in critical condition. He is recovering but had his left arm amputated, underwent multiple surgeries to his limbs and torso, and is without use of his right hand and foot, which suffered paralysis and may also be amputated, … [Read more...]
Dog owner gets at least 15 years in fatal mauling.
LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) — The morning walk that would be the last of Pamela Devitt's life was more than just a routine stroll. It was part of the retiree's effort to keep fit for her golden years with a young grandson. The fitness regimen and the plan to move out of state with her husband to be closer to their son's family ended tragically when four pit bulls attacked, biting her more than 150 times. On Friday, the dogs' owner saw his future plans evaporate when he was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court to 15 years to life in prison. The rare second-degree murder conviction in a dog mauling had come because Alex Jackson repeatedly ignored complaints about his dogs from horseback riders, neighbors and a postman. Prosecutors said he was well aware of the danger they posed and did nothing about it. Devitt, 63, hardly stood a chance when the dogs leaped over Jackson's fence and attacked her in May 2013, on the home stretch of her two-mile walk in the high desert town of … [Read more...]
Third dog bite of his career doesn’t stop Saginaw meter reader from doing his job.
SAGINAW, MI — A week after Saginaw water-meter reader Dave Delgado suffered his third career dogbite, he is back in action. "I'm not afraid of dogs," said Delgado, 49. "As far as do I worry about dogs now more than before? Yeah, I do. But I can't let it get to me. And I don't. That's the attitude I've got to have." Delgado observed the injury as he was walking away from reading a water meter at a home on South Fourth Street. "Something wasn't right," Delgado said. When he pulled up his pant leg to take a look, the Saginaw city employee looked down to see a bite mark on his thigh from a pit bull mixed-breed dog that had charged him while he was at the house on South Fourth, on Saginaw's East Side, Friday, Aug. 15. Delgado said he had seen the dog while approaching the home and asked the residents to put the animal away so he could approach. Eventually, he said, a man came out of the house to hold onto the dog. "He had a problem trying to hold the dog," Delgado said. "Finally he got … [Read more...]