Pitbull Attack At Vancouver Dog Park

[PlayboyPenguin]

This happened almost a year ago now but the matter is settled now so I feel free to talk about it. Until yesterday we where not sure whether or not the owner of the attacked dog was still dealing with the owners of the pitbull.

We were walking our dog at the dog park on NE 18th in Vancouver. It is an off leash park so our dog was a few paces ahead of us. We had noticed a couple had a grey pitbull with them off leash. As we walked past them the pitbull was in a group with some other dogs including a collie pup that our dog had played with earlier. The pitbull started to get surrounded and started acting a bit jittery so I picked up our dog, said something to the owner of the pitbull and walked away. The owner blew me off. We had not walked 10 yards and we hard the yelps. The pitbull had latched onto the collie pup. I immediately turned and ran back and tackled the pitbull. The owner was just yanking at it's collar and the lady that owned the collie pup was trying in vain to grab the dogs. I managed to pin the pitbull under my full weight just as it started to thrash. It still would not let go of the pup so I started choking it as hard as I could. It finally let go. By this time my partner was also helping hold down the pitbull. After control was established we realized I, my partner, another bystander, and the owner of the collie pup had all been bit during the scuffle. The pit had whiled up and bit me on the arm as he let go of the pup and my partner and the lady on the hands. We were all bleeding pretty good.

The owner of the pitbull immediately grabbed his dog and started to leave. I went after him and told him to stay until police arrived because we were calling them. he told me to F'off and got in his truck. I started taking pics of his license plate and vehicle with my cell phone as he loaded his dog in the back and then walked back over to where everyone else was at.

The pitbull owner and his girlfriend sat in the car for awhile and then he got out and came back over to us and started yelling at me for choking his dog and told me if I had minded my own business he could have handled it. This pissed me off and I told him it was my business because I was there when it happened. I lost my cool a little and also told him if the dog had bit my dog or my son I would be kicking his *** right now and not just talking to him. Then I said something I should not have said. I told him I was about 2 seconds from shooting his dog if it had not released the pup. I know I should not have said that but I completely meant it. In fact I was about to have my partner take my gun from my holster as I held the dog right as it released.

The pitbull owner then started to get really pissed and started yelling at me and poking at me saying how he would have beat my *** and sued me if I had shot his dog. This made me lose it even more and I got in his face and told him if he yelled at me one more time or if his finger touched me I was putting him on the ground now. That seemed to settle him down a bit and I told him I wanted to see vaccination records and his dog license. He claimed he had them but not with him. he then gave me his personal information.

At that time we called the police and he decided to leave. My partner is a nurse so he was seeing to the wounds of everyone. None were very serious. Even the pup was not very bad. Just some puncture wounds on it's snout. Still, the owner was in complete shock. We told her it was not bad at all and that the blood just made it look a lot worse. I told her some of the blood was not even from her dog and that he was going to be fine.

Well, the police never showed after an hour of waiting but they did call us later and I gave them the guys plate number and his personal information. Turned out he was driving his mother-n-law's car but the information he gave us was correct. The officer contacted him and then called me back the next day to let me know the owner had promised to provide health records and pay medical bills. We had none but the collie owner had rushed her dog to the ER. He asked if we wanted to press charges and I said no.

If you managed to make it through this long story my question is this...would you have shot the pitbull if it had not released? I know I should not have told his owner I would have done it, but I sure would have. Was I out of line getting involved?

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[nwg19]

I told the owner of two young shepherds who ripped my old 12 year old shepherd mix up that IF they got on her again(he was refusing to leash them or take control of them at all)that I would shoot them. I also told the police that I had said this when they arrived. I figured I should tell them before the other dude did.
The officer had no problem with my threat and said if they attack you have the right to defend your pet.
The officer involved made the guy pay my vet bill. She had some minor surgery to close the wounds, came to around $600.00.
He didn't call animal control. I should have. I have since learned that in Washington if an animal attacks a domestic pet or a person it is required to be impounded and evaluated.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

I told the owner of two young shepherds who ripped my old 12 year old shepherd mix up that IF they got on her again(he was refusing to leash them or take control of them at all)that I would shoot them. I also told the police that I had said this when they arrived. I figured I should tell them before the other dude did.
The officer had no problem with my threat and said if they attack you have the right to defend your pet.
The officer involved made the guy pay my vet bill. She had some minor surgery to close the wounds, came to around $600.00.
He didn't call animal control. I should have. I have since learned that in Washington if an animal attacks a domestic pet or a person it is required to be impounded and evaluated.

From what the owner of the collie pup tells us now, the guy got cited for failing to control a dangerous animal or something like that and had some other hoops to jump through. The worst part is she said her vet bill ended up over $3,500.00 in total. I guess those 24hr emergency vets are not cheap. I think she said it was DoveLewis.

PS: The collie pup is full grown now and you would never know anything happened.

 

[pchewn]

If a pit bull attacks some other dog and is not letting go, I don't think I would shoot the pit bull.

If a pit bull attacks MY dog and is not letting go, I THINK I would shoot it -- but maybe not. I think you could get in a lot of trouble for this.

If a pit bull attacks me or another person and is not letting go I would shoot it.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

If a pit bull attacks some other dog and is not letting go, I don't think I would shoot the pit bull.

If a pit bull attacks MY dog and is not letting go, I THINK I would shoot it -- but maybe not. I think you could get in a lot of trouble for this.

If a pit bull attacks me or another person and is not letting go I would shoot it.

Nope, you are perfectly within your rights to shoot the dog if it is presenting an immediate threat to any other domestic pet or person. The officer and I even discussed it in length. I was not going to let it kill that poor puppy. If a dog had to die that day I already decided which one it was going to be...as much as I hate to harm any animal.

 

[pokerace]

I was reading some where that in Oregon you can't shoot a dog for attacking your dog,but you can shoot if he is attacking you..

 

[cowboygraphics]

If saving your dog (canine family member) then yes, but someone else's dog makes it much more challenging. Not allowed (qualified) to shoot rogue dogs that attack other people's dogs - there is a city dept that is supposed to take care of that - although they would probably not get there in time to help the collie pup. Then you can complicate it more with all the "what if's": you pull to shoot the dog, the owner grabs you/the gun and someone else (collie owner) gets shot - that's on you. Brave/good job for all: you, partner, collie owner AND another bystander getting in there/putting hands in a dog fight - big fail for mouthy dog owner ... on multiple fronts.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

I was reading some where that in Oregon you can't shoot a dog for attacking your dog,but you can shoot if he is attacking you..

I know that is not true here, and I think it is not true in Oregon either but I am not sure. Most states allow for the disposal of a dangerous animal if it is posing an immediate and clear threat. Animals are considered property under the law and receive little true legal protection.

 

[DeM3n]

Hmm... attacking another animal can be pretty sketch for me and would definitely make me think twice about shooting it. On the other hand, attacking another human being, whether it was myself, my family, or a stranger, I'd probably put it down.

 

[mjbskwim]

All this is why I don't go to dog parks and would never carry at one.
Just too many opportunities to shoot dogs and their stupid owners.
I went to one in Lakewood for years and watched people yak as their dogs got in fights.And me pulling the dogs apart.
I could stand there and see a fight about to happen,then tell the people what was going to transpire.
And yeah you always got the 'whatever' just as the fights broke out. People don't actually watch the dogs' behavior.They don't see when this will happen. Sorry but it is mostly with pit bull owners,making themselves truly believe that their dog is different and they know how to train their pit bull.

I always tell new dog and especially puppy owners not to take their new dog to the dog parks until they have a better understanding of dogs and can see what is going on in the 'pack'. A new puppy can be ruined when something like this happens.

I was out one day and a guy,who couldn't handle his little aggressive dog,had his red nose pit try to play with a 5yo dobbie,who was owned by a young girl who thought she knew everything.
The dobbie didn't want to play.The pit insisted. The fight started.The two owner didn't have a clue as what to do.
I had to hold my girl cause she wanted to get in there. I saw what was going to happen too.It was pretty obvious

I just quit going because of this type of thing happening. I get way too over heated and start yelling at the stupid owners.
Just not worth it.

And if ANY dog latches on to my dog,not attack but latches on as to kill my dog,I will kill it without hesitation.Same with anyone's dog if it gets attacked while I'm there.
I have a knife for this though.

Someone asked me if my rot will protect me from other dogs. I told them she thinks (used to at least) she's a bad a$$ and I control her,so if another dog wants to attack me,that's it's problem.

Glad you were good enough to jump in there.Most dog owners won't do it for their own dogs.

 

[rufus]

I hate dog parks. This kind of thing happens far too often.

You handled things just about as well as possible given the situation. Well done sir. It would be easy to say "I woulda just shot the dog", but being in a dog park with people & dogs around that maybe would not have ended very well. As you know, when carrying it's best to avoid trouble if possible. You absolutely did the right thing by saving the pup. If you did not get involved, things for the lady and her pup would have been much worse. I could not stand by and watch a dog get mauled, especially a puppy. Aw who am I kidding, if it did not let go I would have shot it.

 

[PBinWA]

I hate it when people bring dogs to off-leash dog parks and then keep the leash on the dog. The leashed dogs are always flaking out - I think it has some psych issue with dogs and it doesn't matter what the breed is. If you can't trust your dog off-leash then don't bring them to an off-leash park. Go walk them in a regular park.

I wouldn't use my gun unless a human life was being threatened - it's not worth the potential legal hassles.

 

[Redcap]

Was I out of line getting involved?

Yes, you were.

 

[Trlsmn]

It would have been awesome if you choked the dog out and then the owner too!

 

[Mark W.]

here in Oregon if a dog even runs across a field that has live stock in the owner of the live stock can shoot it for chasing Livestock. There are signs around in Marion county along the road stating that.

 

[Siglvr]

It would have been awesome if you choked the dog out and then the owner too!

I never got my jaw back in position when it dropped after reading he jumped on the pit bull. Wow. Stones. I want PPB with me at the dog park, no need for any other weapon. Good on your for doing the right thing and helping that lady out. I might have gone for the kick in the balls thing, but a pit starting to go nutz is more than I'd be in for.

 

[netsecsys]

If you managed to make it through this long story my question is this...would you have shot the pitbull if it had not released

I would have shot any dog if it had not released.

Was I out of line getting involved?

Ask the owner of the dog you saved this question and you will have my answer.

 

[mjbskwim]

Yes, you were.

BULL PH u CKI NG S...H..I..T (BFS if it goes to bubblegums)

These stupid MOFOs go to the dog parks and don't watch there dogs,let alone know anything about dogs except they eat and poop.
WAY WAY too many times I HAVE HAD to INVOLVE myself to stop bodily harm to another animal.

You are probably own of the pit owners that like to test other dogs right?

The guy was right in the other thread,you really don't have much good to say about anything do you?

 

[mjbskwim]

I never got my jaw back in position when it dropped after reading he jumped on the pit bull. Wow. Stones. I want PPB with me at the dog park, no need for any other weapon. Good on your for doing the right thing and helping that lady out. I might have gone for the kick in the balls thing, but a pit starting to go nutz is more than I'd be in for.

Not taking anything away from PPB but you don't really think about it when a dog is attacking another dog. If you did you would never jump in
All dog bites hurt.

And a pit attack is the first I would stop. Then the owner

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

Not taking anything away from PPB but you don't really think about it when a dog is attacking another dog. If you did you would never jump in
All dog bites hurt.

And a pit attack is the first I would stop. Then the owner

There was very little time to think about it at all. Everyone else was just standing there so I had little choice. I knew he was going to start thrashing at any moment. Luckily the dog only weighed around 125-140lbs. I had him outweighed by a large amount. Still, I was surprised at how strong he was and how hard it was to choke him.