My Jack Russell Terrier Was Brutally Attacked By A Pitbull

[rich]

So here's the story guys and girls. My girlfriend was in petsmart last saturday with her 14 y/o sister while I was at work. She called me at about 1:30pm crying her eyes out saying "you need to come to petsmart right now roxy just got attacked by a fucking pitbull" I said "WHAT!?" and immediately dropped what i was doing and hauled major ass to the store. Got there within 3 minutes, did not stop for a light and pulled a 180 turn in the middle of the intersection as I made a wrong turn. All i cared about at the time was making sure my little puppy was ok. You guys have to understand, I love my dog more than anything. I am so glad I got her and I think she is the cutest thing ever. She is only 4 months old and to have her life ended this early would be devastating!

I get to petsmart and roxy is in intensive care at Banfield, a place side by side w/ petsmart, a vet's office. They are doing work to her as when the attack happened, Roxy immediately went into shock.

What happened was my girl put roxy down (on a leash) when they got to check out lanes to pay for her items, a pitbull (on leash as well) came around the corner and without warning just ATTACKED my dog, Roxy started to cry, yelp, you name it and the pitbull would not stop. My girlfriend said the guy who was holding the leash, also had another dog with him who actually bit the pitbull to try to get him to stop, she said it took 6-8 people just to get the dog off of mine and after that is when a Banfield member grabbed roxy and immediately started working on her.

We called Animal Control, they showed up and took a quick report as banfield was getting ready to release roxy to us so we could drive her to the pet hospital which was about 10-15 min away.

We left, hauled ass to the hospital and they took her quickly in. Roxy has/had about 6-7 punctures on her face and chest and abdomen. Her breathing was very rapid so they had to put her on oxygen and kept her overnight. THANK GOD the punctures did not go through to her lungs but she does however have bruises all over her lungs which is why she's breathing fast. They took her off oxygen at 6am and she was doing fine. My girlfriend finally picked up Roxy at about 12:30pm on sunday. Sunday and monday roxy was very mopey, just sleeping and resting to get better.

Yesterday my girlfriend gets a phone call from Banfield saying we have an unpaid bill that needs to be paid within 2 weeks. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! Bill that shit to petsmart or the pitbull's owners! This pissed us off and upset us very much so we emailed every newschannel and paper we could think of. WPBF came out quickly and was here for an hour with my girls, doing an interview story.

Today my girlfriend gets a call from the Dangerous Dog Investigator saying she has deemed the dog not that dangerous and that the owners will be getting a warning letter. UM WHAT!? If it weren't for the hospital able to save her life she would be DEAD, are you still going to write a letter?

Now we aren't saying ban pitbulls or put that dog down, but we want some type of policy changed. Big dogs dominate smaller dogs. Yes I know that smaller dogs can however bite people and they do attack BUT THE OWNER CAN CONTROL THEM. If this monster of a dog was NOT let in the store this would have NEVER happened. But because of negligence it did and we are furious. At least a sign on petsmart saying "enter with your dogs at your own risk" or something. The thing that gets us is that pisses us off the most are people saying "you wouldn't be making this public if it was a golden retriever or a german shepherd", oh yes we would.

What if this was a child, you, your child that this happened to? If they didn't allow big dogs in the store and if for some reason a small dog did attack you or them, at least you have a fighting chance to get them off of you. My dog had no chance at all, neither did my girlfriend, which is why it took numerous people to get the pitbull off of mine.

Right now we are going after petsmart as we can't afford these bills. We already have paid almost $1200 in bills and we don't even know how much banfield wants! This is ridiculous. We still have to have her checked up at least twice a week. Yes Roxy is healing but her punctures on her chest seem to be swelling up and sticking out more.

That is all I have to say for now. I'm sure there's gonna be some negative comments on this but everyone is entitled to their own opinion so fair warning, if you piss me off, I WILL be an asshole to whatever you said.

Check out the links I have posted below of this developing (and not over) story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBPxYAKlqY0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82tfhLXm0iY

http://www.wpbf.com/news/23137926/detail.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36474993/ns ... _beach_fl/
http://interactive.sun-sentinel.com/new ... -petsmart/
http://world-news.newsvine.com/_news/20 ... ter-attack
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=w ... ews?ref=ts

[Mike]

Sorry to here man! I have a couple of big dogs but, they wouldn't hurt a flea. Everything will be all right just make sure you call the petsmart Headquarters asap. That way they can have the local store get them the information because you will have to deal with folks outside of the local store.

[alpha]

Sorry to hear!  Dogs are part of the family, so I understand how you feel.  Big dogs will always be big dogs.  Pitbulls have always been known as an aggressive dog, but it also depends on how the owner trains the dog.  But there is that risk that the dog will go off and attack, no matter how well behaved the dog is.

It's unfortunate that attacks like this happen.  I do think that the owner is ultimately responsible.

And the argument that if you had a bigger dog, you wouldn't make it public is ridiculous.  I don't care what kind of dog I have.  If my dog were to be attacked, I would make it public if I were being treated like you are.

Best of luck! and I hope Roxy recovers quickly!

[Milan]

So sorry to hear about your dog!  I hope that she will make it through and have no complications.  Best of luck with everything!

[InFuMoUs]

Sorry to hear about your terrible ordeal. I hope Roxy makes a speedy recovery. It pisses me off when I hear stories like this involving Pitbull Terriers. As for Pitbulls, they're not all bad. I had a 5 month old and she was a big ol scaredy cat. I for one, think the owner is to blame for letting it escalate to the level. When owning a Pitbull you GOTTA be on ya P's and Q's at all times. As for the bill, I think the owner of the Pitbull should be held responsible. I hope you got their info and hope everything works out for ya'll.

[timot_one]

That really sucks Rich.  Even though it's no compensation, I thing that PetSmart and the owner of the pitbull should be paying those bills.  I'd take Mike's advice and go to the Petsmart headquarters, then I'd also take the pitbull owner to court to cover all the medical bills.  I don't think the pitbull owner should walk away scott free without some sort of penalty.  His dog did cause this problem.

[clapton924]

I'm sorry to hear about your dog, and I know you are upset, however, you can't really blame the pitbull, the owner, or Petsmart.  Dogs are animals, and no matter how "trained" you think they are, or how well you think you know a dog's personality....they are still animals and their behavior can be (as your GF witnessed) unpredictable.  I hear stories all the time about someone who had "the nicest" non-aggressive dog, and then one day it mauls a child. Something like 20 kids a year in America are killed by dog attacks.  

I think its also fair to say that many larger dogs do not like unfamiliar small dogs. Too often owners of small dogs think its "cute" to have their little poodle "play" with a big dog at the park...and I cant help but to think about what might happen.  My mom saw a situation like this growing up...someone had a big German Shepard and someone brought their little chiwawa over to "play". The owner of the Shepard said "my dog doesn't like other dogs, please move away". Soon after the Shepard had the chiwawa by the neck, and killed it.

[Icebox]

i own a pittbull and she is a complete sweetheart, it is all in the training as previously stated. when it comes to who is liable, it doesnt matter if it was an unpredictable dog, the pittbull started the confrontation and his owner is responsible for the result of what happened. if you take him to court you will receive full compensation and the dog will be deemed a dangerous dog. its apparent that it can be controlled in a public arena. ive seen numerous events like this before and that is always the outcome.

[v6sicksspeed]

damn rich - sorry to hear that.  dogs are a part of the family so i know how you feel.  ive got a beagle and dont know what id do if anything like this happened to her.

did you or your girl get any info of the pitbull owner?  ultimately i feel that it is his responsibility and if it comes down to it you should take him to small claims court.  not to be a douche but i dont think that petsmart is really at fault because they are just a pet store - obviously you are supposed to bring your pets in with you, but the owner should have known that if he has an aggressive animal NOT to bring it in.

i know this from experience.  i got my dog (shes mostly a beagle but really a mutt) from a shelter 3 years ago (when she was 1) and she was living on the streets down in Tennessee before i got her.  she's the most gentile and loving dog with people, but she is EXTREMELY aggressive towards other animals, likely because she had to hunt and defend herself against other street dogs for the first year of his life.  for this reason i DON'T take her into Petsmart with me and i also don't take her to dog parks.  This owner must have known of some history of aggression with his dog (regardless if its a pitbull or not) and should not be bringing that dog around other strange dogs.

[sherker55]

Damn Rich, sorry to hear this man.  I partly agree with most of what everyone else said.  Mainlythough:  reporting to the media, contacting petsmart headquarters, and small claims court.  I think pittbulls get a bad rep, but if the shoe fits...  I have a mid sized dog (55 pounds) and if anything like this happened to him (Blue) I'd take the same action.  However that pitt would be getting treated for some bruised or broken ribs...I heard somewhere that if a pitt bull is attacking the only way to "distract" them or break their attention is to kick them in the ribs as hard as you can.  Sounds cruel I know, but it may be the only way in certain situations.  best of luck for Roxie, and of course a speedy recovery.

[InFuMoUs]

I heard somewhere that if a pitt bull is attacking the only way to "distract" them or break their attention is to kick them in the ribs as hard as you can.  Sounds cruel I know, but it may be the only way in certain situations.  best of luck for Roxie, and of course a speedy recovery.

Noooo I dont think kicking them in the ribs would be a good idea. You'd probably just piss it off even more. Maybe unless every other attempt fails, but normally loud noises like banging a garbage can would do the trick or using a break stick to release the dogs grip. Every dog is different though so the loud noise trick wouldn't even phase some depending on how dog aggressive they are.

[rich]

ok i gotta add something to this dealing with pitbulls...i honestly think they are naturally aggressive...i was at the beach today with a friend bodyboarding and after we took a break, we started to walk back towards the water...i noticed a guy with his pitbull playing around and yeah the dog seemed kinda cool, wasnt bothering anybody....so i say to my friend "man if that fuckin thing ever came towards me i'd kick it in the head or slam it with my board"........and what happens?....the dog runs STRAIGHT towards me and i grab my board, ready to swing at it and the owner calls the dog's name like 3 times before he comes within inches of almost jumping at me...i just said one thing to him "get that fuckin dog off the beach before it hurts someone NOW!"

[NWINNIE34]

i have a pure blue pit.... shes an absolute doll, great around people, loves kids, super gentle... but when shes outside around strange dogs she definately tends to be cautious and alert at all times, really testy, its def the breed, they are extremely protective of their owners and they DO NOT like being scared, sends them into protect mode

sorry to hear about your dog, glad it made it out of the pet hospital in decent condition, get the credit card or info from the pitbul owners, its a win win situation, you cant lose it

[ibcnunv]

My trained Pitt Bulls are the some of the best dogs i have ever raised.  Ask Arie about MAMA, i took her to the 2008 Mega Meet because he said he had a fear of Pitt Bulls so i figured MAMA would be the perfect Pitt to show him the owners are the ones that make the dog.

look at this video of mama with a cat;


Mama and a puppy i was going to buy in PA


Mama helping Misha;


Rich i now what you're feeling but the owners of that dog should be taken to court or jail for not controlling their animal.   If i know my dog will want to harm everything and anything i would never take it out to a public place.

[rich]

just an update.

my dog is doing okay. she's still on her 3 medications which we have to keep giving her until it's all gone. shes healing but the cuts on her stomach are still there which are gonna take a bit to heal. we haven't let her play with ANY dogs in our neighborhood because i think she is still a little wary of doing it. anytime we take her out and she sees a dog, we pick her up and go the other day. she does this thing now where she barks if she sees someone or a dog but its only 1 bark. everyone in our neighborhood saw it on the news and was so worried about her but now they are happy she's doing okay.

my girlfriend got a call from petsmart corp saying they would pay the banfield bill and they need her to sign something. our lawyer said do not sign anything because it could be a trick saying to authorize charges against us. all she is going to go do is get a copy of that and give it to the lawyer and he has to keep doing his work and present a case. basically i THINK we are trying to get petsmart to pay that bill and the other bills are going towards the owner. because the dog has no previous attacks that are known, dangerous dog investigation has already made a decision saying they are getting a warning and that is it. they made their decision so fast which was BS but whatever we're not stopping til all this is paid and done!