Pit bulls hurt 3, one critically, in Indy

Three pit bulls running loose attacked and injured three men, one critically, in Independence about 6 p.m. Thursday, police said. Police found the dogs and shot them.
Responding to a call, police found the victims at 23rd and Kingshighway, just west of Lee's Summit Road. They had all been attacked within a block of each other:

• Man attacked while walking. Witness drives dogs off with a tire iron. Victim taken to Independence Regional Hospital in serious condition.
• Man attacked just southeast of 23rd and Kingshighway while mowing grass in a field. Taken to Liberty Hospital in critical condition with extensive bites to the arms, upper body, face and head.
• Man attacked at South and Haden while mowing his lawn. Drives himself to the Medical Center of Independence in serious condition.

Police said they found the animals in the 1300 block of East Sea.
"The dogs were still running loose and appeared to be aggressive when confronted by the officers," Sgt. John Passiglia of the traffic unit wrote.
The dogs' owners are unknown. Independence Animal Control has the carcasses.

News release

Previous posts:
Guilty: Another pit bull owner
Was pit bull attack child abuse?

National Dog-Bite Prevention Week  - third week in May, sponsored by CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Dog-bite ER stats from CDC, 2001
CDC Bibliography of Dog Bites

Some well-received new rules for commenting.
1. Comments must be signed. Unsigned comments will be deleted.
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3. No profanity or vulgarity, racially or sexually offensive speech.
4. THINK before you comment and please stay on topic.

Comments

[Sid Vicious]

Damn! How'd they get out! My meth lab is unprotected!

[lr]

Pet ownership is a privilege, not a right, and it appears once again there were terribly irresponsible idiot owners who probably used the dogs for fighting and protecting their drug manufacturing. The dogs must've gotten out when they were bringing in fresh meth making supplies. I doubt if anyone will fess up to ownership of course. And these poor victims were totally minding their own business and doing nothing wrong. Hope the owners are found--wonder how'd they like a few bites taken out of them?

[G]

If i saw a gang of pitbulls charging towards me, while I was mowing the lawn......I can't think of a better weapon to be standing behind!

CHOP! Puppy parts all over the lawn!

[Theresa M]

Not just drug dealers own pit bulls. Yes, they were probably fighting dogs. I know of several pit bulls who wouldn't harm anything. It's all in the upbringing of these animals and whoever owned them did not raise them properly.

[Ian Yeager]

And this is how Pit's get their bad name, which is extremely unfortunate.

[John]

It's sad to see these kinds of stories - I consider them to be the final result of a series of bad decisions. Irresponsible breeders producing puppies from poor stock without having responsible, qualified owners waiting before the litter is born.

It happens to "flavor of the month" dogs - a certain breed will become popular, attracting bad breeders and bad owners, with an eventual bad outcome.

Doberman Pinschers, Chows, Rottweilers, Pit Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers, Shar Pei and American Bulldogs have all gone through the phase. I'm just naming a few.

The best thing that can happen to a breed is that it remains relatively unknown and only popular among responsible owners and breeders willing to invest the time and money into doing things correctly.

One of the worst things that can happen is for a breed to attract breeders who try to make money from puppy sales without bothering to show and finish their breeding stock, and who are willing to sell intact animals to the general public.

The poor victims have to live with this trauma now, and the perpetrating morons will continue to abuse their animals, each other and the ususpecting public.

Say NO to backyard breeders, puppy mills and pet shops. If a breeder isn't nosey about your and your intentions, something is wrong.

[Mike]

Greg, there was an incident a few months ago, in the Northland, where a little boy was killed by the family pit bull. Do you have any follow-up info on the story? Perhaps you could reprint the original story.
When I moved back to this area a couple of years ago, I was surprised to learn KC has very little regulating pit bulls. Many of the surrounding towns do. Almost everywhere I have lived has regulations in regards to pit bulls.
I know pit bull owners will jump up and tell me how mean and wrong I am, but it seems to me pit bulls are different than other dogs. They have been bred for generations for their aggressiveness, it may be in their genes. Most dogs are very patient with little children, amazingly so. If they bite, they nip at a leg or arm to scare the person off. Pit bulls go for the neck and groin, they clamp down and try to hang on. Anyone who has seen a dog kill a rabbit knows they clamp down on the rabbit's neck and choke the rabbit, hold down until they feel the rabbit's life leave. Pit bulls attack children much the same. They know when their attack is lethal. At the very least, KC and Independence need to catch up with the rest of the country and regulate pit bulls.
And Ir, your rant, your unjustified use of a story of a serious issue to jump into a rant about meth users, is completely counter-productive to anything constructive.

[SG]

I had to have a Labrador Retriever put down because it bit a neighbor. The dog had been socialized and until this incident a loving pet. Labrador's have a wonderful reputation and I will never understand what went wrong. The neighbor was a good friend and often visited the house and dog before the incident. Dogs that travel in packs I've heard behave differently (wilder) than when they are alone. And unfortunately, Pit Bulls have a reputation for unprovoked attacks. I'm glad no one was hurt more seriously than has already been reported. My sympathies to those victims.

[Vibiana]

My best friend is a professional dog breeder. She breeds only small dogs, and I tend to agree with her that "killer" breeds such as Pit Bulls, Presa Canarios, and Rottweilers should require a special license to breed, and should be very difficult for an average citizen to get. It wouldn't matter, because then a black market for the dogs would spring up; but at least there might be fewer of them.

[Crime Scene KC]

Mike,
Searching...haven't found it yet...are you sure this is a Kansas City area case?

Greg Reeves

[lr]

Mike, sorry if I offended you, but I wasn't "ranting" per se. That is the bad side of blogs,emails,etc.--more emotion can be read into them than was intended.

[kathy gragg]

This is just another in a long series of unfortunate situations. Dogs of any breed are not inheirently vicious. It is the owners of the dogs in question. Because of irresponsible and criminal minds who choose to fight dogs; beloved family pets are threatened. I do not approve of the shooting of the dogs in the most recent attacks. I feel Law enforcement and Aminal control officers need to be adequetly trained. To shoot a dog is inhumane. As one who has ownd a pitbuill and never had an issue I feel there needs to be stronger efforts to bust the dog fighters. The police seem to sit on these situations knowing who the fighters are for longer than is needed, it is the same with drug dealers. The police know who they are but want to get stronger charges so they "investigate" forever. If a citizen sees any supicious behavior related to dogs they should call and keep calling until the police act. How many animals must die or live in the horrible conditions these fighting dogs do before this is stopped? If your neighborhood is missing small pets on a regualer basis ie. cats, you can be sure a fighter lives near you, pick up the phone, silence is consent and innocent animals are sufering as a result.

[lr]

As a footnote, sad situation last year. Two streets over from me--an 81 year old friend of mine was walking his dog and two Pit Bulls charged at him and attacked his dog and my buddy. Put him in the hospital for a week. Later investigations found the two dogs are owned by two 21 year old guys who were training them for dog fights and they also deal drugs on the side. This is normally a very safe, calm neighborhood. Mike, this incident that happened right in my own neighborhood might better explain why my original posting.

[Steve]

I am a survivor of being attacked by a canary island mastiff when I was FIVE! I had 3 feet of stitches in my head, lost 30% of my blood, and the dog missed the major veins in my neck...so in short...it's a miracle I'm alive. People who live around or with children have no business owning these dogs. If one got loose in my neighborhood and was within viewing distance of my home, I'd be happy to put a 30.30 slug between its eyes. Owning a breed such as pit bulls, mastiff's, rotweiler, etc is just plain stupid. It's not a matter of IF they'll hurt someone, but WHEN.

Lock and load - Denny Crane

[Reminder Tim]

I wish a dog would attack me I would whop his asterisk!!! I is a shame people raise pit bulls this way because it does give the breed a bad name

(Tim: In the future, please sign your comments. Thanks, Greg Reeves)

[Sid Vicious]

Pit Bulls are bad dogs. Every pit bull in america should be put down.

When is the last time you heard of a border collie mauling? The closest headline you'll see is something like "roaving gang of wild border collies steals frisbee at local park!" oh the horror.

[Tim]

forgot to sign the above comment I'll do it on this one

(repost)
I wish a dog would attack me I would whoop his asterisk!!! I is a shame people raise pit bulls this way because it does give the breed a bad name

(np Tim :) Greg Reeves)

[Vibiana]

Okay, Tim, we get the message! lol

[Jason]

This happend in the area I grew up in which is about 4 blocks from were I live now.
I am a responsible pit bull owner! People who can turn such a wonderful breed into what these dogs became should be taken out and shot!! If all of the pit bull haters would take the time to read the history of pit bull the only domesticated American dog we have they would learn that these are family dogs!!
I was not until morons were allowed to own them did we start having these problems.
PUNISH THE CRIME NOT THE BREED
Jason

[Juls]

Jason - I agree whole heartedly with your comment. Amazes me how you hear "oh I love animals except Pits, Rots, etc". I had a boxer/pit mix and was too pregnant to keep the puppy. As I was going through it by myself. I wish on everything I had Mak back with me and my son. He went to a good home and I know is loved dearly. Saying the pit breed is all bad is stereotyping. Just like lumping all whites, blacks or hispanics as bad.

[Joe]

Listen to the police scanner audio clip of the incident here:

http://www.indepmo.com

Joe

[John]

I think statistics tell an interesting story.

The dog breed responsible for the most bites in America today is.... Labrador Retriever. The most popular breed in America today is... Labrador Retriever. Second most bites is.... Golden Retriever. Second most popular is... Golden Retriever. This trend is pretty consistent.

I don't agree that Pit Bulls ( or any other dog breed ) are inherently "bad" as one poster mentions. I would say that there are large numbers of very badly bred Pit Bulls, though, with correspondingly negligent owners and breeders.

Speaking in generalities, Pit Bulls can attract a certain type of owner that should NEVER be allowed to own a dog. There is a sociopathic class of society that is willing to provide these owners with Pit Bull puppies, the irresponsible breeder who is breeding dogs for all the wrong reasons. These breeders are the same type of people that would sell drugs to school children, nuclear arms to rogue states and anything else to make a buck regardless of the social consequences.

These same scum are completely willing to breed dozens of litters to sires and dams of known poor temperament and health, until the poor dogs literally die from overbreeding. They produce lines of dogs that have problems, should never have been produced and should never be allowed to reproduce. Then they breed these poor specimens to each other. This line breeding is normally done to select for desirable behavioral and health traits.

Bad breeders and puppy mills do it without regard for the consequences, or even worse select for aggresiveness or what normal people consider to be bad traits.

Missouri and Pennsylvania are well-known nests of puppy mill operations and bad dog breeding, and the influence of this business on our lawmakers is strong. I doubt we'll ever see any constructive action taken to require responsible breeding practices that take the social aspects into account.

[Biggin]

People that choose to purchase a dog need to understand that proper breeding is an important factor. This proper breeding is more expensive than just getting a dog here there or anywhere. Proper breeding helps to have a healty dog both mentally & physically. Stop buying dogs in such a casual manner. Do the research & pay up.

[Proud Owner]

From the sounds of it, MOST of you have never been around a Pit Bull. I OWN one, she is the sweetest thing on 4 legs. The problem is the good ones don't get any press. Only the bad. Mine sleeps with my children and gets beaten up by our cat. And I trust her 1000% around children and other animals. It is in how you raise the dog. My mother in law has a jack russel terror(yes i meant that on purpose) that I wouldn't let around ANYONE.
The problem is people do not take responsibily for how they raise them. Unfortunately they(drug dealers) do use them as "status" and fighting. I rescued one recently that was going to the dog ring-she was 4 months old when I got her. It's not the breed, it's the idiots breeding them.
Don't ban the breed, Ban the owner.

[Vibiana]

Proud Owner: my best friend, the dog breeder, calls Jack Russell Terriers and Miniature Pinschers "lawsuits waiting to happen." LOL

I don't mean to imply that I think all pit bulls are bad. My brother had one once, many years ago, and it was a very lovable, family friendly dog. But as others have pointed out, haphazard breeding and the ignorance -- or deliberate malice -- of owners have perverted the breed.

In my comment above, I only meant to state that access to dogs with aggressive natures such as Pit Bulls, Presa Canarios, and Rottweilers should be restricted, and permission to breed these dogs should be much more strictly regulated.

[Big Bad John]

What a joke----Its not always the breeders---sometimes its the breed---and by the way, for those of you who always blame it on the owners...why don't you read some stories about pit bulls who have been completely doesticized attacking children? They are all over the internet...Only scum who feel small raise this kind of animal..I wish the cities in our area would indiscriminately go around and send them to Dog/Killer heaven

[Big Bad John]

I got $100 bucks that says Champion of Stupidity and Biggin both breeed pit bulls and rotweilers

[Pam Orr]

We have a similar situation going on here. Since the moose population has dropped the Feds decided it was the wolfs fault. Just because more moose are killed by trains and cars than wolves, it's still the wolf's fault. So now they are sterilizing all of the wolves to control the wolves. At the same time they reduced the amount of wolves trappers could take. (Hmm if they let the trappers do their thing then there would be less wolves not NO wolves). Maybe in Kansas City they could sterilize the pitbull owners.

[sasquach]

While I agree that the majority of dog attacks start with stupid owners, there are situations where the "family pet" gets loose and mauls some kid. Sometimes it just happens, and when it does, the dog needs to be destroyed. If the dog just snapped, who's to say it won't happen again.

BTW, I could have sworn the "Life by the Numbers" in the FYI section of the star listed German Shepherds as the dogs statistically most likely to bite people.

[Juls]

BBJ - why not do away with all animals period. An earlier post stated stats that most dog bites come from retrievers.

[AC]

Labs and Goldens are the most popular pets in this country and bite more than any other breed? That stands to reason since there are more of them as pets. However, biting and mauling/killing are two totally different things! If labs and goldens were injuring people to the extent and frequency that pit bulls do, it would be in the media. Just doesn't happen!

The thing I have a hard time understanding is this: with so many breeds available, why take a chance with one that has a reputation for being vicious? There are many, many gentle breeds out there.

[Joe]

Pit Bulls are worthless, they shouldn't be in existance. You can cry all the proper breeding and all that other crap that you want, I don't buy it. Worthless, shoot 'em all.

[loving dog owner]

C'MON, everybody knows that chiwawas are the meanest most fierce dogs on the planet!And not because they are mexican [but that would explain a lot] bred, but because they are so small, that they get away with a lot.
I would not want a ninety pound chiwawa chasing me with a hungry eye!

[sasquach]

Joe, unless you're a sheep herder or have a beer wagon, all pets are worthless (outside of the fact that we wuv dem sooo much), so should we kill them all? Hell, I have a couple of worthless neighbors. Can I kill them too?

[Vibiana]

Screaming "yo quiero loving dog owner?" lmao

[Joe]

Look at it like this:

Responsible pet owners..............

Is the dog loose? Who's fault is that?
How did it get loose?

If the dog got loose on his own, you should be responsible. If the owner(s) let the animal out, you should be responsible.

As far as Independence having pit bulls?
They should ban them.

At least I know the pistol I have in my lockbox isn't going to run out the door, jump the fence and run down the road and start critically injuring people or killing innocent kids. If it had the ability to do so, I wouldn't own it.

What do you wanna bet the city puts this issue under a microscope now?

[joel]

dogs stink anyway. cats rule!!!

[Big Bad John]

put down the Pit Bulls, Rotweilers and the scum who own them

[KD]

I have only been around a pit bull once. The owner had trained him to climb a tree, bite a branch, and holds itself (eight feet off the ground) until commanded to stop. I was scared of the dog - the owner was pretty freaky too.

[DW]

This is crap about it being the breed. It's the owners fault. I live less than a block where this happened. Saw the cops, heard the shots, all that stuff.

In this neighborhood there are several people that get a dog and tie it up to a tree. After it's there, it's never walked, never played with, nothing. Just a circle of dirt where the dog runs around and around till the grass dies. There are also a few people who have 5 or 6 dogs in their yard that go crazy when people walk by their house. What kind of dog do you think that will make?

I have been around a lot of pit bulls in my life and they were all friendly. Those dogs were well socialized with people and other animals all the time and it was because they were treated well, excercised regularly, got to greet and play with visitors, just the stuff that most people who own a dog would do with one.

I have personally been bit by a dog, a german sheperd who walked up to me wagging it's tail and I ended up in the hospital with bites all up and down my arms. My son was bit by a dog, a cocker spaniel that was his grandma's dog. That bite came within an inch of his eye. My dad was a mailman for 30 some odd years and was bitten by several dogs, none of them pit bulls. You don't hear about any of those types of dog bites do ya? It's because people hear pit bull and think oh crap, it's a killer dog.

Independence should look into this, but not from a dog breed point of view, but from a dog ownership point of view. All those people who let their dogs roam free (and a lot do in this neighborhood including a not so friendly chow), keep their dogs chained up to a tree outside, or have too many dogs.

The state should look into the puppy millers which Missouri leads the nation in. Those kind of people breed dogs not for temperament or anything else, just to make a buck. Then they sell them to your local petstore who can't tell you the name of the breeder, how many litters a year that breeder does, or what kinds of things that breeder was looking for when they bred those two particular dogs.

Again, I have to say it's the responsibility of the breeder who breeds ANY kind of dog and goes right on down to the owner of ANY kind of dog.

[SteelBlues]

You can take the dog out of the jungle, but your can't take the jungle out of the dog. Called instinct.

[Proud Owner]

For all you Jerks and I mean it, who say Pits are useless, put them all down. Explain that to my children.......
It would break their hearts. The instance of the family pets attacking the children. Well the little boy recently that died in the rottie attack, it was supposedly the family pet. It was kept tied up in a garage. Not much of a pet. Again I state, it's how you raise them, treat them, SOCIALIZE them.
Like I said before, unless you have actually come into contact one. SHUT UP! Because it is another case of not knowing what you are talking about. I guess I am going to have to start taking mine door to door in all of the KC metro area to get some people to realize they are not all MEAN!

[Anonymous]

I work for a local Animal Control,

I feel that stronger enforcement laws are needed as well as education to the public. All breeds bite, all bites hurt. All it takes is a call to the proper authorities to put out a fire. Don't be scared to help out the authorities either, sign the forms and go to court. Get the bad out of the neighborhood. People need to take care of the animals and respect the nature of God's life.

Bless the victims and may the owners live in regret.

[dg]

While looking for a house we found a very nice one. Then we go out into the backyard and all you could hear was barking from the pit bull dog in a small pen, chained up a few houses down. No matter how much we loved the house and the price it wasn't worth living close enought to something that would kill my children on a Sunday afternoon. Yes I think there should be a ban on Pit Bull dogs. I can't walk around with my loaded guns so what's the difference owning something that's gonna kill.
DG

[DW]

Any dog kept in a small pen chained up would end up terrorizing the neighborhood if they got loose, not just pit bulls.

[K]

DW...this is true, but the damage is on a different level. A Pit has the potential to KILL a grown man mowing his lawn, a schnauzer doesn't.

[yo]

Pit bulls deserve their reputation. They do what they have been bread to do.

Pit bulls are one of the breeds that are still just wild animals. Roy (of Siegfried and Roy) thought that his 7 year old white tiger was docile too, until it nearly killed him.

[DGT]

The dog owners need to serve 10 years in prison for keeping dangerous animals and allowing dangerous animals to attack and injure others.

[SM]

Responsible dog breeders don't breed pit bulls to attack people. Responsible dog breeders recognize when one of the dogs that they are breeding has temperament issues and doesn't breed it. Responsible dog breeders socialize their puppies so that this doesn't happen and recognize when one of their puppies has issues and doesn't place that puppy.

Irresponsible dog breeders could care less what kind of dog is being bred as long as it looks somewhat kind of like the dog that they wanna sell. Irresponsible dog breeders don't do anything with a puppy other than keep it in a cage until the paycheck arrives.

Responsible dog owners socialize their animals and treat them humanely.

Irresonsible dog owners want that dog because people are afraid of it and do even more to that dog so that it acts just like people think it will.

The Roy example was a bad example. I'm pretty sure that they don't breed tigers for temperament and other such issues. I'm pretty sure that they breed those tigers so that they don't go extinct.

[Larry]

Uncontrolled dogs are a problem anywhere.

My new neighbor chained a few large dogs in his yard. They'd bark constantly. A few times they'd get loose and run through the neighborhood.

After a few months and many complaints, two of us shot the damn dogs.

The guy bought another dog and we killed it that day.

He moved out. Guess he didn't like his neighbors.