The New Normal

In the short time since SRUV first addressed the NH SPCA earlier this week, more incidents involving these dogs have come to our attention. 

NH SPCA

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SRUV recently addressed a series of posts to the New Hampshire SPCA. The subject was the adopting out of fighting breeds. As part of the series SRUV  listed a number of dog attacks, all committed by recently adopted pit bulls which had been placed in family homes by animal shelters and humane societies.

The current news is once again filled with accounts of attacks by rescued pit bulls.

One of the more trenchant accounts is of the attack and fatal mauling of a 10-year old Yorkshire Terrier named Zoar. Zoar's human companions, Alda and Rikk Crill of Longmont Colorado, were walking their two Yorkies when a large pit bull charged and ripped Zoar's chest open.

Animal control ticketed the owner of the pit bull, Courtney Ebert-Hein,  on "suspicion of failure to control an animal and possession of an aggressive animal."  The pit bull "happily greeted animal control officers while still covered in Zoar's blood," and was returned to the safety and comfort of his home. Ebert-Hein, the mother of two children, said her family plans to keep the pit bull. She would like to apologize to the Crills.

We're sorry Courtney, but in this case saying you're sorry would not suffice.

The pit bull had been adopted from the Longmont Humane Society three months ago.  Current news also carries accounts of attacks by recently adopted pit bulls in Gainesville, Florida and Elgin, Illinois.

Liz Smokowski, the executive director of the LHS, said that the pit bull's record shows that she had a good record of playing with other dogs. Ebert-Hein, on the other hand, told officers that she had been warned that the dog had been involved in a fight at the shelter.

Smokowski also claimed that humane society staff counseled the new owners that the pit bull must remain on a leash. "It is important that you take precautions," she said. "This is why there are leash laws in effect."

Leash laws? Do these people realize what they sound like when they say stuff like this? Has she been living in a cave? All Ms Smokowski would have to do is browse the internet for five minutes to learn how frequently pit bulls break restraints, crash through windows, invade homes, and break through fences, so they can pursue an attack. She can, in fact, read numerous stories to this effect here on the pages of SRUV.

This is not the first time that LHS has been in the news. Last year, following a pit bull attack in a nearby town, it was the the LHS director of behavior and training, Aimee Sadler, who cautioned readers that the attack "doesn't mean that people should be wary of all pit bulls."

On the very same day the Longmont attack was in the news, a pit bull entered a yard and killed a cat in Deltona Florida. The animal control officer who responded to the scene there "found both owners at fault because both animals were unrestrained."  The victim was a cat in its own front yard.

Is this the new normal?

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News Source: Pit Bull attacks 10-year old Yorkie; Longmont Times-Call
News Source: Pit bull enters yard, kills cat, Daytona Beach News Journal

Related post: NH SPCA

See Also: Today's pit bull attacks in the US