“Like a hand grenade, (Pit Bulls) are inert until you pull the pin. Once the pin is pulled, there is nothing you can do to stop the explosion.” —Gary Wilkes
Last Wednesday, the front page of the Union leader featured Janis Milne who, while out walking her 8 year-old lab named Sue, Monday afternoon, was viciously attacked by what the article describes as a, “Pit Bull.” Milne’s Black lab named Sue suffered serious injuries , as did Milne. This brought to the forefront for me some years ago being attacked by full-sized Collie, chewing me up pretty good. Minding my own business riding along the public street on my bicycle, I was knocked off my bike, and now being mauled by “Lassie.” Anybody who has suffered such an event will tell you it leaves you wincing.
But, what makes this story so compelling is the breed of dog that was attacked…A “Lab.” we all know the Lab breeds…It is universally accepted that the Labradors are docile, friendly and gentle. Labs are considered a breed that would never harm anyone or anything. The Pit Bull on the other hand, is widely considered a vicious, unpredictable violent predator that can become dangerous and unstable. Some even go so far as to assert the Pit bull, also called a Staffordshire Terrier is a preferred choice of drug dealers and gangsters. Most Insurance companies will cancel or not even insure a homeowner who owns a Pit Bull.
The article also tells us that Dennis Denbow, the dog’s owner, had adopted the dog from a shelter, all of this grand narrative making front page news for no other reason than Denbow’s dog being a “Pit Bull.” It is fair to assume Mr. Denbow had never contemplated that his dog would do this. Anybody who owns a Pit Bull will tell you, “Not this dog.”
Dog bites are unpleasant for everybody concerned. I should know. I am presently involved in litigation over the territorial nipping of my Jack Russell Terrier, who is now deceased. My situation is vastly different from the Denbow family’s, however. My dog was a small sixteen-pound dog who would nip and scurry away, barely breaking the skin, not a dog who would engage in a sustained, potentially lethal attack. My dog never bit anybody off of my property and often times he was provoked, teased or harrassed. Not to minimize the fact that I owned a biting dog, but according to a recent WMUR report of the attack on Ms. Milne and Sue, the attack lasted nearly 30 minutes and took the hard-fought intervention of many neighbors and passers-by to terminate the attack.
Powerful is the dog who keep up a thirty-minute attack while a bunch of people swarm to fend him off. I am not even sure we can begin to empathize with the panic and terror that Ms. Milne felt during the attack.
I have a German Shorthaired Pointer, a breed whose temperament is analogous to the Lab breeds. She is friendly, outgoing and loves people. I walk her on leash from time to time and given where I live, the reality of pit bulls at large is a stark reality.
Long ago I decided that I would not tolerate a dog attack on me, my family or my dog, much less taking 30 minutes to stop it. Aggression of this nature, if ever encountered will be met with the force of a 158-grain .357 magnum hollow-point bullet, the very split second I can safely get the shot off.
Don’t be lulled into thinking that is an easy solution because putting a bullet into a vicious attacking dog also may be putting a bullet into somebody’s “beloved pet.” Either way you have to choose between the two uglies: The “ugly” where you or your dog could end up dead or maimed…or the emotional “ugly” of the dog owner you now face after putting a bullet in his or her family pet. And just imagine how that could escalate. At any rate, the instant concern should be ones’ life and safety.
Mr. Denbow will likely face my same fate of litigation to follow, because he miscalculated or otherwise underestimated the potential behavior of his Pit Bull. It is an uncomfortable spot to be in. Nor is it lost on us that this “vicious-acting dog” is also a family pet, a cherished one, in all likelihood. The Denbows probably feel absolutely horrible about this. It’s probably stressing them out, let alone the potential legal fallout that will likely come. It sucks to be bitten….and it sucks to be the owner of a dog that bites.
I really feel for Ms. Milne and her dog Sue. It is a horrible thing to be walking along for a daily constitutional with the family pet and then be attacked by a Pit Bull. This should have never happened. I truly hope Ms. Milne and “Sue” heal well and enjoy good future health.
