(CENTREVILLE, MD) – A Maryland state trooper arrived at a call in Queen Anne’s County today just in time to prevent a woman being attacked by a family dog from sustaining more serious injuries.
The victim is identified as Doris N. Airey, 64, of Centreville, Md. She was transported to the Queen Anne’s Emergency Medical Center for treatment.
Shortly after 8:00 a.m. today, TFC Robert Isabelle, of the Centreville Barrack, was dispatched to a disturbance call near Centreville. When he arrived at the front door, he could see and hear two dogs fighting inside the residence. He observed the victim trying to break up the fight between the dogs. The trooper could see the aggressor dog, a full-grown pit bull mix, had already bitten the victim.
The trooper entered the home and used pepper spray on the dog in an attempt to end the assault, which caused the dog to back away. Moments later, the dog aggressively charged toward the victim with what appeared to be the intention of attacking her again.
In fear for the life of the woman, the trooper discharged one round from his department-issued .40 caliber pistol and fatally wounded the dog when it was about three feet from the woman. The victim sustained no further injury. The trooper was not injured and the second dog involved, which presented no threat, was not injured by the trooper’s actions. The victim’s daughter witnessed the incident, but was not injured.
It is believed both dogs lived at the home with the victim, her daughter, and son-in-law. The pit bull mix belonged to the victim’s son-in-law, who was not there at the time of the incident, but returned a short time later.
The Queen Anne’s County Animal Control Office has been notified about the incident.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
34 comments:
I've said before and I'll say again, pit bulls are dangerous and it is not because of how you raise them. They were breed specifically to fight and people should not be allowed to own them. It will not be long before we will read again about how a pit bull attacked someone. Now we will wait for someone to come on here and say how sweet their pit bull is and it's all in how you raise them. I say bull crap to that!
i agree with 9:42 completely. there will be naysayers that complain "it's the owners, not the dog", but a pit bull bite can be deadly, a poodle bite requires a band aid. I have 2 little girls and will not let them play at a neighbors house unless i'm there because they have 2 pits unchained in their yard. Tragedy waiting to happen.
Exactly 9:42 and 10:10. I am so sick of all these so called expert "dog trainers" and shelter workers who are clueless and think all dogs breeds are created equally. Nothing could be further from the truth. Pit Bull breeds are not exactly fond of other canines. This is an inherent trait and no amount of "socializing" is going to completely change what a dog is hardwired to think and to do. A breed who isn't fond of other canines can not ever be fully trusted around other dogs, nor should they ever be forced to make an attempt to get along with other dogs. You do not mess with a dog's head like that as it can create other problems. Dogs are dogs and too many people are given very poor advice by these so called "experts" and are attempting to put human traits on dogs much to the dog's detriment.
9:42 said-"Now we will wait for someone to come on here and say how sweet their pit bull is and it's all in how you raise them."
I'll never understand the mentality of these pit bull "lovers." It's like they are simple or something. Pit bulls and mixes are getting euthanized at a rate of nearly 3000 per day in the US. I have 2 Great Pyrenees. If Great Pyrs were getting euthanized in shelters, even in much smaller numbers, I would be livid and would be the first in line calling for breed specific legislation concerning them, such as mandatory spay/neuter, extra registration and licensing fees, etc.
Reputable dog breeders of most breeds say the same as 10:36 & 10:27. Most go ever as far as saying they do not want their breed to win Best of Show at Westminster, because then there's a run on that breed and people buy them only because they like the look of the breed.
There are really very few well run shelters. They are all in it for making high adoptions numbers. They really aren't shelters but adoption agencies.
There are many many well run shelters. What is a shelter supposed to be if not an adoption agency. Of course they worry about the numbers. 10,000 animals are killed in shelters every single day in this country. There is no one to blame except irresponsible people.
While over 5 million animals are killed in shelters nationwide are killed annually there are no responsible dog breeders. The shelters are full of purebred dogs as well as mixes. And no they sure aren't all pitbulls.
Fantastic work trooper.
Chained in the backyard is the tragedy. Most dog attacks occur with unaltered animals and under socialized and chained animals. If you don't want to live with a dog don't get one.
Have you researched your own breed. Check for rescues look at shelters. Great Pyrenees are being killed at an alarming rate many for aggression. It's very sad.
Two things.
#1 Thanks to the police officer for exercising clear judgement. Even though it ended in the death of the animal it would seem that the officer made every attempt to defuse the situation before taking the final step. A few things that strike me as important in this case. The proximity to other people in the home, discharging their weapon so close to the victim is dangerous and was used as a last resort. The use of non lethal force first, even though it was not successful it was the appropriate initial step. Finally making a clean kill with one shot. This helps to minimize injury to bystanders. This officer should have a legitimate clear conscience knowing they did everything they could at the time.
We spend a lot of time on here bashing police when they deserve it. Lets give a kudos to an officer that did something right.
#2 Pits are a dangerous breed and are usually owned by people who are less than 100% knowledgeable about dogs. Animal bites happen for many reason. They can be socialized, they can be family pets but the other commenters are correct. They are breed to be aggressively protective dogs. Once they sense a threat they will not back down. You better know your animal and know what sets them off and then protect others from these triggers. Pits can be extremely lovable dogs but they are not Labs. You can buy a lab and be relatively certain that if you did absolutely nothing to train it, the dog would not be vicious. It would be a pain in the ass for sure but not much else. A Pit on the other hand requires you to be aware of the fact that you own a dog with a trigger. And much like a gun once that trigger is pulled you need to be certain you had everything under control before the situation happened, which is rarely the case. These dogs require a steady hand and an experienced owner if you plan to make one a family dog.
On the flip side many pits go their entire lives without a problem. So we have a few animals that cause a bad rep for the rest of the breed. Then people want to ban the dog breed. Sounds hypocritical to use the same argument the left uses for gun confiscation does it not?
I am glad no humans lost their lives on this one.
Excellent work as usual!
You are wrong 11:31! FYI-80-85% of all dogs in US shelter on any given day are pit bulls or pit mixes. They are taxing the shelters. Pure breeds average less than !%.
Stop lying 11:40. According to the CDC which tracks dog bites, Great Pyrs rank one of the lowest in biting incidences. As a matter of facr (if you are interested in facts, instead of blatantly making up a lie which speaks volumes to your lower class level)you would know that there are very few to none (3 in 2013) Great Pyr bites in the US each year. Most years see none.
One thing you can be rest assured. I've forgotten more about all dog breeds then you will ever know and don't you ever forget it. You got it! You need to do something about your lying.
Comparing eliminating a dog breed with gun confiscation makes no sense whatsoever. A dog breed could be eliminated and everyone could still own a dog if they wanted to. When the government confiscates guns, no one will be able to own a gun. No comparison in the two arguments. I agree that pit bulls should be eliminated from the face of the earth. They are simply dangerous and cause problems and death of humans and other animals.
1:43 PM its the same argument used to defend the knee jerk reaction of many policies. The few occurrences justify the need to punish the group as a whole.
The same argument can be made for bashing the police. The actions of a few influence the opinion of the group as a whole.
You move straight to the end without looking at what causes the hysteria to take hold in the first place.
Sorry. Argue with someone else and come better prepared.
"Anonymous said...
Have you researched your own breed. Check for rescues look at shelters. Great Pyrenees are being killed at an alarming rate many for aggression. It's very sad.
July 7, 2014 at 11:40 AM'
I've literally met 1000's of Great Pyrenees and other LGBs in my lifetime, as my father worked in the meat industry and traveled extensively to ranches throughout the US. In the summer we went along with him. It's not unusual for the large cattle operations to have 20-30 Great Pyrenees patrolling for predators. Aggression towards humans is not a breed trait in them. I do know that (this was a few years ago so may have changed)according to the agency that keeps track of dog bites, a pure bred Great Pyrenees had never bitten a child before, since as long as they've been keeping records.
We did see on 2 occasions a Great Pyrenees stand down a bear. In both incidences the bear backed off.
I used to go with them to feed the dogs and we would see the occasional dead bear and lots of dead wolves and coyotes that tried to breech the fence trying to kill the cattle. Rarely were the dogs injured at all. None of the dogs ever showed aggression toward us, and these dogs had very little human contact. They were content because they were doing the job they were bred to do.
Once I was out walking in the brush w/2 of them and we came upon a fawn, only the size of a large rabbit. The dogs started licking the fawn and the fawn started to follow us. I could not get the fawn to stay put so I called the ranch, and someone came and got the dogs away from the area and we sat hidden in a truck and waited until the mother was heard calling the fawn and it scampered off toward mom.
11:29-There are so few well run shelters in this country it's sickening. I do not call a revolving door of animals coming in and going out anywhere near a well run shelter. There is much more to it. The comment above is correct in that 80+ percent of dogs currently being housed in US shelters are Pit Bull and mixes. In many shelters the number nears just about 100%. Responsible shelter employees and the Board would be calling for breed specific legislation as some are. When the number of any particular breed gets above 10-20% that's a problem. You don't just ignore it and hope it goes away. The problem has become to big to be able to adopt our way out of it. Then there's the problem of the number who are being euthanized. You can not be a dog lover and ignore this and hope it goes away as well. It's irresponsible.
But wait, I thought pit bulls were nice dogs. I love the campaign protecting these beasts. They were bread to fight and cause harm. There is nothing you can do to change these dogs until they are extinct.
Why are we discussing shelters? The problem is the existence of pit bulls. If it were made illegal to own a pit bull the problem would resolve itself. They are a nasty breed and for the life of me can't understand why anyone other than someone interested in dog fights would want to own one.
100% correct 3:02 but some folks only learn the hard way, after their dog has killed a child or another animal,
Being European and a dog lover, the problem I see with US shelters is the tendency to want to "humanized" dogs as opposed to practicing natural dogsmanship which is how it's done in Europe with much better results.
It all seems to have started, when the ghastly practice of "crating" the poor creatures became popular. It's is not natural to have a dog confined in a crate. They do not like it and it does cause other problems.
Another IS the "one sized fits all" dog "training" classes, offered by many pet stores. Dogs should be trained according to breed traits. This makes for a happier and more content dog, less likely to do damage and/or show aggression which a lot of times is caused by frustration and not letting the dog do what it's inherent traits want it to do or trying to change their makeup.
Too many people think you can either love or train these traits out of a dog, but you can never fully and it just makes the dog have issues in other areas.
It would be no different than forcing a very shy person to be outgoing and boisterous.
I've noticed shelters and this goes to the local ones as well, are trying to disguise the fact that some dogs available for adoption have some type of pit in them. One even calls them American Shelter Dogs!
3:15 PM "Too many people think you can either love or train these traits out of a dog, but you can never fully and it just makes the dog have issues in other areas."
I agree with this statement. I would offer another thought to ponder. You CAN breed the aggressive traits out of the dog and its been done many times over through the millennia. What makes this breed any different from a Rottie, Doberman, German Shepherd or any other dog that is specifically breed for its guarding instinct? Knowledgable breeders, Knowledgeable owners and cost.
I have to assume there are responsible breeders of Pits out there, but no where near the amount of idiots out there breeding them to sell for a couple hundred bucks.
Its not the dogs fault its a dog. Its the "breeders" fault who wantonly disregards responsible breeding practices to make fast money. Its the owner who doesn't do their research to buy a cheap status dog. And its the same mentality many people take with having children. NO RESEARCH OR KNOWLEDGE INVOLVED!!!! And don't try to tell them anything because they don't want to hear it.
There were 32 dog related fatalities in the US in 2013. 25 (78%) were attributed to pit bulls. While a lot of these fatalities can be linked to poor ownership, many can not be. Some were family pets. One that occurred in Baltimore was a wheelchair bound woman who had raised the dog from a puppy.
We as an intelligent society are willing to accept the fact that some people are genetically wired at birth with a mental illness. Why cannot the same be said for this breed of dog? It only takes a trigger for some mental illnesses to be uncorked. These dogs are just one incident away from vicious attack at all times. I believe that breeding Pitbulls is cruel to the animals and that the practice should be stopped immediately. But...people will spend big bucks on them. Please people ...do not adopt a sheltered Pitbull...they are mental cases and time will prove this to be truth. The kindest thing for these animals is for them to be put down. And I am a dog lover and do not say this lightly. These animals are hard wired to be baby killers. Just one trigger people...just one. Which day will that be?
"I agree with this statement. I would offer another thought to ponder. You CAN breed the aggressive traits out of the dog and its been done many times over through the millennia"
True to some extent 3:42. One problem is aggression doesn't always manifest itself soon enough, as would a congenital trait such as hip dysplasia.
Another factor is the pit wasn't originally bred for guarding. It was bred to chase or run down and kill prey. A Doberman for instance was bred to guard (by a German tax collector with the same name). A guarding breed has to detect a threat before taking action. Then it will attempt to stop the threat and eliminate it if necessary. GS's on the other hand are herders at heart. Shepherd is the key word. Once again they will detect a threat before acting upon it and just as with the DP, elimination isn't the goal as much as stopping the threat.
I've seen pit bull breeds for as little as $35 on Craigslist. About a year ago, someone was selling them out of the back of a car, in a local Walmart parking lot for $25.
The best advice for anyone seeking a dog, is do your research as suggested by 3:42. There are many online quizzes matching dog to a person's lifestyle. Especially so when you are inclined toward a large breed dog. A 10 lb monster is much easier to handle than a 100 lb one.
Salisbury city council needs to step up and ban the ownership of these killer dogs! The mayor needs to grow a pair, and push this thru. Those that do own one, they have 10 days to have it put down, or move out of Salisbury!
5:32 AMEN!!!!!
5:32 PM
oh grow up
"Anonymous said...
Have you researched your own breed. Check for rescues look at shelters. Great Pyrenees are being killed at an alarming rate many for aggression. It's very sad.
July 7, 2014 at 11:40 AM"
I would like to correct this statement. It is unmistakably false. There are very few GP's in shelters. I can think of only 1 in MD, currently being housed in a shelter in Howard County. There is a well organized network of GP's rescues, who monitor the breed's intake at shelter's nationwide and act if necessarily so the dog does not remain at the shelter very long.
Just recently one was surrendered to the Worcester County Animal Control. He was monitored of course and almost immediately had 6 overly qualified families hoping to adopt him. The rescue adoption rate is above the national average.
I can not think of any Great Pyrs who have had to be put down at a shelter because of aggression much less at an "alarming rate."
If any were, be assured they weren't 100% Great Pyr.
What is "very sad" is that someone would ever think to mislead the public by posting information that is not true. Anyone doing their research would see otherwise as the statistics are out there. Great Pyrenees as well as the other "mountain dogs" ie-St Bernard, Great Swiss Mountain Dog, Akbash, rank as one of the safest dogs breeds not far behind the large retrievers (Labs and Goldens), Irish Setters, Vizslas, and Standard Poodles.
Why on earth are you so angry and why would you jump to start calling me a liar. I've been in the rescue world for 33 years and I'm sure know much more about the problems and the numbers than you will ever know. The fact you were so quick to attack a comment speaks volumes about your mentality. No purebreds don't make up only 1% of dogs in shelters. I think you need to do some more research before you start accusing anyone if anything.
Have you looked at shelters outside of Maryland. Have you looked at shelters all over the south. Really the world is bigger than your own backyard.
Let's stop blaming dogs and start laying the blame where it belongs with people. There are far too many dogs being bred by breeders in back yards and in puppy mills. None of these dogs ask to be born or to die in shelters across this country. There need to be spay neuter laws as obviously society can't be trusted to do what's right.
Whatever 11:12. I've forgotten more about the breed than you could ever hope to know.
I know more about the "world" as you could ever hope to know as well. Born in France (just north of the Great Pyrenees Mountains), and spent the next 18 years between France, Monaco and Switzerland, visiting many other countries too numerous to mention. I still whenever I desire, visit all 3 countries. Pyrenean Mountain Dogs as they are know in Europe are quite popular there.
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