Local news article about pits incoming!!!
I've had so many people in my life tell me about this story lately. Personally, I think it's bullshit and if you read it, you'll know exactly why!
Link to the article
I live in North bay, Ontario...currently BSL is still high and mighty in these here parts, the ban still in full effect.
For those of you who don't wish to read the article, I will spoiler it.
SPOILERS! (Click to view)
A North Bay man who says he was bitten by a pit bull is upset authorities are not taking his case seriously.
Not one of them has come and interviewed me or asked me for a statement," Gary MacDonald told The Nugget about two weeks after the incident.
He's still nursing a wound above his left shin.
MacDonald and his brother, Bernie, were helping an old friend move from a motel in the south end of the city Aug. 6 when their friend's small dog attracted the attention of a pit bull being walked by a woman on a bicycle.
He pulled her off the bicycle and dragged her 10 feet," Mac-Donald said. The pit bull had the little dog in his mouth, holding it by the lower jaw and shaking it."
MacDonald, 63, weighs about 250 pounds and is almost six-feet tall. He said he tried with all his might to pull the dog's jaws apart.
I put my hand in the upper jaw and this one in the lower jaw, and I was trying to pull his mouth apart," he said, adding his brother hit the dog over the head with his cane about a dozen times.
The girl was pulling on the pit bull and yelling at Bernie to stop hitting and then (the dog) finally let go and that's when the pit bull lunged at me," MacDonald.
I could see my blood in his mouth," he said, adding the snapping teeth were a foot away from his face and the memory startles him awake at night.
If the owner hadn't had a grip on the leash, MacDonald said,
I'd have been in bad trouble." Blood was gushing out of one
Advertisement
of the puncture wounds, he said, and their first thought was getting to a hospital.
He said the dog's owner claimed it was vaccinated against rabies four months ago, but it wasn't convincing because she also insisted the dog was muzzled during the attack.
Within hours of being treated at the North Bay and District Hospital, MacDonald said a representative of the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit contacted him.
His primary concern, he said, was finding out for sure if the dog had been vaccinated against rabies.
But he also visited the North Bay Police Service headquarters on Princess Street to report the attack.
MacDonald said the clerk at the front desk told him to report it to the North Bay and District Humane Society, but an officer intervened and said it's a city bylaw matter.
A call to the city bylaw department, he said, referred him to the humane society.
And when he reported it to the humane society on that same day, Aug. 7, he was told somebody would drop by and check into it.
A call to the health unit Aug. 10 didn't clear up the rabies question.
MacDonald was told the dog was visited and it looks normal," but his doctor was going to put him on the antiviral if nobody produced documents indicating the dog was vaccinated.
MacDonald said he went down to the humane society Aug. 12 to inquire if there was progress in the investigation and was told the person who looked after that was off sick.
MacDonald said it's frustrating because he feels there is a possibility this dog may hurt someone again.
If that thing attacks an old man or little child, I'd feel guilty the rest of my life that nothing was done about it," he said, adding he feels the police may have their priorities out of order.
They'll shoot a bear cub that hasn't attacked anybody yet, and there's a dog that's attacked . . . and nothing is done."
- - -
What are the authorities saying?
The police
North Bay police ChiefPaul Cooksaid he has no knowledge of the incident, but said either the police or the humane society can launch investigations involving dog attacks.
Cook said it depends on the circumstance and how the police become involved initially, whether they are at the scene or the seriousness of the attack.
He suggested Gary MacDonald contact Insp. Kirk Kelusky to find out if the case is being investigated by police or if it should be referred to the humane society.
The health unit
Peter Jekel,director for environmental programs at the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, said the standard procedure is to have the owner keep the dog chained for 10 days.
The health unit will check to see if the pet is alive and healthy after this period because the virus only enters a dog's saliva in the last 10 days of its life.
If a bite is to the neck or head, the health unit will recommend anti-viral treatment. He said bites to the extremities such as legs are far enough from the brain to allow time for the waiting period and subsequent lab tests if the dog dies.
Jekel said it can take up to six months for the virus to migrate to a human brain in a large adult.
The city
North Bay's bylaw officerRon Melnyk said the humane society is contracted by the city to enforce bylaws. He said the society also enforces provincial laws
regarding pit bulls that must now be muzzled off private property.
The humane society
The North Bay and District Humane Society management did not return calls from
The Nugget inquiring how it handles dog bite complaints and the provincial pit bull muzzle law.
This person is apparently fighting pretty hard now from what I hear from people who work at the cop shop to get this ladies best friend put down.
My questions are...WHY THE HELL DON'T SMALL DOG OWNERS KEEP THEIR SMALL DOGS ON LEASHES???? So far, while walking my pit, leashed, I've had multiple small dogs just run right up to him. He's very sweet with them and has never even opened his mouth, barked, nor growled at any, but he's super submissive.
Anyway, there are so many holes in this story, it's the replies that piss me off. "The Pit-Bull breed should be abolished. It was a science experiment gone wrong." LOLWAT???
I don't understand the passion that goes into many people hating on certain breeds. So far, everyone I know was against me getting a pit bull in the first place...then they met him...hung out with him and every day I am told by different people that they're going to steal my dog because he is just the sweetest, affectionate thing ever. lol
Anyway, if anyone has any other stories, POST! I love to read these though they do piss me off, but this...this just sucks for the lady on the bike. Especially if the dog was muzzled. I don't believe it's ever the dog's fault. owners need to make sure their dogs are well-socialized and able to be around other dogs, but most importantly, where is the information about this little dog not being leashed?
I am just looking for an outlet since the article won't load up the comment box for me to post something in and it's frustrating to not have a voice sometimes. I just like being an advocate for a lot of breeds of dogs, most of the dogs who I have loved the most are large, dangerous breeds.
What's so wrong with owning things like this up to instinct and sentence the girl to maybe signing her dog up to social dog outings, which the city offers, or obedience to make sure she gets the proper knowledge about owning a strong animal which can be dog aggressive. It just saddens me that one thing happens and people are up in arms saying the dog needs to be euthanized 
boo! I love my "dangerous" breed! I think they're lovely!
Duke was a purebred great dane, the sweetest animal you would ever meet. The neighbourhood kids used to come over and play with him in the yard, they would ride him around and climb all over him and he just loved it. Local authorities were always keeping an eye on her to make sure the dog was contained because apparently he was 'dangerous' although there had never ever been any kind of incident to suggest this.
She had a large backyard that was fenced all around and Duke was properly contained and could not escape. He was always leashed and muzzled when being walked or taken out anywhere. Across the street from her lived a couple with a small dog that was not sufficiently trained and never leashed. This dog used to come onto my mother's property and tease and bark at Duke while he was tied up or fenced in. Mom had spoken to this couple several times and asked them to please keep their dog in their own yard because he was tormenting Duke. She had also reported this to the humane society and the authorities and was told that it was a non-issue because he was a small dog and therefore not a danger to anyone. As time went by, the neighbour's dog became bolder and bolder because Duke had never retaliated against it, he couldn't, he was fenced in and leashed. One afternoon, the small dog had dug a hole and wriggled itself under my mom's fence and started nipping at Duke's feet. My mom heard the noise and went outside to see what the trouble was. Before she could get to him, the little dog had chomped Duke's leg and made him angry enough to strike back. Duke had apparently bit the little dog once but that was enough to almost completely sever both hind legs from his body. The vet was able to save the neighbour's dog, my mother had to pay for whole thing of course and was ordered to have Duke put down.
She was a responsible pet owner. She went to the trouble to have her pet trained and took every care to make sure that he was contained on her property, even though she knew he wasn't dangerous. I can't blame Duke for biting that little dog after months upon months of being tormented in his own yard by that yappy little creature. Apparently the pet ownership laws don't apply equally to all animals or pet owners. If the system was fair and the rules applied to everyone, the neighbours would have been ordered to keep their dog on their own property and none of this would ever have happened.
Duke was a part of the family and it infuriates me to no end that my mother had to go through the pain and suffering of having to put down her best friend like that. Especially since none of this was her or her dog's fault.
Sorry that was kind of long but I wanted to share the story with you because I knew you would understand.
I wish you and Kingston all the best and I hope you have a long and happy life together. I hope that people will be able to look past the stigma associated with the breed and see that's a total sweetheart.