Pitbull in the News

Here's a story from the Chronicle Herald here in Halifax:


'Oh my God, he’s ripping her apart'
911 phone call described brutal attack on woman by large dog
By BRIAN MEDEL Yarmouth Bureau
Tue, Mar 29 - 4:54 AM

YARMOUTH — Friends and family members of a Yarmouth woman viciously mauled by a dog on the weekend waited Monday for any word from Halifax doctors about her condition.

Noella Ann McIntosh, 45, was savagely attacked by what people said was a large pit bull terrier-type of dog in a gravel parking lot behind a tobacco shop on south Main Street.

Police would not reveal the identity of the victim, but close friends said McIntosh was attacked late Saturday afternoon.

The dog appeared to be out of control and put up a fierce fight as two RCMP officers tried to pull the animal from the bleeding woman, said a witness.

Police shot the dog.

The witness, who asked not to be named, said she saw the dog jump up on McIntosh and thought the animal may have been doing what dogs sometimes do — jump up to be patted.

It was soon apparent this was no ordinary confrontation.

McIntosh was not patting the dog. She was being savagely attacked and the witness called 911.

"Oh my God, he’s ripping her apart," the witness told the 911 operator.

"There (are) a lot of people who saw it. People driving by saw it.

"When it was first happening, she was conscious because I heard her holler ‘Help me.’ "

The witness called 911 and begged the operator to send help to Hueston Street, which intersects Main.

The witness drove her car over to the parking lot and blew the horn, trying to distract the dog. It didn’t work. The dog appeared to be in a frenzied state.

Two Yarmouth RCMP officers were in the area and arrived within seconds.

The dog did not even look up when the officers rushed up, said the woman.

The dog put up a ferocious fight as officers tried to pull it away from the bleeding victim.

"They had no choice. They had to shoot the dog," said the witness.

She heard a loud pop and the 35-kilogram animal crashed to the ground.

RCMP Cpl. Paul Pittman said police would like more witnesses to contact them as they continue their investigation.

Investigators have not yet been able to talk with the victim, Pittman said.

The woman sustained head and upper torso wounds and was rushed to Yarmouth Regional Hospital, where she was stabilized and prepared for transfer to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

On Monday, a Capital district health authority spokesman said McIntosh remains in serious condition.

Arnold Evans, McIntosh’s boyfriend, does not have a telephone and relies on other family members and McIntosh’s children to keep him informed.

"They came and got me," Evans said Monday, referring to the minutes after Saturday’s attack.

He was allowed to see McIntosh for a few minutes at Yarmouth Regional Hospital before she was transferred to Halifax.

Evans said she was heavily sedated and he could not talk to her.

The dog attacked her throat and face, he said.

"They got one of them," Evans said about the dog that officers shot.

But the owner has other vicious dogs, he said.

One of those dogs bit someone else within the last two years, said Pittman.


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From the Herald article there is no mention of the circumstances of where and why this attack happened, but CBC.ca provides more details:


"The owner of the dog, Gary Woods, said he wasn't home at the time, but nine-year-old Zeke and a second pit bull were inside.

Woods said he didn't know why the woman, a former tenant, walked into the apartment. He said she knew about the dogs.

There are two doors to get into the apartment. A sign on the lower one warns visitors to knock.

RCMP said police were called on an earlier occasion about a dog attacking someone in the building, but no charges were laid, and it's not known if it was the same dog."

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First I'd like to say shame on the herald for not including these details in their report. While I don't condone a woman being attacked, there is a marked difference between "A dog attacked someone" and "a dog attacked someone who was entering his home uninvited and behind several doors and warning signs"

Another question is the previous attack and why nothing was done to remove these dogs if they did attack a person. Haven't we seen dogs in Halifax impounded for months just for attacking another dog?

Pitbulls are some of the friendliest, nicest dogs you'll ever meet, but like all dogs and creatures, if they are abused or mistreated these types of things can sadly happen. The only problem with pitbulls is they are attractive to these nefarious types of individuals who put spiked collars on them and do harsh training with them, (if any training).

Its nice to see the majority of comments and "agree/disagree" on the cbc site seem against any calls for breed banning or other such laws, and it seems the general public understand that its about care and treatment, not genetics. While genetics can play a part and you can in fact breed aggression, this is rarely done outside of illegal fighting rings. In my opinion the majority of pitbulls have the same risk of human aggression as any other dog. The problem of course with pitbulls is they are very powerful and an aggressive pitbull is going to cause a lot more damage than an aggressive pomeranian.

So please don't get turned off the breed - sadly theres a lot of these dogs in shelters that need good homes and many will make excellent pets.

Update: I had a chance through an online chat at our local newspaper to ask scientists Jane Goodall what she thought about BSL and pitbulls, here's her response:

Dr. Goodall: Unfortunately, many dogs like this are actually trained to be aggressive.