Ledger-Dispatch

By Raheem Hosseini (editor@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

Sammy gets released from Jackson = Veterinary=20 Clinic last week. He suffered multiple injuries after being mauled = by a=20 neighbor's pit bulls.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch
Elisa Teel was almost = finished pruning her=20 herbs when she heard the ominous growling behind her.

Two pit = bulls had=20 squeezed through a small gap at the bottom of a rickety chain link fence = separating her yard from her neighbor's Wednesday morning. Moments = later, two=20 more pushed past the concrete block wedged under the sloping = fence.

The=20 Jackson grandmother, who lives in the 10000 block of Buena Vista Road, = found=20 herself faced with two impossible options: race inside and shut the = door,=20 leaving her 2-year-old Labrador-Collie-mix to fend for himself, or else = remain=20 outside to suffer the violent attack Samson endured. Teel reluctantly = chose the=20 latter. What transpired next left her dog "Sammy" with serious injuries, = led to=20 the euthanasia of three pit bulls and Teel demanding one = more.

Teel still=20 has vivid memories of last week's attack. After shutting the door, she = ran to=20 her bedroom overlooking the backyard and banged repeatedly on the = window. The=20 pit bulls wouldn't budge, she recalled. Teel watched as Sammy tried to = escape,=20 watched the pit bulls drag him from one end of the yard to another, = tearing=20 holes into her howling mutt. Hearing Teel's screams, a neighbor across = the=20 street called the police. So did Teel. The next door neighbors, who Teel = said=20 had let their dogs out just prior to the attack, broke up the scrum, = allowing=20 Teel to reopen her door. Sammy sprinted through, dripping blood out of = multiple=20 wounds and unable to sit on his ravaged haunch. "I'm just going = hysterical=20 because I'm just looking at holes in his body," Teel said hours after = the=20 mauling, as Sammy was in surgery at the Jackson Creek Veterinary=20 Clinic.

When the Jackson Police Department and Amador County = Animal=20 Control responded minutes later, the "chaos," as Animal Control Director = John=20 Vail described it, had dissipated. The call came in as a hysterical = woman=20 screaming about a dog attack. At the time, Officer Troy Ortega didn't = know if=20 there were human victims and was preparing himself for the possibility = that he=20 might have to put down some dogs with his sidearm. Luckily, he said, = that wasn't=20 the case.

"This kind of underscores the need for people to secure = their=20 yards," Ortega said.

Pit bulls are not inherently bad animals, = Ortega=20 added, but how they're bred and the conditions in which they're kept can = lead to=20 dangerous behavior. Teel said the pit bulls were kept in close-quartered = outside=20 kennels during some of the hottest days of the recent heat wave. Ortega = has=20 heard from animal experts he's consulted that there's also a pack = mentality that=20 can kick in when the lead dog initiates an attack. In this case, that = may have=20 been a female pit bull Teel believed was in heat.

"I'm just = thankful no=20 children were out and no people were hurt," Ortega said.

Teel was = glad as=20 well. Her three grandchildren regularly visit the house and play = outside, good=20 naturedly rough-housing with her amiable Sammy. She's actually contacted = Jackson=20 police about her neighbor's dogs getting loose twice before. Both of = those=20 times, the female pit bull slipped into Teel's yard, preventing her and = her=20 husband from going outside. But nothing like this ever happened and it's = pretty=20 rare for the county, said Vail.

"I'm a dog lover, and even pit = bulls and=20 Rottweilers. But in city limits, that many dogs," Teel said, trailing = off. "I'd=20 like to see an ordinance pass that pit bulls are not allowed in city = limits=20 because we're too close quarters here. More than one pit bull, you're = asking for=20 trouble."

"My opinion is that, regarding traits or behavior that = any dog=20 has, every dog has. It's just to what degree," Vail said.

Certain = breeds=20 were bred for specific purposes, he added, making them more likely to = exhibit=20 those traits. Labrador retrievers were conditioned to recover ducks, = while=20 border collies were raised to herd sheep. While most pit bulls aren't = violent,=20 Vail said the breed was originally conditioned to engage in more = aggressive=20 behavior, something that remains prevalent in underground dog=20 fighting.

"When they do (act out)," Vail said, "they have the = physical=20 capability to do a lot of damage."

Currently, Animal Control has = the=20 power to impound dogs that are roaming loose. In Jackson, there's also a = dogs-at-large ordinance and leash law in effect, with possible fines for = owners=20 that don't comply. Under a state provision, owners that don't want to = give up=20 dogs involved in an attack can be subject to court action that = determines=20 whether the animals are dangerous, explained Vail.

But a case = like this=20 highlights the gray areas for both owners and law enforcement. A = neighbor's pit=20 bull from down the street was seen in the vicinity of Teel's yard during = the=20 attack, but there are conflicting statements about whether a fifth pit = bull was=20 involved. The next door neighbor said one of her pit bulls was actually = inside=20 during the attack and didn't relinquish it with the others.

The = neighbor=20 down the street did, with the understanding his dog would be euthanized. = The=20 next door neighbor surrendered three of the four pit bulls, including = one she=20 was babysitting for someone else. Two of those pit bulls have been put = down,=20 while Animal Control waits to see whether the other owner attempts to = claim the=20 third. Vail said his office has made repeated requests of the next door = neighbor=20 for the third owner's contact information, but hasn't received a = response yet.=20 Animal Control can't adopt out any animals involved in attacks, so if = the owner=20 doesn't claim it, it will be euthanized as well.

Meanwhile, Teel = is upset=20 her neighbor has kept one of the pit bulls she said mauled her = dog.

Vail=20 said the state provision, part of the food and agriculture code, allows = Teel to=20 submit a written statement requesting a dangerous animal hearing, which = can be=20 initiated by either the police department or Animal Control. Teel hadn't = taken=20 that step yet.

"It was a pretty chaotic scene when it was going = on," Vail=20 said, conceding that there was some conflicting information in witness = reports.=20 "I don't know if anyone can definitively say if all four dogs from the = property=20 next door (were involved). ... We didn't see it so we don't = know."

Raheem = Hosseini