Animal control officer hurt in pit bull attack

Times staff writer Ron Lin reports that a 60-pound pit bull named Rocky mauled an animal control officer in Lakewood, leaving the officer with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The 28-year-old officer, who was not identified, suffered flesh wounds to his arms and legs and a broken knuckle after the dog lunged at him during a routine house call, said Capt. Aaron Reyes, who heads operations for the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority in southeast Los Angeles County.

After the attack, the owner decided to allow animal control officers to take all of her dogs. They will be euthanized. Read the complete story below.

-- Alice Short

By Ron Lin, Times Staff Writer

A 60-pound pit bull named Rocky mauled an animal control officer in Lakewood, leaving the officer with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said Wednesday.

The 28-year-old officer, who was not identified, suffered flesh wounds to his arms and legs and a broken knuckle after the dog lunged at him during a routine house call, said Capt. Aaron Reyes, who heads operations for the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority in southeast Los Angeles County.

Rocky was one of five pit bulls owned by a woman living in the 6100 block of Briercrest Avenue. Neighbors had complained that the pit bulls had escaped in the past, Reyes said.

The woman agreed to part with three of her dogs to comply with a city ordinance limiting the number of dogs allowed in a household, Reyes said.

She allowed the officer into her backyard to assess how he planned to secure the three pit bulls and went back into her house. The pit bull, which was not one of the dogs the officer came to collect, walked up to the officer.

“Rocky appeared to be very friendly and was walking to the side of him and was really relaxed,” Reyes said. But the four other pit bulls appeared to become agitated, “and then just out of nowhere, he just snapped and lunged.”

The officer tripped on a tree branch and fell backward during the attack. He attempted to fend Rocky off with a catch pole, but the pit bull was able to grab the catch pole away from him. Then, the officer “took out his tactical baton and was actually able to use that and strike the dog twice,” Reyes said. “It didn’t appear to faze Rocky at all.”

At that point, the officer screamed for help, and the owner came outside. She pulled Rocky off the officer and called 911.

A team of animal control officers, sheriff’s deputies and paramedics responded. The officers shot a drug-filled dart at the dog, and he fell asleep within minutes.

Serious attacks on animal control officers are rare, Reyes said. What made this case particularly unusual was Rocky’s instantaneous change “from a seemingly nice dog to a vicious pit bull acting like a predator.”

“I think had the officer stayed on his feet, it may have turned out very differently,” Reyes said. “Unfortunately, he tripped on a tree branch and ended up on his back, and at that point, it’s very hard to defend yourself.”

Reyes said he hopes the officer makes a full and speedy recovery.

The pit bulls’ owner was not arrested, but Reyes said his agency was working to present a case to the district attorney’s office for possible charges. The owner had too many animals on the property, owned dogs without licenses or records of rabies vaccinations, and owned a vicious animal with a propensity to attack, all of which are code violations, Reyes said.

After the attack, the owner decided to allow animal control officers to take all of her dogs. They will be euthanized. Rocky, who is about 3 years old, will undergo rabies testing today.

Comments

[susie]

You know what "rabies testing" is? They cut off the head and send it to a lab. There is no other test. Generally they just quarantine a dog for 30 days but they're going to kill the dog anyway because it's' dangerous. Sad story.

[joel]

Stop with advertising these damn attacks. Dogs attack people daily, big or small. People think so negatively about them because of STUPID ARTICLES LIKE THIS

[Knuckles]

Once again a dog attack glamorized as a Pit Bull attack. This is obviously a person who should not have dogs, much less Pit Bulls. They are not properly socializing the dogs to reconize a threat. Pit Bulls make great pets and they trully show their owners alot of love and affection, thats why people like them and usually get multiple dogs but they also need to exercise alot every day. People get these dogs and think that they are gonna be happy while in a pen or crate all day evryday. If they don get alot of high energy releasing exercise everyday then you are putting a very frustrated dog in a bad situation. They then become a loaded gun. This goes for any dog. What makes it dangerous is that Pit Bulls, when faced with opposition, were born and bred not to quit,,, ever... If you dont plan on taking your dog out for exercise everyday or you dont have a high gated yard and you dont plan on socializing your dog around people and other dogs daily.. Do us (real Pit Bull owers) a favor and get some other dog. I dont give a damn what you get, just dont get a Pit Bull... As a matter of fact,, just get a cat... Im tired of seeing a great and very, very intelligent breed of dog get a bad rep due to mishandling and poor care by owners who dont have a clue on how to care for any type of dogs...

[MG]

A fine upstanding responsible owner.
Previous complaints,no license,no vaccinations,5 dogs,just hands them off to be killed.
Do the rest of us a favor,like the previous poster said,don`t get ANY dog.
Quite the flowery language used by the "reporter".
....[quote]Rocky’s instantaneous change “from a seemingly nice dog to a vicious pit bull acting like a predator.”[/quote]

This doesn`t happen but it makes for a great story to repeat if you hate the dogs known as "Pit Bulls".
I strongly suspect he tripped and fell first and startled the dog.

This shouldn`t even be a "Pit Bull" story.
This "reporter" should have taken the opportunity to talk about responsible ownership and animal control rather than trying to accumulate google hits for an "attack" story.
If there were previous complaints about these dogs in the past why weren`t the dogs removed,temperament tested ,rehomed and the owner hit with a huge fine and a ban on ownership until she could prove that she was capable of being responsible.
Once again we have some dead dogs due to an idiotic owner who shouldn`t even own a hamster.

Please pass this along to Ron Lin.
http://server.inalbum.com/show/jodipreis/Message_to_the_Media2.html?296033009
These are the owners you are maligning and the innocent dogs you are helping to slaughter because of the language you choose to use when you write like this.
Please think about that next time you write.

How is this officer alive and how did the owner manage to pull Rocky off?
Think about that.

They`re just dogs.

[Lis]

such a biased article

[mollyrambo57]

i am so sick and tired of hearing from pit owners who can never believe that one of these dogs can just turn, and that it never happens this way, this woman was one of the few who are bad owners and she would have been a bad owner for any dog, but you cannot use that reasoning for most of the pit and rottie attacks, most of these attacks are done not by the chained up vicious neglected dog, the great majority of these attacks are preformed by loved family pets who not only turn on their owners, their owners families, unfortunely even the best owner has a dog escape once in a great while, and you shouldn't have to worry that when a dog accidently escapes that you have just placed an uzzie in the hands of a 3 year old but that is what happens when one of these dogs happen to get loose, and that is due to the way they have been bred for the last 23 or 25 years, no good owner wants their dog to get loose but it happens, and for these people to go on about it is never the dogs fault is just plain crazy these dogs were origionally bred to be agressive to control bulls and if all it took for that dog to attack the officer was for him to fall and startle the dog, then the dog was crazy to start with and all the pro pit people are going to say that this isn't accurate, but give me a break, the cdc has published the worst biters for the last 20 years and every year it was a pit with a rottie a close second, you could say it isn't always right but 20 years quit living in a dream world, and by the way that didn't include fatalities, scary huh, enough is enough, i am not advocating banning a breed just regulate them, the owners not just the dog need to be licensed, the dog needs to be tattooed and microchipped so that when something happens an irresponsible owner can't just fade into the shadows, they need to have good inspected facilities, and they need to have insurance, and if a dog bites unless it is protecting itself, its owner or family or property, not from a 4 year old by the way, it should be put to sleep and unless you have done these things or refuse to do them your dog should be confiscated, and if you want to breed a dog like this it needs to be recorded with officials in the state or county you live in all a part of the record keeping, most of these animals should have to be nutered or spayed, SOME OF THESE DOGS ARE JUST PLAIN NOT WRAPPED TO TIGHT AND IT'S NOT JUST THE OWNER IT IS THE BREED TO ALL DOGS ARE BEING BRED FOR CERTAIN TRAITS AND THE PITS WORST TRAITS HAVE FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH IT