ARTICLE: Dog attacks on rise

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs),  May 18, 2004 
Vicious dog attacks, including one that required a 6-year-old boy to be rushed to the hospital, are on the rise in Colorado Springs.

The Colorado Humane Society, which handles the city's animal- control contract, received 348 reports of vicious dogs during the first three months of this year -- almost four a day. Of those, 131 cases involved bites.

Humane society director Mary Warren doesn't know why instances in which dogs threaten or attack someone are increasing. The cold months of January through March are the slowest time of the year for such things, so even more problems may be in the offing.

A report written by the humane society characterizes the problem as one that threatens the city's quality of life.

"Our citizens are afraid to walk down the streets, allow their children to play and walk their pets in their own neighborhoods due to the number of nuisance and dangerous dogs in their neighborhoods," the report said.

Complaints about vicious dogs are on pace to easily exceed past years' totals. At the current pace, there will be 1,392 this year, compared with 1,227 complaints in 2001, 1,067 in 2002 and 1,042 in 2003.

Warren doesn't want to see the numbers rise that much. The humane society intends to start a program designed to inoculate some dogs and educate the public about how to watch for aggressive animals.

The program, which begins next week, will send animal-control officers to talk with Neighborhood Watch groups and to speak in community centers. A mobile vaccination clinic will travel to parks to offer low- or no-cost rabies and distemper shots to pet owners who normally wouldn't get them.

These freebies aren't a product of pure benevolence, Warren said. They're meant to stave off the possibility of a rabies outbreak reminiscent of the nasty ones during the 1950s.

"We have to take a more aggressive approach and a tougher stand," Warren said.

They're designed to avoid having anyone else go through what Frederick Newall had to endure.

Newall was walking toward his rental property in the 2200 block of West Bijou Street last month when two pit bulls ran out of nowhere and attacked him.

As they tore at the back of his legs and ankles, he clung to a tree to avoid being pulled to the ground, animal control officer John Rogers said.

Newall's isn't the only nightmare case the officers have worked. On another occasion last month, a pit bull that was left in a car on the city's east side leaped out and bit a 12-year-old girl.

A 6-year-old boy was playing at a neighbor's house in northeastern Springs in late April when the neighbor's two German shepherds attacked him. They tore open his stomach and scarred his face permanently with about 10 bite wounds.

People who own a vicious animal can be fined as much as $500 and required to build fencing around their yard, Rogers said.

Dogs can be impounded for a month in the Humane Society, which charges $10 daily fees.

If the attack results in severe injuries -- Rogers recorded 11 of those through April -- charges can be upgraded to a felony that produces jail time.

A law that was passed by the Legislature this year eliminated a provision allowing firsttime offenders to get off scotfree.

DOG BITE FACTS AND TIPS

Facts:

Dogs bite 4.7 million people, almost 2 percent of the U.S. population, each year.

70 percent of dog bite victims are children younger than 12.

About 20 people each year die from dog attacks.

Of those attacked by a 43 of the reported cases were bitten by their family dog.

Tips:

Dogs need to get close to things and people to smell what it is, and this is when people usually get bitten. Instead of stopping and allowing the dog to sniff them, many people think the dog is trying to get close to bite them. They might kick at the dog or run, which makes the dog retaliate and attack.

Do not try to pet strange dogs. Dogs that appear friendly might not like being touched.

If you are knocked down by a dog, roll yourself into a ball and stay there until the dog loses interest in you, and it is safe for you to move.

SOURCE: Bark Busters USA

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