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Man shoots pit bull to stop attack on his dog
by Robb Fulcher
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Lucy relaxes at home after three gunshots ended an incident with a pit bull. Photo by Robb Fulcher |
A Hermosa man fired three gunshots into a pit bull that was attacking his aging Labrador Retriever Monday afternoon in the man’s driveway, police said. Officers said no crime was committed because the man was defending his dog.
Both dogs were taken to a veterinarian and returned home the same night.
Lucy, the 11 and-a-half year old black Lab, was limping on a right foreleg with a blue bandage and receiving pain medication. Oki, the 5-year-old pit bull, was also receiving medication as she rested on a couch inside her Third Street home two doors down, with two bullets still inside her body.
Human representatives of the dogs called the attack and the shooting an unfortunate incident and stressed that all the people involved appeared to be doing what they thought best.
But an owner of Lucy said the pit bull should not be living in the neighborhood, and a friend of the owner of Oki said Lucy’s master should not have used a gun to break up the dogs.
"He was so upset. He was in tears," said the wife of the man who shot Oki. She declined to give the couple’s names, and police did not identify the man, saying that no crime report had been filed.
Lucy was in the driveway of the home about 1:30 p.m. Monday greeting her master, who had just arrived home. Oki, who had gotten free from behind a gate at her home, swept down on the other dog, police said.
"Without provocation the pit bull attacked Lucy, and she was unable to defend herself because of her age. The resident attempted unsuccessfully to separate the two dogs. Fearing for the safety and well being of his dog, the resident went into his house to obtain a handgun," Officer Paul Wolcott said.
"When he returned the pit bull was continuing the attack on his dog Lucy. The resident then shot the pit bull three times, once in the neck, once in the torso and once in the hip. The pit bull retreated to its own residence," Wolcott said.
The man fired the shots at close range using his registered.25 caliber pistol, Wolcott said.
"He only used the force necessary to stop the attack. He showed considerable restraint," Wolcott said.
The man then called police to report the shooting and get help for the dogs, Wolcott said.
Authorities followed a trail of blood to find Oki inside her unlocked home, officials said.
Despite the wounds Oki greeted officers cheerfully and went along to the vet’s, said Vincent Balvin, animal control field supervisor for the city.
"The dog that was shot was more serious, but they both suffered fairly minor wounds," Balvin said.
The day after the incident, the wife of the man who shot Oki described the whole thing as surreal.
"We don’t even kill snails," she said.
She repeated her husband’s account of the incident, saying that he saw Oki coming toward the house and tried to get Lucy inside.
"He said ‘Lucy, get inside,’ and she just thought she had done something wrong. He tried to push her inside and she rolled over on her back. Then bam, the dog was on top of Lucy," the woman said.
The man tried unsuccessfully to get the dogs apart, then went inside for his gun. After firing one shot into the pit bull, the man was stunned to find that the attack had not broken off.
"After the first one he couldn’t believe it was still going on," she said.
She described Oki as "sweet with people" and her owner, identified by city officials as Don Goering, as "a pussycat of a guy."
"I know he loves his dog. He loves her and she loves him," the woman said.
But she said the pit bull should not be allowed to remain in the area. The dog and her master have lived there for a couple of months, she said.
"In this densely populated area, with kids, this was way too predictable. Of course something would happen," she said.
Animal control officials were considering how to prevent any further attacks by Oki.
Down the street, Goering was unavailable but a friend, Mike Sanders of Redondo Beach, stressed a desire to get along with Lucy’s owners.
"It’s a sad incident altogether," he said.
Sanders said that Lucy’s master should have found a way to break up the "dogfight" without using a gun.
"What if, God forbid, a little kid is going by on a skateboard or a car is going by. When you use a gun you don’t know what’s going to happen," Sanders said. "If two dogs fight, don’t use a gun to separate them. It could endanger people’s lives."
But he added that he believes the man did what he thought best in a difficult situation.
"I don’t know how big a guy he is, he might not be big enough to break them up," Sanders said.
Sanders said he gave Oki to Goering after finding her in a disheveled state in Torrance. He said he believes the dog had escaped a "junkyard" trainer who would have made Oki more aggressive.
"There is no history of this dog doing violence to any other dog," Sanders said. "She’s a little loud and nippy, but we’re looking to fix that."
He said he hopes the reaction to the incident by city officials is not colored by what he called a prejudice against pit bulls. The dogs are friendly unless people teach them differently, Sanders said.
Sanders also said that Oki must have escaped her backyard gate only after a person let her out or a dog came onto the property and "egged her on."
Balvin said he was surprised that Oki was able to push open the recently installed gate, but he described the gate as makeshift as said it would not be impossible for the dog to get out on her own. ER