...So an hour ago I found myself with a raging pitbull on top of me

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

I was out walking my sister's Lab. We were almost back home after a brisk inspection of her domain, when up bounded this beautiful male pitbull. I had no fear of him- he jumps the fence from time to time to roam about, but he's as friendly as a kitten. All he wants is to be petted a bit. So I indulged him and Lady ignored him while inspecting an especially interesting patch of grass.

That's when I noticed that his mate, a beautiful white female pitbull, has also jumped the fence (never saw her do it before) and has spotted Lady. Half a second later she was on top of Lady, and I was trying very hard to pull them apart (hoping pitpuppy wouldn't latch onto my arm). They were locked in mortal combat, and they ended up smacking up against me. My bad leg instantly collapsed, and I found myself on the ground with two fighting dogs on top of me.

I managed to crawl out from under them. A couple swift kicks to the pitbull did no good- by that time we were next to the front door (which was locked, naturally). I pounded on the door while trying to pull them apart. My BIL opened the door and grabbed the pitbull by the collar, and between the two of us we managed to separate them (we were inside the house at that point). He managed to toss her out the door, and I slammed it shut and collapsed onto the floor. (All this time the male was merely dancing around the periphery of the action- I could almost hear him saying "Stop it. Just STOP it." to his mate. As I said, he's a friendly pup!)

Now, lemme tell you one thing here. The Rowlett Texas Police Department and the Animal Control people are all useless as tits on a boar hog when it comes to animal attacks. Neither would come out and take a report because the neighbors had taken the two pitbulls inside (they were no longer at large, so it wasn't their problem). There are also no emergency animal hospitals open on the weekend. THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE COULD DO.

Lady suffered a bit of a bite wound to her ear, and another minor wound to a paw. A miracle that's all that happened to her- good puppy fought back, at any rate. Good girl!

But an hour later MY leg barely works- my knee seems at this time to be unaffected (hope, hope, hope!) but I'm fairly certain I've either badly sprained or broken my ankle (my money's on the sprain). If I can't walk tomorrow I'm going to the hospital at the pit owner's expense...

I don't believe I've ever been so frightened in my entire life. Now that the adrenaline is gone I'm gonna quietly freak for a while then take a pain pill for my leg.

Damn, that was a nasty moment. Nasty.

[Writer]

1. You and your BIL need to go to your neighbors NOW and show them your injuries...

and the injuries to you dog. They owe you both a vet and a medical treatment.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

2. I guarantee this ain't the end of it.

It was my fake knee that collapsed- I need to have it examined to make sure it wasn't damaged in any case. As I said, they'll get the bill and then some...

[Writer]

3. Are they fairly agreeable neighbors? And do they know what happened?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

4. Never met 'em before.

And my sister told 'em.

[marzipanni]

5. That sounds really scary! I am very apprehensive about dog fights and

our female Border Collie-Heeler is feisty enough that I keep her away from other dogs, though I'm not
absolutely sure her bad attitude isn't mainly territorial and she might do well at the dog park. I don't want to find out at someone else's or their dog's expense!

How did the pit owners respond when they found out what had happened? I hope they will put up a better fence so this won't happen again.
Are you putting ice on your ankle and keeping it your foot raised?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

8. Don't know- my sister talked to them.

I was having a bit of an adrenaline rush at the time, and after it was over I may have been in mild shock due to my leg (doesn't take much when you have a couple hundred pounds of raging muscle and snapping fangs atop you).

[Pavulon]

6. Homeowners

has to cover this stuff and the approach is to ask for your bills and medical to be paid in good faith. If they refuse their homeowners is public record and you can file a claim against it using terms viscous dog attack and personal injury.

That pretty much ensures they will be dropped outright or their insurance will become un-payable. This causes the bank to step in and revoke or rewrite the mortgage.

Any person with sense when confronted with a homeowners claim surrounding pit bulls should open up the pocketbook

[GOPisEvil]

10. That may not be true.

Some homeowners policies will not cover "hazardous breeds" which would be specified in the policy.

[LeftyMom]

7. Are their dogs fixed?

Sounds like the female is aggressive around other females, which leads me to suspect that she's not.

I would insist on the dogs being altered and the fence improved as an alternative to making a report, personally. Especially since you've already discovered calling in the law is a fairly toothless threat, though they probably don't know that.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. The thing that REALLY frightens me personally is

they have three small children in their household.

[LeftyMom]

12. Pitties, being terriers, tend to be dog agressive.

Assuming that's the problem, the female probably doesn't pose any threat to the kids. After all, even when you were knocked over and on the ground (if I'm reading right, that was just incidental to the dog scrum, not any sort of intentional aggressive move toward you,) it doesn't sound like she made any effort to hurt you, only Lady.

I don't know for sure that I'm reading this right, but it really just sounds like a dog aggressive female trying to keep another female away from her mate. This is only dangerous to people caught in the middle, so the keys to controlling this will be to keep this dog away from other females and to minimize her aggression by spaying her immediately, if that hasn't already been done.

[Whoa_Nelly]

11. Screw the town police, etc. File a report tonight!

take pics of your pup, your swelling, document all that happened (you have a great log already posted here)

But DO file a report with the police. You need record now, not tomorrow. :hug:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

13. I'm (mostly) peripheral

It was my sister's dog that was originally attacked, and it happened on her property. In spite of my incidental leg collapse, the dog never actually attacked me (sorry, Lady, but thank God) .

I'm also too buzzed on pain pills at the moment to do anything else at the moment.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. I second that.

pictures.
got a video?
take pics/video of your ankle and dr. visit and insist on police letting you file a report.
Insurance company will want a report filed.

Then there is always the private lawsuit angle.

[XemaSab]

14. I've been bit by a dog before

and lemme tell ya: dogs can be VERY scary. :scared:

Glad you and your puppy made it out mostly in one piece. And you should make a stink about it with the neighbors for sure.

[harmonicon]

15. man, that sucks

The owners should have kept watch of that dog. My dog is incredibly mean to other female dogs, so we always have to keep an eye out for that kind of thing. Sucks that some people wouldn't.

[dhpgetsit]

16. Whatever the circumstances

They are totally responsible for controlling the dogs. Anything that happens as a result of their escapade is their fault. Take pics and make them pay.

[Guava Jelly]

17. Ah man

I'm sorry. I hope your leg and lady heal quickly and completely.

[IndianaJones]

18. shoot it. its going to eventually seriously harm or kill someone else's animal or a person. nt.

[Inchworm]

19. Pour some peroxide on your dog's open wounds

Go as soon as you can to the neighbor and explain exactly what happened. It's easy for people to assume the humans won't no anything, but it's been my experience that if they are made aware of the issue quickly they actually try to make things better.

If they are assholes let them know you arent going to stand for it.

Ask if they are spay/neutered. Ask if they would make it so the female cannot get over the fence if it has territory issues.

Try nice first.

:hi:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

20. Lady's in good hands.

She's an AKC registered purebred Chocolate Lab, and she's been vaccinated for everything possible. Besides that, my sister's a nurse, so she knows how to clean wounds. I think Lady was way more frightened than physically hurt.

On the other hand, I can barely put weight onto my leg right now... :cry:

[Inchworm]

21. I know what you're saying

I had the same trouble here with neighbor's dogs here. They had a dog that they kept chained always and when it broke loose it would bee-line to my Chow.

We all came to an agreement after quite a bit of bickering. I still have blood on my bedroom wall where it got in the house when I was away. I wouldnt advise doing what I'd do.. lol.. I'd dive right in with them and fight til I got them separated and neighbor's dog pinned. He was a pit-mix so the "separating" was the hard part.

Hope you heal quick. Don't forget to limp on over there in the morning though.

:hug:

:thumbsup:

[haele]

23. Female dogs are very protective and will often attack in uncertain situations

if they feel their "protectee" is potentially in danger. If the white pit dog had never been out before, it could be a primary trigger for her to attack when she saw her mate near another dog she didn't recognize.

When a female pit mix decided to attack Shari at a dog park because she came up to the pit's "mommy", the only way we could separate her from her lock on Shari's collar was by jerking her up to almost upside down by her hind legs while another person smacked her snoot.
And dogs will do what dogs will do. The pit's mommy usually did not come out to the dog park when the husband took the dogs out to the park, so they had never seen that reaction before. Shari was shaken, but luckily, not hurt, when the pit mix had latched on to her collar instead of her neck, and we got them separated quickly.

Hopefully, your neighbor is a responsible dog owner and will cover all medical expenses.

:hug:

Haele

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

24. The key word being HOPEFULLY.

We couldn't get either a cop squad car OR an animal control car to come out to take a report.

No words available to express the rage.

The funny thing is, I LOVE animals, and I can't see myself being responsible for the possible destruction of one or both of those animals. The female was just doing what comes naturally. I'd much rather see them moved to a house out in the country, away from future temptation, than have them staked to a chain forever, or worse, put down. It goes against all my beliefs to take part in something like that. It's abhorrent to me and if it happens I'll be miserable for weeks, even though my part was small at best.

Read my DU Journal for another pit bull adventure and how it turned out, if you want to understand what I mean. Warning: it's an unsettling story, and you may well wish you'd passed it on by. The choice is yours.