LETTERS: Pit bull kills pet
To the Editor:
My name is Jack R. Swain. I live with my wife Ella at 307 N. Roosevelt, Marion. I am making this statement about the events that occurred at my residence on the afternoon of March 25, 2003, when our pet Dachshund was killed in a vicious attack by a Pit Bulldog owned by the James Labelle family that lives directly adjacent to me to the north.
Last year James Labelle's son moved from Wichita to live at the family residence. When the younger Labelle moved in he had with him a Pit Bulldog which he penned up in an enclosure to the rear of the house. I inquired about the Pit Bulldog and was assured the dog was friendly and lovable. I doubted this since Pit Bulldogs are bred for violence. I remained doubtful and watchful. The dog remained in its cage and whenever I was in my yard it watched every move I made, never making a sound.
On March 25, my wife and I were unloading household items from our vehicle parked in our driveway about 100 feet from the Labelle Pit Bulldog cage. I had propped open our front door and was carrying in items from the van. Our Dachshund "Andy" was inside the house at the doorway watching me. As I started out the door to return to the van for more items, my wife and I heard a woman screaming at the Labelle house.
Looking in that direction I saw a woman, unknown to me, chasing the Labelle Pit Bull across our yard. The woman was running after the dog carrying some kind of restraining device in her hand. The Pit Bulldog ran past our van into our front yard all the time barking in a frenzied manner. The Pit Bulldog was accompanied by a brownish dog I had not seen at the Labelle residence prior to March 25.
In response to the barking of the Labelle Pit Bulldog, our Dachshund, Andy, barked. The Labelle dog veered toward Andy and me standing in our doorway. The Pit Bulldog entered our home and seized Andy's head and throat in its mouth and proceeded to savage Andy without turning loose of Andy's head and throat. I began to kick the Labelle Pit Bulldog and when it did not turn loose of Andy I grabbed its collar and threw it across the porch into some shrubs that border the porch. To my disbelief the Labelle dog did not turn loose of Andy and I only succeeded in throwing both dogs into the bushes. The reason that both Andy and the Labelle dog went together into the bushes was that the Labelle dog still had Andy's head in its mouth and would not turn loose.
I then jumped down into the bushes and began beating the Labelle dog in the head with my fists.
The woman who was chasing the Labelle dog then came running at me screaming, "Don't do that! Don't do that!" I realized after the event that the woman was afraid that the Labelle Pit Bulldog would turn to attack me. Had this occurred I would have been severely mauled.
The woman who was responsible for the Labelle Pit Bulldog finally succeeded in attaching the restraining device to the dog's collar and then, only when Andy went limp and unconscious, did the Labelle dog give up its hold on Andy's head and throat.
The Labelle dog's hold on Andy's head had lacerated Andy's throat which was bleeding heavily. I put pressure on the wound and called to my wife to get a towel which I used to wrap Andy. Holding the wound with my hand, I carried him to the van. My wife Ella took over the pressure point on Andy's throat and I drove the van to the veterinarian's office.
The veterinarian and three of her staff worked hard to establish a tube in Andy's ripped trachea to help him breathe. It became apparent to Ella and me that even with a machine supplying gas and the veterinarian applying lifesaving procedures and administering drugs that Andy was not going to survive. Ella and I decided with the veterinarian's agreement to sign the papers to have Andy euthanized. The procedure was performed and Andy was dead.
Jack R. Swain
Marion
