Pit bulls maul pony in CT - link to story

[MistyBlue]

At least here in CT we have the legal right to kill any dog chasing, worrying, harassing or injuring domestic animals or livestock. The owner of the problem dog has zero legal recourse on that and *also* must pay for any loss of animal or damage done and vet bills. That law extends to owners of land/animals that were attacked/chased, law enforcement, AC, etc.
Unfortunately...if the dogs aren;t killed in the process or immediately after (owner/LEO catches dog on property and then destroys them) then the issue must be determined by a judge in court. I think it should be that after the fact the owner can request that LEO or AC take immediate possession of the dogs and have them euthanized. (not that the owner can go to the dog's house and demand to shoot them or anything like that)
But CT does not allow dogs to bother ANY other animal, pet or livestock, and live if the owner or a police officer or ACO decides to shoot it in the act or while still off it's own property.
In this case the horse owners should be able to take the owner to court to force euthanizing them, they're legally allowed to. I hope they do.
And almost ALL dogs have prey drive...instinctual chase. Something moves fast, most breeds will give chase without even thinking. Very very few will attack. Herding dogs chase all day and have an excessively powerful prey drive, but are controlled and don't bite/maul. There is a killing drive too...which is what terriers have. It's genetically bred into them to kill stuff, not chase it or find it or point to it or herd it. Try calling a JRT off a rat. Pits were selectively and genetically made to fight/bite/maul. It's the exception to the breed to find one without this instinct ingrained. And it's the exception to find an owner who accepts this 100% and has the proper socializing, containment, control and training for the animal. Just because it lives with children and cats and kisses everyone and is happy go lucky does not mean it will not act like it's genetically predisposed to ever.
The dogs can be fine...if all the owners stopped getting them from rescues/careless breeders and then not handling them correctly because they're breed blind. "Oh mine never would!" is not an excuse and doesn;t change reality. The proper mindset is "Mine is capable of it and even though it's not likely I will make sure it never ever has the chance to even try it." I've had issue breeds my entire life...by accepting them for what they are and acting accordingly at all times there wasn't ever any issues with a single one. And I've wildlife and wildlife crosses...the responsibility is MUCH higher with certain breeds and owners cannot close their minds due to their perception of their own dog.

[Jealoushe]

This makes me so sad. That poor pony was probably such a good boy, and to have to go through that crap. It breaks my heart. Then you have these 2 beasts terrorizing the neighbourhood and they have no injuries, no pain, and get to home to a nice cozy bed.

The owners are appologetic? Sorry ISN'T good enough.

Whoever said it is right, it will be a human soon.

sad, brutal, and uneccessary!

[gieriscm]

Breed is irrelevant in this case; the dogs should have been put down months ago. Read comment #38 in the second article - this is not the first time the dogs have attacked a horse. That attack just wasn't reported in the news.

[VAHorseGurl]

Regardless of being the owner of 3 Pit bulls who I love dearly and will do anything to protect from themselves, and one of them very highly prey driven; I will not sit back and condone what the owner of these dog's has been allowed to get away with for the last few weeks.

There is no reason those dogs should be allowed to live, you find them on your property, shoot and ask questions later!!! You have a right to protect your livestock and other pets! And WHO in their right mind thinks a 4foot fence is enough to contain these type of dogs. TRUE IGNORANCE and a risk to the community!!

As for using those dogs as Protection, that right there says the Construction owner is an Ignorant individual and doesn't know the history of this breed. They are NOT protection dogs, nor have they ever been used as such successfully. They are hunters and fighters by nature/breeding and regardless of breeding away from prey drive, it will always be there.

I really dislike folks like this Pit owner, it makes it harder for Pit owners like myself to own this breed and not have folks like some of you here look down your nose at me for MY choice to do so.

[anita m]

I guess since it wasn't proven that the cat was killed by the dogs, and the attack on the pony is the first on the record, the owner gets a slap on the wrist and he gets to keep his dogs. What's the fine for the misdemeanor, anyone know? I hope it is steep. I would be fearful is I owned any sort of animal, pet, or livestock if I lived in the area. What a nightmare. And WHY, when the dogs escaped on the two occasions THAT WE KNOW OF (I'm sure there have been many others) did the stupidass owners apparently not even bother to go out looking for them? F-ing morons.

[Riley0522]

Good for you Boomer for being safe and containing your dogs and not having Breed Blindness.
I personally have nothing against a good pit or pit cross. Not a thing. They're very loveable goofballs. But....very very very few people get them from long term professional breeders who have made sure their animals have the proper personalities bred into them as much as possible.
The vast majority of pits are rescues or bought from newspaper ads or from a friend of a friend. While that doesn't make them ALL bad it does mean that not a single one was bred for generations to have the best possible traits. Most of the ones around today are not the ones we had as fantastic family pets in the 50s. Given the purpose of the breed, badly bred or ones bred willy nilly have a much higher chance of being unpredictable. Add in that many owners (not counting thugs, regular families) do not ever believe their dogs have any possibility of ever acting badly so do not train them properly (a lifelong thing, not just a few tricks as pups and then you're done) or keep them properly contained because "Poopsie" would never do that!
I do blame the dogs and the owners in cases like this. Bred by the uninformed and sold/adopted/given to the irresponsible. Bad combo. And yes, I know many people who have rescue ones and the owners are beyond excellent dog owners and have still had them go after something totally out of the blue. You can never predict behavior on ill bred dogs. Look at all the badly bred goldens and labs...well bred ones aren't obedience nightmares until they're too old to act up. But overbreeding due to popularity has made for some dingbat freaking dogs out there. Who bite a lot. Same with other breeds. It's just that other breeds weren't genetically selectively invented for mauling things. It's not an inherently bad pit that attacks/mauls...it's a badly bred dog. And a potential time bomb.
I have a niece who has a pit...and a farm. Her pit is never ever off leash outside. Ever. He was a rescue and she knows he can never be trusted and won't take the chance. Why set him up for possible failure? He does cause some damage with that happy wagging tail of his...ouch!

This is a great post. I am 100% with you that they are badly bred dogs and breed is pretty much irrelevant. So many people can't see past the label "Pit Bull", but really any dog can attack with an intent to kill if it is poorly bred. I, myself, have seen many poorly bred labs/goldens/my mom's Old English that were backyard bred and do not think twice about aggressing at a human or another animal, and then redirect back on the person that tries to stop them.

I have 3 rescued Pits, and one that was suspected to come from a fighting ring. She is a GREAT dog, and awesome with her pack and dogs she knows, but I would never let her off leash at a dog park, or unsupervised with other animals for that matter. We know she hates cats, and would maul one if given the chance, so she is never around small animals unsupervised. With us, she's great...very intelligent dog, and we have put a lot of time into her training. She is the most loyal dog I've ever owned and would do anything to please us. She loves EVERYONE (human-wise) and I trust her 100% with anybody...even young children. Does that mean I'd leave her alone with a kid? Of course not, but then again no animal should be left alone with a child...an animal is a living being with their own brain!

This makes me so sad. That poor pony was probably such a good boy, and to have to go through that crap. It breaks my heart. Then you have these 2 beasts terrorizing the neighbourhood and they have no injuries, no pain, and get to home to a nice cozy bed.

The owners are appologetic? Sorry ISN'T good enough.

Whoever said it is right, it will be a human soon.

sad, brutal, and uneccessary!

I actually doubt it will be a human next. These dogs were fought off by a human and did not aggress back - which is true to their breed nature. They have been bred for centuries not to be human aggressive, even in the heat of a fight.

That does not dismiss the fact that they have a high prey drive and have proven to attack on multiple occasions and are clearly not in a home that should be owning Pit Bulls since they have allowed the dogs to aggress on multiple occasions. In the right home, these dogs probably could be great, but obviously not in their current home and if that is their only option, they should be humanely euthanized.

[SaturdayNightLive]

I haven't read the whole thread, mostly because I'm tired of reading thread after thread of the COTH Death Squad yelling for something to be put down, but I can't help but be curious about something...

Is there some sort of double standard with dogs? Because it seems like there is. What I mean is, for example, you have two dogs: Dog A is a pit bull, typical of the breed, very friendly with people but with a high prey drive. Dog B is a Shiba Inu, also with a high prey drive. Say Dog A is the pit bull in the news story and he attacks the pony. You all want him shot. Say Dog B attacks and kills the neighbors pet bunny. Do you want him shot too? I'm just confused about the logic here... Is it not okay for dogs to act on instinct at all? Or is it okay as long as it's not around someone's horse?

Now I do think that the owners of the dogs are the responsible party in this story, but I don't see the logic behind putting the dogs down. They were acting on instinct, and it's not as if they attacked a person.

[VAHorseGurl]

I haven't read the whole thread, mostly because I'm tired of reading thread after thread of the COTH Death Squad yelling for something to be put down, but I can't help but be curious about something...

Is there some sort of double standard with dogs? Because it seems like there is. What I mean is, for example, you have two dogs: Dog A is a pit bull, typical of the breed, very friendly with people but with a high prey drive. Dog B is a Shiba Inu, also with a high prey drive. Say Dog A is the pit bull in the news story and he attacks the pony. You all want him shot. Say Dog B attacks and kills the neighbors pet bunny. Do you want him shot too? I'm just confused about the logic here... Is it not okay for dogs to act on instinct at all? Or is it okay as long as it's not around someone's horse?

Now I do think that the owners of the dogs are the responsible party in this story, but I don't see the logic behind putting the dogs down. They were acting on instinct, and it's not as if they attacked a person.

I do not consider myself apart of the COTH death squad as you put it. However, the reasoning behind my feelings is that these dogs were not protected from themselves.

That being said, they were allowed to run free of responsibility by the owner. They were 'At Large' on someone elses property and causing damage to someone else's property.

And Yes, if Dog A got out and killed neighbor's bunny, if first offense, owner should pay compensation to owner of killed bunny and a large fine for allowing Dog A to run 'At Large' and terrorize the community. Should Dog A 'escape', 'get out', 'jump said fence' a second time, the dog (for the protection of the community) should be put down because the owner is irresponsible enough NOT to protect the dog and the community.

[Ambrey]

They were not poorly bred- they were bred that way on purpose. People knew exactly what they were doing when they bred for viciousness in a dog with the physical ability to do a great deal of damage.

[MistyBlue]

Is there some sort of double standard with dogs? Because it seems like there is. What I mean is, for example, you have two dogs: Dog A is a pit bull, typical of the breed, very friendly with people but with a high prey drive. Dog B is a Shiba Inu, also with a high prey drive. Say Dog A is the pit bull in the news story and he attacks the pony. You all want him shot. Say Dog B attacks and kills the neighbors pet bunny. Do you want him shot too? I'm just confused about the logic here... Is it not okay for dogs to act on instinct at all? Or is it okay as long as it's not around someone's horse?

A dog that attacks and kills any other animal without a command or training to do so, especially someone else's pet..needs to be fined, contained and second strike done.
Because a common fallacy is that a dog with a high prey drive is acting normal killing stuff. It's not. (disregarding dogs specifically bred and trained for certain types of hunting) If this was true then there would be countless attacks and deaths of other animals all the time from almost all breeds except for toy breeds. Any dog has a prey drive because all dogs are carnivorous and are genetically programmed to find and obtain meat. A properly bred, properly handled and properly trained dog of any breed will not attack and kill pet bunnies, cats, goats or horses. Period. Because the right owner will not allow that. The right owner lets them know it's okay to go after varmints like rats or opossums and will correct bad unwanted behavior.
2 pits (or Shibas, chows, GSDs, whatevers) systematically chasing down and attacking a horse is NOT normal prey drive. The prey is too large...ever see a JRT (who have an extremely high kill drive for rodents) go after and try to take down a hog? or large goat? Or Donkey? Probably not.
And in a perfect world all animals everywhere would act exactly like they should in our imaginations. In real life...with irresponsible owners...they don't. So these dogs aren't euthed. Their owners aren't going to be 100% watchful for the rest of those dogs' lives. Next summer the pony is healed, the now 10 year old owner is riding and the dogs get out...remember how much fun it was chasing the pony and go after it again. Do you think the child will get injured or worse on a freaking out pony with 2 pit bulls hanging off of it? But hey...at least the scary mean ol' Death Squad didn't humanely end the poor widdle doggies lives.
Real world isn't the same as Perfect World. We do the best we can to remain humane and keep up welfare standards...and we avoid possibly catastrophic happenings.

[SaturdayNightLive]

.at least the scary mean ol' Death Squad didn't humanely end the poor widdle doggies lives.

Easy killer, I was just asking a question. No need to get sarcastic and nasty.

The COTH Death Squad thing isn't exactly limited to this thread you know, and it surely doesn't apply to everyone. However, it does seem to be a trend with some who post here to suggest euthing anything that breathes. I guess some people have different standards for what constitutes a capital offense.

[Jealoushe]

SNL - if that little fluffy dog you mentioned attacked a horse I'm sure the death squad would be saying the same thing.

Any dog who is constantly attacking neighbourhood animals needs a new home - either in heaven or somewhere where someone can properly keep it out of trouble.

[Huntertwo]

I actually doubt it will be a human next. These dogs were fought off by a human and did not aggress back - which is true to their breed nature. They have been bred for centuries not to be human aggressive, even in the heat of a fight.

Then why do I constantly either read or see it on the news where a Pit savaged a small child or even a grown adult?

[MistyBlue]

Easy killer, I was just asking a question. No need to get sarcastic and nasty.

The COTH Death Squad thing isn't exactly limited to this thread you know, and it surely doesn't apply to everyone. However, it does seem to be a trend with some who post here to suggest euthing anything that breathes. I guess some people have different standards for what constitutes a capital offense.

Sarcasm was meant, but not in a nasty way. More of being exasperated. I can't understand wanting to keep alive dangerous animals with a serious history of repeated attacks. especially when the chances of it happening again are very high and the chance that a child can most definitely get injured or even killed if another attack happens is to me and most of the world a much larger problem than two dogs being humanely euthanized. Dogs do not think in terms of life and death as people do. One minute they'll be alive, next they'll be asleep, next they'll be no more. The dogs won't care no matter how much we anthromorphized their feelings.
And it's extremely sad and upsetting when animals have to be destroyed due to being dangerous. But it's still necessary. And it's the right thing to do.
To refer to folks as being part of a "Death Squad" just for being responsibly minded and realistic is insulting. And to then expound on that with "However, it does seem to be a trend with some who post here to suggest euthing anything that breathes" is being a tad overly emotional and quite a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it? Or do you truly believe folks just want anything breathing to be destroyed?
How would you feel if those pits were rehomed through a rescue to a home near you? And even to a responsible oowner...at this point a future attack is pretty much a given. And very few owners of any type can be 100% vigilant 100% of the time. Now you're walking your own dog, these dogs got out and they attack and kill your dog while you're holding it's leash? You find out they had a history of animal attacks...do you now want them humanely euthanized or do you want them rehabbed again, rehomed again and give someone somewhere else the possibility of the same thing happening to them? It wasn't a one time excited chase where they bit the horse a time or two nipping at it. They quietly and systematically pursued and attacked it, they've done the same with other animals and another horse and killed at least one cat. The history states they should have been destroyed. No matter how sad that is...it's the mature and responsible thing to do.

[Ambrey]

SNL - if that little fluffy dog you mentioned attacked a horse I'm sure the death squad would be saying the same thing.

Any dog who is constantly attacking neighbourhood animals needs a new home - either in heaven or somewhere where someone can properly keep it out of trouble.

The double standard comes into play when people see the kind of damage one breed can do vs. another when they DO act on those instincts. The Shiba Inu can get the neighbor's bunny- ok, keep him away from small animals. But an animal that can take down a horse? How do you keep the world safe from that?

A dog bites the mailman and the mailman needs 7 stitches- OK, keep that dog away from strangers. A dog mauls and kills someone? Yikes.

[Riley0522]

Then why do I constantly either read or see it on the news where a Pit savaged a small child or even a grown adult?

Because they have idiotic owners that leave them unattended with their children or who train them to be vicious. As I said before, Pit Bulls are very loyal and will do anything to serve their human, and while human aggression is not a breed characteristic, there are plenty of monsters out there who do train these dogs to be vicious towards human beings (ie: gang bangers, drug dealers, etc). It's not the Pit Bulls fault that many people who probably shouldn't procreate or own an animal choose to "own" them because they look tough. The sad reality is there are many more bad, inept Pit Bull owners than good ones. The Labrador simply doesn't cut it in the 'hood if you know what I mean.

Plenty of Golden Retrievers, Labs, Huskies, Akitas, German Sheperds, Poodles etc ALSO maul children and adults, you just don't see it because the people that own these dogs aren't nearly as unqualified dog owners as a lot of those that own pits, and when these attacks happen they rarely specify breed, it's just labeled "DOG ATTACK."

[Riley0522]

The double standard comes into play when people see the kind of damage one breed can do vs. another when they DO act on those instincts. The Shiba Inu can get the neighbor's bunny- ok, keep him away from small animals. But an animal that can take down a horse? How do you keep the world safe from that?

A dog bites the mailman and the mailman needs 7 stitches- OK, keep that dog away from strangers. A dog mauls and kills someone? Yikes.

The same way you keep the Shiba Inu from the bunny, put it behind a fence or on a leash. It's really not rocket science. And I like how you state we have to keep the world safe from a dog that can take down a horse...the world isn't in danger, maybe horses yes, but it is just as easy to keep the Pit Bull that doesn't like horses away from horses as it is to keep the Shiba Inu away from rabbits that doesn't like rabbits.

And there are many breeds of dog that could easily take down a horse, so please tell me how we keep the world safe from Rottweilers, any Mastiff, Great Danes, St. Bernards, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Irish Wolf Hounds, etc???

I'm really not trying to be rude and hope I don't come off that way, it's just so sad that the media loves to prey on Pit Bulls. I whole-heartedly agree that they are not a dog for just anyone, and they require a lot of training, but in the right hands they are fabulous, loving pets...even rescues who have been rehabbed. I don't believe they're the only breed of dog that requires an experienced hand either. It just sucks that people look at the dog as the problem, when in most cases it's the owner's fault and most of these owners are just not good/educated dog owners and they have a Pit Bull - really bad combo. Instead of attacking the breed, I wish more people would be open-minded and help those of us who love the breed educate the public. These dogs are falsely idolized in the wrong eyes and used for the wrong purposes, but those that are human aggressive are MADE to be that way by a human. In my mind, if they are aggressive towards other animals, they don't need to be euthed, they just need a much more experienced home...just because they have animal aggression doesn't necessarily make them a bad dog.

[Ambrey]

And there are many breeds of dog that could easily take down a horse, so please tell me how we keep the world safe from Rottweilers, any Mastiff, Great Danes, St. Bernards, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Irish Wolf Hounds, etc???

When they start roaming in packs and attacking people's ponies, I'm sure that will be something the public will concern themselves about.

[Jealoushe]

The double standard comes into play when people see the kind of damage one breed can do vs. another when they DO act on those instincts. The Shiba Inu can get the neighbor's bunny- ok, keep him away from small animals. But an animal that can take down a horse? How do you keep the world safe from that?

A dog bites the mailman and the mailman needs 7 stitches- OK, keep that dog away from strangers. A dog mauls and kills someone? Yikes.

Hey, I agree with you. I just wanted to point out that the death camp on CoTH aren't breed biased for the most part.

[paohatch]

Any dog can be loveable and any dog can be a killer

Mistyblue says ...systematically chasing down and attacking a horse is NOT normal prey drive. The prey is too large...ever see a JRT (who have an extremely high kill drive for rodents) go after and try to take down a hog? or large goat? Or Donkey? Probably not.
And in a perfect world all animals everywhere would act exactly like they should in our imaginations.

Years ago my mother had a pet sheep. She put a dog collar on it, staked it on a long rope and moved the stake around the 4 acre yard. It was a lawnmower and a pet . Then one day, a pack of neighborhood dogs, led by a golden retriever and collie ran the poor thing down and ripped its throat off. The neighbors confronted with the bloody evidence on their dog and the carcass said "Are you sure? My little poopsie.. yes..I'll admit that he/she was loose.. but he/she would never do such a horrid thing." Something about sheep/fear element brings out the wild in a dog running in a pack.