Latest news with #pitbull
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
As residents and dogs again fill Chicago parks, data shows fewer than 1 in 4 reported bites result in citations
Ed Wolf doesn't quite recall the moments between being knocked off his bike and losing a chunk of his face in November 2023. But he remembers the phone call he made to his wife: 'I said, 'You have to come get me. I've been attacked by a pit bull,'' Wolf said. 'And she goes, 'Are you kidding?'' A day and 50 stitches later Wolf, 68, went to the police station to report the bite and found himself navigating a morass of different systems as he tried to draw official attention to the dog's owner. An officer at the Morgan Park District (22nd) police station helped Wolf get started on a bite report, which kickstarts an investigation at Chicago Animal Care and Control. The city department received some 6,435 bite reports between January 2020 and April 30 of this year, according to a Tribune review of data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. For that same period, data shows that CACC has issued about 1,516 citations, for 'unrestrained violations,' to animal owners. The violations cover dogs found to be off-leash in public areas, but not every violation issued pertains to a bite. All of the investigations save a single one were marked closed, leaving residents and city officials alike to complain that the path to hold owners to account after dog attacks is opaque at best and useless at worst. Wolf's was one of them. An animal control investigator spoke with Wolf about the attack, but stated in the report that Wolf didn't know the owner or how to reach him. Someone was trying to locate better information on the dog's owner, according to the investigation report. The Beverly resident said he tried to follow up with Animal Control but never heard back. A copy of the investigation associated with Wolf's bite report showed the inquiry was marked completed, with no listed resolution. 'I would have liked for there to be some consequences to this,' he said. In the 19th Ward, where Wolf lives, canine attacks have been a problem since a woman jogging in the Dan Ryan Woods was mauled to death by a trio of vicious dogs in 2003. More recently, city data shows that bites are up in that ward and citywide since 2020. Click on the map to see the exact number of reported bites in each ward. The agency received 1,267 bite reports in 2023 and just over 1,300 reports in 2024, according to Chicago Animal Care and Control data. But the number of unrestrained citations it issued dropped by more than half over the same period — from 390 to 177. A CACC representative said in a statement that the department was reviewing Wolf's case and one other closed case listed in a request for comment. The department acknowledged it can be frustrating for the public to deal with multiple agencies in the reporting process, but said it largely relies on the Chicago Police Department for accurate information to push cases forward. CPD representatives didn't respond to multiple requests for comment. Click on the map to see the exact number of violations issued in each ward. Animal Care has been without a permanent leader for more than two years, since then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed Susan Capello as acting director in January 2023. CACC has cut back on its hours for members of the public to bring in animals and is sounding the alarm on a flood of pet surrenders that is testing the capacity of its space and its staff. On Thursday, it reported on social media that 75 animals entered its shelter over a single day. As for why more than three-quarters of the animal bites reported to the agency are closed without a clear resolution, Animal Care and Control Operations Manager Angela Rayburn said investigators contend with missing or inaccurate information in bite reports. 'We have no other way to find the person other than what we're seeing in the official police (report),' she said. Even with the correct information, Rayburn acknowledged, investigators will mark probes closed if they are unable to reach a bite victim or a dog owner. They can reopen investigations if someone calls them back, she added, but said callbacks after the first 24 hours are rare. 'We would probably have over 100 open bite (reports) if we're waiting on people to call us back,' she said. 'We don't want to wait months just to leave it open for someone that's probably never going to call.' A department spokesperson said CACC officials and CPD were working to update a 2019 police order governing how officers handle animal-related incidents. That order directs officers to determine whether biting animals belong to anyone, and fill out bite reports for city and county animal control officials, among other obligations. If an officer can identify an owner, the order requires him or her to cite the owner for any alleged violations of city code. CACC investigators will also work with animal owners to 'address concerns rather than defaulting to citations' when appropriate, according to the statement. 'That said, our ability to issue citations or take enforcement action depends on verifiable information, including victim/witness cooperation and confirmed ownership.' People who have tried to make reports complain of a confusing and frustrating process involving multiple agencies. That can include CPD, Animal Control and potentially Cook County Animal Care and Control, which handles rabies investigations. Ald. Matt O'Shea, 19th, has resorted to getting personally involved on behalf of his constituents who need help getting bites reported and investigated. 'There seems to be a lot of confusion,' O'Shea said. 'But when I'm on the scene or I'm on the phone, or I'm getting an email from someone who was just viciously attacked, and there's a whole lot of 'Oh, that's not us' on the other end, that's a problem.' One of those constituents was Kevin Conroy. Conroy, 37, wasn't even sure where he was supposed to report the attack that left his dog Liam with a half-dozen puncture wounds and a $1,300 vet bill while the pair was out for a run on the Major Taylor Trail last fall. Conroy first called 311, he said, and was then told he needed to go to the police station. He ended up calling the Cook County Forest Preserve to report the bite, which cares for the property on which he and his dog were attacked, and filed a bite report through the Police Department. 'That was the last I heard of that,' he said. A Cook County Forest Preserve spokesperson, reached for comment, said Forest Preserve police documented the attack but didn't get any more information after the initial phone call with Conroy. According to the investigative file associated with Conroy's bite report, an Animal Control investigator conducted a phone interview but wrote that no owner information was available. The file does not list an outcome.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Horrifying twist in death of newborn girl who was 'mauled to death by puppy'
An infant that was believed to have been mauled to death by the family's pit bull puppy was already dead at the time she was bitten, authorities have revealed. The heartbreaking case took a grim turn after medical examiners announced the one-month-old infant named Kiyanna Winfield had died from unknown causes before the family's six-week-old pit bull-German Shepherd-mix puppy caused the shocking wounds that initially led investigators to believe she had been mauled to death. 'The cause and manner of death are pending further study following the examination today,' a spokesperson for the New York City Office of the Medical Examiner told The New York Post Wednesday. 'But we can confirm this is not a death from a dog mauling. The injuries inflicted by the dog were postmortem.' Baby Kiyanna - who was born April 13 - was tragically discovered in her family's Queensbridge public housing complex apartment on Tuesday morning after what appeared to be a horrific attack. The nightmare unfolded when the infant's mother frantically dialed 911 just after 6:30am Tuesday. She said that she had discovered her daughter being savagely attacked by the family pet. Neighbors later told reporters they heard screaming echoing through the sixth-floor corridors of the public housing complex before emergency responders raced to the scene. The medical examiner's office did admit the puppy had bitten off a 'substantial portion' of the baby's face - but only after death had already occurred. The actual cause and manner of death remain shrouded in mystery pending 'a full pediatric workup,' officials said. According to police reports, the mother told officers she and her partner had been sleeping peacefully with their newborn daughter between them when they awoke to the nightmare scene of their puppy gnawing on the baby's face. The fate of the puppy is still unknown. The investigation is ongoing. This comes just a month after a seven-month-old baby girl was mauled to death by a family dog at her home in Columbus, Ohio. Elizah Turner was fatally attacked by one of her family's three pit bulls in April. The injured infant was first taken to a nearby fire station before she was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital where she was pronounced dead. There were multiple dogs inside the home at the time of the attack, but it is unclear exactly which one bit the baby, Columbus Police Sgt. James Fuqua told WBNS at the time. He called the incident a tragic accident and said no charges are expected to be filed. 'There is really not a lot of words I can say to convey how I feel and how the officers who arrived [feel]. Everyone in this process is literally grieving as if this child belonged to us because most of us are parents and can't imagine just how this scene is,' Fuqua added. After the tragedy, the pit bulls were seen being escorted out of the home by Franklin County Animal Control. The agency will determine what happens to the dogs.
Fox News
5 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Infant horrifyingly mauled to death by puppy as parents slept
A 1-month-old girl was terrifyingly mauled to death by the family dog as she slept with her mother and stepfather in New York City on Tuesday morning, according to police. The horrifying incident unfolded at around 6:40 a.m. when police received a 911 call to an apartment at the Queensbridge Houses public housing complex in Queens. Police found the infant unresponsive and said she had been gnawed in the face by the family puppy, a pit bull–German shepherd mix. The child was pronounced dead at the scene by responding EMS. The dog bit off a "substantial portion" of the face of the baby, the New York Post reported, citing sources. The outlet reports that the infant had just been born on April 13 while the dog was 6-weeks old. Neighbors told the Post that they could hear the mother screaming from inside the apartment as EMS workers arrived on the scene. They said her screeches rattled the building. The child was sleeping between her 27-year-old mother and stepfather when the dog attacked her. The child and the couple have not been identified. A friend of the mother said she had spoken to the distraught parent. "She told me she woke up, and the dog was eating the baby!" Chewing on the baby's face!" the friend said. "I said, 'Y'all laying right next to the baby?! How the f--- do not hear the baby cry?!" the woman said. "She didn't have that, she just kept saying, 'We was laying right there! We was laying right there!'" She said she also warned the mother two days ago to put her dog on a leash but that the woman ignored her — telling her it did not bite. Another neighbor, Shanel Norville, said she had told the mother the same thing, but she responded by saying the dog does not bite. "I said, 'All dogs bite. That dog needs to be on a leash,'" Norville told The Post. "And she just looked at me like whatever." The infant's grandmother told the Daily News that she had previously offered to take the newborn in while the mom, who was living in a shelter at the time, secured better housing. "I learned that she was pregnant maybe a couple days before she gave birth," the grandmother told the outlet. "After she gave birth, she loved the baby. I asked her if she had any problems and if she wanted to give me the baby. She said no, she'd take care of her. She would manage." The grandmother said she had not yet gotten to meet her new granddaughter when she learned of her death on Tuesday. "How could they have a dog with a baby?," she asked. "The dog shouldn't be in the house." The Daily News reported that the infant's mother was adopted at age 2 and is one of nine children. The infant is survived by an older brother. The outlet reported that the city's Animal Care Centers of NYC were called to take the puppy, as well as another dog, out of the apartment.
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Almost 50 XL bully dogs surrendered since ban
Almost 50 XL bully dogs have been surrendered since the introduction of the ban on the breed. In October 2024, it became illegal to import, breed, rehome or resell an XL bully dog. On February 1 of this year, it became illegal to own an XL bully dog unless owners had a certificate of exemption. A certificate of exemption cannot be granted for an XL Bully that has not yet been neutered or deemed medically unfit for neutering Limerick and Cork City councils are among those who have seen dogs surrendered to them since the ban was introduced. Rural and community development minister Dara Calleary told Fine Gael TD Maeve O'Connell that in total, 48 XL Bully dogs had been surrendered. The highest numbers were seen in: Dublin City (11) Limerick (10) Cork City (4) Fifteen councils have yet to have seen a dog surrendered. Mr Calleary said: "Members of the public must comply with the regulations. Any owner found to be in breach of the regulations will have committed an offence under the Control of Dogs Act 1986. "Responsibility for the enforcement of the regulations rests with the individual local authorities, who are empowered to seize XL bully -type dogs where necessary under the relevant statutory provisions." The new regulations were introduced to protect public safety following a number of attacks by XL bully type dogs, a restricted breed, including the mauling to death of Nicole Morey, 23, in Limerick last June. Days later, members of the Garda Armed Support Unit had to shoot a pit bull terrier dog, a smaller version of the breed, after a woman was injured at a house in the Ballyphehane area of Cork City. In total, more than 1,800 applications for certificates of exemption were received, and to date almost 1,000 have been granted. Any owner found to be in breach of the laws could see their dog seized and euthanised in a humane manner. The owner could face a fine of up to €2,500, a jail term of up to three months, or both. Read More Cork college staff and students encouraged to home pups for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind
Globe and Mail
26-05-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
At first she ghosted me, then dropped me with AI. I'm not sure which was worse
First Person is a daily personal piece submitted by readers. Have a story to tell? See our guidelines at I met my friend in university. We shared a birthday, and we used to share an irreverent sense of humour. Both of us without siblings, there was a kinship. Over the course of 25 years, despite a chasm of several thousand kilometres, we maintained an emotional closeness. Just a few years ago, during a challenging time in her life, I flew across the continent to tend to her donkeys so she could attend to her own well-being. Highlights of my stay included mucking stalls in the 40-degree temperatures, skirting scuttling tarantulas (it was tarantula mating season) and sweaty co-sleeping with her pit bull. I wouldn't describe it as a comfortable visit, but I didn't mind as it was an important one. It was also an escape from my increasingly predictable life and the pandemic lockdowns. I had always enjoyed my friend's quirkiness, her love of animals and her life off the beaten path. Recently, this path had veered toward alternate forms of energy healing, including tuning forks and sound baths – not really my thing. A few months ago, I sent what I intended as a playful text that may have been seen as making light of whom she was aspiring to become. Soon thereafter, I noticed a chill. While I was visiting her city, she was 'too drained' to meet for dinner and cancelled our plans. I admit, I was a bit relieved. Our differences were making it challenging to find common ground. Her new interests seemed to have edited out her self-deprecating humour that I had once so thoroughly enjoyed. In turn, I suspect she found me spiritually bankrupt or terminally cynical. Unfortunately, it seems I will never know. I didn't want our friendship to end based on a single text that may have been hurtful to her. After a few failed attempts to meaningfully check in, I apologized if my note had landed sideways and suggested a phone call. In return, I got an e-mail that, at first glance, seemed civil and thoughtful. It thanked me for my apology, said 'nothing dramatic' had happened, but admitted that 'things had shifted for her' and she 'no longer felt a pull to stay in touch.' She wished me well for 'whatever is next.' Part of me admired her honesty. We all outgrow some friendships but sometimes maintain them out of obligation. Maybe this was what 'conscious uncoupling' (or in this case, conscious unfriending) is all about? Perhaps her approach had more integrity than my efforts to limp along out of shared history and a sense of duty. But something – besides my bruised ego – was nagging at me. The syntax of her e-mail was troubling: it was formal and used em dashes that weren't her style. Her sentiments were expressed in a vague and rather generic manner. Upon the suggestion of a much more tech-savvy friend, I ran this message through an AI checker. While not infallible, it suggested that her message was entirely written by AI. After a 25-year friendship, it seemed that I had been dumped by a bot. Let me diverge for a moment. Despite working part-time in academia, I had not yet become 'AI-empowered.' Like my long since departed grandmother, who had felt too old to master the VCR, I simply refused to embrace this new technology. I found it creepy, and I wanted to think for myself. My husband, captivated with AI, talked about 'Claude,' a seemingly French chatbot whom he thinks to be vastly improving his life. When Eric asked me a question, I would sometimes tease, 'let's just consult with Claaaude …'. Now, since having been bot-dumped, I've been tooling around with AI, myself. My friends and I have enlisted it to produce off-colour songs about each other set to Whitney Houston soundtracks. I also asked Claude for a menu of possible replies to my friend's message. (None of which I sent.) It (he?) started by acknowledging how painful that message must have been. Claude had been supremely, but eerily, validating. As a therapist, I was scratching my head and more than a little fearful for my job. When I think about my friend's goodbye e-mail, I wonder if breaking up with friends is unnecessarily dramatic. Is it more natural to have relationships slowly die on the vine? Should the world spin based on polite white lies and loosely sustained connections or is there a clarity and integrity in consciously acknowledging that we no longer find a connection fulfilling? The effort of grieving may be more than this situation calls for, and yet, I do feel some sadness not only about the loss of the specific connection, but also loss of connection more broadly. I will never know whether my former friend used this tool to help her find words for her feelings or whether she just couldn't be bothered to speak from the heart. I am left questioning at what precipice are we now standing with AI, and where will I stand a year from now? Will we be 'empowered' or enhanced, or will we have a convenient shortcut that removes the essence from the ways we are meant to relate? Perhaps I'll just ask Claude. Julie Goldenson lives in Toronto.
