SIMI VALLEY : Man Says Pit Bull Attacked, Bit Him

A 67-year-old Simi Valley man was bitten by a neighbor’s half-pit bull for the second time in a few months while taking a morning walk with his dog.

But the owner said he was astonished that his year-old dog--half pit bull and half mutt--attacked the elderly man until neighbors told him that the victim had teased the dog repeatedly in the past.

Stanley Allen, in an interview from his hospital bed, said he was strolling with his mixed-breed dog on the 1000 block of Balsamo Avenue about 6:30a.m. Saturday when a half-pit bull belonging to Augustin Rodriguez ran up to him and bit his right hand and arm. Allen said it was the brother of a dog that had bitten him a few months ago.

Allen underwent surgery at Simi Valley Hospital on Saturday for a broken bone and a dislocated joint in his right hand.

“It just made a beeline for me,” said Allen, who also said he did nothing to provoke the dog. “It just passed up my little dog and went straight for me.”

Rodriguez ran up to him and pulled the dog off him, Allen said.

Rodriguez said he was in his back yard when suddenly he heard barking and saw his dog running through the open gate directly at Allen.

“I couldn’t understand why my dog would charge him like that,” Rodriguez said. “According to my neighbors, (Allen) would walk by and stand there and tease them. I’m really, really sorry that this happened, but he provoked it.”

Rodriguez’s dog was quarantined Saturday morning, said Ventura County Animal Control Officer Roger Graves. An animal is quarantined for 14 days in case it is infected with rabies.

Allen said that during the August incident he was carrying a 3,600-volt cattle prod that he uses to break up fights between his dog and other dogs they encounter on his daily walk. In the most recent episode, Allen said he was carrying a 120,000-volt protection stick. But he said that in each case he didn’t have a chance to use the device.

Allen said he did not file a complaint with the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department the first time he was bitten, but he plans to now.

Said Jim Brewer, who lives next door to Rodriguez: “I’ve never had any problems (with the dogs) and I’m not a dog lover.”