Attacks Lead to Crackdown on Pit Bulls

A rash of pit bull attacks in the Antelope Valley has prompted county officials to hire more animal control officers and crack down on irresponsible dog owners.

Twenty-two pit bull attacks have been reported so far this year in the Antelope Valley. In 2004, there were six reported attacks -- a typical annual total in the high desert, said Kaye Michelson, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.

Thirteen of the attacks targeted people, and seven resulted in injuries.

In one case in March, a 47-year-old woman who tried to protect her dogs was dragged around her frontyard as her neighbor’s pit bull mix chewed off pieces of her arms, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kelly Cromer said.

Eleven of the pit bulls were euthanized -- one because of a court order, others at the request of owners. Four were shot by sheriff’s deputies at the scenes.

“People shouldn’t own dogs who are basically bred to attack,” Cromer said. “If the dogs are not properly trained and socialized, it’s not the dogs’ fault; it’s the owners’ fault.”

As a result of the March attack, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors asked animal control officials to take a closer look at pit bull violence in the area. The agency then compiled statistics for the Antelope Valley. Data for the county as a whole are not routinely tallied.

By May, the agency had recorded 15 pit bull attacks, and in June, supervisors approved spending $245,000 to hire four more animal control officers and a shelter aide to combat the growing problem.

The cause of the increasing number of attacks was unclear, Michelson said. There is no evidence of a pit bull fighting ring in the area. The problem could stem from the recent population boom in the Antelope Valley. More people could be bringing pit bulls to the valley, Michelson said.

But in Riverside, one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, there have been only a handful of reported pit bull attacks this year, Riverside County Animal Services spokesman Ralph Rivers said. The number of attacks in the Antelope Valley was “alarming,” he said.

“It’s just one of those areas where people have selected to settle with more pit bulls,” he said. “Here, we’ve had more ... attacks from small dogs. When you have a pit bull, you have a big bite. A small dog bite is just not that noteworthy.”

Whatever the cause, Lancaster Animal Control Officer Dee Dee Touschner has seen the effect on the area. She declined to estimate a number but said she has filed more citations relating to pit bulls this year than in the rest of her 18-year career.

On a recent hot weekday, Touschner responded to a report of a loose pit bull at a fast-food restaurant parking lot in Lancaster. Touschner drove up and, finding nothing, cruised some more before spotting her target resting on the sidewalk outside a doughnut shop.

She made a quick right turn and, ready for an animal eager to evade capture, sprang from the truck armed with a loop of rope attached to a long pole. The light-brown pit bull rolled over passively, his pink tongue dangling from his mouth as she rubbed his stomach.

It’s the kind of behavior that is typical of pit bulls that are well trained and encouraged to get along with humans, said Eric Weigand of the California Veterinary Medical Assn.

“Pit bulls have the potential for aggression,” he said. “Some are aggressive; some aren’t. You can’t paint the brush over the breed.”

In Lancaster, the light-brown pit bull offered no resistance. Touschner fashioned a leash out of rope, attached it to the dog’s collar and walked back to the truck, her captive trotting obediently beside her.

“He’s very docile, real submissive. He had no problems with me at all,” Touschner said a few minutes after securing the dog in the back of her truck. “You have some like him, and you have some that are not nice dogs.” Turning to the one in the truck, she cooed, “Hi, Mr. Bubbas, hi there, honey bun.”

The dog did not have tags and, like any stray, would be evaluated to determine whether he was suitable for adoption.

He was still in one of the truck’s holding cells when, several hours later, a call came in reporting a loose pit bull chasing a child through the streets in Lancaster.

Touschner headed to the home that, she said later, had been visited before by animal control officers because of complaints about pit bulls.

“She didn’t hurt anyone,” a woman pleaded frantically as a 5-month-old pit bull named Daphne ran under a trailer in the frontyard and cowered. “See, she’s afraid of her own shadow.”

“You can argue it with the court,” Touschner told her calmly as she tried coaxing Daphne out. “Come on,” she said sweetly.

“Yeah, I will argue it with the court, but by that time she’ll already be dead!” the woman screamed at Touschner. “You’re all a bunch of animal killers!”

The woman, who refused to give her name to The Times, eventually managed to scoop Daphne into her arms and place her in the back of the truck. When the dog owner calmed down, Touschner issued her a written citation accusing her of creating a community hazard.

The woman has received several warnings from the department for dangerous-dog violations in the past and has had at least one other pit bull removed from her home, Touschner said.

“This is a case where education is not working,” she said. “She’s had lots of chances; no more.”

The district attorney’s office has not filed charges against the woman. Michelson said animal control would continue to review the case.

After a series of pit bull attacks in the Bay Area this year, state Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) is proposing a bill that would allow local governments to establish mandatory spaying or neutering programs for pit bulls. Current state law prohibits cities and counties from passing breed-specific legislation.

The bill -- SB 861 -- came largely in response to the June 3 death in San Francisco of 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish, who was mauled at home by one or both of his family’s pit bulls.

In the Antelope Valley, animal control officials are cracking down on irresponsible dog owners by stepping up patrols and encouraging people to report dangerous behavior, Lt. Sheri Koenig said.

Koenig, who handles dangerous-dog cases for the county, said Animal Control will go after people who allow their canines to roam free. At a minimum, dog owners might get citations for leash law violations, or criminal charges if their dog attacks anyone.

After an investigation by animal control officials, the district attorney’s office filed felony charges against the owners of the pit bull that attacked the 47-year-old woman in March, said Cromer, the prosecutor.

Raquel Ann Pena and Shane Copeland of Lancaster are accused of possessing a “mischievous animal causing death or resulting in serious bodily injury.” If found guilty, the two could face probation, or up to three years in state prison, Cromer said.

The name of the woman who was attacked was not released by animal control officials or the district attorney’s office. She was airlifted to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills immediately after the attack with serious muscle and nerve damage to both arms, Cromer said.

The case highlights the damage pit bulls are capable of causing, Koenig said. In her 15 years as an animal control officer, she said, there have been two instances when she feared for her life, and both times pit bulls were involved.

“Animal control is not on a witch hunt to ban pit bulls, but we see what is happening with them,” Koenig said. “If there was some regulation put on them, that would be a good start.”