Dog attack highlights city's problem with pit bulls

City dog law officer John Iorio has cited a city dog owner for harboring a vicious canine after two pit bulls attacked another dog on a leash Jan. 30.

If Tyrone B. English of the 200 block of Seventh Avenue is found guilty, he'll need to have the dogs euthanized or buy $50,000 worth of liability insurance, according to the state dog law.

English's animals punctured the belly and genitalia, broke a leg and inflicted wounds on the haunches of a pug being walked by Kevin Burns, 22, who has a mild case of cerebral palsy, said Kevin's father, who has the same name.

The Jan. 30 attack is hardly isolated.

In December, the same dogs attacked a beer deliveryman in East End, sending him to the hospital, Iorio said.

In 2006, two pits owned by English bit a total of five people, after which a vet euthanized them because English couldn't afford liability insurance and a roofed cage, as required by state dog law for canines deemed dangerous.

But it's not just a problem with English's dogs.

Pit bulls comprised 3 percent of the city's licensed dogs last year but were involved in 61 percent of the bite cases Iorio handled, according to information from the city.

''Pit bulls are a problem,'' Iorio said. ''Too many people have pit bulls ... too many run loose.''

More than half of his calls are for pits, he said.

In Blair County outside the city, it's not clear how many biting incidents involved pits or even how many pit bulls there are.

Nine of the 14 police departments operating in the area reported no pit bull attacks in 2008, while Logan Township handled only the beer driver incident.

But four other departments didn't return phone messages, while Central Pennsylvania Humane Society officer Paul Gottshall - who took 900 calls last year - and state dog warden Bob Beck both said they don't track incidents by breed.

The county licensed 10,600 dogs last year but has no software capable of determining how many are pit bulls, Treasurer Jim Carothers said.

The attack

On Jan. 30 near 10th Street and First Avenue, English's pit bulls came down an alley and started sniffing Burns' pug, Charlie, according to the son.

The attackers grabbed Charlie's legs and shook.

The son prepared to intervene, but one of the dogs stared at him.

''I backed off and started screaming,'' he said.

The screams alerted neighbors, who called police.

Tim Lenning, who lives nearby, heard the commotion, looked through a window and came out with a sledgehammer, according to the Burnses.

He didn't hit the dogs, the Burnses said, but ''I was kicking,'' Lenning said.

One dog bit him on the leg. Then the pit bulls broke away and ran in the direction of their home, Lenning in pursuit.

Five blocks away, Lenning encountered English and flagged down an officer driving by.

Together, police and English corralled the dogs, Iorio said.

Helping their pet

The elder Burns said his son was terrified.

''I felt helpless,'' the younger Burns said. ''I wanted to do something to protect [Charlie], but I couldn't.''

Charlie was ''a bloody mess,'' the father said.

It has taken $1,300 to care for the dog's wounds at Mountain View Pet Hospital, but there was no thought of them euthanizing the dog, the father said.

After the mauling, the older Burns said English called to apologize and plead his case, saying he was ''a good Christian'' on a limited income, while suggesting he could send the family $50 a month in compensation.

Burns declined. He believes the law ought to take its course, and the dogs should be put down, at least the one that led the attack.

''I don't understand why people even have these kinds of dogs,'' he said.

Fines, other

punishments

English's dogs are in quarantine at his home until he pleads guilty, is found guilty or acquitted, Iorio said.

If guilty, he would need to pay a fine up to $300 and restitution for the veterinary bill. If he decides to keep the dogs, he would need to buy the insurance, have the dogs neutered, keep them in the house or in a roofed cage with sides embedded in concrete and keep them leashed and muzzled if they go outside the house or enclosure, according to the text of the state dog law.

He also must have a microchip implanted, register the dogs with the state Department of Agriculture and pay a $500-a-year fee for the rest of their lives, according to the law.

Reached at his home, English said he had no comment.

After the 2006 incident, English told the Mirror he felt ''railroaded'' and full of resentment against Iorio. He said he'd gotten the dogs for protection but didn't train them to be mean.

People let them out by failing to close his yard gate, and neighborhood kids teased them, he said at the time.

Breed restrictions

Some communities, including Denver and Miami, have banned pit bulls, said Adam Goldfarb, director of the Pets at Risk Program of the Humane Society of the United States. Others have tried and failed.

Altoona officials investigated the possibility of restricting pit bulls to reduce the incidence of attacks and pit bulls running free, Police Chief Janice Freehling said. But that ended when they learned that Pennsylvania is one of nine states that prohibits breed-specific restrictions, city clerk Linda Rickens Schellhammer said.

The Humane Society does not disapprove of pit bulls or any other breed, Goldfarb said. But he said there are real challenges with pit bulls because of over-breeding, abuse and recruitment for dog fighting.

Pit bulls are not inherently more dangerous than dogs of other breeds, he said.

But their raising and handling are critical, he said.

Risk factors

Goldfarb said people-oriented risk factors are part of the problem when it comes to bites: letting dogs roam free, chaining them outside, keeping them as something other than a pet and failing to spay or neuter them.

There's a higher risk if a dog is kept as a guard or for hunting, breeding or fighting, he said.

There's also a higher risk when dogs aren't spayed or neutered because the hormones that drive male dogs to find females and protect their homes and that drive female dogs to protect their puppies are more active, he said.

Unfortunately, pit bulls emblemize toughness for some owners, especially with men, who often recoil at neutering, Goldfarb said.

Many pits end up in shelters, where potential adoptive families shy away because of their fearsome reputation or because they expect trouble getting insurance, he said.

Pennsylvania, however, prohibits insurance discrimination by breed, said Nicole Bucher, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture.

Regarding the Altoona incident, Goldfarb said he finds it ''incomprehensible'' an owner would allow such dangerous dogs to run loose in a neighborhood.

Dangerous-dog laws don't do enough to punish those who are ''not just irresponsible but reckless,'' he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.