Man Shoots Pit Bull Downtown After Poodle Bit

(File photograph)

Detective Captain Robert P. Pistone.

Detective Captain Robert P. Pistone.

No charges are expected from Haverhill Police after the owner of a miniature poodle Sunday evening shot and wounded a pit bull attacking his pet when the pit bull’s owner could not control his dog.

The incident occurred at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, in a park at the rear of 52 Washington St., according to Haverhill Police Captain Robert P. Pistone, police spokesperson. A male resident reported a Haverhill resident and a teenage son were walking their mini poodle in the park when two pit bulls charged toward the son who had the mini poodle in his possession.

“The owner of the pit bulls came to the area where one of the pit bulls was biting the mini poodle,” Pistone told WHAV. “The adult owner of the mini poodle told the owner of the pit bull to control the dogs. The owner could not control the pit bulls and the owner of the mini poodle shot the pit bull in the rear quarter.”

“The teenage son was also bit in the process,” Pistone added.

The mini poodle’s owner was properly licensed for the gun and no charges were brought, Pistone said. However, that owner was cited for failure to license the mini poodle. The owner of the pit bulls was also cited for failure to license, failure to leash, and failure to vaccinate.

19 thoughts on “Man Shoots Pit Bull Downtown After Poodle Bit

  1. I also live in Ma. where the gun laws are over the top against law abiding people and I have a CCW as a retired LE Officer. I spend a lot of time now walking my 3 legged dog and we have been attacked a number of times by other dogs but instead of shooting a gun off, I always carry Pepper Spray when walking the dog or in addition to my pistol whenever I carry that. I always want a less than lethal option to deadly force and pepper spray works well on dogs.
    I live in a rural area and a lot of dogs are not restrained. Just make sure that you have at least a a 1.68 Oz unit as the
    lip stick size ones are useless. In addition,people tend to get less angry with you when you spray their dogs as they do when you shoot them. Also I would rather accidently spray some person than shoot someone.

    • I agree with the pepper spray. Lethal force should be the last option. I keep a can of mace with me. A can of mace has saved many people’s lives and can really help if a dog attacks. I know my mailman also carries some pepper spray and has had to use it on quite a few dogs. An English bulldog was the last time he had to use it. It will irritate them for a while but it WILL go away and the animal will be fine afterwards.

  2. The best part of the story is the person shooting the dog didn’t get charged. Liberty isn’t completely dead in Massachusetts after all? The “dog bite” statute in MA is pretty good too so the owner of the pit might be becoming light in the wallet should the other person sue.

  3. 296 Pit Bull Type Dog attack deaths in the U.S. & Canada since 2000 to Oct., 2015.
    2,317 Pit Bull Type Dog attack Disfigurements in the U.S. & Canada since 2000 to Oct., 2015.
    ******************************************************************************************
    Dog Attack Deaths and Maimings, U.S. & Canada, September 1982 to May.25, 2013.
    By compiling U.S. and Canadian press accounts between 1982 and 2013, Merritt Clifton, editor of Animals 24-7, shows the breeds most responsible for serious injury and death.

    Study highlights
    Pit bull type dogs make up only 6% of all dogs in the USA.
    The combination of Pit Bulls, rottweilers, their close mixes and wolf hybrids and other Pit Bull Type Dogs:

    84% of attacks that induce bodily harm.

    75% of attacks to children.

    87% of attack to adults.

    72% of attacks that result in fatalities.

    80% that result in maiming
    ****************************************************************************
    Merritt Clifton Editor Of Animals24-7:

    I have logged fatal & disfiguring dog attacks in the U.S. and Canada since September 1982.

    Of the 5,672 dogs involved in fatal and disfiguring attacks on humans occurring in the U.S. & Canada since September 1982, when I began logging the data, 3,960 (70%) were pit bulls; 4,810 (86%) were of related molosser breeds, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, mastiffs, bull mastiffs, boxers, and their mixes.

    Of the 600 human fatalities, 323 were killed by pit bulls; 91 were killed by Rottweilers; 455 (75%) were killed by molosser breeds.

    Of the 3,960 people who were disfigured, 2,511 (73%) were disfigured by pit bulls; 2,999 (87%) were disfigured by molosser breeds.

    Pit bulls–exclusive of their use in dogfighting–also inflict more than 70 times as many fatal and disfiguring injuries on other pets and livestock as on humans, a pattern unique to the pit bull class.

    Fatal and disfiguring attacks by dogs from shelters and rescues have exploded from zero in the first 90 years of the 20th century to 80 in the past four years, including 58 by pit bulls, along with 22 fatal & disfiguring attacks by other shelter dogs, mostly Rottweilers & bull mastiffs.

    The only dogs rehomed from U.S. shelters to kill anyone, ever, before 2000 were two wolf hybrids in 1988 and 1989. 33 U.S. shelter dogs & one U.K. shelter dog have participated in killing people since 2010, including 24 pit bulls, seven bull mastiffs, and two Rottweilers.

    Surveys of dogs offered for sale or adoption indicate that pit bulls and pit mixes are together less than 7% of the U.S. dog population; molosser breeds, all combined, are 9%.

  4. Pit bull type dogs make up only 6% of the US dog population yet they kill more then 99% of the 50,000 people, pets and livestock every year in the US.!

    Over the last 800 years Pit bull type dogs were Breed to kill Bears, Bulls & Large draft horses in the pit and then later each other in dog fights, that is what they are and they are what they do, Kill, Maul, Maim, Disfigure, Dismember, cause Life Flights or trips to the Intensive Care Unit.

    This is what they do, what they are and why they are not fit for human interaction then or now.!!

  5. A North American coalition of over 50 pit bull attack victim support groups has launched an information website.

    Victims of vicious dog attacks are no longer staying silent. The pit bull overpopulation in North America has reached a crisis point.

    These dogs were never intended to be family pets.

    A pit bull attack involves many people, the victim, their family, first responders, health care professionals, taxpayers, the dog owner and the pit bull themselves.

    We are all victims.

    NationalPitBullVictimAwarenessDay.org

    press release
    http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/10/prweb13018456.htm#

    • This is so bs. I have 3 pits and they are the sweetest most lovable dogsm not violent what so ever. To say they were never intended to be a family dog is sucha crock. Back im the day they were known as nanny dogs because theu ate great with kids and families. People need to become educated and not so ignorant listening to the crooked media. Before it was the pits it was german shepherds, then rottis, now pits. Dashounds are responsible for more dog bites than any other breed. Mastiff were bred as guard dogs. You dont hear this because tje media discriminates against pits. Once this is over it will be a dif breed n pits will be “ok”. So bs. Ppl need to stop being so ignorant against pits. Theres no such thing as a bad dog. It’s bad owners. The monsters are the ones holding the leash. Not the other end

  6. 2014 DOG BITE RELATED FATALITIES
    http://www.daxtonsfriends.com/2014-dog-bite-related-fatalities/

    Pit bull type dogs make up about 6% of the dog pop yet of the more then 45,000 people, pets and livestock killed by dogs in the US last year more then 95% of them were called by pit bull type dogs, those are corroborated statistical facts.

    There are 3.2 million pit bull type dogs in the USA right now about 6% of all US dogs if you include all molosser breeds.

    No another 4,000 pit bull type dogs that just died this morning and were tossed in the incinerator, hope the rainbows farted don’t catch fire and blow up the USA.

    Terrorist Dead Pit bulls kill from the grave Oh My.!!!!

    Out of every 600 pit bull type dogs born 599 will be put to death in a US animal shelter by the time they are
    three years old, usually after they have been returned up to 3 times by their owners for violent and Aggressive attacks.

    Only one out of 600 pit bull type dogs born find and keep a forever home, facts on the ground, pit bulls in the incinerator. !!!!

    1/3 of the entire pit bull type dog population is put to death every year, within 3 years the entire original pit bull type dog population is DEAD.If not for the insane breeding rate of these mutants they would be well extinct by now as well they should be.!

    • Who are you to say what animal should or shouldn’t be extinct. The only thing harmful to this planet is scumbag humans like you, who think they have the right to decide what animals should and shouldn’t live. It’s the people that are the problem. The type of people who get pitbulls aren’t the same type of people that buy golden retrievers. The pitbull owners are often low income and don’t have money for themselves nevermind to properly take care of abother life. I blame the scummy people who get bulldogs just based on the fact that other stupid people use the to fight and torture them so they’re nasty. Then they abandon them dueven to their humanly circumstances. That’s why the statistics on pitbull are they way they are. All because of people the use them and give them a bad reputation..and I don’t own a pit bull but I know many who do and not one of them that are well taken care of areimbursement aggressive or anything. IT’S ON THE PEOPLE TO CHANGE THE WAY THIS BREED IS VIEWED.

  7. Why would he be charged? The pits owner should be charged for failing to control their mauler and not having a BREAK STICK when needed like every other low knowledge low skill delusional pit owner.

  8. And now the owner of the pit bull has a go fund me account to raise $2,000 to pay for the vet bill of the pit bull. Are you kidding me?!?!! The dog should be put down. I am for pit bulls but I am not for ANY dog that attacks for no reason! …Go fund me account…SERIOUSLY,!!…People do not take responsibility for themselves and their own anymore!

  9. Let’s be sure to understand that it isn’t just pitbulls that attack other dogs. I have seen some pretty aggressive dogs who were good pets and were not pitbulls ! I can see the headline now: City Council to take up pitbull issue Geez