On June 28th around 10pm, Lora Panossian was walking her 5 year-old cocker spaniel Ginger in Chrocheron Park. Two men approached Panossian taking interest in Ginger. “They were friendly…asking questions about my dog, so I didn’t think anything of it.” While one man petted Ginger the other “sucker” punched Panossian in the stomach. She collapsed from the blow while the two men made off with Ginger.
Sadly, Ginger’s body was discovered two days later in a pond. Panossian felt traumatized by the incident and was unable to work. “It’s a safe area. I’m completely blown away that this happened,” she said.
Dudley the cocker spaniel was attacked by a roaming Staffordshire bull-terrier in the Battersea Square neighborhood of London, England. Niki Richards was walking Dudley close to home Wednesday when the attack occurred. The pit bull clamped down on Dudley’s ear and refused to let go (seen in the accompanying photo). Eventually, the pit bull’s owner arrived and beat his dog repeatedly in the head until it let go. Dudley was rushed to the local vet and had his ear sutured back together.
Sian: Cocker spaniel-springerA cocker spaniel-springer mix received severe abdominal wounds after being attacked by two loose pit bulls in Petworth, D.C. The cocker named Sian along with an unidentified dog walker were walking along 7th and Ingraham Street when the attack occurred. Dakota Pernell said, “I notice the lady is trying so hard to get her dog from underneath two dogs, two bigger dogs.” Pernell says she ran to help while most residents looked on in disbelief. “The pit bull had the dog in its mouth like it was a toy,” said Pernell. A 74-year-old senior carrying a stick and driver armed with pepper spray joined in and finally freed Sian from the pit bull’s jaws.
Sian had emergency surgery at Friendship Animal Hospital Wednesday afternoon. Sian’s owner caught a flight back to D.C. upon hearing the news. Police cited the pit bull’s owner for having unleashed dogs. One pit bull was taken away by Animal Control. Pernell sustained minor injuries to her hands during the rescue.
Marie Hustead holding Lucky's photoA seventy-year-old woman and her cocker spaniel were brutally attacked in their own yard in Rootstown, Ohio. Marie Hustead was in her front yard around 7:30 a.m. last Friday morning walking her two-year-old cocker spaniel Lucky when she noticed two pit bulls (American Staffordshire terriers) across the street. She lost sight of them for a brief instant. The next thing she saw was Lucky being savagely attacked by both pit bulls. Hustead screamed, “They’re killing my dog, help him!” Desperately, she attempted to force them off Lucky when they began attacking her. Hustead was bitten multiple times before she ran inside her house retrieving a Swivel Sweeper. Unfortunately, the sweeper was of no use against the pit bulls.
By this time neighbor Vicky Spriggel heard the screams and came after the pit bulls with a log. She managed to chase them away. The pit bulls ran back to their home on Greenwood Road. Paramedics came and took Hustead to Robinson Memorial Hospital for treatment. Hustead believes she has between 20 – 40 stitches in both her hands and left arm.
Meanwhile, Lucky was taken by a neighbor to a local veterinary hospital and placed in critical care on a ventilator. After the vet explained the extent of Lucky’s internal injuries, Hustead made the difficult decision of putting Lucky down fearing he would suffer. “Yesterday I couldn’t stop crying, trying to come to terms with my little doggie…That was the best dog I ever had, the most loving. I couldn’t believe it happened that quick.”
Hustead had no idea pit bulls were in her neighborhood. Their owners had recently moved into town. “If we did know I would have been cautious,” says Hustead. Hustead says her neighbors with small children and pets are now afraid.
