ANIMAL BITE RELATED INJURY

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Illinois

Pit bulls attack woman and animal control officers

Animal Bite > Dog Bite

September 21, 2007

Dog Bite

Carbondale, IL - Animal control officers were able to take two pit bulls into custody after they were involved in an attack on a 48-year-old woman last weekend. The dogs are now under quarantine.

The officers were called in to respond to reports of a dog in the 400 block of East Oak Street around 4:40 p.m. on Thursday. The officers came from Carbondale and also from Jackson County.

The dogs are supposedly the same ones that were involved in the attack on the woman on September 2nd.

After the dogs were identified, a search warrant was obtained and the dogs were quarantined at a local veterinarian office, police reported.

While taking the dogs into custody, the two animal control officers were also bitten by the animals. Their injuries were not listed as life threatening and they were treated and released from Memorial Hospital of Carbondale.

There is still no answer as to whether the dogs would remain in quarantine or what the next step is. Police did not release the name of the dogs' owner or whether the animals were involved in a Tuesday incident in which a police officer shot and wounded another dog.

According to police, a dog was shot around 3 p.m. on Tuesday in Tatum Heights Park on the southeast side of town. An officer had followed two unleashed pit bulls near Lewis Lane into the park, and had opened fire after one of them tried to bite him.

The owner of the dogs in the Lewis Lane incident was given two citations. One is for having a dog at large and the other for a nuisance. Fines will most likely be decided by a judge and could range between $75 and $750.

According to police, the officer has used necessary force in shooting the dog.

Rayvaughn Lester, the dog's owner, felt that the police had acted to quickly in shooting the dog. According to Lester, the two-year-old pit bull, Nena, had never been violent before.

Lester took the dog to the vet after the incident and paid about $100 for some medication and a few injections. She added that her dog is expected to return for further treatment and expects to pay about $500 in veterinary bills as a result of the shooting.

 
 
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