Posted on 09/23/2007 9:32:55 AM PDT by skyman
If John Erickson hadn't had his gun with him when a neighbor's pit bull attacked him, there's no telling how bad things might have been.
Erickson, 22, was walking up to his house on 400 South near 700 West in Orem on Wednesday when a neighbor's pit bull bit him from behind. As he rode his scooter to his house around 8:30 p.m., Erickson saw the dog sitting calmly while a neighborhood girl petted it. Then he parked and took three or four steps toward his house when the dog bit him.
"All of a sudden the dog grabbed my leg from behind," he said.
He swung his scooter helmet at the dog, which backed off for a moment. But when the dog charged forward, Erickson, who has a concealed weapons permit, drew his 9-millimeter pistol and fired at the dog's head. Erickson said he worries about what would have happened if he hadn't been armed.
"There's nothing I could've done. I couldn't run. There's no way I'm going to outrun it. There's nowhere I could go," said Erickson, a student at Utah Valley State College.
Even more, he said he worries about what would've happened if the dog had attacked his wife, Lynn Ann, who came home just two minutes before him, or the many children who walk down that street on their way to and from Orem Elementary School.
Erickson's mother, Lyn Erickson, who lives across the street, said she used to dislike her son's gun.
"Now I'm saying, 'I'm just so thankful he had a gun.' I'm just so thankful because what would you do?" she said.
At Erickson's request, no charges were filed against the dog's owner, said Orem police spokesman Lt. Doug Edwards. Vicious animal citations and letting dogs run free are misdemeanor offenses.
"You can't allow your dog to run at large. It doesn't matter how they get off the property, whether it's a hole (in the fence) or a broken leash. Dogs can't run loose," Edwards said.
The dog survived the shot to the top of its head. Erickson said the owner initially planned to euthanize the dog because its veterinary bills were expected to be as high as $4,000. But the owner had a change of heart and decided not to put the dog down, he said.
The owner of the dog, who Erickson said moved to the neighborhood several weeks ago, was not identified and could not be reached for comment. Orem police would not release the owner's name because no charges were filed.
Erickson said he is now concerned because the hole in his neighbor's fence has not been fixed -- a pile of branches now blocks the hole -- and the dog owner has another pit bull that he worries could get loose and hurt someone.
"Every day little kids from Orem Elementary walk right past the house. It could've been one of the little kids, it could've been my wife who got home two minutes before me," he said.
Lyn Erickson said she plans to talk to police about the hole in the neighbor's fence.
Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jduda@heraldextra.com.
(/sarcasm)
Of course they are sweet, to their master. That's what everyone says. My large dogs are just as sweet as lambs to me also, but I pity anyone that attempts to break into my house -- they'll be eaten alive. All dogs are territorial.
Oh,they love children too.
I always have a little bit of a dilemna over Halloween. They love to see the kids come to the door and wag their tails and want a pet. They get all excited, they love the little kids.
But I don’t want the kids in the neighborhood thinking they are approachable, and perhaps coming into the backyard when I am not there. It’s part of owning big dogs, caution is never in excess.
Time to shoot thy neighbor....
Do you have the lynx for that photo??
Just learn to fake a limp....
Away from your leg
Nice..
I don’t know how to make the lynx show up.
LOL.
(Hopefully.)
Species don't interbreed, you knothead! Comparing species bans with breed bans is wasted effort.
I had occasion to do so to a large, rabid, attacking raccoon: his front legs spread out to the side, he went down, and never moved again...
Ah! I've wondered. I'm taking to carrying ammonia in squirt beverage bottle. Illegal to CC here. I've heard that ammonia really flumoxes dogs. I know it would pretty well make me a useless mess!
I think you misunderstood my post!
But breed banning is slippery slope-dom. Breed profiling is smart (but pit bull defenders scream their version of "doggy profiling" by claiming that, why, all mistreated dogs can be dangerous! ALL dogbites are serious!" when we all know very well who and what are causing most of the problems -- say classifying certain breeds or breed mixes into very special-permit categories the way exotic cats are handled. You own one, you prove you can handle it. That I could go for. But if you start going too far with the breed banning, you'll end up causing the end of good breeds and freedom of choice.
Did you miss the /s?? That was my point.
That was the story my FRiend — I’m not vouching for it, as I have no personal knowledge.
The D.A was prosecuting the shooter and, I was told,those were the facts of the case.
And I had no reason then or now not to believe the person from whom I heard the story.
He should have filed charges. The owner is obviously a bloody idiot who’d rather spend $4,000 to preserve the life of a proven aggressor insterad of spending $100 or less to fix the fence and make sure it never happens agin.
Buried him right there, did you?
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