Pit Bull

A pit bull involved in an a vicious May attack on sheep at a Funkstown farm should be euthanized, the Washington County Animal Control Authority ruled Thursday night. The dog, Isabella, was one of two pit bulls witnesses said they saw at Joseph Frey’s farm at 116 Old National Pike the morning of May 15, when Frey found six of his sheep dead and 14 others injured. Eight of the wounded sheep had to be euthanized because of the extent of their injuries, and the remaining six are recovering, Frey said Thursday.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com A pit bull that attacked two dogs will be sent to a rescue group rather than euthanized, under the first decision handed down by a five-person group assigned to hear appeals to the county's vicious dog law. Two members of the group, including Chairwoman JoAnn Overington, told the Berkeley County Commission of their 4-1 recommendation Thursday morning at the commission's meeting. The commissioners make the final decision on what to do with dogs that are declared vicious.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Waynesboro police officers shot a pit bull Thursday morning after they said it bit Cpl. John Shindledecker. At 7:06 a.m., police were called to 25 N. Grant St., where a dog had chased residents into their vehicles, Sgt. Mike Bock said. The dog jumped at Shindledecker who, using his K-9 unit training, "slipped" him, meaning that the officer used his arm to deflect the attack, Bock said. "The dog went off, hit and came down on all fours," Bock said. When the dog leaped a second time, Shindledecker fired and shot the dog in the chest, which Bock said "barely slowed it down.

Over the past 27 years, Virginia Powers has been called a lot of names, but the investigator, former police officer and former court commissioner will only lay claim to one: "A pit bull with lipstick. " "I don't stop until I get the job done," Powers said and smiled. Powers, 46, is one of two investigators with the Washington County Office of the State's Attorney. She and investigator Bill Graham interview witnesses for prosecutors who are preparing for trials. "We try to prevent surprises," she said.

Maryland's highest court in April ruled that pit bulls are “inherently dangerous” and instinctively aggressive, prompting Hagerstown police to pursue an ordinance that affixes strict liability for bites on owners of the dogs and their landlords. In the case of an attack, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled, it was not necessary to prove that the dog had a history of violence, and owners or landlords would be held liable for damages because they knew the dog was a pit bull or mixed-breed pit bull.

The massive, clear tube into which 6-year-old Brooke Boyd and her mother, Melissa Boyd, were slowly wheeled looked like something out of a science-fiction movie or, as Brooke described it, "a spaceship. " Brooke spent 24 two-hour sessions in that hyperbaric chamber since April 16, when a neighbor's pit bull detached half of her nose. On the day of the accident, Brooke and her brother, 8-year-old Tyler Boyd, went to visit their friend next door. Brooke said she knocked on the door and was told she could come in. She opened the door just a crack and the dog attacked.

Three missing pit bull puppies recovered By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI kimy@herald-mail.com MAUGANSVILLE - Three of six missing mixed-breed pit bull puppies were returned to the Humane Society of Washington County last week. continued Society Executive Director Maria Procopio said the animals were in good health. The puppies and a pregnant mixed pit bull were stolen from the shelter a few weeks ago in separate burglaries, she said. Eve, a 9-week-old female, was given to someone on the street who recognized the pup from a Herald-Mail article and returned her to the shelter, said Procopio.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The pit bull had pinned Berkeley County Sheriff's Department Deputy T.E. Boyles inside his police cruiser Friday morning, but only managed to sink his teeth into the 27-year-old officer's X-26 Taser dart gun, instead of flesh. "He bit down and I was fighting to get away," Boyles recounted several hours after he and a few other deputies managed to stun the attacking canine with electrically-charged darts and "hogtie" the dog outside a home in Inwood, W.Va. Boyles' too-close-for-comfort encounter with the fully mature blue and white dog happened after deputies arrived at 166 Walter Drive to check on the welfare of a man who dispatchers were told appeared ready to jump from the roof of a mobile home.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday informally agreed with a suggestion by the city's police chief that the council delay adopting a pit bull ordinance until it can be determined whether increased enforcement of a Washington County animal control law would suffice. Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith over the summer proposed a law that would ban unregistered pit bulls. He later asked the council to postpone action on the proposal until after he met with Paul Miller, the Humane Society of Washington County's new executive director.

It's ironic when I sit with a prospective client and lay out exactly what it's going to take to get into their best shape, and immediately I get the list of "I can'ts. " This is after I hear about how unhappy they are about the way they look and feel, how much energy they don't have, and how weak they've become. The "I can't" is usually followed by "because" and ended with a rationaliztion of an unwillingness to get out their comfort zone. Sound familiar? All my life, I was told what I wasn't going to be able to do. They told me I couldn't learn as well as the other kids, they told me I was too small to be in professional wrestling, they told me I couldn't make a personal training business work in this area.

Legislation introduced this week in the Maryland General Assembly seeks to overturn a precedent set by a Maryland Court of Appeals ruling last year that concluded pit bulls were dangerous dogs. The court ruling, which also held pit bull owners responsible for any attacks caused by their dogs, dismayed many dog owners because those with pit bulls were now liable for any attacks while landlords, too, were held liable for an attack caused by a renter's dog, said the legislators who introduced the bill.

“Anybody that gets the AARP bulletin should look at page 38. The U.S. Bureau of Census in 2011 released the household median incomes in America. That's counting D.C. and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is the least median income, it's 18,660. Maryland is No. 1 in the nation, 70,004. Then we wonder why our taxes is so high. Stand by, everybody.” - Leitersburg “I have a complaint about the deliverymen who leave packages on the front porch. Our TV that cost $600 was delivered Friday.

The owner of two pit bulls who attacked a Hagerstown police officer and several other people on Sunday has been cited by the Humane Society of Washington County. Tonya Hall, of 141 East Ave. in Hagerstown, was cited with two violations of animal at large-prohibited; and one violation each of rabies-immunization of dogs, cats, and ferrets; and dog licenses generally, according to a humane society press release. “The citations are a result of complaints of two dogs running at large and allegedly biting multiple individuals in Hagerstown, the release said.

Three people were bitten by two pit bulls in the area of East and Mulberry avenues Sunday afternoon and a Hagerstown Police officer shot and wounded the animals when one tried to bite him, officials said. Both animals were later euthanized, according to an email sent Monday afternoon from Washington County Humane Society spokeswoman Katherine Cooker. The dogs were a 3-year-old male and a 3-month-old male, and both will be tested for rabies, Cooker wrote in the email. A man, woman and girl were taken to Meritus Medical Center for treatment after the attacks, but the police officer did not need medical treatment, the release said.

American pit bulls have been mischaracterized To the editor: It is hard to believe that in this day that people can be so misinformed about any subject. Some have said that American pit bulls were originally bred for dog fighting. Well, that is not the truth. The American pit bull was a family and farm dog. The dog helped to wrangle livestock when needed and he was a trusted, loyal and loving family member. The only reason the American pit bull is associated with dog fighting is because of their humans.

During a discussion Tuesday on a proposed ordinance that would place strict liability on pit bull-type dog owners and their landlords in the event of an animal bite, the Hagerstown City Council agreed it may be barking up the wrong tree. The situation - in response to a Maryland Court of Appeals ruling in April that pit bull-type dogs are “inherently dangerous” and more aggressive than other dogs - creates a “slippery slope” because it singles out one breed, Councilman Lewis C. Metzner said.

Maryland's highest court in April ruled that pit bulls are “inherently dangerous” and instinctively aggressive, prompting Hagerstown police to pursue an ordinance that affixes strict liability for bites on owners of the dogs and their landlords. In the case of an attack, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled, it was not necessary to prove that the dog had a history of violence, and owners or landlords would be held liable for damages because they knew the dog was a pit bull or mixed-breed pit bull.

A Washington County board ruled Thursday night that two pit bulls were vicious and dangerous following a hearing in which a man from the Broadfording Road area testified how his dogs had been attacked. Jeff Crampton said one of his dogs had to be euthanized due to its wounds. As part of its ruling, the five-member Washington County Animal Control Authority said the pit bulls could be returned to owners Justin Conrad and Amanda Collis of Broadfording Road. But the dogs will have to be kept in a confined area, and if they are taken out of a confined area, they must me muzzled and on a leash, said Evelyn Garrett of the Humane Society of Washington County.