Pit Bull Attack At Dog Park

Gracie, my white toy poodle was attacked by a Pit Bull yesterday. She was OK. Thank goodness. It happened in the parking lot at the dogpark. I was just getting out of my car with my three dogs, the other Toy Poodle, Hutchie and the Great Dane Maggie. A man who was leaving approached me and complimented me on the Great Dane. He had a dog with him I hadn't really noticed but then, in a flash, the dog, a caramel-coloured Pit Bull lunged at Gracie and pinned her on her back by the neck. She weights 12 pounds, the Pit probably 80.

The rest is a blur of fear and screams and snarling. I grabbed the Pit Bull, but it was wearing a coat and it slipped off. I grabbed it again by the scruff of the neck but couldn't remove him.. Somehow, I don't remember how, the owner got the Pit Bull off.

"Is there blood?" the man asked. Gracie wouldn't let us near but there appeared not to be. Still, a dog was injured in the park awhile ago with a wound that did not bleed but required several stitches. Seeing she seemed alright, the owner said "Sorry" and disappeared with the offending dog. I was so shaken up I didn't think to ask for his name or permit number to report him to the ranger.

When Gracie stopped shaking, I examined her neck: nothing but a thick mass of curls and her leather and crystal-studded collar. I think that's what protected her.

Maggie balked at the gate to the park. She was noticeably trembling and I had difficulty calming her. It took me awhile to stop trembling, myself.

From inside, no-one had seen the incident as it was behind the parked cars but I was told that the same Pit Bull had just attacked another dog and that's why he and the owner were leaving.

I have tried to be open and receptive to the Pit Bulls at the park because I confess to a prejudice against them. In fact, I am terrified of them. I know someone whose little dog was killed at his feet by a Pit Bull.

I have quite liked Missy, a good-natured year-old brown and white Pit who has been one of Maggie's favourite friends. I really like Missy's owner, though she seems not to be aware of her dog's inate tendencies. Missy has been aggressive and forced to leave the park. So has Tuxedo, another Pit Bull, seven or-eight months old when we first met him. Then, he was a fair - though rough - player and another friend of Maggie's. Lately, there have been some vicious incidents. Milo, a Viszla/Pit Bull mix always escalates play into something fierce.

Ironically, the night before in Chicago, a Pit Bull had attacked two children. I know only too well, the adage, "There are no bad dogs, only bad owners." But Pit Bulls seem always to be the breed at the centre of canine violence. Oh sure, other dogs at the park have been forceful and imposing, baring teeth and making lots of noise. There are two Huskies, Koda and Aspen of whom I'm a bit leery. Their owner is aware of their potential and says it concerns him. He keeps them in close watch. Nicky, the extroverted Border Collie was attacked by two Golden Retrievers whose owner said, "They've never done that before!" She wasn't even apologetic.

In fact, I suspect most dogs have it in them "snap". You know what? I don't really believe that. I can't imagine my docile 11-month-old Great Dane ever turning on another dog. But I have seen Beauregard, her cousin, almost lose it with the brindle Great Dane, Zyedeco who actually has pinned down Mason, the American barrel-of-a-dog-Bulldog. And, Hutchie, my cute and woolly male toy poodle has snarled and lept at Maggie and grabbed her jowls until she shrieked. I suppose a day might come when Maggie might retaliate, which would be terrifying.

After Gracie's attack, people were again saying Pit Bulls should be banned from the park, or at least muzzled and kept on a leash. They reiterated that Pit Bulls have been bred to fight and can't ever be trusted. That's when the owner of Claire, an English Bull Terrier said, "So has my dog." Claire is one of the jolliest dogs in the park.

I hate to say it, but I'd be glad if I never saw another Pit Bull there.