|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Lisa Loomis, Editor, Valley Reporter
Republished with permission of author.
Waitsfield’s animal control officer Fred Messer is seeking information about the owner(s) of an unleashed pit bull (white with black markings) that fatally injured a leashed and harnessed dog on the West Greenway on Jul 27.
The dog, Barkley, is a miniature poodle who was leashed and harnessed and with his owner Dan Zucker and another leashed and harnessed dog. Messer reported that Zucker saw the unleashed pit bull run towards him and called to the owners to leash their dog. Messer said they took no action and while Zucker tried to deter the bigger dog, he was unable to prevent the attack. The incident happened at 11:40 a.m. and Zucker was about 100 yards from the parking lot on Meadow Road.
The pit bull mauled Barkley and Zucker rushed him to the Waterbury Veterinary Hospital.
“His heart was still beating, but the veterinarian recommended euthanizing the dog immediately,” Messer said.
“Barkley was 13. He was a 10-pound miniature poodle rescue dog that I adopted 11 years ago. He was a tough outdoorsman, tackling many high peaks in the Green Mountains and the Northfield Range along with me and his best canine buddy Rosie. He and I ran the Mutt Strut 5k in 28 minutes at Little River State Park back before the pandemic. When it was too cold for him or his back was bothering him from arthritis, I would carry him in a chest pack,” Zucker said.
Immediately after the attack, Zucker said he was in too much of a panic to take in a lot of details, but said there was a man in the parking lot getting ready to go fishing who saw him running with his dogs.
He may have noted more about the couple and their dog. That man was average height, stocky and may have had facial hair, Zucker said.
Messer noted that the town’s dog ordinance mandate that owners have physical control of their dogs when off the owner’s property. The penalty is $25, $50, or $200 for first, second, and third violations, or actions as the Waitsfield Select Board deems appropriate.
Anyone with information regarding this incident, is asked to contact Messer at fred.messer@waitsfieldvt.gov
Discover more from Vermont Daily Chronicle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Animals
The devastating loss of Barkley was not an isolated incident. On July 7, Jack, a leashed dachshund mix, was also violently attacked and killed on an Essex trail, by an unleashed pit bull mix while walking with his owner on a leashed path.
Seeing a beloved companion mauled in front of your eyes is unimaginable. For so many of us, our pets are daily companions that offer unconditional love. Watching them suffer and lose their lives to unleashed, uncontrolled dogs is completely unacceptable.
An off-leash ordinance clearly isn’t enough to stop this behavior. We need real, systemic accountability that forces irresponsible owners to change their actions and serves as a strict warning to others.
True accountability must happen on multiple fronts:
Criminal Prosecution: The Chittenden County State’s Attorney has already shown a willingness to file serious charges for extreme pet negligence, recently charging an Essex resident with manslaughter after a fatal mauling of her father.
Civil Liability: A civil trial shouldn’t just cover the basic “property value” of a pet. It needs to reflect the massive emotional trauma inflicted on the owner, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in damages to hit reckless individuals where it hurts.
Stronger Ordinances: The town is currently rewriting ordinances because current rules don’t do enough to punish dog-on-dog violence. We need strict guidelines that allow authorities to heavily fine owners and seize dangerous animals before these tragedies happen.
The woman who fled the July 7th scene, described as a middle-aged white woman with sandy hair, walking with an 8-to-10-year-old boy and a solid tan/brown pit bull mix, still needs to be identified or come forward on her own volition. If you know who this is, please do the right thing and contact the Essex Police Department at 802-878-8331.
Matt, if there are photos of the cruel and painful mauling make plastic posters and put them in trail parking lots, trail entrance etc. Maybe a visual is what the owerns of mean dogs must do.
Thanks, Matt. I notified friends who live in Essex.
Pitbulls that severely injure or kill any pet or human should be instantly killed. No exceptions. The breed needs to be phased out, with a breeding ban violations of which will generate huge fines. And don’t give me this BS of “It’s the fault of the owner.” Well, that may be (to a degree), but since anyone can own a dig, that’s not much of a statement, is it? Fact is, aggressive behavior is in their genes, and their physical strength makes it likely that any incident ends very badly (unlike Chihuahuas).
These are tragic stories that have obviously resulted in horrific animal sluffering and have devastated the owners of these pets.
However, it should be noted that not all pitbulls are like this. I happen to have been providing care for my daughter’s pit bull for over a month now, and I have never encountered such an intelligent, gentle, personable, lovable and well-trained animal! I plan to adopt one to call my own someday.
I say it is indeed the owners of these offending dogs who are the ones who need to be phased out.
Please do your research before speaking out against this sweet breed that is so dependable and loyal that they’re called ” nanny dogs”.
Shannara hello. My aunt raised Chihuahuas. They were the fastest meanest dog I’ve ever experienced lol. We never went to her house less the dogs were out in another room. Little dogs r scary
Incoming pit bull apologists in 3…2…1… Oh wait, I’m too late.
I agree, this breed is bad news and should be extremely limited if not outlawed outright. You don’t see the same types of violence from other guard dog breeds such as German Shepherds, Rottweilers and Dobermans.
There’s a reason K9 units never use Pit Bulls for their purposes.
As a pitty owner for Many years along with other members of my family. People need to recognize. Like mentioned above. not all Pitts are bad just like all shepherds, rotties, doubies are not . I was attacked by a noufanlad supposed to be a big baby. 163 stitches later . hmmmm. My Pitt was aggressively attacked on the rail trail by a large Shepard unleashed. Mine is 10 she is a couch potato not a fighter. She doesn’t even bark. Pitt bulls were raised to babysit children. My heart goes out to anyone who has experienced this kind of loss. It is heart breaking. Though please don’t rush in blaming the breed or the person just because you hear the word Pitt bull. Shame on who ever wrote the title killer pitbull!!