Rescued bull dog mauls owner in vicious attack in Woodbury, MN

[RamboLiberal]

A dog rescued by a retired police officer attacked him Sunday — inflicting hideous wounds on his face.

"The doctors and nurses have never seen anything like this," said John Wess, a friend of the victim.

Jim Stewart, 53, of Woodbury, reportedly suffered a severed ear and had the skin torn away from most of his face in the attack. He was listed Thursday evening in good condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

"He has not seen himself in a mirror, and we are pretty worried about that," said Wess, a retired St. Paul police officer and longtime friend. "He was Mr. Hollywood, a good-looking guy who wouldn't talk to you without looking at his reflection in a window."

The attacker was a bulldog named Igor, which Stewart had obtained from an animal rescue group in Texas.

http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_13672620?source=rss&nclick_check=1

[Arugula Latte]

1. Oh no ...

Here we go ...

[seabeyond]

6. why not.... Oh no, how sad. seems much more appropriate. nt

[Arugula Latte]

8. Well, yes, of course.

I thought that was implied ... but maybe it didn't come through. It's sad on many levels.

[seabeyond]

13. lol, here we go??? no, i didnt hear a lot of empathy. but yes, i hope a given. nt

[underseasurveyor]

2. How sad for both of them

The guy's going to be looking at LOTS of plastic surgery and the dog? Well poor Igor just signed his own one way ticket.


Back in the mid 80's I rescued a doberman, skin and bones starving to death, and six months later he severely bit my then 2 1/2 y/o son on his face and head. Needless to say I took the dog to the pound. Then after the usual 10 day quarantine a friend got the dog out to use as his own guard dog.

[kestrel91316]

3. Here in L.A. if a dog goes into quarantine for biting, it is still the property

of the owner at the end of quarantine, and generally it's put to sleep unless the owner wants it back. I can't begin to imagine the liability issues here is a pound adopted out a dog that was quarantined and then surrendered due to ATTACKING A CHILD.

[underseasurveyor]

20. We were in Colorado at the time

And the guy that adopted the dog out had a car lot in Denver so he wanted the dog for night duty. He knew what the dog did and since I didn't want the dog back he said he'd take him... so on the 10th day he went to the pound, paid the money and got him out.

Liability? Yea I'm sure there (was/could have been) an issue with that however since I surrendered the dog it was no longer my problem and the situation being as it was the dog wasn't going to be a 'pet' around kids. So in a way I was glad for the dog, he got a job. So to speak.

Thankfully the scars on my sons head are covered by his hair and the one's by his right eye were meticulously and expertly stitched and unless you know where to look you'd never see it

[TexasObserver]

14. You had a rescued doberman around your 2 and 1/2 year old?!

An infant/toddler should never be around a dog of that size who has been rescued. The little one's face is at the dog's mouth level, and little ones often startle even tame dogs that aren't inclined to bite. Bites to the faces of children are some of the worst, and they typically leave the child terrified of dogs for life.

I hope that posters will take your story to heart, because having toddlers around dogs that can eat their face in a few seconds is a really bad idea.

[underseasurveyor]

24. Let's just say

That I learned a very hard lesson at my sons expense and I kicked myself all through hell and back for a very long time.

Thankfully my son, even right after the bite, was never afraid of dogs and as it ended up we went to the shelter a few weeks later and adopted what turned out to be the best dog in the world. My son and Miyaca were inseparable.

[beam me up scottie]

29. Thank you for giving shelter dogs a second chance.

You saved a life. :)

[TexasObserver]

32. Glad it turned out well.

Almost exactly the same thing happened to the 3 year old of a good friend, and it required many surgeries to repair. It was just horrible.

Even a dog that has never been abused or neglected can bite a little one in the face without a lot of provocation, because their face is right at a good sized dog's mouth.

[beam me up scottie]

4. It's a risk most rescuers are willing to take.

We know that we're adopting emotionally abused animals, that's one of the reasons we do it.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. How much emphasis is there on that emotional damage when you place them?

By that I mean how do you prepare the new owners for the special needs of a dog that had been so abused?

[beam me up scottie]

22. I am speaking as someone who keeps her rescues.

There are no guarantees with any animal.

Yes adoptive families need to be aware of the dangers, but afaik, official rescue groups don't place dangerous animals in homes.

[seabeyond]

7. this was my thought reading the article. and i am not even a fan of the pit

but, this man out of compassion took this dog in and am sad for his experience.

[RamboLiberal]

9. This dog was not a pit bull

It was a bull dog.

[MrsMatt]

10. this wasn't a pit bull

it was an American Bulldog.

[lukasahero]

11. This has nothing to do with pit bulls

This was an American Bulldog - from the article "The American bulldog is not known to be among the bully breeds."

This is a horrible situation and the dog is going to be put down. Let's not confuse the issue by making it about a breed that was not involved.

[seabeyond]

17. CLARIFICATION. i didnt care about the breed, just felt empathy for the guy

wasnt a pointed finger at pits, or argument for or against

i did in big print so not to have to answer each post

my undying bad i didnt read closer

was just agree with poster in a rescue for it to go so wrong, sad.

that is all

[lukasahero]

21. Fair enough

but you have been on the 'other' side of the pit bull debate and you did mention the breed in your post. Please understand why some of us felt the need to clarify.

[seabeyond]

25. i know "other side" being they scare me and intimidate me, not ban right? yes. that is why i wrote

not a fan of the pit.

cause i wanted people to be sure to know my post was not snarky, just empathy for man, and no negative thought on pit. because i have posted about pits.

trying to be balanced and qualify post got me in trouble this time.

[B3Nut]

27. As a volunteer with Chicagoland Bully Breed Rescue

I can state with certainty that the American Bulldog is *absolutely* considered by fanciers to be a "bully breed", to be more accurate a Molosser-type dog (descended from the original mastiff breeds thousands of years ago, all of the mastiffs and "bully breeds" fall under this umbrella.) The writer of this article was very sloppy in the research department, not that that surprises me. American Bulldogs are typically athletic and companionable dogs with a lot of heart, but as with any breed or other living thing sometimes things go wrong. In this case, horribly wrong.

This particular dog sounds like he had an underlying neurological condition...we have no way right now of knowing what set this animal off. We do a battery of temperament tests as well as live with a prospective foster dog before listing them for adoption, and we've had good success. We have had our share of failures, it's sad and I hate having to euthanize a dog but if the animal is a potential hazard you simply must, there's no avoiding it.

This is a tragic, awful situation all around, I feel badly for this poor gentleman. :(



Johnny the American Bulldog, quite the ham he is

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[Romulox]

16. If you ever watch Cesar Milan's show, you'd see some incredible pit bulls...

Cesar Milan's dogs prove that there is nothing inherently wrong with the breed. Of course, he is an animal behavior genius...

[beam me up scottie]

23. Yes.

I am a fan of all animals, this is horrible for everyone involved.

[Romulox]

12. I would only allow such a powerful dog in my house if I'd raised him from a puppy.

I have a lot of compassion for animals, but the bond of trust (and discipline, which is interrelated) needs to be established before the dog hits puberty, imo. After that, it can often be too late.

Such a sad story...

[lukasahero]

15. Wondering why you felt the need to change the title to include

the word "bull" dog?

I could, optimistically, think you did so to clarify that the dog was not a pit bull. Or, rather less so, think you did it to confuse the issue.

[RamboLiberal]

26. I changed the title so it reflected this attack was not a pit bull

I thought anyone not reading the thread might assume it was another pit bull attack. GD affords me that luxury.

[lukasahero]

28. Glad to hear I can still be a little optimistic here

:)

Thanks for not getting defensive - like I said - that could have been done for 2 reasons. I'm glad to hear it was for the positive one. Thanks.

[a la izquierda]

18. Egads!

All three of my dogs are rescued, but only one was abused (we suspect abuse). Two of my dogs are pups, abandoned at very young ages, so we're fairly certainly they weren't abused.
However, we have an English Bulldog/Boxer mix who was used as a bait dog. He doesn't like other dogs at all, with a few exceptions. He is 13 now, and we've had him for 7 years. The first few months were really tough, because we couldn't move certain ways without the fear that he might bite our faces off. Eventually, he became a very mellow dog. He's a little snappier in his old age, since he's blind. But he wouldn't attack us and we know this because: a few weeks ago he got aggravated by something and lunged at what I believe he thought was something in the air (nobody/nothing was around). Unfortunately, he connected with my leg. As soon as he realized he'd actually bitten something, he let go and ran away.
He doesn't leave our yard and is never left alone outside (not that he'd be able to escape anyway, but still).
It is very sad that human actions destroy dogs (or any other animal).
I feel really bad for this man, who was just doing a good deed.

[AJD48]

19. Just like Lieberman and the Democratic Party

[la_chupa]

30. people who abuse animals make me wish I believed in hell

horrible just horrible

I want to go home and hug my little Aussie now.

My sister has bulldogs, two of them Peaches and Daisy. The only thing I can see them ever attacking is a ham sandwich. Maybe deep down somewhere they may want to attack something but it would require getting off the couch and it's just not worth it.

[beam me up scottie]

31. I would love to believe that people who think they're going to heaven would have to

first get approval from all of the animals they abandoned and abused in this life.

But I don't believe in heaven or hell.

We've got one shot at making a difference and giving an unwanted pet a home is one of the kindest things we can do.

Welcome to DU! :)

(Peaches and Daisy - those names are perfect!)