Friday, February 17, 2017
Monte Vista, north of Downtown
San Antonio, Texas
Normal
Sandy Merrill, CEO of Guide Dogs of Texas, walks her guide dog-in-training Billy. Two loose dogs approach.
Not
The
loose dogs are pit bulls; they charge and attack
Billy. As Merrill tries to drive them off with shouts and kicks, they
bite and drag at Billy, biting
him and shaking him.
"I
tried my best to fend them off and shouted and yelled,” said Merrill,
the CEO of Guide Dogs of Texas. “I started kicking them and when one
would bite on one side, the
other would bite on the other side."
“The pit bulls had their teeth sunk in to his stomach,”
The
pit bulls attack Billy for twenty minutes, only backing off when
multiple people come to her aid and use pepper spray on the violent
animals, allowing Billy and Merrill
to escape inside a nearby business. In the attack, they also bite
Merrill on the hand. They then run off, and haven’t been found.
Billy
is left with dozens of bite wounds, but survives with vet care. Merrill
filed a report with Animal Care Services, which is investigating,
searching the area for the
pit bulls and their owners. Locals say there is a growing problem with
loose dogs in the area.
Consequences
An
innocent dog being trained to help a blind person is mauled and
terrorized, and his future is jeopardized. Merrill says Billy represents
a $50k investment in breeding
and training.
A woman who trains guide dogs for the blind is terrorized.
2 pit bulls have a fun time.
An
unknown pit bull owner enjoys the freedom of choosing a violent dog
breed without the financial constraints of confining them, as he/she was
able to pass the costs on
to Merrill and everyone in the neighborhood.
A blind person likely has to wait longer for a guide dog, as Billy's training is either permanently ended or prolonged to deal with trauma.
"The
sad thing is, a lot of times when a guide dog is attacked by loose
dogs, they don't always recover.” Merrill said. “So if this was a dog
that had already graduated,
that would be somebody's eyes that they cannot get around anymore."
News links
No comments:
Post a Comment