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09-14-2005, 09:01 AM
Rocky Mountain News To print this page, select File then Print from your browserURL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4079506,00.htmlPit bulls attack two in Aurora
Four dogs confined at shelter pending hearing next week
By Hector Gutierrez And Javier Erik Olvera, Rocky Mountain News
September 14, 2005
AURORA - Two men were attacked by pit bulls during the past three days, including a property owner who started eviction proceedings against the tenant caring for the dogs.
The other victim, Jose Simental, was released from the hospital on Tuesday after he was treated for bite wounds to his torso, arms and legs. Simental had gone to the home of the dogs' caretaker in the 1900 block of Dallas Street in northwestern Aurora to change the oil on a car when the four dogs mauled him.
Aurora's Animal Care Division has seized the animals and impounded them at the Aurora Animal Shelter. A disposition hearing on whether the pit bulls pose any further danger and can be safely returned to their owners is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Antoinette Rivers told animal care officers that she was caring for the dogs on behalf of her children, who live in Denver and turned the pets over to her because of the city's pit bull ban, said Cheryl Conway, Animal Care Division spokeswoman.
Rivers could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Landlord Bradley Meeks said he warned Rivers about two months ago that she needed to get rid of the four pit bulls because she never received permission for the animals to stay on the property.
When the tenant didn't relocate the dogs, Meeks said he began eviction proceedings against her. An eviction hearing was scheduled for this week.
"I don't have any specific pit bull policy, but I have to meet the pet," said Meeks, who has allowed tenants to keep dogs, including pit bulls, so long as the owners notify him and demonstrate that the animals don't pose a danger.
No one contacted authorities to report the Sunday attack on Simental. Aurora police spokesman Marcus Dudley said he checked with dispatchers and found that no on-duty officer was summoned on any dog- related calls on Sunday. Simental, whose age was not available, went to the Medical Center of Aurora South, where he was treated and discharged on Tuesday.
Before he was released, Simental called the Animal Care Division on Monday to advise them of the attack, Conway said.
An animal care officer went to the hospital to interview Simental. Conway said that after the interview, the officer headed to Rivers' home to seize the dogs.
About that time, Meeks, 29, was visiting his properties in the 1900 block of Dallas Street to collect rent from one of his tenants who lives next door to Rivers' home.
Meeks said he entered through the back, where he found that a gate in the rear fence that separates the two properties was open, he said.
One of the pit bulls was loose.
"The fence was supposed to be closed, and he came flying at me, and that's when I turned and ran," Meeks recalled. "I felt it getting closer to me and he jumped up and bit me in the thigh."
Meeks said he managed to stick his sneaker-clad left foot into the dog's mouth and scream for help.
"I let him gnaw on my shoe, and I was screaming until somebody got the dog," Meeks remembered.
Rivers came out of the home and called the dog, which then turned and trotted back to her, Meeks said.
"I'm the fortunate one. Jose's the one who got the brunt of it," Meeks said.
Animal care officers issued Rivers a misdemeanor summons charging her with five counts of keeping a vicious, aggressive and dangerous animal, five counts of rabies inoculation required, five counts of requiring a license and five counts of not having the dogs spayed or neutered. The charges include four counts in the first attack involving four dogs and one count in the second attack.
Aurora's subcommittee on code enforcement recently suggested to the City Council an ordinance that would allow existing pit bulls to stay in the city but ban new ones.
The ordinance, which lays out a series of requirements, still needs the blessing of the council.
"I think the attacks are an indication that we're right and we're doing the right thing," said Councilman Bob Fitzgerald, a subcommittee member, adding that he's glad the pit bulls were caught.
Fitzgerald called the breed "a loaded revolver that keeps going off."
Councilwoman Molly Markert, subcommittee chair, said the attacks were a "tragedy."
"It makes me shudder to think that we're not banning them altogether," said Markert, who wanted a total ban on the breed but chose to back the less strict ordinance. Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
Four dogs confined at shelter pending hearing next week
By Hector Gutierrez And Javier Erik Olvera, Rocky Mountain News
September 14, 2005
AURORA - Two men were attacked by pit bulls during the past three days, including a property owner who started eviction proceedings against the tenant caring for the dogs.
The other victim, Jose Simental, was released from the hospital on Tuesday after he was treated for bite wounds to his torso, arms and legs. Simental had gone to the home of the dogs' caretaker in the 1900 block of Dallas Street in northwestern Aurora to change the oil on a car when the four dogs mauled him.
Aurora's Animal Care Division has seized the animals and impounded them at the Aurora Animal Shelter. A disposition hearing on whether the pit bulls pose any further danger and can be safely returned to their owners is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Antoinette Rivers told animal care officers that she was caring for the dogs on behalf of her children, who live in Denver and turned the pets over to her because of the city's pit bull ban, said Cheryl Conway, Animal Care Division spokeswoman.
Rivers could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Landlord Bradley Meeks said he warned Rivers about two months ago that she needed to get rid of the four pit bulls because she never received permission for the animals to stay on the property.
When the tenant didn't relocate the dogs, Meeks said he began eviction proceedings against her. An eviction hearing was scheduled for this week.
"I don't have any specific pit bull policy, but I have to meet the pet," said Meeks, who has allowed tenants to keep dogs, including pit bulls, so long as the owners notify him and demonstrate that the animals don't pose a danger.
No one contacted authorities to report the Sunday attack on Simental. Aurora police spokesman Marcus Dudley said he checked with dispatchers and found that no on-duty officer was summoned on any dog- related calls on Sunday. Simental, whose age was not available, went to the Medical Center of Aurora South, where he was treated and discharged on Tuesday.
Before he was released, Simental called the Animal Care Division on Monday to advise them of the attack, Conway said.
An animal care officer went to the hospital to interview Simental. Conway said that after the interview, the officer headed to Rivers' home to seize the dogs.
About that time, Meeks, 29, was visiting his properties in the 1900 block of Dallas Street to collect rent from one of his tenants who lives next door to Rivers' home.
Meeks said he entered through the back, where he found that a gate in the rear fence that separates the two properties was open, he said.
One of the pit bulls was loose.
"The fence was supposed to be closed, and he came flying at me, and that's when I turned and ran," Meeks recalled. "I felt it getting closer to me and he jumped up and bit me in the thigh."
Meeks said he managed to stick his sneaker-clad left foot into the dog's mouth and scream for help.
"I let him gnaw on my shoe, and I was screaming until somebody got the dog," Meeks remembered.
Rivers came out of the home and called the dog, which then turned and trotted back to her, Meeks said.
"I'm the fortunate one. Jose's the one who got the brunt of it," Meeks said.
Animal care officers issued Rivers a misdemeanor summons charging her with five counts of keeping a vicious, aggressive and dangerous animal, five counts of rabies inoculation required, five counts of requiring a license and five counts of not having the dogs spayed or neutered. The charges include four counts in the first attack involving four dogs and one count in the second attack.
Aurora's subcommittee on code enforcement recently suggested to the City Council an ordinance that would allow existing pit bulls to stay in the city but ban new ones.
The ordinance, which lays out a series of requirements, still needs the blessing of the council.
"I think the attacks are an indication that we're right and we're doing the right thing," said Councilman Bob Fitzgerald, a subcommittee member, adding that he's glad the pit bulls were caught.
Fitzgerald called the breed "a loaded revolver that keeps going off."
Councilwoman Molly Markert, subcommittee chair, said the attacks were a "tragedy."
"It makes me shudder to think that we're not banning them altogether," said Markert, who wanted a total ban on the breed but chose to back the less strict ordinance. Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.