Marty
11-03-2005, 01:53 PM
Havertown, PA -- Mase, the 10-month old pit bull, returned home after the Delaware County SPCA lowered the bill for surgery on the dog's wounds. Scars on the dog's neck show where the .40-caliber bullet entered one side and exited the other.
Mase basked in the attention generated by his return and nibbled on doggie treats dispensed by 8-year-old Lakayla Keys at the scene of the shooting in the 500 block of Walnut Street. While playing with the puppy, Keys, in a barely audible tone, talked about what happened to her pet. "My dad came downstairs and he was screaming, get the dog, the cops are going to shoot him," Keys said.
"My daughter was in the backyard when they shot my dog," James Holmes said.
Darby Borough Police Chief Robert Smythe disagrees.
"We have signed statements that there was nobody in the backyard with the dog and the dog was acting in a vicious manner," Smythe said yesterday. A neighbor gave police a written statement attesting to the fact that no one was in the backyard and the police report also states that no one was in the backyard, according to Smythe.
Holmes said the sheriff was serving him a warrant for failing to appear at a child support hearing.
"It wasn't for child support. I took care of that. It was for a child support hearing they said I failed to attend, but I was incarcerated on another matter. They should have just continued that," Holmes said.
The police officers, who were chasing the dog in the alley, had no idea what was happening in front of the house where the warrant was being served, according to Smythe.
"The radio put it out as a vicious dog call," Smythe said. "Officers responded to the rear driveway. I don't know if the sheriff's were even there at that time."
The dog had managed to work its way into a neighbor's yard and back into its own yard after being shot, Smythe said.
After the dog was shot, the SPCA transported the dog to Springfield Animal Hospital where it underwent surgery. It was returned to the SPCA shelter in Media.
"They wanted $3,000 for me to get my dog back," Holmes said. "I've had him since he was three weeks old. That's my family dog."
After speaking with SPCA workers the bill was reduced. "I paid them $250 and I got my dog back," Holmes said.
While it is "somewhat unusual," the SPCA does negotiate with owners from time to time, a worker said yesterday.
"The dog on the day that it was shot was transported to Springfield Animal Hospital. We have an ongoing relationship with Springfield. They provide all of our emergency services for us," Humane Officer Bill Vernon said.
"And through their generosity they donate half of the costs to us. So the cost of the care they provided that day was about $1,000, but they donate half so we were presented with a bill for $500. Then we came to an agreement where the owner was going to pay half. He arrived, had the $220, didn't have the remaining $30 so we accepted that," said Vernon, who also is serving as acting interim director.
"He was a great dog," an SPCA worker who cared for the animal said.
But Smythe characterized the dog as a threat to neighborhood children and at least one adult on the morning of Oct. 17.
"We got a call from the 911 center that a Columbia Avenue resident called saying he was coming out of his house to go to work, kids were going to school and he was afraid the pit bull was going to bite the children," Smythe said.
Darby police officers Anthony Salvatore and Kevin McAveney went to the rear alley between Walnut Street and Columbia Avenue, shortly after 8 a.m., according to Smythe.
"And there is a dog in the backyard. Kids are walking to school," Smythe said.
The pit bull was barking at the officers, at the school children and at a neighbor in a yard next door, according to Smythe, who added that the pit bull looks like a full-grown dog.
"Sometimes we can get the dog into the back of a car and then call the dog guys," Smythe said.
No such luck this time, according to the police chief.
"The dog is charging at McAveney, who pulls his weapon and takes aim at the dog." But because of the way the police officer was positioned, he could see children at the Walnut Street Elementary School in the background, according to Smythe.
Officer Salvatore was allegedly positioned in a direction which afforded a blank wall as background, a clear shot.
"The dog is now acting in an angry manner," Smythe says, "But McAveney says he doesn't have a clear shot. Salvatore does," Smythe says.
While the officers were looking at the wounded animal, they received another call. The officers learned that Darby Borough Police Lt. Darryl Guy was at the front of the house with officials from the Delaware County Sheriff's office. They had James Holmes in custody on a bench warrant. Smythe did not know what the bench warrant was for.
"One incident had nothing to do with the other," Smythe said. "The service of the dog had nothing to do with the warrant."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15500908&BRD=1725&PAG=461&dept_id=45529&rfi=6
Mase basked in the attention generated by his return and nibbled on doggie treats dispensed by 8-year-old Lakayla Keys at the scene of the shooting in the 500 block of Walnut Street. While playing with the puppy, Keys, in a barely audible tone, talked about what happened to her pet. "My dad came downstairs and he was screaming, get the dog, the cops are going to shoot him," Keys said.
"My daughter was in the backyard when they shot my dog," James Holmes said.
Darby Borough Police Chief Robert Smythe disagrees.
"We have signed statements that there was nobody in the backyard with the dog and the dog was acting in a vicious manner," Smythe said yesterday. A neighbor gave police a written statement attesting to the fact that no one was in the backyard and the police report also states that no one was in the backyard, according to Smythe.
Holmes said the sheriff was serving him a warrant for failing to appear at a child support hearing.
"It wasn't for child support. I took care of that. It was for a child support hearing they said I failed to attend, but I was incarcerated on another matter. They should have just continued that," Holmes said.
The police officers, who were chasing the dog in the alley, had no idea what was happening in front of the house where the warrant was being served, according to Smythe.
"The radio put it out as a vicious dog call," Smythe said. "Officers responded to the rear driveway. I don't know if the sheriff's were even there at that time."
The dog had managed to work its way into a neighbor's yard and back into its own yard after being shot, Smythe said.
After the dog was shot, the SPCA transported the dog to Springfield Animal Hospital where it underwent surgery. It was returned to the SPCA shelter in Media.
"They wanted $3,000 for me to get my dog back," Holmes said. "I've had him since he was three weeks old. That's my family dog."
After speaking with SPCA workers the bill was reduced. "I paid them $250 and I got my dog back," Holmes said.
While it is "somewhat unusual," the SPCA does negotiate with owners from time to time, a worker said yesterday.
"The dog on the day that it was shot was transported to Springfield Animal Hospital. We have an ongoing relationship with Springfield. They provide all of our emergency services for us," Humane Officer Bill Vernon said.
"And through their generosity they donate half of the costs to us. So the cost of the care they provided that day was about $1,000, but they donate half so we were presented with a bill for $500. Then we came to an agreement where the owner was going to pay half. He arrived, had the $220, didn't have the remaining $30 so we accepted that," said Vernon, who also is serving as acting interim director.
"He was a great dog," an SPCA worker who cared for the animal said.
But Smythe characterized the dog as a threat to neighborhood children and at least one adult on the morning of Oct. 17.
"We got a call from the 911 center that a Columbia Avenue resident called saying he was coming out of his house to go to work, kids were going to school and he was afraid the pit bull was going to bite the children," Smythe said.
Darby police officers Anthony Salvatore and Kevin McAveney went to the rear alley between Walnut Street and Columbia Avenue, shortly after 8 a.m., according to Smythe.
"And there is a dog in the backyard. Kids are walking to school," Smythe said.
The pit bull was barking at the officers, at the school children and at a neighbor in a yard next door, according to Smythe, who added that the pit bull looks like a full-grown dog.
"Sometimes we can get the dog into the back of a car and then call the dog guys," Smythe said.
No such luck this time, according to the police chief.
"The dog is charging at McAveney, who pulls his weapon and takes aim at the dog." But because of the way the police officer was positioned, he could see children at the Walnut Street Elementary School in the background, according to Smythe.
Officer Salvatore was allegedly positioned in a direction which afforded a blank wall as background, a clear shot.
"The dog is now acting in an angry manner," Smythe says, "But McAveney says he doesn't have a clear shot. Salvatore does," Smythe says.
While the officers were looking at the wounded animal, they received another call. The officers learned that Darby Borough Police Lt. Darryl Guy was at the front of the house with officials from the Delaware County Sheriff's office. They had James Holmes in custody on a bench warrant. Smythe did not know what the bench warrant was for.
"One incident had nothing to do with the other," Smythe said. "The service of the dog had nothing to do with the warrant."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15500908&BRD=1725&PAG=461&dept_id=45529&rfi=6