I like dogs; I’m a ‘dog person’.

That being said, I have been bitten by dogs twice in my lifetime. Both times I was bitten by Pit-Bulls, coincidence?  Maybe…

I witnessed a Pit-Bull attack on a female kite surfer at a beach park that I frequented once. She was a friend of mine and was not aware of the dog’s presence until it charged her from between two cars. No one knew who the dog belonged to. Others had seen the dog trotting around peacefully investigating its’ surroundings but reported that it did not appear aggressive.

When the dog suddenly attacked it gave no growl or warning. It sunk its’ teeth into the woman’s leg with it’s’ mouth covering the knee and refused to let go. A fellow kiter picked up a fallen branch from a nearby tree and began pummeling the dog, but to no avail. The dog would not release the woman even as it was being soundly beaten.  As my friend struggled to get loose from the animal, it began to shake her violently and it was clear there was major physical damage taking place.

At last a person who I did not know well brought a 2X4 piece of wood out from the bed of his pick-up truck and with his superior physical strength beat the dog off of the woman causing, I’m very sure, considerable physical damage to the dog.

She ended up in the hospital having to undergo knee surgery. Police never found the dogs’ owner and no one was held responsible.

A friend once told me “not all Pit-Bulls are bad”. To which I responded, “how can I tell which ones are the good ones?”  He had no response for this.

If someone had had a dog repellant spray handy, such as MACE  MUZZLE the attack could have been ended quickly and with no lasting injury to the dog. Dogs seem to be able to sustain repeated physical beating but when their major senses are painfully impaired they become more concerned with self preservation and disengage.

I will not walk in an area where I know there are Pit-Bulls without MACE  MUZZLE, it may be the only defense you have in an attack.