dog bites Archives - i Still Love Dogs

Doggone It: Major and Champ Biden (Temporarily) Evicted from White House

MARCH 24, 2021 UPDATE: Well, that was quick! After getting some training, Major and Champ have returned to the White House.

Back in December, pound pup lovers were delighted with the news that for the first time in United States history, a shelter dog would be making his home in the White House. That historic hound was Major Biden, a 3-year-old German Shepherd adopted two years ago by Joe and Jill Biden.

There even was a virtual “Indoguration” in January to honor Major and raise funds for the Delaware Humane Association, the shelter from which Major was first fostered by the Bidens in 2018 and then adopted.

But just two months later, Major and the Bidens’ other dog, a 13-year-old German Shepherd named Champ, have been temporarily booted from the White House and sent back to the family’s home in Delaware.

According to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Major “was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual,” CNN reports. Sources told CNN that Major had previously displayed agitated behavior such as barking and “charging” at White House staff members.

Psaki also noted that the dogs’ trip home to Delaware had been planned before the incident. They usually stay at that home when Jill Biden is traveling. Major and Champ are being cared for by family friends (and hopefully Major is enjoying some sessions with a good dog trainer).

During an interview on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” last month, Jill Biden told Clarkson she’d been “getting obsessed with getting our dogs settled because we have an old dog and we have a very young dog. They have to take the elevator, they’re not used to that, and they have to go out on the South Lawn with lots of people watching them. So that’s what I’ve been obsessed with, getting everybody settled and calm.”

The good news is that Psaki said Major and Champ will be returning to the White House “soon.”

Major is getting plenty of support on social media. Kate Bennett, who reported the CNN story, tweeted, “All dogs are very good dogs though.” True!

This is also a very good idea:

And the Oval Pawffice, a fan page for the Bidens’ pets, issued a “paws release” stating, “Yelp! I am innocent.”

Hopefully this incident won’t discourage people from adopting shelter pets. After all, even dogs from breeders can get aggressive. In fact, a previous first dog, the Obamas’ Portuguese Water Dog Sunny, reportedly bit the face of a teenage visitor to the White House.

Photo: @DrBiden/Twitter

In Florida, Dogs Who Bite Home Intruders Can Be Euthanized

Let’s say you live in Miami, Tampa or any other Florida city. In the middle of the night, someone breaks into your home with the intent to rob and kill you.

And let’s say that before you even wake up, your dog hears the intruder. Doing what most dogs would do to protect their homes and loved ones, your dog bites the intruder hard, tearing his skin. The intruder runs off. Thanks to your dog, you will live to see another day.

So, does your hero get some kind of recognition for saving your life and property? Nope.

Per current Florida law, if a dog who has not been labeled as “dangerous” bites someone deeply enough to require stitches or reconstructive surgery — even if that someone is a murderous intruder inside your home — the dog must be euthanized.

This law does not, however, apply to dogs that have already been labeled as “dangerous.” In those cases, pet parents are allowed to defend their dogs.

That’s right — the state that was first to enact a controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, which protects humans who defend themselves against real or perceived threats, does not extend that protection to most dogs.

According to Florida’s “Damage by Dogs” statute, a non-dangerous dog who bites a person without provocation is to be “immediately confiscated by an animal control authority, placed in quarantine, if necessary, for the proper length of time, or impounded and held for 10 business days after the owner is given written notification, and thereafter destroyed in an expeditious and humane manner.”

Effort to Change Unfair Law

I think the Damage by Dogs law is unfair and ridiculous, and so does Rep. Greg Steube, who introduced a bill (HB91) that would save the lives of dogs who bite only to protect themselves or their family members, or bite someone who is trespassing.

“Most people don’t realize that the statute is so black and white,” Steube told 10 News. “If a dog does this damage and it causes this type of injury they have to be euthanized. I thought it was absurd when I read the law.”

If passed, the new law would allow all pet parents due process, giving them the opportunity to explain the circumstances of a biting incident. A hearing officer would then decide whether the dog should be euthanized.

The House Civil Justice Subcommittee passed the bill unanimously last month. A second hearing is scheduled for today, and the bill will need a third hearing before it reaches the House floor. Steube told 10 News he hopes the bill makes its way to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk by January.

Support Grows for Padi, Victim of the Damage by Dogs Law

One potential victim of the current law is Padi, a 4-year-old Black Lab mix from Brandenton.

In self defense, Padi bit off part of a 4-year-old boy’s ear when the child lunged at the dog, who was hiding under a desk in the office of his dog dad, veterinarian Paul Gartenberg.

Padi, who’d been rescued from an abusive situation, often stayed under the desk in his “safe spot,” Dr. Gartenberg told the Associated Press.

“This dog was purely acting defensively,” he said. “I can’t think of a dog that wouldn’t have reacted the way Padi did.”

Even so, Manatee County Animal Services took Padi and determined he would have to euthanized under the Damage by Dogs law. The decision was upheld by a county hearing officer.

Padi’s case sparked global outrage. The Free Padi Facebook community currently has more than 25,700 members.

At a packed circuit court hearing today that could determine Padi’s fate, attorneys for Dr. Gartenberg as well as Manatee County agreed the law is unconstitutional, partly because it doesn’t give pet parents due process to defend their rights.

Judge Andrew Owens is expected to issue a written decision in two weeks at the earliest.

If he decides the law is unconstitutional, Padi’s case will be dropped and the dog can stay with Dr. Gartenberg. But if the judge rules it to be constitutional, Dr. Gartenberg can either return to the hearing officer process or appeal the ruling to the Second District Court of Appeal.

Dr. Gartenberg told the Brandenton Herald he felt optimistic after this afternoon’s hearing.

“It seems like reasonable people making reasonable decisions,” he said.

Photos via Facebook; Facebook

Dogs’ Owner Guilty of Murder in Mauling of L.A. County Woman

OCT. 3, 2014 UPDATE: Alex Jackson was sentenced today to 15 years to life in prison. “His actions in this case show that he has a nearly psychopathic disregard for the lives and well-being of others,” said Deputy District Attorney Ryan Williams in his sentencing memo, according to the Associated Press.

Alex Jackson, the owner of four dogs who attacked and killed an Antelope Valley, Calif., woman last year, was convicted today of second-degree murder.

Pamela Devitt, 63, was mauled by the dogs as she went for a walk in May 2013. She was the first person killed by Pit Bulls in the history of Los Angeles County, and Jackson was the first dog owner in the county to face murder charges.

During the trial, Jackson claimed he didn’t realize his dogs were dangerous.

“I feel terrible about it. This isn’t anything that I orchestrated or planned, that I wanted to have happen,” he said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The jury wasn’t buying it.

Witnesses said Jackson’s dogs would often jump over his fence and roam the neighborhood. Back in May 2013, Lt. John Corina of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department told the Los Angeles Times that Jackson’s dogs had attacked people or horses at least three times so far that year alone. In 2006, four of his dogs were ordered to be euthanized after they attacked emus.

Devitt’s savage mauling brought plenty of negative attention to Pit Bulls. L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich proposed overturning California’s prohibition of breed bans (his spokesman, Tony Bell, actually called Pit Bulls “killing machines”). In protest, hundreds of people — including me and i Love Dogs staffers Martha Smith and Sonya Simpkins — attended an anti-BSL rally outside City Hall that was organized by “Pit Boss” star Shorty Rossi. Antonovich dropped the idea.

Even Ben Devitt, Pamela’s husband of more than 40 years, told local news sources after the attack that he didn’t blame the dogs — he blamed their irresponsible owner.

“I have no animosity toward Pit Bulls and my wife had no animosity – we realize it’s people that are responsible for their animals,” he told KABC-TV News at the time.

While about 30 people nationwide die each year from dog bites, murder charges against the dogs’ owners have been very rare in the past — but that is changing.

Jackson is the third dog owner to be convicted of murder over the past 16 years. In the most famous case, in 2001 a jury convicted San Francisco attorney Marjorie Knoller of second-degree murder after her two Presa Canarios killed her neighbor, Dianne Whipple.

Photo credit: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department