The good news: Here in Los Angeles, we got some much-needed rain this morning.
The bad news: Because it’s been so long, some people apparently forgot how dangerous the Los Angeles River can become when there’s a downpour.
At least four people and two dogs had to be rescued today from the raging river, including David Quinones and his Pit Bull. They were both able to climb a tree before a swift-water rescue team arrived.
Quinones, who is homeless, told ABC7 he was surprised by the storm this morning. He was with his dog in the riverbed near Shoredale Avenue in the Elysian Valley area.
“Me and my dog got caught by the rising water,” he said. “We basically had to climb up a tree to wait it out. We didn’t know if the water was going to rise. We were just kind of clinging on for dear life.”
He said his dog was “pretty banged up” and her paws were badly bruised. Quinones was treated by a paramedic. According to the Los Angeles FD Facebook page, the dog remained with Quinones.
Farther south down the river, a stray dog and three people who’d befriended him were rescued in Long Beach this morning after they all became trapped in the rising water.
Using ropes, firefighters pulled each of them to safety, the Long Beach Press Telegram reports. The dog, who has some health issues, was taken to Long Beach Animal Care Services for treatment.
The L.A.P.D. and L.A.F.D. are warning people to stay away from the L.A. River today — or whenever there is heavy rain.
Last week in a Tucson neighborhood, as a 14-year-old boy on a skateboard was being pulled along a sidewalk by his leashed Pit Bull, a teenage girl across the street was trying to walk her black Lab, but having difficulty keeping him under control.
The moment the Lab saw the Pit Bull, he broke free and started biting the boy and his dog. The boy suffered eight puncture wounds on his fingers and hands, according to Tucson News Now, which didn’t mention the Pit Bull’s condition.
“I think if a dog is mean enough to break a leash, break free from a leash and attack another dog while walking with a kid…I don’t know,” Zack Marcus, the boy’s dad, told Tucson News Now. “I love dogs, but that’s a bad dog.”
When police officers finally arrived, Marcus said they were more interested in what the Lab’s owner had to say about the incident. Fortunately a surveillance camera on a nearby house captured the entire attack. The Lab can be seen being pulled away by his back legs, his teeth still clamped on the Pit Bull’s face.
“To me that screams education and responsible pet ownership,” Justin Gallick of the Pima Animal Care Center told Tucson News Now. “From my understanding, a pet was being walked by somebody that’s underage and maybe didn’t have the physical capacity to walk such a dog.”
The Lab was taken away by animal control and is under a rabies quarantine for 10 days. He will be given a dangerous dog evaluation. If he is found to be dangerous, he and his owner may have to comply with strict confinement, licensing and insurance requirements. If the owner can’t meet those requirements, the Lab could be euthanized.
The story by Tucson News Now, one of the only news sources reporting the incident, starts with this:
“A local dog attack involving a pit bull – but this incident doesn’t start or end the way one might think.”
Oh, because based on negative stereotypes, one might think the Pit Bull was the aggressor?
The headline reads, “Local boy, pit bull attacked by neighbor’s dog,” not bothering to mention the breed of the attacking dog. But Tucson News Now does deserve props for covering the story at all.
“I have Pit Bulls, big ones,” Marcus said. “And we get the bad rap because of the Pit Bull. My dog’s never done that.”
NOV. 25, 2015 UPDATE: Nicholas Garcia pleaded guilty today to causing the death of his neighbor’s Pit Bull with a firecracker, the Herald-News reports. He was sentenced to three years in prison on a charge of criminal damage to property (not animal cruelty). He must then serve an additional year for reckless discharge of a firearm. He will be eligible for parole in August 2017.
On July 7, Nicholas Garcia of Joliet, Ill., threw lit firecrackers at his neighbor’s Pit Bull, named America. As the neighbors watched in horror, America picked up one of the firecrackers in his mouth.
“It blew off the animal’s jaw,” Deputy Police Chief Ed Gregory told the Herald-News. America had to be euthanized.
Surprisingly, Garcia was not charged for animal cruelty, but for felony damage to property, along with two misdemeanor counts.
He finally turned himself in July 24. He paid his bail and was free to go.
On Aug. 8, barely a month after killing America, Garcia was pulled over by Joliet police after blowing through a stop sign. The officers found illegal fireworks — a mortar and two packages of “Nitro Bombs” — in the trunk of his car, according to the Herald-News. There were also three baggies of marijuana inside the car.
Garcia was charged with possession of fireworks, possession of marijuana and the traffic violations. He was released on his own recognizance.
In a court appearance today, Garcia became “visibly agitated” when he was taken into custody after Judge Daniel Rozak granted the prosecutor’s request to add a $25,000 bond due to the August arrest, the Herald-News reports.
Garcia’s attorney, Cosmo Tedone, who actually referred to himself an animal lover, insisted his client meant no harm to America.
“The dog got out and chased it, but there was no intent to hurt the animal and no charge of animal cruelty,” he said, according to the Herald-News.
Really? How could Garcia not know exactly what the horrible outcome would be when he was throwing lit firecrackers at the dog?
Garcia didn’t have much reason to be agitated. After spending less than seven hours in jail, he was released on $2,500 bail, the Shorewood Patch reports. He’s scheduled to appear in court again next month.
The Will County state’s attorney’s office filed “the strongest [property damage] felony charge possible under Illinois law,” according to a statement regarding the case. If he’s convicted, Garcia faces up to six years in prison and a maximum fine of $25,000.
In 1999, State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow authored a statute that made the abuse of an animal a felony for the first time in Illinois history.
It’s unfortunate his office did not file the strongest animal cruelty charge possible in Garcia’s case. “When or if additional evidence becomes available, the state’s attorney’s office will review the case and give all due consideration to filing additional charges,” the statement said.
An online petition urging Garcia to be charged with animal cruelty has more than 119,000 signatures as of Aug. 17.
After Harry Brown was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given less than a year to live, the homeless veteran traveled from Phoenix to Long Beach, Calif., with his beloved Pit Bull service dog, Olivia, to say his final goodbyes to some old friends there.
The former Marine didn’t know he might have also said his final farewell to Olivia. While the two were napping at a dog beach earlier this month, Olivia wandered off.
Brown walked several miles to search for Olivia at shelters in Long Beach and Orange County. He put an ad on Craigslist. Days passed, and Olivia was still missing.
“We spent as long as we could trying to find her,” Brown told NBC4 News, choking back tears. “I’d just gotten rid of all her stuff because I didn’t think I’d see her again.”
Heartbroken and alone, Brown took a bus back to Phoenix. “I just kept praying that she would be with someone who could take care of her,” he said.
Meanwhile, someone who saw Olivia on a Long Beach street took her to a local shelter. At the same time, the nonprofit rescue Captain Care saw the Craigslist ad and found Olivia in the shelter.
“I got an email back. It says, ‘Your girl is in L.A. County. Go get her,'” Brown told NBC4 News.
And he did, thanks to a bus ticket purchased for him by Captain Care.
“She gives me the drive to keep going and makes my life a little better,” Brown told NBC4 News yesterday as he was reunited with Olivia. “She’s my life.”
Captain Care is using donations to have Olivia spayed and pay for her dog food and treats.
“Thank you, everyone who helped make this happen by supporting Captain Care!” the group wrote on its Facebook page last night.
When a woman saw a stray Pit Bull on the Parkway East in Monroeville, Pa., yesterday, she did what most animal lovers would do. She pulled over and tried to coax the dog out of danger and into her car.
But the dog got frightened when the woman approached her and ran — right off a 200-foot-high overpass.
The distraught woman flagged down a Woodland Hills EMS (WHEMS) truck.
“We were looking at the distance the dog fell and pretty much thought we were looking at a bad case,” WHEMS Director Frank Mastandrea told CBS Pittsburgh. “But when we got there she was just lying there, whimpering.”
Miraculously, the Pit Bull had survived the fall, but was in bad shape. The WHEMS crew rushed her to the closest animal hospital and paid $720 out of their own pockets for her initial emergency treatment.
The dog, whom the crew named Ophelia, had several broken bones, an injured lung and internal bleeding. A veterinarian estimated the total cost of her care would be more than $8,000, WTAE reported.
Ophelia was wearing a pink collar but had no microchip. The vet said she could stay at the hospital while they tried to find her owner, but the WHEMS crew didn’t want to waste time waiting. They took her to another hospital, Pittsburgh Veterinary Speciality & Emergency Center (PVSEC), where Ophelia was immediately designated a special case.
“Ophelia will remain with the critical care service for the next several days as her life-threatening injuries heal,” Dr. Christine Guenther of PVSEC told WTAE. “She has a lot of injuries and a tough road ahead of her, and we appreciate the outpouring of love and support for her.”
Once Ophelia’s condition stabilizes, she will need surgery on both her front legs.
To help cover the costs, the WHEMS crew created the GoFundMe.com campaign, “Save Ophelia.” In just one day, the campaign surpassed its $10,000 goal. The WHEMS crew said any of the funds that are not used will be donated to an animal shelter.
Ophelia has “a tough road ahead of her, and we appreciate the outpouring of love and support for her,” Dr. Guenther told WTAE.
If Ophelia’s owner doesn’t come forward, members of the WHEMS crew have expressed interest in adopting her.
“When you look into those big, brown eyes of hers and she just looked so sad. The crew just fell in love with her,” crew member Angie Fry, Ophelia’s potential future dog mom, told CBS Pittsburgh.
“We help people, but it’s great when we get an opportunity to help an animal as well.”
Photos via GoFundMe.com
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