Loose Dogs Concern Residents in the Florida Keys
JESSICA MACHETTA
Florida Keys Keynoter
MARATHON - Russ Costa with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Big Pine Key was looking for a pack of dogs Friday morning after receiving complaints from concerned residents. "I found two of them and watched the owner load them up in her car," Costa said, "but I haven't seen the pit bull yet."
Maya Totman, director of Exotic and Wild Bird Rescue on Big Pine, says she saw a pit bull and another dog chasing a fawn in the National Key Deer Refuge, so she tried to chase them away from the fawn. The pit bull, she says, squared off and growled at her. "This is a very dangerous situation," she Totman.
Costa says following up on animal complaints is generally left up to Monroe County Animal Control, but since the dogs were in the refuge, it became his responsibility. "They will do injuries and kill the deer," he said.
Jim and Mary Ellen Malley, residents who bike the area most mornings, said they spotted the two dogs earlier, and then again as they came back across the habitat area with two more dogs. "The one definitely is a pit bull," Mary Ellen said. "The other looked like a small black poodle, another one was almost like a golden retriever, and then another one looked like a mixed-breed, it was a larger dog." "I'm scared of pit bulls," she said. "People say they're wonderful dogs and depend on the owner, but to me, they're dangerous because they're bred that way for a reason."
Keys residents are especially wary of dogs on the loose right now after two recent pit-bull attacks in Key West. The initial attack, June 20, left one dog dead and two men bitten while they attempted to pull the pit bull off its victim. That pit bull has been put down.
A second attack happened the next day, when a separate pit pull attacked a Key West resident as he walked his bison frise. He is still recovering from minor bit wounds. That dog is being quarantined at the Stock Island animal shelter.
"The owner has not called back and contacted us to tell us what to do," said Gwen Hawtof, president of the Key West Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which runs the shelter. "The problem is he has a real liability issue here that he's taking very seriously. I don't know at this point if the dog is coming or going. Unfortunately, after a bite, the options are fewer and harder than preventing it from happening in the first place."
To report dogs running loose in Key West, call the SPCA at 294-4857; on Big Pine and in Marathon, call Stand Up For Animals at 872-3412 or 743-3779; in Key Largo, call Humane Animal Care Coalition at 451-0088.
Florida Keys Keynoter
MARATHON - Russ Costa with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Big Pine Key was looking for a pack of dogs Friday morning after receiving complaints from concerned residents. "I found two of them and watched the owner load them up in her car," Costa said, "but I haven't seen the pit bull yet."
Maya Totman, director of Exotic and Wild Bird Rescue on Big Pine, says she saw a pit bull and another dog chasing a fawn in the National Key Deer Refuge, so she tried to chase them away from the fawn. The pit bull, she says, squared off and growled at her. "This is a very dangerous situation," she Totman.
Costa says following up on animal complaints is generally left up to Monroe County Animal Control, but since the dogs were in the refuge, it became his responsibility. "They will do injuries and kill the deer," he said.
Jim and Mary Ellen Malley, residents who bike the area most mornings, said they spotted the two dogs earlier, and then again as they came back across the habitat area with two more dogs. "The one definitely is a pit bull," Mary Ellen said. "The other looked like a small black poodle, another one was almost like a golden retriever, and then another one looked like a mixed-breed, it was a larger dog." "I'm scared of pit bulls," she said. "People say they're wonderful dogs and depend on the owner, but to me, they're dangerous because they're bred that way for a reason."
Keys residents are especially wary of dogs on the loose right now after two recent pit-bull attacks in Key West. The initial attack, June 20, left one dog dead and two men bitten while they attempted to pull the pit bull off its victim. That pit bull has been put down.
A second attack happened the next day, when a separate pit pull attacked a Key West resident as he walked his bison frise. He is still recovering from minor bit wounds. That dog is being quarantined at the Stock Island animal shelter.
"The owner has not called back and contacted us to tell us what to do," said Gwen Hawtof, president of the Key West Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which runs the shelter. "The problem is he has a real liability issue here that he's taking very seriously. I don't know at this point if the dog is coming or going. Unfortunately, after a bite, the options are fewer and harder than preventing it from happening in the first place."
To report dogs running loose in Key West, call the SPCA at 294-4857; on Big Pine and in Marathon, call Stand Up For Animals at 872-3412 or 743-3779; in Key Largo, call Humane Animal Care Coalition at 451-0088.
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