We have twice previously noted the story of a dog being killed in the City of Brotherly Love, far, far, far more coverage than The Philadelphia Inquirer gives to actual murder victims. I suppose that this story couldn’t have been ignored, considering the information, but this is the third story on the shooting of the dog.
The pit bull fatally shot by Philly’s top FBI agent severely injured another dog earlier this year, neighbors say
“Many of us in the building know that this dog was not completely innocent,” said one neighbor, describing the violent incident three weeks before the dog’s death Monday.
by Jeremy Roebuck | Friday, February 24, 2023
Less than a month before Jacqueline Maguire, the FBI’s top agent in Philadelphia, shot and killed a pit bull as it reportedly attacked her smaller dog on a Center City street this week, that pit bull seriously injured another dog, requiring three surgeries and $9,000 in vet bills, according to residents of the building where the earlier incident took place.
The Jan. 27 fracas — between the 7-year-old pit bull named Mia and a Siberian husky mix puppy that lived in the same apartment complex — prompted management to ban the pit bull from a community dog park and require it to be muzzled in all common areas, three neighbors at the Lincoln Square apartments at Broad Street and Washington Avenue said.
Those residents — most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid conflict with neighbors — said they were prompted to share the story with The Inquirer after seeing news of the pit bull’s fatal shooting Monday and in response to a TV interview in which the dog’s owner, Maria Esser, said she’d never had an incident with the dog before.
“It’s been a little frustrating,” said one resident who witnessed the earlier dog fight. “Many of us in the building know that this dog [Mia] was not completely innocent.”
There’s more at the original, and yes, in view of the Inquirer’s earlier coverage, the information in this article was necessary. But Miss Esser telling people that there’d never been trouble with her dog previously, when other residents had seen differently, $9,000 in veterinarian bills, and a photo in the article showing the bandages on the injured Siberian husky mix, would appear to cast doubt on Miss Esser’s claims.
I wonder what the animal rights activists are saying now?
If it is your dog, you have to be in control of the critter.
A neighbor has a little yap-yap that triggers some “visiting” dogs. Many dogd (and theirhumans) just ignore the “noise” and pass on by or they cross to the far side of the street, in any case the human has control of the dog. If the human can not or will not control the dog, then the target, or its owner are free to take action. Dog attacks can be nasty and lead to human injury if the human gets involved. If the owner is not controlling his/her animal, the target, or the target’s owner are free to do what they feel is necessary. I have no idea of the circumstances in this case, but the owner of the dead dog did not have, or would not exert control, so the person with the gun did what seemed to be appropriate. The dog lost that one, because no human was in control.