Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Dog-fighting, neglect

Dog-fighting, neglect
Janesville, WI (US)

Incident Date: Sunday, Aug 14, 2005
County: Rock
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Charges: Misdemeanor

Alleged:
» Reva Thomas
» Rachel Bobzien

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 5381

Classification: Fighting, Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: dog (pit-bull)

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A pit bull dog that a Janesville police officer shot at in self-defense on Aug 14 was one of three being trained for fighting, according to police. One of the dog owners disagreed. She said two of the dogs have fought, but the fights were unintentional.

Officer Laura Hauser was dispatched to Ravine St. at 8:20 a.m. Aug 14 for a report of barking dogs. She knocked on the front door, but no one responded.

Hauser was walking back across the street to her squad car when she heard a bark, turned and saw a pit pull jump through an open window.

"It started charging at me," Hauser said. "I just had enough time to get out my gun."

She fired two shots at the dog from about 4 feet. One bullet grazed the dog's chest, and the other nicked the inside of the dog's back leg. The gunshots scared the dog away, and Hauser radioed other officers for help.

With help from the Rock County Humane Society, the dog, a female named Caprice, was shot with a Taser in the backyard of the house and locked into a cage, according to police reports.

Two other pit bulls in the house-males named Tank and Fat Boy-also were taken to the humane society.

Reva Thomas, 33, who owns Caprice and Tank, was cited for animal neglect, harboring a vicious dog and two counts of keeping an unlicensed dog. Rachel Bobzien, 18, who owns Fat Boy, was cited for harboring a vicious dog, keeping an unlicensed dog and obstructing an officer.

Injuries to the dogs' legs and ears and statements from neighbors lead police and humane society officials to believe that the dogs were being trained to fight.

Bobzien denied it and said she has volunteered at the humane society in the past.

"They know I don't do that," she said. "My dog is not vicious, not at all."

She said Fat Boy has been in only two fights in the few weeks she's owned him, and both fights were with Tank when the dogs accidentally ended up in the same room.

Bobzien said she was meeting today with the city attorney about getting her dog back.

Bobzien and Hauser both said Thomas has agreed to have Caprice destroyed, but Bobzien said Thomas wants to keep Tank.

Chris Konetski, director of the Rock County Humane Society, said she's waiting to hear from police about what should happen with the pit bulls.

Case Updates

All three pit bulls are dead, two of which were owned by Reva Thomas. One of the two, named Caprice, was taken to the Rock County Humane Society on Aug. 14 after it jumped through an open window and rushed at Janesville Police Officer Laura Hauser. She fired two shots at the dog, grazing it.

Police shot the dog with Tasers to immobilize it while humane society workers snared it with catchpoles. Two days later, Thomas agreed that the dog should be euthanized.

Two other pit bulls, one named Tank and owned by Thomas, and the other named Fat Boy and owned by Rachel Bobzien, were removed from inside the Ravine Street house the same day Caprice was captured.

Police Chief Neil Mahan on Friday ordered Tank and Fat Boy euthanized.

"I was not going to have those dogs released back into the Janesville community to terrorize that neighborhood again or any other neighborhood," Mahan said.

"A number of neighbors were absolutely terrified of these dogs. They were afraid to walk their own dogs anywhere near the premises. They were afraid that their own dog would be eaten up. We're not going to have that in Janesville."

Wisconsin statutes give police the authority to destroy an animal that "poses an imminent threat to public health or safety."

Bobzien told The Janesville Gazette earlier that her dog, Fat Boy, and Thomas' dog, Tank, had fought twice when they accidentally ended up in the same room. She denied that the dogs were being trained for fighting.

Chris Konetski, director of the Rock County Humane Society, agreed with the police chief that the dogs were dangerous.

"What happens if the dog gets outside and a person is walking their poodle? What's going to happen?" Konetski said.

"What if there's something else at eye level outside, including a toddler? We felt the danger was great."

The dogs had wounds as if they'd been fighting, Konetski said.

Deputy Police Chief Steve Kopp believes the dogs were being trained to fight.

"I don't see any other reason why there would be so many witness accounts of having dogs hang from tires in trees and so on," Kopp said. "It doesn't seem to be the normal kind of training behavior you see for a household pet."

Witnesses told investigators that the dogs were trained to run at and bite a tire suspended from a tree and then hang from the tire by their jaws.

"The tire would be constantly raised further from the ground so the dogs would have to jump higher," Kopp said. "That in itself was the source of spectator entertainment. People circled around and watched these dogs."

Mahan said other witnesses told investigators that the dogs were beaten on their haunches and sprayed with water to agitate them.

Ordering the death of the two dogs was the first time that Kopp can remember the police department using its authority to have dangerous animals killed.

Mahan said it could happen again.

"If we run on to vicious animals that are terrorizing a neighborhood, I'm going to use the authority we have to resolve that problem," Mahan said.

When the dogs were removed from the house, Thomas, 33, was cited for animal neglect, harboring a vicious dog and two counts of keeping an unlicensed dog.

Bobzien, 18, was cited for harboring a vicious dog, keeping an unlicensed dog and obstructing an officer.

Red condemnation signs remain stapled Tuesday on the doors for the downstairs apartment at 1112 Ravine St. "This building unfit for human habitation," the signs read.

An order to correct stapled to the door frame is addressed to the owner of the house, Curtis Hollis, 611 Prospect Ave., Janesville, and to the tenant, Reva Thomas.

"The first floor is uninhabitable due to dog feces on floors and beds," the order reads. It also cites a broken basement stairs handrail and exposed electrical wiring.

Even though the pit bulls are dead, Kopp said the case still is under investigation.

"We're doing a final review of reports and information that has been obtained before determining appropriate charges," Kopp said.

Source: Gazette Xtra - August 31, 2005
Update posted on Aug 31, 2005 - 5:20PM

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Dog-fighting, neglectJanesville, WI (US)

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Dog-fighting, neglect
Janesville, WI (US)