Pit bull advocates say the darnedest things, especially after attacks

Pit bull breeder Dominic Anthony Cooper bled out after attack by his own dogs,  but female friend insists he was not mauled.

COMPTON,  California––Dominic Anthony Cooper,  35,  a licensed security guard since 2007 who bred pit bulls “to make money,”   according to longtime friend Glenda Ford,  was on the morning of February 16,  2024 found dead by a “significant other,”  said Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control media contact Don Belton.

Reported City News Service,  “According to the Sheriff’s Information Bureau,  the person who reported the death told deputies the man was her boyfriend.  A sheriff’s official at the scene told reporters the mauling was believed to have occurred around 7:30 or 8 p.m.,”  the preceding evening.

Surveillance video & helicopter crew saw what happened

“There was surveillance video that caught at least part of the attack,”  City News Service said,  which occurred inside a high-walled kennel complex housing five adult pit bulls plus “eight puppies ranging in age from four to six months,”  City News Service added.

Cooper “appeared to have been feeding the dogs when some of them began fighting,  leading to the attack,”  City News Service continued.

Sky5 reporter Mike Case said “Authorities were seen on the roof of the home trying to corral at least five dogs,  all believed to be pit bulls or pit bull mixes.  The dogs appeared to be agitated and were attacking each other.”

All 13 pit bulls were surrendered to Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control by Cooper’s father,  John Cooper.

All euthanized “due to evidence linking them to attack”

All 13 pit bulls “were euthanized due to evidence linking them to the attack,”  Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control spokesperson Don Belton said.

“Given the potential threat posed to the community,  this action was deemed necessary,”  explained Belton.

Glenda Ford,  who said she had known Cooper since high school,  disputed to Christine Devine of Fox 11 television news that Cooper had been “mauled,”  as most reports mentioned.

“Ford says video shows Cooper was bitten on the leg,  an artery was punctured,  and he bled out,”  Devine reported.

The Oxford Dictionary defines “mauled,”  definition one,  as when an animal inflicts a wound “by scratching or tearing,”  whether by teeth or claws.

John Cooper posted a GoFundMe appeal for his son’s “three confirmed children,”  apparently by multiple mothers,  adding that “Any other donation request with my son’s name attached is a money grab from someone exploiting this tragedy!!!!!!!”

Victim’s grandma defends pit bulls

In Hudson,  Florida,  on February 15,  2024,  the day before Dominic Anthony Cooper’s death was discovered,  a pit bull “just came running down the road,  grabbed Noah off his bike,  and mauled him to the ground,”  the two-year-old victim’s grandmother Marlene Barnier told Georgia McCarthur of WFLA Channel 8 in Tampa Bay.

“The dog,  when it bit him,  fractured both sides of his skull,”  Barnier continued. “He had to have surgery.  There was a piece of the brain that they had to remove.”

And then Barnier turned to defending pit bulls.

“I own a pit bull mix as well and my dog has never been aggressive to anyone,”  Barnier insisted.   “So I do feel that the owners know and if you know you have a vicious dog,  you should be responsible for anything that your dog does,”  Barnier said.

“Caretaker shot the dog”

“Officials say the child’s caretaker shot the dog to stop the attack,”  reported local news blogger Tom Lemons,  “but they declined to identify the breed of the dog,”  unlike Barnier.

“The investigation into the attack last week is active and ongoing,”  updated Miguel Octavio for WTSP-Tampa on February 21,  2024.

“Nearby,”  Octavio segued,  “another dog attack was reported [on February 19,  2024] at Crescent Lake Park in St. Petersburg.”

Kathryn Cooper,  no relation to Dominic Anthony Cooper,  “said she moved to the area three weeks ago and chose her neighborhood because of its proximity to the park,”  but on one of her first park visits “a pit bull-type dog escaped its collar and attacked Cooper’s West Highland terrier,  according to the Pinellas County Animal Services report,”  Octavio continued.

“Cooper sustained bite marks to her face and neck,  along with an injury to her hand.  Her dog sustained critical injuries.”

FLUFF Animal Rescue

The pit bull “was under foster care nearby and the ownership of FLUFF Animal Rescue,”  Octavio learned.

FLUFF Animal Rescue president Kimmy Chandler blamed the attack on a “house guest,  not the foster parent,  who walked the dog unaware that the dog requires special care,”  Octavio said.  “Chandler added the dog,  named Freedom,  had no incident of aggression since under their care,  but added the dog has a high prey drive.”

In other words,  Freedom was known to be high-risk.

“We would never knowingly place an aggressive animal into a foster or forever home,” Chandler insisted,  even though that is exactly what FLUFF Animal Rescue did.

Responded Cooper,  to Octavio,  speaking “as a dog lover and someone who rescues dogs,  “If nothing changes, that dog is going to kill someone.”

Broward County victim awarded $132,000

Across Florida,  arbitrator Rodney Romano on February 15,  2024 awarded pit bull attack victim Ariel Sackett $132,000,  finding that the Broward County Animal Care & Adoption Division “failed to adequately warn a woman about a dog who attacked her within hours of her taking him in,”  reported Lisa J. Huriash for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Explained Huriash,  “Ariel Sackett took Wesley,  an American Staffordshire mix,  from the Animal Care & Adoption Division to her Fort Lauderdale townhouse to foster him in May 2021. Soon,  the dog attacked Sackett,  biting her hands and calf,  resulting in gashes,  50 stitches and a wrist surgery,  according to court filings.

Romano “wrote in his decision,”  Huriash said,  “that Broward County’s Animal Care Division ‘breached its duty to warn/disclose by failing to make clear that Wesley was (or should have been) a ‘behavior release’ due to ‘unpredictable behavior and possible aggression,’  noting documented cases of attempting to bite at a handler,  lunging at a handler twice,  and where staff finally no longer felt comfortable walking him.”

Defense admits pit bulls are “aggressive and unpredictable”

Despite all that,  Huriash continued,  “When Sackett inquired about the dog,  she was told he had been promised to one of the county’s rescue partners, Noah’s Rescue,  court records show,”  but Noah’s Rescue released Wesley to Sackett.

Sackett adopted Wesley in response to a video ad showing him “at a pool hanging out with little kids,”  she testified,  adding also that she had no idea he was on medication including an anti-depressant,  according to the complaint filed in Broward courts,  summarized Huriash.

The Broward County’s Animal Care Division responded that it is “common knowledge that pit bulls are known to (be) one of,  if not the most,  aggressive and unpredictable breeds of dogs,”  wrote Huriash,  adding that “The decision of the arbitrator became the final decision by the circuit court judge.”

Said attorney David Gillis,  representing Sackett,  “This pursuit was not about money.  It was about holding the county accountable for a preventable incident.  If [the Broward County Animal Care Division had just provided the knowledge they have to fosters and people adopting these dogs, this incident would not have happened.”

Is SCRAPS figuring it out?

Across the country,  in Spokane,  Washington,  the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service [SCRAPS] on February 20,  2024 showed a hint of having possibly learned something after rehoming a pit bull in October 2023 who killed adopter Carol Streit on December 13,  2023,  in an attack partially shown,  with audio,  on a security video.

 (See Repeal of Miami-Dade pit bull ban brings 1st fatality in only 78 days.)

SCRAPS warned the public,  reported Kyle Simchuk of KREM television news,  that two dogs who attacked other dogs while running loose in a city park had been officially designated dangerous.

What “dangerous” means

“That means their owner has to register them as dangerous,  pay annual fees,  and show SCRAPS they are being kept in an approved enclosure every 12 months,”  said Simchuk.

“The owner is also required to post a sign indicating a dangerous dog lives on the property. SCRAPS said the dogs’ owner plans to appeal the designation,”  Simchuk noted.

The dogs,  identified as a pit bull and a pit/mastiff mix,  killed another dog on February 1,  2024,  and then mauled a 107-pound yellow Labrador retriever the following day.

The Lab owner,  Staci Clary,  told Simchuck that the attack on her dog ended only after the other dogs’ owner bit one of her own dogs on the tail.

Both Clary and the attacking dogs’ owner were reportedly cited for allowing their dogs to run in the park off-leash.

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