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JESSE OWENS
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From one powerful set of jaws, Sheryle
Elsasser lost her middle finger and a beloved pet. The 38-year-old
mother of two was walking home with her dog of four years, Gizmo,
on the path in front of the Cypress Centre Friday night when two
pit bulls snuck up behind her.
The black-coloured pit bull immediately
attacked Gizmo while Elsasser fended off the brown-coloured one by
kicking it in the head. The brown dog strolled away as Elsasser
turned her attention to her little Shih Tsu/Bichon Frise dog.
"I was in complete shock, screaming at the
top of my lungs, hoping someone would hear and help because I knew
I couldn’t get him off," says Elsasser while sitting at her
kitchen table.
As Elsasser frantically tried to pull the
dog’s jaws apart, more and more people came to her aid with
hockey sticks and shovels. By the time they got the black pit bull
off Gizmo, the dog’s teeth had already severed off most of
Elsasser’s right middle finger. Elsasser was so concerned
with saving her dog, she didn’t even realize she lost the
majority of her finger until the melee was over.
Elsasser now sits with her husband by her
side in her kitchen, her right hand extensively bandaged and left
hand full of cuts. The doctors at the hospital weren’t able
to reattach her finger and her puppy died on Sunday night from its
injuries. Her husband, Neal, gently comforts Elsasser as she
quietly weeps.
"The thing is," Neal softly says, "our
10-year-old daughter was sick that night. She would have been with
her. She goes walking with Sheryle all the time. I don’t even
want to think what would have happened if she was there."
The couple had never seen or heard of pit
bulls in the area before the evening of the attack, but on Jan. 10,
an eerily similar event occurred on the same walking path.
Wendy Wolcoski was walking her Irish
Setter, Riley, when a lone pit bull started circling her. The dog
lunged at Riley and latched on to its hind leg. Fortunately,
Wolcoski and her pet were able to escape the incident without
further damage.
City bylaw manager Fred Crittenden says
they confirmed that both attacks were caused either by the same dog
or by a dog from the same household.
The Medicine Hat Police Service reported
that the two pit bulls involved in the Elsasser attack belong to
two men who live in the same house. Ironically, the owner of the
pit bull that attacked Wolcoski’s Irish Setter was forced to
pay fines of $350 for the incident by March 14, the day of the
Elsasser attack.
The black pit bull responsible for the
latest attack is currently in custody and Crittenden says they will
be in contact with the city solicitor next week to determine the
animal’s fate. The dog’s 26-year-old owner is currently
being charged with four offences. Each one could result in maximum
penalties of $10,000 or a year of jail time.
Elsasser and her husband both agree the
dog should be put down, but regardless of the outcome, they are
mainly concerned with their family’s safety. They are only
letting their 14-year-old son deliver his papers if he carries a
sawed-down hockey stick with him. |
