Wow, what a terrible story. So sorry, GoReds. My condolences to your family.
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Wow, what a terrible story. So sorry, GoReds. My condolences to your family.
My sympathies and condolences GoReds.
Charges definitely should be filed against the owner of the dogs.
Man, I am living in the wrong place. This happened last night.
Quote:
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Deputy shoots pit bull
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Dog described as pit bull is killed after Spotsylvania woman is bitten on hand, sheriff says.
By KEITH EPPS
Date published: 3/16/2005
This time, only the dog was killed. But for the second time in a week, police said a Spotsylvania County woman was attacked by a roaming pit bull.
Dorothy Sullivan, 82, and her small dog were killed March 8 when three pit bulls attacked her in her yard in Partlow. That incident continues to attract widespread attention.
County Commonwealth's Attorney William Neely has said he will seek several charges, including involuntary manslaughter, against the owner of those dogs.
Yesterday's incident occurred in the 9000 block of Herricks Ford Road, an area off Brock Road between Chancellor Woods and Goshen Baptist Church, Sheriff Howard Smith said. The site is about seven miles from the scene of the attack on Sullivan.
A 31-year-old woman called the Sheriff's Office about 6:45 a.m., to report that an animal she described as a pit bull was attacking her dog and had bitten her in the hand.
Two pit bulls had come into the yard, Smith said. Only one attacked the owner's dog, which was tethered. The same dog bit the woman and was later shot.
It was not clear last night how the woman was bitten, but Smith said it appears she had gone out to try to help her dog.
By the time Sgt. E.A. Boyd arrived, Smith said, the pit bull was still fighting the tied-up dog, an Australian Shepherd. After Boyd yelled at the dog, the pit bull came toward him, Smith said. Boyd pulled out his baton and tried to fend off the animal, Smith said.
When the dog kept coming in an aggressive manner, Boyd shot and killed it, Smith said. The second pit bull then ran into the woods.
The woman's husband took her to Mary Washington Hospital to be treated for the bite, Smith said. Her dog was taken to Spotsylvania Animal Hospital, where it underwent surgery.
Animal-control officers searched the woods for the second pit bull, but could not find it.
However, they did find the owner of the dead pit bull. Smith said that person will be charged with a misdemeanor count of allowing a dog to run at large. The owner's name was not released because he had not been charged as of last night.
The dog apparently had received a rabies vaccine, Smith said, but it will be tested for rabies nevertheless.
To reach KEITH EPPS: 540/374-5404 kepps@freelancestar.com
WOW! Someone in your neck of the woods needs to get a handle on this right away GR! That's a terrible story since I'm sure it just rekindles your recent expierence.
When there are this many episodes in one area there is likely a mindset afoot that needs to be altered. Maybe your wife's grandmothers' legacy will be that she will be the catalyst to set this thing right. I hope so.
Rem
This story is growing by the day. Already, the area DA is making noise about changing the local laws in the area as they pertain to dangerous dogs. The grand jury is convening next week and we are hoping that the involuntary manslaughter charge is returned.
One of my wife's relatives is a state representative. I imagine that some sort of legislation could make it there as well.
GoReds, I'm a little late seeing this, but I'm very sorry for your loss. My prayers and condolences go out to you and your wife.
An article in the local paper today describing my wife's grandmother. Very nice article. The first photo is of my mother-in-law; the last a photo of Maw at our wedding.
Quote:
Mauling breaks hearts
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/F...osullivan1.jpg
Photo by Becky Sell / The Free Lance-Star
Diane Just, one of Dorothy Sullivan's children, reflects as she and other relatives share family stories last night.
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/F...osullivan2.jpg
Photo by Becky Sell / The Free Lance-Star
Betty Greene (center) is comforted last night by her sisters Doris Phelps (left) and Diane Just.
The Spotsylvania residents shared laughter and tears as they looked through photographs of their mother Dorothy Sullivan. Sullivan died March 8 after a pit bull attack in her Partlow neighborhood.
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/F...osullivan3.jpg
Photo by Becky Sell / The Free Lance-Star
Family pictures of Dorothy Sullivan are spread across a table to tell the story of a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother's life.
'She had a sparkle,' said daughter Betty Greene.
Click for larger photo.
Relatives reflect on loss of loved one after dog mauling
By ROB DAVIS
Date published: 4/9/2005
As young children, Dorothy Sullivan's daughters wanted to be under her watchful eye.
Every Friday night, Doris Phelps and Betty Greene walked to the grocery store for their weekly treat: Pepsi and potato chips.
They had to follow a path through a small patch of trees to get there. Back then, it seemed like an intimidating forest to the young girls, and they'd ask their mom to stand at the window.
"Mom?" they'd call out, as they got farther and farther from home. "Are you there?"
She always was. She'd always respond, her voice growing quieter with each step, still assuring her girls she was never far away.
Even as Phelps and Greene grew older, they never strayed far from their mother. They wanted to be there in case she needed them.
But now she is gone, and her daughters say they've realized they were the ones who needed her--not the other way around.
A month has passed since the 82-year-old widow was attacked and killed by three pit bulls roaming her Partlow neighborhood in Spotsylvania County. The cold days have grown warm, the flowers Sullivan treasured have sprung forth with blooms.
And still, three of her daughters said it feels like just yesterday that she died. Each day is filled with reminders that she is gone.
"She pulled us out of so many hard times," Betty Greene said. "She's always kept us going. I just don't know how we're supposed to do it now. I just don't know."
Deanna Large, a 36-year-old neighbor of Sullivan's, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the mauling. She is free on bond, and faces an April 20 arraignment.
Yesterday afternoon, three of Sullivan's children and one of her grandchildren sat around a kitchen table to talk about the woman they idolized. They did not address the criminal case, saying they did not want to endanger its prosecution.
Sullivan's family has followed the vocal debate surrounding pit bulls in news stories and letters to the editor. Her daughters said they don't care what breed of dog killed their mother.
"It wasn't the fact that they were pit bulls," Phelps said. "It was what they did. Our mother is gone. And senselessly."
With a box of Kleenex in the middle, they sat in a semicircle and spread photographs of their mother across a plaid tablecloth.
"That's my proof that goodness exists in the world," her granddaughter, Linda Wilson, said as she clutched a wallet-sized photograph of Sullivan.
There Sullivan was in another picture, a smiling sepia-toned teen. The same grin spread across an older face at weddings, at graduations. There she was holding her grandson, her great-granddaughter, blowing bubbles, reading "Winnie the Pooh."
Sullivan was missing only from the pictures she'd taken herself. The images were frozen moments that captured life's subtle beauty--the moments she treasured. An about-to-blossom day lily. A hummingbird sipping from a backyard feeder. A butterfly, its wings spread, resting on a blooming red azalea.
Her daughters--each with their mother's eyes--retold their fondest memories of the woman they loved. When they cried, they leaned on each other for support, for engulfing hugs and comforting pats on the back.
But then they smiled and laughed as they talked about the glimmer in their mother's eye, the sound of her laugh, the comfort of her company.
She was a giving woman, her daughters said, and a Christian who didn't judge others. She didn't smoke, didn't drink. The closest she came to cussing was to call her beloved dog Buttons "a dirty buzzard."
Phelps recalled getting a flat tire on her way to give birth to her first child. She smiled at the thought of "Mama" being by her side, speaking in a soothing voice, gently patting her panicked daughter's hand.
When Sullivan visited her husband's grave, she took two bouquets of flowers. One for his, and one for the nearby grave of a stranger because it was never decorated.
Daughter Diane Just said Sullivan's only income was Social Security. But all 15 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren counted on a birthday card each year--with a $5 bill tucked inside.
Sullivan was born in the early 1920s, growing up as a child of the Great Depression. She told her grandchildren stories of the ice delivery men in her native Maryland who'd occasionally give her a sliver of ice--a rare treat.
"She saw good in everybody, everything," Greene said.
"Except Herbert Hoover," said Linda Wilson, her granddaughter. "She never got over that."
She raised eight children, giving birth to her first as a teenager. She didn't go to college, but her children said she had an insatiable curiosity. She learned to drive in her 40s. She learned to swim and took CPR classes in her 60s.
Sullivan's family said they cherished the moments they shared with their mother. Through tears, they said they never took her for granted.
Even if they'd spoken 10 minutes earlier, Sullivan always ended their conversations the same way.
Bye, she'd say. I love you.
And each time, her daughters made the same reply.
I love you, too, Mom.
That is awful. So sorry to hear about it. My thoughts and prayers go out to your family.
Pit bulls should be banned. Period.
I am so sorry for you loss GoReds, my family will keep your family in our prayers.
GL
CNN has picked up the story.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/15/pit....ap/index.html
I just saw the thread about this story, GoReds, my thoughts and prayers are with you and yours. Maw sounded like a wonderful person with a great, big heart. A real shame, I'm so sorry about this big loss. Hopefully matters will be settled soon.
My prayers are with you as well GR. This just makes me so sad, and to think it could have been prevented if the owner of the dogs would have been responsible enrages me. Again, my condolences and prayers are with you and your family in this difficult time.
J
Hey GoReds, just thought I'd write in here since I didn't see anything about it that the Associated Press picked up on the story and I'm sure it appeared in several newspapers across the country, my local one being one of them, the Dayton Daily News on Sunday, April 17. The photo of Ms. Sullivan that you use as your avatar accompanied the story.
That photo, btw (which is my avatar now), came from my wedding in April of 2000. The gentleman in the top left, Maw's son-in-law - passed away the year before due to a heart attack. Maw had adopted him as her own.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has expressed their good wishes for Maw and her family. I'll probably keep this post going as more information comes out and the trial grows nearer. I would be interested in any links that you can provide that are directly related to this story.
Thanks, again, to all.