‘Horrifying’ pitbull attack kills pet
Burrillville couple watches as unleashed pitbull mauls beloved dog
BURRILLVILLE – A neighbor’s unleashed pit bull attacked and killed a couple’s small dog during an Easter Sunday morning stroll on West Ironstone Street, according to police.
Russ Olivo, a longtime Call reporter, and his wife Jacqueline, of Harrisville, were walking their eight-year-old mixed breed Chihuahua named Chloe on West Ironstone when they were charged by an aggressive, unleashed pit bull.
The large pit bull charged the couple and mauled the smaller dog in a savage attack one eyewitness described as “horrifying.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night after seeing that,” said the Olivos’neighbor, Glen Gaucher.
Gaucher and his wife were walking west on West Ironstone Street, approaching the Olivos, when they saw the pit bull shoot out from behind a corrugated metal barn located in the back of 180 West Ironstone St., and run straight toward the couple.
“We were about 50 yards away when we saw this huge monster pit bull run out and grab the smaller dog,” Gaucher said. “As we got closer we could see that the pit bull had its jaws clenched around the Chihuahua’s neck. Everyone was screaming and I immediately called 911.”
Russ Olivo said he and his wife had just delivered an Easter cake to a neighbor and were walking eastbound on West Ironstone Street when the attack occurred just after 10:30 a.m., about a quarter-mile from their home. Jacqueline was walking Chloe on a leash and Russ was picking up litter along the side of the road when the dog ran out into the street and charged at them full-speed.
Russ Olivo said his wife picked up Chloe as the dog
approached, but the pit bull lunged up and ripped her from her arms.
“Chloe was on the ground on her belly and the pit bull’s jaws were clenched around her head and neck,” Olivo said. “I tried to get the dog off, but it wouldn’t let go. It was shaking my dog like a ragdoll.”
As the pit bull was maul- ing the smaller dog, Timothy Fowler, the owner of the property where the pit bull was staying, ran to the scene with his girlfriend, Julie Ozerson of Milford, the dog’s reported owner. Ozerson was screaming and crying as she attempted to wrestle the pit bull away from the bloodied Chihuahua.
When the pit bull finally let go, Russ Olivo picked Chloe’s limp body up off the blood-stained pavement, but by then it was too late. The injuries to the 13-pound, eight-year-old Chihuahua were almost immediately fatal. The pit bull had ripped the smaller dog’s shoulder away from her neck, causing her to bleed to death.
“She lived for maybe another minute than she died cradled in my arms,” said Olivo, The entire incident lasted about three minutes, he said.
Responding to Gaucher’s 911 call were Burrillville Deputy Animal Control Officer Kelly Courtemanche and a Burrillville police officer, who arrived at the scene a few minutes after the attack ended.
Witnesses at the scene said Ozerson was distraught and said that her dog had never done anything like that before.
Olivo says he has a hard time believing the owner didn’t know the dog had the propensity to go after smaller animals.
“Only after my dog appeared lifeless did he let go” he said.
Attempts to reach Fowler and Ozerson were unsuccessful on Monday afternoon.
When asked Monday if pit bulls deserve their reputation as dangerous animals, Dr. Ernest J. Finocchio, president of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RISPCA), said an overwhelming amount of evidence suggests, in some instances, they do.
According to Finocchio, during the 12-year period of 2005 through 2016, canines killed 392 Americans – and pit bulls were reported to be involved in 65 percent of these cases. Combined, pit bulls and rottweilers contributed to 76 percent of the total recorded deaths.
“The pit bull people will tell you that those statistics are skewed, but I tend to believe them because they come from reputable sources,” he said.
Finocchio says the breed is known for its high prey drive and strong jaws that will hold onto their prey after biting it. An injury that a pit bull inflicts with its bite is often more severe than other dogs of similar size.
“A pit bull’s bite is more traumatic,” he says. “With pit bulls, biting is an ongoing process rather than a single action and it’s difficult to stop once they are engaged in an attack. And when they do bite, they cause the most serious damage.”
Finocchio, also a Burrillville resident, said the RISPCA will make arrangements to have Chloe’s remains cremated and returned to the family.
Burrillville Animal Control Officer Ronald J. Woods said the pit bull involved in Sunday’s attack was placed into a 10-day state-mandated quarantine at the town’s animal shelter, pending a vicious dog hearing before the RISPCA next week.
Woods said an initial investigation showed the dog was up-to-date on its rabies vaccinations, but that it will likely remain in quarantine until after the hearing, which will be held in Burrillville. The fact that the dog was not leashed, which is a town violation, is likely to play a part in next week’s hearing.
The viciousness hearing is typically presided over by a three-member panel of arbitrators, including a police officer, animal control officer and an RISPCA investigator. If the dog is deemed vicious based on the state’s definition, the panel can recommend a number of actions which can include requiring the dog’s owner take out a vicious dog insurance policy, and/or ordering the dog to wear a leash and muzzle if taken off the property, or ordering the owners to build a six-sided enclosure that the dog must be kept in at all times when outside.
But none of those are likely to console the Olivos as they grieve the loss of Chloe, a rescue dog who was given as a gift to his wife seven years ago. The Olivos were so distressed by the attack they canceled their Easter plans with family on Sunday afternoon.
“She was a good dog with a big personality,” Russ Olivo said. “We’re heartbroken and we will miss her.”