His dog killed, man seeks action
April 4 attack at park claims life of Chihuahua Pepe.
‘A 7-pound Chihuahua against a 70-pound pit bull? There was no chance of him surviving.’ Roger Everingham
WEST PALM BEACH — Roger Everingham did everything he could to force the brown pit bull to unclench its jaws.
Everingham fell to the ground. He grabbed its collar. He punched its face. He called for help, but by the time help arrived, it was too late. Pepe, Everingham’s 9-year-old Chihuahua, was dead.
“A 7-pound Chihuahua against a 70-pound pit bull?” said Everingham, the former general manager of The Colony in Palm Beach. “There was no chance of him surviving.”
Everingham’s Chihuahua was attacked and killed April 4 by a loose pit bull named Zeus at Mary Brandon Park in West Palm Beach, according to a Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control report. Several witnesses pulled the dog away and tethered it to a tree before animal control took it to a kennel. The dog was classified as aggressive and released to its owner, West Palm Beach resident Joshua Zamot, who was fined $254.
Everingham believes more should have been done.
“That dog is a killer,” he said.
It was at least the second dog killed at a dog park in Palm Beach County this year. On Jan. 27, a gray pit bull named Spot attacked and killed a small Yorkshire Terrier named Jill and bit a man who tried to help. That incident happened in the parking lot at Pooch Pines Dog Park inside Okeeheelee Park, animal control officials said, and the pit bull was expected to be euthanized.
At about noon on April 4, Everingham brought Pepe to the gated dog park inside the park, which is reserved owner of Pepe, the Chihuahua for dogs under 25 pounds. But within a few seconds, Everingham noticed a large brown pit bull inside with no owner around.
Everingham, who lives in West Palm Beach, picked Pepe up and left the gated dog area, closing the gate behind him, and placed Pepe back on the ground. The pit bull somehow escaped the gated area, Everingham said, and came charging toward Pepe. The dog wrapped his teeth around Pepe’s midsection, violently shaking him and causing nine puncture wounds along his body, including one on the neck, according to the animal control report.
Everingham said he thinks Pepe died almost instantly. “It was just an awful moment,” he said.
After taking Zeus to a kennel and talking to witnesses in the dog park, animal control officers said they found the dog’s owner, Zamot, in his home near Mary Brandon Park, which is less than half a mile from Forest Hill High School. Zamot said his dog, Zeus, a 1-year-old Staffordshire pit bull, was being watched by a friend at Zamot’s home, according to the report.
Zamot said Zeus must have escaped the back yard through the temporary orange fencing next to his pool, which was under construction, an officer said. The officer saw paw prints leading from the dirt in Zamot’s back yard and continuing under the fence, according to the report.
Zamot said he had “not known Zeus to attack any other animals,” according to the report, but a family member had recently told him that Zeus had been acting aggressively toward one of the family’s other dogs.
After verifying Zeus had an up-to-date rabies vaccination, the dog was issued an aggressive dog classification, according to Animal Care and Control captain David Walesky. Under a Palm Beach County ordinance, a dog that is classified as aggressive must be neutered, microchipped and wear a muzzle when it is off the owner’s property. The aggressive dog classification also bans Zeus from going to a public park or beach.
If Zeus attacks or bites another dog or human, his status can be upgraded to a dangerous dog classification, which places more restrictions on the dog and requires the owner to place a sign on the property.
Walesky said a dog must have attacked another dog or human more than once for his status to be upgraded and for further action to occur, including euthanization. Zeus had no prior incidents, Walesky said.
Since the attack, Everingham said he has been treated for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder; he is “exploring” whether to take legal action.
“He is a vicious, savage dog,” Everingham said, “and he should not be allowed anywhere near other dogs.”