So I awoke to the news of this today.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/40466167.html

I'm getting very upset about the people who are writing these bull **** laws. I've owned pitbulls my entier life, there great dogs, and good companions. I now own 2 pits, great dogs. friendlyer than any of my nieghbors dogs. boarder collies are the most commen dogs to be human agressive. any one that knows anything about pitbulls is they are not human agressive by nature. Theres thouse that make human agressive pitbulls, but it takes more work than just raising a dog. My dogs are so happy to see anyone, I'd be rather supprised if they bit someone for no reason.

This is just a form of racisim, I'll be leaving the state if this passes. Pitbulls are the best dog i've owned, and I have had a german sheperd, a black lab, a sharpei mix, a boxer, all of these dogs were alot more agrresinve than any of my all together 5 pitbulls. Please take a look at my sig, its a good program and has alot of information about pitbulls.

My very last thing to add about this is most of the people scared of pitbulls don't know how to identify a pitbull. I go to the park all the time. my dogs are playing with people and dogs every ones having a good time. somone askes what kind of dog there petting and I reply that is an american pitbull terrior, and there additude changes. having just been petting and loving the dog now they leave thinking well what ever goes though those ignorant brains of theres.

 

lol if anyones watched the news latly they should ban monkeys!! that one went insane!

 

i love my pit, and i know what you mean, people are stupid and most dont even know what a pit looks like, mine is 3 years old and i got her from the pound, my beagle is more likely to bite me then she is. people love her, shes friendly and great with kids even when the kits pull on her ears or poke at her face she just loves the attention. yet when you tell someone its a pitbull they freak out and its suddenly not ok to touch the dog anymore, as if by some freak of nature the dogs attitude magicly changed now that these people know its a pit. cant believe the fools that live in this state trying to pass these laws, they keep it up i wont be surprised when someone shoots them for it. im right with you, if this crap passes, im leaving this state

 

I love my pits two and they are also the most well behaved dogs on the block. They dont even bark. I have gotten the same thing you guys are talkin about. People play with them till they find out they are pits, or people cross the street when you take them for walks. I have friends with other breeds that are complete terrors. Come to CT. no pit bull laws here. Im sorry you have to go through that. What is wrong with all these ignorant people. how could you not love these faces?

 

They should NOT ban pit bulls!!

Pit bulls aid in fighting world hunger by eating babys!!!

This cuts down on over populuation!!! SAVE THE PLANET!

 

Another Rediculous Oregon law. The Pits have gotten a bad rep from their bad owners. But I personally have only known a few good pits. One of the most loyal and friendly pits I knew, would take a beating if he stepped out of line. Literally, this guy would throw his dog across the yard if he didn't listen, but that dog was great. They're smart dogs, and tough too.

One of my other friends had a pit bull and he was a good dog, but eventually turned into a mean POS. I don't know exactly what happened to him, but I tried to pet him once and the ****** growled and snapped at me. I had always played nicely with him and wrestled with him when he was a pup and growing up, but he changed. They had him put down after they had a kid because sadly they couldn't trust him around they're child.

I think a lot of pit owners treat their dogs like ****, and don't take the time to work with them or treat them the right ways. Mostly because they're trashy and want the dogs for the 'symbol' they are, mean, bad *** ****** fu@kers! Then these trashy drug addicts or what have you breed these animals for money for their addictions and then the dogs go to bad homes and aren't taken care of properly.

Simply I don't think Oregon should ban pit bulls, yet make the owner a 100% responsible for their animals actions. If any Dog or cat or chimp or other animal attacks another animal the owner should be sued for damages, and the animal should have some sort of mental evaluation at the owners cost. If the animal is determined to be safe the animal should be able to return home, with an inspection of the animals living area or quarters to be deemed acceptable before return. If the animal is agressive and cannot be rehabilitated it should be put down at the owners cost. If the living area is not up to par then the dog goes to the pound to be given away to someone who can take care for the animal.

If the any animal violently attacks a human it should be shot on the spot.
(this is not cruel and unusual)

How would you feel if someone's dog ate your kids face?

 

to add to that if the person provoked the attack its different, but if the dog attacked someone and it was found that the dog was mistreated by its owner, i would like the owner to be shot as well, people like that should not be allowed to breathe the same air as me

 

ps 13brewrx3 that puppy is cute, i cant wait to get another pup so my 3 year old pit has some company when im not home,

 

to be all honest I agree with a loose human agressive dog should be put down if its too that point. but I've owned quite a few, and known alot more pitbulls. I beleave every good dog owner should at least study up on the bread of dog there getting before buying any bread of dog. Pitbulls were originaly bread for dog fighting and quickly became the top pit fighting dog ever. however dog fighting was a sport back then and not what you see in movies. these pit fighting dogs were family dogs. and could not show the least bit of human aggression since the dogs were broken apart over and over by the human owners untill one turned away or the owner through in the towell rather than fight his dog to death. rarely did a dog fight end in a death, nor did they kill the dog for losing. It was alot different than the dog fighters of today. all this being said. I in no way agree in fighting my dogs, or would I ever consider it. My point is that these dogs by nature are affectionate twards humans but can be very animal agressive if not properly socialized.

On a side not. Pitbulls are very smart dogs, and the most disierable pitbulls have the larger head for the reason that there brain can grow into the side of there skull witch causes aggression beacause the dog is basicly shortiing out its brain. they must be put down at this point. this is when they turned on there owners and people they have known for along time. Its kind of like rabies dog attacks out of fear, it has no clue on whats going on but is trying to protect itself. But this is very rare, I've never seen it happen or know anybody first hand who has.

Agreed on laws on owners, but if you own a pitbull you must alfa over it or you get no respect but beating it up is a little uncalled for, but I toss my pits arround, they love it and come back for another over and over. its a good work out also. I've alway found it easyer to train if your on there level of acting like them but show them your the leader. as puppys when they bit I bit back. they can take this sort of ruffness, they kind of like it also.

On the note of the laws. there not going to come take are dogs. Luckaly there grandfathering our dogs in on conditions that we get a permit for each dog at a price, and a certificate proving the dog has been spayed or nutured. but its still some bs IMHO.

So hopfully these permits wont be a rediculous price.

 

im not gona pay for a permit to own a dog, and be FORCED to spay or neuter it. so even if that passes i will do one of two things, ignore it all together or move. its my right to own whatever dog i choose, the dogs themself are an expense by itself. not to mention if i pay upwards of 2k for a paperd pit, i sure as hell am not gona get it fixed right away. ill breed it a few times so his good genes can be passed on and then will get it fixed. oregon is gona have alota problems if it passes such laws

 

here in enumclaw they are banned. the only city (from what i've heard) in washington that has this law. however, no emissions are needed here. i went off topic, i know.

 

Our 60 lb black lab has been attacked by a pitbull on two seperate occassions. One time by a lose pitbull while my wife was out jogging with our lab on a leash in our neighborhood. The second time I was out jogging with our lab on a leash less than a mile from our house. The pitbulls owner opened the front door of their house to go outside, right as we were jogging by, the pit ran right pass them and out the door. It clamped onto my lab and luckily decide to let go after about thirty seconds.

The second attack required about 20 stitches and cost the owner $575 in emergency vet fees. Other than that I have never had any issues with any other breed of dog. Just pitbulls, not really sure why someone would want to own a pitbull, seems more trouble than its worth.

 

I think there banned in a few other washington citys also. seaside oregon already has a ban, and I beleave a couple more citys out in oregon. this is a whole state thing. This is animal genoside. I think we need to have a new crowd of lawmakers. Ones that make laws that make sence. You know that herb is decriminalized awhile back, well last year they made a law that made it seem like its for meth, but it was infact to make the possestion of weed worse than the possesion of meth. and now they passed minumum mandatory sentices for drug crimes. I just think we should be focusing our time and effort into more serious crimes, and crime prevention. than for drugs. Now I'm not saying all drugs should be alright, and there should be no laws regarding drugs. I just think that murder, rape, robbery, assalt, and the dealing of dangerous drugs are far more important issues. what one does with his or her body should be up to them and we should be able to own what ever kind of dog we please.


Now I don't use any man made substances, including beer/alcohol. by choice. but hey its your body if you want to do it and it doesn't affect my life or society do as you please. I prefer to smoke a little herb, and thats my choice. I have alwayed loved pits so I own positive represenitives of the breed. I know the dangers of what could happen if I were careless or abusive to my dogs they may go eat a little kids face, but I am aware of the dangers, have taken nessasary actions to insure they don't do this. I would be willing to have a law saying I had to get the dog chiped, and if it ever got out and attacked someone that I would be the responsable one, be forced to go under an investigation (since the "victim" may have provoked the dog) one time my older dog went after another dog in a park, in play at an off leash park and the other dogs owner attacked my dog with a stick. I almost beat the hell out of this man, my dog didn't have any marks are damage luckaly for him cause i would of gladly returned the favor by rearraging hes facial features a bit. He called the cops I waited told my story and said I would like to have the man arrestied for assalting my dog, or at very least ticketed but that didn't go anywhere. but since i waited they didn't try and take my dog after they clearly saw it was friendly and still off a leash. every day a dog bites someone, but you only hear about pits (or what they thought was a pit) on the news.

 

WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! NO BAN.

The law maker was reinformed of what a pitbull is

 

well sir, i would consider you racist then, you ran into a pitbull that was not socialized when it was young and therefore was dog agressive, its his owners fault for not taking the proper actions to prevent such a thing, as stated in an above post, dogs attack people all the time, you only ever really hear about it tho if its a pit. i was at a party the other week and almost got in a fight with a black dude because he was talkin ****. but i just because that black guys a ******* deauche bag that needs curb stomped. i dont automaticly think every black guy i meet is lke that, you may say its completely different because its people and dogs, but its not, in reality its the same concept, you a couple bad experiences with "pitbulls" and now you assume thats just how the breede is. that is narrow minded, i welcome you to come hang out with my pitt. bring your lab, they can play together. but untill then, and untill you have the ability to make an informed un biased decision your no better then the fool that tried to pass this law in the first place.

 

I live in a town full of mexicans, and every ******* one of them it seems either has a pitbull that they don't take care of so they are actually dangerous dogs, or they have a stupid *** chiuaua that they leave outside like a wild cat and it barks all the god damn time.

If they ever introduce a bill to ban both those dogs, I will drive the van to the support rallies on tuesdays, cause thats got my vote.

What can a pitbull do anyway? Does it hunt or anything useful, or is it like most dogs and they are just kind of "there" so to speak? Just curious.

 

Pitbulls have been used for rescue dogs, pulling compatitions, therapy dogs, and many other things. they can hunt, they can be used for the obvious theft deterant and security (properly trained gard dogs are safe dogs), and the most use for a pit is for a loving companion. Any thing any other breeds of dogs can do a pit can do it just as good if not better. Yes by nature they are dog agressive. so is every other breed of dog unless properly socialized. A dog (exspecially a pit) is a big responsability, and is not for everyone. I'm sure you also realize that not all mexicans are worthless, you live in a town with alot of them so you see the bad apples, they stick out alot more than the decent ones.

instead of banning a breed, why not make laws to insure that people who are irresponsable don't have a dog. its not fair for the dog to be stuck with a piece of **** owner. fact of the matter is if you ban pitbulls, they will still be arround. but they will be owned by all the pos owners that use these dogs for ill perpous. just because weeds illeagal its still arround. watch animal cops somtime. they are constanly in banned enforced citys and find pitbulls hidden in abandoned houses. then you may have somthing to fear. I've been bit by a black lab, a springer spanual, multable mixed breeds, a goat once, but never have I been bit by a pitbull that wasn't a puppy. I picked up many stray pits to return them before they ended up on the news, never even been growled at. I'm more causious of anything thats not a pit. You can always tell if its happy or pissed because they use facial expressions.

If you met my dogs you'd have a differnt oppinion on the breed. I didn't even try to make them as nice as they are they just love. but if you were to bring a unetured male on my property we may have an issue, but public areas i've never had an issue with any type of dog agression. I've had dogs try and start **** with damian, but he just runs off knowing he can just demolish the other dog. He just isn't mean. he horse plays, ruff houses, but never does he get violent. Spawns still a puppy although heavyer than damian, and his mom by 20 pounds. He doesn't bite people, and hasn't shown any signs of animal agression, he plays with damian, and my nieghbors chow.

Damian 45 lb. one nut wonder (8 puppys on one nut)
Spawn 65 lb. freak of nature (and still rapidly growing) damians son if you didn't get that already He's only 6 months.

Banning pits is just as bad as the marijuana laws that we're fighting to get reformed.
fortunatly we already won the fight on pit bulls, they gave up. no ban will be issued.

 

i've had a jindo dog for the longest time, and he has been very well trained. our neighbors had a pitbull that would try to attack our dog every single chance it got. while i don't like pitbulls myself, the main reason for overly aggressive dogs, is lack of training, and a crap-tastic owner. so i can't see why a ban would be put in place for a dog. rather, they should put more regulations into making sure the owner can have the dog properly trained and cared for. but i guess just the notoriety of the dog makes people have presumptions about them. eh...i had to install a 6 foot tall fence in the yard because jindo's are known to jump smaller ones (this is one of the legislations of owning a jindo in the US) so i can't see why they can't make it so the owners of pits have to be a lil more intelligent than the average pet owner......

 

Hey, jinxed4dub! It's not surprising to me that you own pit bulls and think they are not an aggressive breed. It shows your ignorance almost as much as your poor grammar and spelling.

Do we read news reports (do you know how to read?) of labs or poodles or collies killing children and other dogs and severely injuring anyone who tries to stop the attack? No, we don't. We don't because these are not aggressive and dangerous breeds. Pit bulls are dangerous and aggressive and should be treated as such. Laws should be passed to eliminate the ownership of this breed.

Are the dogs to blame? No. Are you to blame? No. But the fact remains, and can not be changed, that pit bulls are a menace to society. Find another breed to love. There are many that are more suited to a civil society than pit bulls.

 

martin, your a ****** moron, ive heard about plenty of lab atacks, and other breeds, hell why do you think the police use german shepards for police dogs, they can be easily trained to attack people, pitbulls have to be neglected and beat to **** for a long time before they think about turning on humans, the only reason you hear about them attacking anything is because the breed itself atracts alot of bad attention and some horrible owners, most roberys and violent crimes you hear about are commited by black people or mexicans, that doesnt mean that all blacks and mexicans are like that. you just dont hear about white people doing this as much because the media twists thing around and is biased in its reports. only dogs ive ever been bit by are those small ankle bighting little excuse for a dog, pomeranians, and that sort, they are more people agressive then anything they just arent big enough to kill anything. the ignorance in your statement above just justifies the fact that all you idiots that think every pitt is badd needs to have a muzzle on so you cant spew out that useless garbage you call an opinion

 

Yet another example of why I'm right. The ignorance is all yours, my friend. The lack of education shows in your opinion as well as your ability, or lack thereof, to spell and use proper grammar. I know, I know. Right now you are fuming and want to tear my head off. Well, leave that to the pit bulls.

Just because pit bulls have been mistreated and trained to be fighting/attack dogs throughout history and have subsequently been the breed that does the attacking does not change the fact that the pit bull breed is dangerous. Again; is the pit bull to blame? No. Are good owners to blame? No. But this does not change, nor can you change, the fact that the pit bull breed is a dangerous one. Every time you read about a pit bull attacking a child or killing another dog the owner always says, "It never did that before! I don't know what happened." There is a first time for everything and sooner or later, pit bulls WILL attack. Be honest with yourselves.

Oh, and by the way. If you can't spell and use the English language properly, don't use it at all.

 

my spelling has nothing to do with the arguement at hand. and pitbulls will not ALWAYS attack, my current dog is around kids all the time, and loves the attention, my previouse pitt loved people and although he wad dog agressive loved people and would never harm anyone. it is possible to own pitts and have them be perfectly acceptable family pets, if not better then other family dpgs because they are one of the most loyale breeds around. the only way a pittbull will attack a human is if it wasnt raised right and/or was mistreated. they simply need to be socialized alot when they are puppys and shown some love and they are the greatest and most loyale dog you can own. and can even be great with other animals

 

martin, your a alot more ingnorant than me. I'm not attacking you for what you beleve. But you insist on calling out my spelling and grammor. who the **** cares. soon you'll be saying my grammar is killing chidren. this tread is about pitbulls, not about english.

But listen to this. We won the ban. so pitbulls are here to stay. I'm not worried about your views. I know the breed. I've seen the good. you have not. so for you to say there was this one guy that i knew that had a pit the was bad, would infact be ignorant. to judge all pits and there owners this way would be retarded.

so mr Hickey my question what is your issue with pitbulls. give us an example on how they are more dangerous than any other large breed dog.

One thing to remember that all dogs not just some not just the big ones, were decended from wolfs. all dogs have the potential for danger. If you read any of my last posts youd know I think there should be laws on pits but not a ban.

why don't you take a look at my sig, just read about what they have to say about the breed. even the news said pitbulls are a very good dog, but have the potential to be dangerous when in the hands of certain types of people.

untill then don't be a haten *** bitch. and do some research. the news will give you the most shocking story. if another breed had this bad reputation they would get just as much news coverage

 

dude are you ******* retarded, poodles are gard dogs, boarder collies is the most likely dog to attack a human. why don't you do some research before posting your ignorant comments.

below are true storys, but told with humor.

 

http://stuff.maxim.com/articles/index.aspx?id=310
When Poodles Attack!

The real threats to your safety aren’t grizzly bears, pit bulls and sharks—they’re the cuddly little creatures with bushy tails, bright eyes and evil in their hearts. The following are the stories that Fox television conveniently ignores: The untold tales of “harmless” creatures gone bad—crazed Chihuahuas, demonic bunnies and perverted dolphins that terrorize innocent citizens and murder without conscience. It’s true, animals have no souls—and here’s the terrifying proof.

Stuff, 2/24/2003
By Jacob Kalish

Cops Finally Apprehend Ferocious Fugitive Poodle
Atlantic City, New Jersey—In May 1997, a sadistic poodle puppy shocked Atlantic City International Airport workers when it launched an unprovoked attack on a baggage handler. Eight-month-old Rusty, a show dog valued at $1,000, seemed like a sweet pooch. But, after arriving in Atlantic City from Gainesville, Florida, the 30-pound canine escaped from his cage and chewed on US Airways worker William Jensen’s face, slicing open a wound that required more than 70 stitches. The poodle then went into hiding on the wooded airport grounds. More than a dozen animal-control experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture were called in to capture Rusty. A female poodle named Onyx was even used in an attempt to lure the dog out of hiding. But Rusty remained at large for three days. Finally, the animal responded to owner Donna Trump’s (no relation to Marla Maples) calls. He was caught by the police and thrown into a maximum-security pound. We hope somebody made him their bitch.

Crazed Chipmunk Leads Police on Nutty Chase
Fremont, New Hampshire—In June 1998, a chipmunk broke into the home of a two-year-old girl and bit her on the foot. The girl was taken to the hospital, where she was treated and released that night. Later that week, the cops received a call that the chipmunk had reappeared and was running through the girl’s living room. Patrolman Shaun Marston and animal-control officer Reese Bassett sped to the premises. “We went there to apprehend the individual,” said Marston. “We went into the kid’s bedroom, chased it around, but it went out under the door,” said Bassett. The officers then sealed themselves in the living room with the chipmunk. They captured the critter under a clothing basket, but it got away and hid under the couch. Marston and Bassett then flipped over the couch. The angry chipmunk charged at Bassett, who protected himself with the basket. The chipmunk then managed to escape and has not been seen since. If you live in the Fremont area and you see the suspect (brown and black coat, little beady eyes), please call our hot line.

Sheep Slays Farmer
Stirlingshire, Scotland—An ornery sheep attacked a 62-year-old farmer in this country village in 1995. According to reports, the sheep rammed John McKay, then stood over him until passersby chased it away. (Reports that the sheep said, “Who’s timid now, ****?” are unsubstantiated.) McKay suffered a broken hip during the incident, after which he staggered home to his cottage, where his wife, Marion, was making tea. “I thought I could just pick him up, dust him down and go on with our tea,” she said. After it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, McKay was rushed to the hospital. He later died. Attempts to capture the sheep failed—it apparently went on the lam.

Pony Expresses Strong Distaste for Little Girl
Gateshead, England—Little Lucy Allan now knows not to pet the pony. Last August, the three-year-old was out for a stroll in the park with her mommy and daddy when she saw the sweetest pony standing in a field, looking all cute. Lucy touched the pony with her little toddler hands. The pony then knocked her down and bit her head. “The horse butted her, rolled her over and got the side of her head into its mouth,” said the girl’s father, Stuart Allan. “My wife ran over and had to drag Lucy away.” (Allan declined to explain why he was just standing there like a schmuck.) Lucy was rushed to the hospital. The pony was arrested, but the charges were dismissed, because, well, ponies are adorable.

Parakeet Dive-Bombs Innocent Shopper at Wal-Mart
House Springs, Missouri—On February 26, 1985, David Kelcher Jr. walked into a Wal-Mart looking for caulking. Instead he found a bloodthirsty parakeet on a kamikaze mission. Without warning, the bird flew at his face, causing him to fracture a vertebra in his neck. The parakeet, a pet for sale, had apparently had its cage left open. Kelcher went to a local hospital, where he later underwent surgery to fuse a neck bone. A lawsuit ensued. Lawyers for Wal-Mart argued that the parakeet was not vicious, but after hearing Kelcher’s heartbreaking testimony that his young daughter could no longer hug him around the neck, jurors awarded him $80,000 in damages. Parakeets aren’t sold at the Wal-Mart in House Springs anymore. A week later—in the same aisle—a man was attacked by a collection of mauve bath towels.

Cow Moos Down Woman
Hope, Arkansas—A place called Hope turned into a place called Horror when a cow attack put Hilda Green Quillen, 64, out to pasture in 1997. Quillen was tending her cattle when she got between a cow and its calf. The angry animal then knocked her down, wheeled around and fell on her (perfectly executing the much-feared, but seldom seen, atomic cow drop). She died 45 minutes after the attack. Lesson learned: Eat beef before it eats you.

Deranged Deer Gores Grandmother
Mapleton, Kansas—Last September, farmer Margaret Hershberger, 75, left her home to check on the family’s deer, which lived in her backyard. She never came back. The deer, for whom the family had cared since it was a fuzzy little fawn, gored the defenseless granny to death. Wildlife officials were unsure what triggered the attack, but they think that the deer may have entered its breeding period-and Margaret looked really hot that day.

Reindeer Nearly Sleighs Student
Bismarck, North Dakota—Apparently, one red-nosed reindeer’s nose glowed with human blood. On August 12, 1999, high school junior Erin Smestad, a volunteer at the Dakota Zoo, was feeding a hungry reindeer when it decided to attack her. The crazed animal shoved Erin into the mud and repeatedly rammed her against a tree. She wound up with a concussion and cracked ribs. The reindeer got a contract with the WWF.

Flipper Gets Frisky with Female Swimmers
Florida Keys—Fonzi the dolphin, a resident of the Dolphins Plus marine park, may be the first of its kind to be accused of sexual harassment. In 1993 the philandering porpoise got aroused in the presence of a female swimmer, and—skipping all other courtship rituals—began vigorously rubbing his ***** on the woman. Startled that dolphins actually have penises, the woman tried to get away. Fonzi then threw himself in her path, but the nimble and terrified woman was able to escape. Officials at the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Dolphin Freedom Foundation launched a full-scale investigation and discovered that this was not the first woman Fonzi had assaulted. In a letter to the Dolphin Freedom Foundation, Kathleen Forti, a family therapist based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, recounted her liaison with Fonzi: “Though I suffered no visible damage, the experience left an emotional scar…His ***** was latched around my knee, and he was determined to mate no matter how hard I tried to free myself.” Worse than that, he never called.

Whale Gets Dope Fiend by the *****
Orlando, Florida—Daniel Dukes, 27, a drifter with a record of marijuana possession, thought it would be groovy to go to SeaWorld and swim with one of them adorable whales. Like Free *****, man. So around midnight on July 5, 1999, Dukes jumped into the 52-degree pool wearing only his underwear. He got hypothermia. Then Tilikum, the largest killer whale in captivity, ripped off Dukes’ *********. Workers found the ball-less dead body the next day, draped over Tilikum. A joke about Tom Arnold and Roseanne comes to mind, but why bother?

Mouse Blamed in Man’s Near-Fatal Collision
Billings, Montana—In November 1986, Walter Miller, 59, was driving along Interstate 90 in Montana when a mouse—which had apparently been sleeping in the heater vent of his car—decided that things had gotten too hot. Rather than crawling out and adjusting the settings on the heater, the mouse sprang from the dashboard, landed on Miller’s shirt and scampered up his coat. Miller let go of the steering wheel and grabbed for the mouse. He managed to get ahold of the critter and squeezed it to death, just as his car skidded off the road and into a snowbank. Although Miller wasn’t hurt, there was $500 worth of damage done to the car and four highway reflector posts were destroyed. The mouse was cremated, and his ashes were spread over the Billings countryside.

Cat Sparks Riot
Penn, Pennsylvania—Harry Stauffer, 80, collects cats the way we collect pictures of Harvey Korman. Stauffer kept 40 stray felines in an abandoned bungalow—until one day in 1986 when a cat attacked a woman and bit her just below the hairline. An hour later, the cat attacked Stauffer and he was forced to kill it. Later, a group of thugs armed with baseball bats and shotguns arrived at Stauffer’s house. “They declared war,” he said. “They wanted blood. They wanted to get [the cats] and kill them all.” Several shots were fired, but the vigilantes eventually fled. No cats were harmed, but animal-control officials ended up destroying six of them. The rest of the kitties? Did someone say barbecue?

Pheasant Gets Caught in Bicycle; Man Dies
North Yorkshire, England—Biking can be dangerous. You have to watch out for sharp turns, pedestrians, cars and, of course, birds. Last May, Ian Miller, 55, was riding along when a pheasant got caught in the spokes of his bicycle. Strangely, Miller was unprepared for this event. He fell, hit his head on a wall and died three days later. Investigations showed that Miller was at fault, since he was riding in the pheasant lane.

Psychotic Squirrel Goes on Reign of Terror
Westerville, Ohio—In 1996, Julie Wollam was heading out to her car when she spotted a cute little squirrel. But this was an unusual cute little squirrel. Rather than running away from the woman, the varmint bit her leg. Two weeks later, UPS man Pat Quinn was making a beer-of-the-month delivery to a sorority house. He soon “felt these furry scratches” on his leg. Quinn began to run, with the squirrel chasing him like a dog. When Quinn looked down at his leg, it was covered with blood. Westerville had a problem. “It consumed the thoughts of the town,” said Mark Lewis, a filmmaker whose documentary Animalicious depicts bizarre real-life incidents involving animals. “People were afraid of squirrels.” Police began an all-out search. “There were probably as many as 100 squirrels in the two—to three—block radius where the squirrel was attacking,” said Lt. Don Richardson. “Any one of them could have conceivably been the squirrel.” Fear set in. Explained Officer Jack Elliot: “There are so many squirrels in the city that people didn’t want to walk down the streets.” Three days later, Lt. Richardson spotted the squirrel attacking Tammy Requardt. He whacked at the squirrel with his baton, but was eventually forced to call for backup. The squirrel got away. Four days later, the squirrel knocked senior citizen Albert Horn to the ground. “I was definitely at that squirrel’s mercy,” he says. All told, the squirrel attacked 11 people in six weeks. The critter pushed his luck, however, on returning to Wollam’s front porch. As the rodent glared with untold malice toward its victim, Officer Elliot managed to shoot it out of a tree. Tests showed that the squirrel was not rabid; it was just really mean.

Squirrel Drives Man to Suicide
Springfield, Illinois—One September day in 1908, Hardin Long was working as a porter at the Sangamo Club, and a squirrel jumped on him and bit his hand. Later that day, Hardin went to his doctor’s office, where the same squirrel attacked him again. Long was the first person to be attacked by the critter, but he wouldn’t be the last. All told, the animal bit at least seven people. The Illinois State Journal ran humorous stories, referring to the squirrel as an “arboreal bloodsucker” and a “man-eating tree dweller.” Then it was discovered that the squirrel had rabies. Suddenly panic set in, especially with 40-year-old Fred Peterson, the last victim. Although everyone else who had been bitten was taken to the Pasteur Institute in Chicago for treatment, Peterson feared that it would not be effective and he’d develop hydrophobia. So he committed suicide. And the State Journal couldn’t make that funny.

Turkey Shoots Hunter
Potosi, Missouri—Guns don’t kill people. Turkeys kill people-or, at least, injure them badly. In 1992, Larry Lands and his son Larry Jr. were hunting, when Junior took aim at a turkey and shot him. Thinking the animal was dead, Junior threw it in the trunk, forgetting to switch on the gun’s safety lock. After they drove off, they heard a thumping noise coming from the trunk. “We got out to finish off the turkey,” said Larry Jr. But the flailing bird set off the gun, firing a shot into Larry Sr.’s leg. He was fined $350 for hunting off-season and spent five days in jail. When asked to comment, Lands Jr. said, “Turkeys are dangerous.” And to many people, just plain sexy.

Chihuahua Terrorizes Neighborhood
St. Petersburg, Florida—A psychotic Chihuahua struck fear into the hearts of the men and women in the residential neighborhood of Disston Heights for three weeks in the spring of 1996. The diminutive devil—described as “vicious” by residents of the area-roamed the streets, picking fights with larger dogs and driving scared children indoors. In one incident, the animal bit a 10-year-old German shepherd on the snout and leg. The little pooch also enjoyed urinating on other dogs. According to residents, the Chihuahua wiggled under a hole in Donna Raia’s back fence, growled at her Labrador puppy and stalked the property, preventing her twin daughters from playing in the yard. When police attempted to capture the Chihuahua, the animal squirmed away and vanished. There have been rumors, however, that he’s shacking up in Matt Damon’s ***.