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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A locomotion on Las Olas Boulevard past period turned into a nightmare for a pistillate erstwhile a pit bull attacked her 4-year-old Malti-poo, Gracie — an brushwood that ended with some dogs being euthanized and raised questions astir structure adoption practices.
“This pit bull came retired of obscurity and wrong conscionable a divided 2nd I had trying to get her disconnected the crushed and distant from this dog, and was not capable to get her retired of harm’s way,” favored proprietor Lisa Zender recalled.
According to a Broward County Animal Care report, Roy Bissember was sitting connected a seat with his canine Lucy erstwhile the canine lunged astatine Gracie and began shaking her.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department confirmed that “it took respective bystanders jumping successful to yet prevention Gracie.”
“This canine clamped down connected her, connected her backmost legs and started violently shaking her,” Zender said.
Gracie suffered a large limb wounded and a ample unfastened gash during the attack.
Zender says she spent astir $8,000 trying to prevention her pet, but yet made the achy determination to euthanize her.
“The canine had virtually ripped her backmost limb retired of its socket, and that the limb would person to beryllium amputated,” she said. “I loved her excessively much, I had to fto her go, truthful we enactment her down. I really apologized to her due to the fact that I didn’t get her disconnected the crushed speedy enough.”
After the attack, Zender said she learned the attacking canine had a past of aggression.
“I was aggravated erstwhile I saw the report, horribly angry,” she said.
Broward County Animal Care records amusement the tan pit bull had been returned to the structure by a foster successful January owed to “biting and warring escaped dogs.”
She said the canine had besides bitten a quality successful Palm Beach County, wherever the foster lived astatine the time.
Shelter paperwork indicated the canine “was not bully with different animals” and had issues walking connected a leash erstwhile she saw different dogs oregon cats.
Despite that, she was adopted retired to Bissember connected April 16 — conscionable 1 time earlier the reported onslaught connected Las Olas.
BCAC officials accidental Bissember was alert of the dog’s past and provided an address, but structure unit aboriginal discovered that helium was homeless.
In effect to questions astir their adoption policies, Broward County Animal Care said successful a statement:
“We bash not discriminate — we instrumentality it arsenic a case-by-case basis.” The bureau says it offers nutrient and veterinary resources to those without homes who follow animals.
Zender said she believes the structure made a captious mistake.
“I deliberation Broward County Animal wholly dropped the shot and taking this canine backmost in, knowing its history, ‘hey let’s enactment it backmost retired connected the streets, not lone enactment it backmost retired connected the streets but let’s enactment it backmost connected the streets to a stateless person,’ who can’t adjacent instrumentality attraction of themselves overmuch yet a dog,” she said.
“Now I person to effort to prime up the pieces and spell on, it’s not fair,” Zender added.
On the time of the attack, Bissember surrendered the canine backmost to the shelter, wherever the canine was euthanized.
Shelter officials told Local 10 they bash not support information connected however galore animals are adopted retired to radical experiencing homelessness.
“It conscionable hurts, my bosom is truthful broken,” Zender said.
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