Sounds like the dogs need to be euthanized too. Not to mention their owners.

its a good thing it wasnt a child on the way to the bus stop.

Pit bulls and other breeds similarly bred for aggression and "gameness" are a scourge on our country. We need to stand up to the small minority who own these dangerous animals and ban these breeds once and for all.

It is a fact that the majority of fatal dog attacks on humans and on other dogs are committed by 2 breeds, pit bulls and Rottweilers. See dogsbite.org for the facts.

banning things is not a substitute for education. I could train a black lab to bite people. the whole pitbull craze will end soon enough when people realize owning a pet is not as easy as owning an Iphone...

Any loose dog should not be trusted with children......

The problem is the owners not the breed of dog....Most dog breeds will chase wild animals

the information on dogsbite.org is against the one or 2 breeds.....

it is a fact that if you research "dog bites on humans" the pitbull is not the number one dog

Like any dog if trained correctly it is a great dog.....if not like any breed of dog can be a problem

One of my big concerns is that these dogs apparently have a history of roaming and killing. Can the shelter or NHPD check to see who sprung them out of the pound last week and pay them a visit. I would think that they are required to provide identification to claim dogs from the shelter. The female looks like she recently had puppies (great, just what we need, more of them!)
I now fear letting my own pets and child out. These dogs could have been caught this morning when they were barking for 2.5 hours. The officers that did come were very helpful, too bad they didn't know about when I kept calling. I'm also annoyed that the dispatcher told me an officer was en-route when I called the third time. Obviously not true!!!
Jon- I did bring up the fact that children would soon be out at bus stops, that obviously wasn't a concern to the dispatcher.

call the animal control officer not the police

Scott- Animal Control is part of NHPD, they aren't answering the phone at 6am. It would not be responsible to leave a message on the shelter's voice-mail regarding this situation. It required immediate attention. NHPD can dispatch Animal Control.

We are talking about a living creature who was made they way it is by a human being. Dog type is not the problem, dog owner type is the problem. For the safety of all we need to educate the owners of these dogs and if they refuse to learn their right to own should be denied. If we can keep track of cars and their owners, we should be able to keep track of dogs.

Cheers Lee! Couldn't agree more. If the dogs were caught this morning they SHOULD NOT be allowed to go back to their owners. They are clearly irresponsible and should be held responsible to the property damage incurred this morning at the house they spent their morning at. They wrecked the yard...not to mention the poor opossum.

There is also no proof these dogs are violent (my dogs might have done the same to a small animal running away). Please do not stereotype them. The owners are to blame for EVERYTHING in this case.

The notion that breed doesn't matter is woefully naive and flies in the face of what "breeding" actually is and what it's trying to accomplish. This probably isn't the best venue to have this discussion, but you shouldn't dismiss my message and leave a false impression.

No one is saying not to educate people, but there's no need for people to have dogs bred for fighting and for its bite strength and for its gameness (meaning it doesn't stop or let up an attack) as pets. BTW, the pit bull "craze" has been going on for at least 30 years. Why would it end "soon enough" now?

Pit bulls and Rottweilers commit the most FATAL attacks upon humans and other dogs, period. That's what matters most, is it not?

And while a wild animal being mauled and still alive is awful, the true risk is these dogs will attack children or other domestic pets.

It would be criminal for these dangerous animals to be returned to the irresponsible individuals that we are referring to as owners. I hope they were captured but I somehow doubt it. This problem is way beyond educating people. I just hope the dogs are caught and destroyed before they attack a human or another animal.
Owning a dog in not a right it is a privilege and the law needs to start enforcing that point! That would be expecting too much I guess... police dispatch couldn't even get a police officer out to a child being beaten a couple of weeks ago on Congress Ave, never mind vicious dogs :(

Yes it is true that the dogs were at the shelter last week, the owner paid $120 to get them out and was given an infraction in the amount of $456. It is unfortunate about the oppossum but the dogs are not considered dangerous because they mauled it, had it been a Dachshund it would have done the same.

Euthanizing an animal is not taken lightly at our shelter, and shouldn't be taken so lightly by others commenting. We cannot simply remove the animals from their owner because they escaped the yard, that's why we have fines for such violations. We are working with the owner to try and figure out how they are getting out of the yard.

The dogs are very people friendly(which means they have been well socialized with people) so much so they were driven to the shelter this morning by a gentleman that offered them a ride, to which they accepted. The dogs are both wearing collars with their rabies tags visible, there was no mention in these posts about that fact.

There is no history of the dogs attacking anything other than this complaint today.

The shelter operates seven days a week and is staffed 9AM-5PM, we do not respond to stray animal calls prior to or after those hours. The PD will not call out the staff to respond to strays unless they are deemed vicious( responding officer makes determination) or are injured and require veterinary care.

The shelter has visiting hours from 12:30 PM -4:30 PM Monday -Saturday and you may adopt the animals that have not been reclaimed by their owners. Although we do have several breeds for adoption the majority of the dogs received at the shelter are Pit Bulls and Pit mixes they are very sweet dogs and make wonderful companions. Don't believe the hype or stereotype. WWW.findafriendforlife. org NHAS 81 Fournier St New Haven, CT 06511 (203)946-8110

Officer Johnson,
Thanks for this detailed and informative response.

very well said.....excellent link as well

thanks officer for shedding some light on this issue