LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20010620/t000051225.html
Wednesday, June 20, 2001
3 Shots Kill Pit Bull as It Kills Kitten
By DAVID PIERSON, Times Staff Writer
Bruce Evans said he never thought it would take three shots to stop a
stray pit bull's attack on a family kitten.
He shot the dog twice but it continued the attack Monday evening on
the front porch of his West Hills home, Evans said. The third shot felled
the dog.
"I shot the first two bullets and it was still finishing off the
kitten," said Evans, who is nursing a swollen and cut right hand. "It
didn't wince, whimper or anything. It was only after the third shot that
it lost some juice."
Evans, 52, said he first beat the dog with his fists and a brick to
get it to drop the cat, but the pit bull was unfazed.
Evans failed to save the 3-month-old kitten, one of four cats
belonging to his 11-year-old daughter Shayla, who witnessed the attack.
Shayla was given counseling because of the emotional trauma she
suffered, her father said.
Police said they arrived at the home in the 24000 block of Eagle
Mountain Street at 6:25 p.m., after someone placed a 911 call from Evans'
home.
The dog, which had no collar or microchip identification implant, had
approached a neighbor as she picked up her mail. It then crossed the
street and attacked the kitten on Evans' doorstep.
Los Angeles Police Lt. Tom Smart said Evans was legally in possession
of a .38-caliber handgun and had fired it in self-defense.
Evans complained that the city's Department of Animal Regulation had
never responded to complaints about stray dogs in the neighborhood. Jackie
David, public information director for the department, said she had no
records of off-leash violations in the area, but officers will patrol the
neighborhood in light of Monday's incident.
Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times