(FL) Father kills pit bull in savage attack 07-29-03
(FL) Father kills pit bull in savage attack 07-29-03
Girl, 9, is recovering from attack by pit bull
By Charlene Hager-Van Dyke
Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted July 29 2003
DELAND — Courtney Davis was only trying to help the pit bull when the
animal snapped, latching its vice-like jaws onto the 9-year-old’s
forehead, narrowly missing her left eye.
Two days after her father’s 32nd birthday party, Courtney, a Blue Lake
Elementary School student who spends summer days hanging from a tire
swing or riding her uncle’s horse, was confined to bed, eyes swollen
shut and a long row of stitches etched across her forehead.
Even with her temporary disability, Courtney fared much better than the
1-year-old female brindle pup that attacked her during John Davis’ party
Saturday. The dog, which Davis said was brought to his house to be
picked up by a friend, paid the ultimate price when the father of two
young girls retrieved a .22-caliber rifle from his house and shot it
twice during the party attended by between 50 and 75 friends, family and
birthday well-wishers.
The young animal lover doesn’t blame her dad. “I’m not sorry he shot
it,” she said Monday.
Davis, a deer hunter and redbone-hound breeder who runs Davis Tree
Service, isn’t sorry either. “As far as shooting the dog, no, I don’t
regret it,” he said. “I know she probably startled the dog, but if it
would do it once, it probably would do it again.”
The attack happened just before dark on the Davises’ five-acre parcel on
Gasline Road when Courtney went to see if the pup needed water. When she
reached it, Courtney noticed that the puppy’s head was tangled in its
leash.
“I was pulling on its collar ’cause it was stuck,” Courtney said. “She
looked at me, and then she just bit me.”
Courtney was taken to a nearby fire station and airlifted to Orlando
Regional Medical Center, where she was photographed, X-rayed and
underwent two hours of surgery on her face before being released the
following day.
Becky Wilson, Volusia County Animal Services director, said Davis was
justified in shooting the dog.
“If an animal is attacking a person or livestock, you have the right to
kill it. I think there’s still some discussion to be had around the
circumstances, but if there was the potential for any of them to be in
harm’s way before we could get there, then he was right to do what he
did,” she said.
Sheree Davis said her daughter looks better than she expected and has
not asked for any pain medication.
“She was calm through all of it and didn’t even cry, except when she saw
blood,” her mother said. “They said she was lucky it wasn’t in her eye.
She’s just been a real trooper.”
