In Seattle earlier that year a speech and acting coach named Ellen Taft proposed legislation to the city council that would, if not outright ban the dogs, make it nearly impossible to legally maintain them within city limits. Pit bull owners, meanwhile, insist their pets are among the sweetest, safest dogs a person can own, that savage attacks like the one on Huong Le are an anomaly, exceptions rather than the rule. P et lovers in Seattle have known the name Ellen Taft since at least At the time the city was debating whether or not to legally permit Vietnamese potbelly pigs as pets.
Leash laws were next. The city had had one in place since , but rarely enforced it. Once in the early s while sitting on a park bench with her daughter in Greenlake, Taft, according to a story she told the P-I , confronted a man who had just taken the leash off his Rottweiler.
She threatened to call animal control on the spot. She also led an effort to successfully eliminate an off-leash area in Volunteer Park. In she called for a ban on dogs at the Folklife festival and other Seattle Center events. Someone else told her they hoped a pit bull would rip off her face. The threats have made Taft extra cautious. But refuse to sign the agreement and Taft, oddly, lightens up. A pit bull savagely attacking a woman entering a burning building to save some children?
In St. Paul, Minnesota, in , Taft, then a grad student in her 30s, was assaulted by two dogs who bit her legs and feet. Traditionally bred to fight bears and bulls for sport in the s, pit bulls, which are not a breed like, say, Irish setter or German shepherd, but rather a group of breeds with similar physical characteristics—including American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers—were once considered the top family dog in the United States.
The RCA Victrola dog the one that stares quizzically into the speaker is a pit bull. The Little Rascals had one, too. But by the early s, above-the-fold newspaper stories began documenting the rise of dog fighting and the pit bulls bred and raised for the new taste for dog-on-dog combat in the U. A Seattle Times story told of dozens of pit bull attacks on humans and pets throughout Puget Sound.
In Seattle, Taft found an ally in Colleen Lynn. In June , Lynn was jogging on the sidewalk along 15th Avenue on Beacon Hill—she was training for a half marathon—when she spotted a woman about 20 feet ahead walking a pit bull on a leash. The woman turned around, saw Lynn, and pulled the dog off the sidewalk and onto the grass. Just as Lynn ran past, the dog broke free, ran several yards ahead of Lynn, stopped, sat on the sidewalk, and stared at her. It chomped into her right forearm and began shaking it and dragging her along the sidewalk.
She ran across 15th. A man stepped out of his house to help her. He happened to be an ER doctor. I was concerned at that moment that if I let go of my arm that it might be in two pieces. A photo of her injury taken shortly after the attack can now be found on the site. Ellen Taft and Lynn pressed city officials to adopt legislation on pit bulls. At one point Lynn caught the ear of council member Tim Burgess, but he eventually told her he had no interest in pursuing the matter.
Taft enjoyed a brief audience with council member Tom Rasmussen and an aide to council member Sally Clark—both of whom told her that such legislation sounded interesting—but they have stopped returning her emails and phone calls.
Katherine Anderson recently wrote a letter to city leaders about the troubles her employees face daily near Occidental Park. The co-owner of The London Plane restaurant says her staff is getting weary of dealing with people who have behavioral issues that engage with her customers eating outside. She says her staff is not trained to handle people like that and many have threatened her staff. After walking his dogs nearly every day throughout Pioneer Square, Alex, who lives two blocks away from Occidental Park, is changing his routine.
DeGroote has lived two blocks from Occidental Park for six years and said her dog have been attacked three times. She said she no longer takes long walks at night with her dogs. Pioneer Square slashing victim recounts attack on him, his dogs amid area safety concerns. Click to expand. Replay Video. Police nearby is an unfortunate sign of the times for the neighborhood. Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Goodwin, according to his report, wasn't going to wait for the woman to control the dogs. He ordered her to open the gate so he could get to Backlund. By that time, a second dog was on Backlund's leg, and Goodwin knew there was no time to waste.
He rammed his officer car through the fence and was able to position the passenger side so that Backlund could jump in. But that woman - who still hasn't been positively identified - wasn't through. She screamed at the pair as they backed out of the driveway and threatened to shoot them.
Now the dogs are going to get out," she screamed, Goodwin reported. It's been three weeks since the attack and Backlund is back at home, but he's far from healed. He got over stitches for bites all up and down his arms and legs.
He has to go to a wound care doctor every other day to have the bites cleaned and dressed. The cuts are beginning to scab over, making it hard for him to move. Eventually he'll have to do physical therapy. Backlund has declined to speak to the media, but is supposed to appear at a Nov.
He's being represented by the Davis Law Group in Seattle. No lawsuit has been filed yet. Through the law firm, Backlund on Thursday issued a statement praising the people who saved his life.
To Dr. Gates and his surgical team for the outstanding care that I received. Lastly, but not least, we are grateful for the outpouring of support and prayer from our church family and the entire faith community. To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports patch.
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