RAYTOWN, Mo – An animal control officer cited the owner of a pit bull who killed a 3-year-old maltese chihuahua for three violations of the city’s “dangerous dog” ordinance.
Animal control officer Ron Muncy said owner was ticketed on Thursday for letting the dog run loose without a lease, attacking another animal, and threatening a human. The owner will have a hearing related to the violations, which could result in a fine.
Pinky went almost everywhere with Megan Walsh in her wheelchair.
"She rode around all the time on my lap and she was a sweet dog," Walsh said.
On Wednesday morning, Walsh went outside with Pinky to let her go to the bathroom before she left for her volunteer job. As she made her way down the driveway in the 6300 block of Norwood Court, Walsh noticed a neighbor's pit bull running loose.
The dog approached Walsh in her wheelchair with Pinky sitting and barking on her lap. Pinky grew more frantic as the dog got just inches away.
"I just felt threatened for some reason," Walsh said. "I felt I had to make a choice about keeping one of us safe or neither of us. I knew that if I left Pinky on my lap that both of us could have been attacked."
Megan dropped Pinky to the driveway and hurried back inside her home. As she closed the door, she heard growling and fighting outside. She decided not to look out her front window, scared of what she would see in her driveway.
From next door, Debbie Leggio had just brought her dogs inside when she heard the commotion in Walsh's driveway. As she looked outside, she saw Megan wheeling up the driveway. She then saw the pit bull grab Pinky and start shaking it around by the neck.
"Oh, it was terrible," Leggio said. "The little thing was hollering and scared to death. The dog broke its neck and that was it."
Neighbors said the dog had lived in the area for seven years. They had expressed concern because it had escaped the fenced backyard before. Some neighbors worried about the safety of small kids or dogs. However, the pit bull had always acted friendly around people, neighbors reported.
Leggio called the dog's owner when she saw the attack, who immediately ran to Walsh's house to retrieve the dog. It was already too late.
"It was sad for her as well," Leggio said. "She didn't know what to say, but she was very upset as well."
On Wednesday night, the pit bull's owner told NBC Action News she planned to write a letter to Walsh to express her apologies.
Walsh said next month she had already planned to travel to Concordia, Kan. to train several days with an assistance dog. The dog will help her up steep inclines, get safely on and off curbs, and pick things up off the ground. She will return to Raytown with the dog after the training session is complete.
A Kansas City animal control officer is also investigating the incident. The attack occurred in Raytown, but the pit bull’s owner resided in Kansas City.
Teresa Clark from the city’s Neighborhood Services Division said the investigation will determine if the animal should be classified as a “dangerous dog” and should be complete by Tuesday.
