A black and tan pit bull named Leather is a potential child killer and should be destroyed, the dog's victims told the Carroll County Commissioners yesterday.
The Carroll County Humane Society declared the dog a public nuisance July 22, but owner Karyl White of Westminster appealed that decision to the commissioners.
Animals that are declared a public nuisance are normally killed within 10 days unless the owner appeals. The pit bull has been in the county animal-control shelter since July 15, when it attacked Mary Warren, 10, of Westminster, biting her on the arms, stomach and groin, leaving a 36-square-inch bruise.
"This animal was unprovoked and meant to kill," the child's father, Kenneth Warren, told the commissioners yesterday. "The dog is unsafe. I'm afraid it's going to kill a child the next time" unless destroyed.
Warren entered a videotape into evidence at the hearing on the owner's appeal. Several witnesses said the tape would show Mary's wounds. It was not shown in open session at the request of Assistant County Attorney Kimberly Millender, because the child is naked on the tape.
The commissioners are expected to view the tape today and decide the dog's fate by early next week.
Commissioners W. Benjamin Brown and Donald I. Dell said they were ready to make the decision yesterday, without viewing the tape. But Commissioner Richard T. Yates said he needed to see the tape before making a decision.
Two other victims, both adults, described yesterday how the dog had attacked and bitten them "without warning" or provocation. But the most horrific account concerned the 10-year-old.
The child "has gone from a love of animals and being friendly to everybody" to being fearful whenever a dog barks or she sees an animal outside her home, her father testified. She is undergoing counseling, he said. She did not testify.
'Can't walk the streets'
"This child has to live with this the rest of her life," he said. "We can't walk the streets of Westminster if this dog is out there again."
Joyce Kaplan, who was having a birthday party across from the pit bull attack on Mary, testified that Mary and her older sisters were trying to avoid the dog when it "lunged for the child."
The dog didn't make any sound until it was on the child, Kaplan said. Then it was "a sound like I've never heard," she said.
