Pit Bull Attacks 5 Adults at Party in Rhode Island, Described as 'A Scene from Cujo'
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By Denise A Justin, Tue, July 09, 2013
A party for Joseph Bishop Jr., given in their backyard by his mother in North Smithfield, Rhode Island, last Thursday, turned into panic and chaos as a Pit Bull his mother was pet sitting went on a biting rampage. Five victims were taken to Landmark Medical Center with bite wounds, said police Capt. Glenn G. Lamoureux.
Bishop said he suffered at least seven serious bites and numerous punctures on his knee, torso and crotch. At one point Bishop remarked that he had come "within a centimeter of being neutered," according to The Call.
The bloody rampage by the dog took place at 835 Eddie Dowling Highway, beginning just after 5:00 p.m. Jennifer Gilmore was hosting a Fourth of July and going-away party for her son, Joey Romeo Bishop, 18, who was scheduled to report for active duty in the National Guard this week, reports The Call.
"It was crazy," said Bishop. "It was like a scene from the movie 'Cujo.'"
The adult male Pit Bull, named Bootsy, belonged to a neighbor who was away, said Ms. Gilmore, "the dog was supposed to be confined to a sun room during the party, but someone apparently let it out."
No one knows for sure what triggered the Pit Bull's intense and vicious attack, but it began right after some "horseplay" between Joey and his friend, Phillip Alobwede, 18, where the two were playfully shoving each other. Bootsy suddenly went after Alobwede.
The dog went "straight for Phil and he was basically ripping up his leg," Joey Bishop told The Call reporter, Russ Olivo.
THREE SEPARATE ATTACKS BY THE PIT BULL
That was just the first of three separate bizarre attacks that seem surreal. Bishop said he and others managed to subdue Bootsy after he attacked Phil Alobwede. and they got the dog back into the house.
They believed the dog was safely confined, only to see it jump out of of an open window and resume attacking Alobwede and others in the yard.
Bootsy was captured a second time and again returned to the house, but before anyone realized how he had escaped the first time, the tenacious Pit Bull jumped out the window again and started biting guests randomly.
Someone had called the police, who arrived at approximately 5:30 p.m. Several people were on the ground bleeding and the dog was still going after people. As soon as we got to the scene we realized how chaotic it was, police Capt. Glenn G. Lamoureux stated. "We've had our share of dog bites over the years but nothing ever like this in my recollection."
Officers tried pepper-spraying the animal, but the Pit Bull showed no signs of giving up. Two officers then fired one shot each into the dog. Lamoureux said the officers had little choice--a total of five people were bitten seriously enough to be transported to the hospital.
Joey Bishop said that, in addition to himself and Alobwede, his teenage girlfriend and two adults in their 30's were seriously wounded.
He told reporters that his mother tried "whacking the dog on the head several times with a massive cinderblock," Others tried striking it with a piece of timber and kicking it, but the dog just kept attacking," he said.
When the police used their firearms on the animal, Bishop said his only reaction was a sense of relief.
"They really had no choice but to shoot this dog," said Bishop.
Bishop said what surprised him most was the dog's unbridled determination to go after people and bite them, despite all the efforts of the humans to discourage him.
"This is a dog that escaped three times and kept coming," he said. "The fact that he kept coming straight for me was kind of a worry." Bishop and his mother said they were very familiar with Bootsy and had never known the animal to behave in a vicious manner before.
Bishop said he was supposed to report to Fort Benning, Georgia, for basic training this week, but that will be put off until he heals.
Ironically, the attack occurred only one day after the Rhode Island General Assembly approved a bill prohibiting cities and towns from enacting "breed specific" legislation to ban Pit Bulls or any other breed of dog.
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