July 2, 2004

Vicious dogs ravage neighborhood

Pets injured, dead from dog attacks in Willow Glen/Cambrian Park       

By Brenda Bielick Allen
Special to the Times       

It was nearing midnight on June 13 when Paul and Christina woke to the blood-curdling screams of their beloved pet of eight years, Larry. Larry was a friendly enough cat, just somewhat agoraphobic, who rarely if ever left the confines and security of his own yard.

It was in that very yard on Blackstone Avenue, where Larry had been “doing his business,” just as he had done a thousand times before. Unfortunately, this was to be the last for Larry and countless other pet cats in this highly cat-populated Cambrian Park/Willow Glen neighborhood.

At approximately the same time, some five blocks away, Mickey, a 9-year old Sheltie mix, began barking, whining and scratching at the front door of his Foxworthy home. The last time Mickey had behaved like this there had been an opossum in the yard.  After looking around outside and finding nothing unusual, his 16-year-old owner Kristina did what she could to try and calm Mickey down. That being unsuccessful, she eventually ended up taking him to rear of the house and shutting him in her Mom’s bedroom.

Five blocks away, Paul was running in the direction of the screams. When he got to his yard, he was confronted by two very large, very aggressive dogs, one of which, had Larry in his mouth. Almost without thinking, Paul charged toward the dogs and attempted to rescue his screaming bloody pet out of the smaller dog’s mouth, kicking off the bigger one in the process.  

He was finally successful, but not without being bit several times himself from at least one and possibly both of the dogs. Having worked closely with animals most of his life, Paul was keenly aware that for Larry to have any chance of surviving this brutal attack, he could waste no time getting him to the emergency pet clinic. Time being of the essence, Paul told his wife to call the police and report what happened, while he grabbed his clothes and keys, jumped into his car and sped off toward the vet, all the while, cradling Larry in his arms.

After the emergency vet completed his examination of Larry, Paul was informed that Larry would need immediate surgery and even if it were successful, his chances of a complete recovery were less than 5o/5o. Paul signed the consent forms and left Larry to undergo emergency surgery.        

Nearly 90 minutes had passed by the time Paul returned home. He found his wife on the verge of hysteria. Soon after Paul left, and before the police arrived, Christina continued to hear the awful cries and screams of what she later learned were brutal and fatal attacks of at least six other neighborhood cats, as they were literally being ripped and torn to death. 

There was clear evidence the following morning that at least two of the cats had been caught and physically pulled down from a tree from what had been an obvious attempt to escape. If that weren’t enough, the two very large grayish tan dogs had returned to Paul and Christina’s house and up to their front door, scratching, clawing and growling in a grimacing and threatening manner, as if they knew there was still one cat left inside the house.

This time Paul telephoned 911, and the police responded by sending one officer out to take the report and at least two additional patrol cars to peruse the neighborhood in search of the vicious dogs that were again on the prowl. None of the officers, however, were able to locate the dogs.

At approximately the same time, five blocks away on Foxworthy Avenue, Mickey the family dog was again going crazy, sniffing, scratching and barking at the front door, this time making enough racket to alarm his owners. Now that he had Kristina’s full attention, she became frantic when she realized that it had been a couple of hours since she had actually seen her own cat, Thomas. Kristina decided to wake up her friends, Krystina and Sherry, who were spending the night. They all three became a little more than concerned and eventually went outside to look around.

There they found two very large, grayish tan dogs, slobbering, drooling, growling and rolling around all over their front lawn. They had never seen any dogs like this anywhere in the neighborhood. Just as the girls were about to reach for the collar of the bigger of the two dogs to check for ID, they froze at the sound of a man’s voice who told them to move away from the dogs.

Paul’s determination had finally paid off. He had finally caught sight of the two beasts that had brutally attacked Larry. He wasn’t about to let them hurt anyone or anyone else’s pet again; at least not tonight anyway!

For the next few hours, Paul and Christina, along with Kristina and her two friends and two San Jose Police officers, all pitched in to keep the two very large and vicious dogs at bay on the front lawn of Mickey’s Foxworthy home. Early Monday morning, Animal Control arrived to transport the culprits to a holding area for a mandatory 10-day quarantine.

After receiving only a citation, it is possible, and quite probable, that the dogs will be released to their owner, who could very well release them back into the neighborhood. 

After all, “It’s not as though a crime had been committed,” right? “I mean, where is the law that was broken?” “ Show me the law that says it is illegal for a dog to kill a cat?”

If you or someone you know lives in the Willow Glen/Cambrian neighborhood within the boundaries of Hillsdale (south), Cherry (east), Foxworthy (north) and Jarvis (west) and have a pet that was injured or turned up missing around the time of Sunday, June 13 or Monday, June 14, contact San Jose Police Department or the Santa Clara County Humane Society.

Deepest sympathies to the families who lost their pets June 13-14, which includes the family of Larry, who did not survive the surgery.