Garda Receives 100 Stitches After Being Bitten By Pitbull

fermoyboy

BreakingNews.ie >

A garda received 100 stitches after he was attacked by pitbull terriers, it was confirmed today.

Two dogs have now been put down after a second officer was bitten by the same animals in Galway city.

The attacks took place as Gardaí were searching a house on Dominic’s Road as part of an investigation into illegal drugs.

The first officer was bitten during searches of the house on Thursday night in an attack that lasted several minutes.

Gardaí said the 40-year-old officer suffered serious injuries to his left leg. He was taken to University College Hospital Galway where his wounds required 100 stitches.

There were three dogs in the house, two of which were pitbulls.

When a dog warden was sent to the address yesterday, a second garda accompanying him was also bitten, suffering minor injuries to his leg.

Seven people in the house during the original search were not found to be carrying drugs, but officers did discover a quantity of heroin with a potential street value of €4,000 in the building.

Gardaí have confirmed that yesterday morning a male and a female were arrested in Galway City, in relation to the drug seizure, and are being detained at Galway City Garda station under section four of The Criminal Justice Act.

A further three males were arrested this morning in Galway in relation to the seizure.

Two are detained at Tuam Garda Station and one at Loughrea Garda station under section 4 of The Criminal Justice Act.

the locust

we need pepper spray!

Turner

And guns.

Shield

Chief--- wrote: »

And guns.

If it had been me, I would have had no hesitation about shooting it dead.

Fyr.Fytr

Too rite, bloody disgraceful that people train animals to do that.

Hope the two guards make a full recovery

Random

Couldn't they fend off the dog with a batton? Surely a few quick strokes would take it down ?

Paulzx

random wrote: »

Couldn't they fend off the dog with a batton? Surely a few quick strokes would take it down ?

And if that didnt work say sit!!!

Its a flipping pitbill. Once these things get going they don't stop. Especially when they have a taste for pork:D oops shouldnt have said that

Satan Polaroid

random wrote: »

Couldn't they fend off the dog with a batton? Surely a few quick strokes would take it down ?

Indeed :rolleyes:

Bloody hell. The lack of empathy for members of the force out there is staggering!

Random

Satan Polaroid wrote: »

Indeed :rolleyes:

Bloody hell. The lack of empathy for members of the force out there is staggering!

I'm not a Guard. I'm not familiar with the situation. Did it take him by surprice from behind a door? I'm trying to understand.

The 2nd Guard who got bit (according to posts above) went in with a dog warden knowing the animal was there. Surely he would have his baton at the ready to defend himself?

Surely a few hits from a baton can take down a pitbull?

I'm sure there's plenty of times Garda just don't have the time to react which is fair enough but what about this ?

the locust

man i'd have gouged the dogs eyes out, ripped its balls off and bit his ears off!! (i hate pitbulls!!)

j3wish

poor dogs rip hope the guards injuries and nothing trivial :cool:

Shield

Paulzx wrote: »

And if that didnt work say sit!!!

Its a flipping pitbill. Once these things get going they don't stop. Especially when they have a taste for pork:D oops shouldnt have said that

Paulzx infracted for this wholly inappropriate comment.

Turner

If i was a dog warden id like to be armed.

And some of the worst dogs behave like gentlemen compared to some of the beasts i meet on the streets.

civdef

I seem to recall MOE teams and the like in England carrying CO2 fire extinguishers to deal with angry dogs, apparently the noise and freezing cold of the extinguisher is one of the very few things that works on a dog. Batons would be of very limited use, CS spray definitely doesn't affect dogs, think PAVA might.

Hope those involved make a speedy recovery.

Random

How is a baton of little use? Whack the dog with a baton a few times and it'll go down - it's not invincible ??

civdef

I suspect you've never actually used a baton to say that, even on an angry person, you'd be surprised how little effect they have sometimes, on an enraged fighting dog, this is amplified hugely.

If the dog is chewing on you, you're not even going to get a good swing with the baton anyway.

Random

I've never used one no - just trying to understand as an outsider looking in with no hands on experience.

I did aknowledge that the dog can come on you by surprise but my main thing was the Garda who went in with the dog warden who should have been prepared and had his baton out.

If it's really not like this in practice then fair enough, I shall bow to the knowledge of those with first hand experience.

Fyr.Fytr

Random pitbulls have "lock jaw" they lock on and do not let go until they feel a good snap, ive seen it, dog being swung round 6ft high i the air locked onto a stick, just did not let go, never mind and asp

CO2 extingusher will work, zoo keepers use it to deter lions for god sake

Shield

random wrote: »

How is a baton of little use? Whack the dog with a baton a few times and it'll go down - it's not invincible ??

If the dog was standing still in front of you, and you had time to draw the baton and get some power and speed behind it, and hit it in the right place first time, you *might* take the fight out of it long enough to get out of there. With a pitbull, you don't have a chance in hell when it's coming at you full speed. Even if you had your baton out, your chances of hitting it in the right place with enough power are minimal because it's a very dangerous fast-moving target. Gun FTW every time with a dog that powerful.

Terrontress

Keep thinking of Trainspotting where they use the baseball bat to twist the dog's collar untill it expires. If I had my way I'd humanely destroy all dangerous breeds, no excuses.

Yakult

^Its not the dog, its the owner. Simple.

Every dog is dangerous.

If guns should be brought in for dogs by means they should have guns for all the nuts out there with rifles more so than an animal. Would do no harm.

stink_fist

Another excuse to give the gards guns and take peoples protection away :rolleyes:

Terrontress

R_H_C_P wrote: »

^Its not the dog, its the owner. Simple.

What about people saying that the pit bull will bite and clasp on untill he hears a break. Is that the owner?

You might say it is several owners down the line's fault as they bred the things specifically to get them to the state they are in now where they kill kids and can give a grown adult 100 stitches

FGR

random wrote: »

How is a baton of little use? Whack the dog with a baton a few times and it'll go down - it's not invincible ??

What's to say the second Garda didn't have his baton drawn? Pitbulls are fast and vicious animals..a stick doesn't really get you away scott free.

As PSNI put it - I would most certainly (and prefer to have the facility to) discharge a few rounds into that animal. Far swifter result..paperwork aside.

civdef

stink_fist wrote: »

Another excuse to give the gards guns and take peoples protection away :rolleyes:

I'm not too worried about taking heroin dealer's protection away, TBH.

metman

Our response cars all have small fire-extinguishers on board and if we get a call to a dog job its the practice to take the extinguisher with you.

Random; batons are pretty much useless against animals that are bred to fight and kill. These animals are mostly muscle and can withstand huge amounts of pain and damage before they backdown/die. Hence why they are used as a weapon more often than not. Trying to subdue such a vicious animal fuelled with aggression, fear and adrenaline as it tries to rip chunks out of you, doing massive damage in a very small space of time (having been bitten by a dog on one occasion, 3 bites in about 2 seconds, and wound up with 30 stitches I can attest to it being unpleasant) using only an asp....well I tell you what, give it a try and see how far you get.

Random

I'll not give it a try thank you very much lol

Thanks for giving me more info though, makes more sense of the news story now anyway for me!

metman

Clicky.

Paulzx

Hi All,


Anyone who has read this thread from the start will be aware that i received a ban from PSNI for a comment i made earlier on in the thread.

I would like to apologise to anyone who was offended by the comment.

In explanation for the comment i would like to say that it was meant in the context of light hearted banter amongst fellow members of the emergency services. I would regard myself as very pro police and have close family members who are serving members of AGS. Their is a very good relationship between DFB memebers and gardai in Dublin and banter and slagging is common at scenes. However, what can be acceptable on a face to face level is different to posting on a forum and i accept my remark was inappropriate.

What has embarrassed me most is that 3 members of AGS pm'd PSNI to complain about the post.

Black humor is common amongst us and is used as a coping mechanism. My comment was still however miss judged and ill timed. I wish the member injured the best in his recovery

My ban was lifted straight after i contacted PSNI and i thank him for his appreciation of the situation. However, i will be putting myself under a self imposed ban and keeping a low profile for the foreseeable future.


Thanks

PeelerHurley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgZZiXPajAc

Fyr.Fytr

Paulzx wrote: »

Hi All,


Anyone who has read this thread from the start will be aware that i received a ban from PSNI for a comment i made earlier on in the thread.

I would like to apologise to anyone who was offended by the comment.

In explanation for the comment i would like to say that it was meant in the context of light hearted banter amongst fellow members of the emergency services. I would regard myself as very pro police and have close family members who are serving members of AGS. Their is a very good relationship between DFB memebers and gardai in Dublin and banter and slagging is common at scenes. However, what can be acceptable on a face to face level is different to posting on a forum and i accept my remark was inappropriate.

What has embarrassed me most is that 3 members of AGS pm'd PSNI to complain about the post.

Black humor is common amongst us and is used as a coping mechanism. My comment was still however miss judged and ill timed. I wish the member injured the best in his recovery

My ban was lifted straight after i contacted PSNI and i thank him for his appreciation of the situation. However, i will be putting myself under a self imposed ban and keeping a low profile for the foreseeable future.


Thanks

Fair play, takes a big man to apologise

opti76

random wrote: »

I'm not a Guard. I'm not familiar with the situation. Did it take him by surprice from behind a door? I'm trying to understand.

The 2nd Guard who got bit (according to posts above) went in with a dog warden knowing the animal was there. Surely he would have his baton at the ready to defend himself?

Surely a few hits from a baton can take down a pitbull?

I'm sure there's plenty of times Garda just don't have the time to react which is fair enough but what about this ?

pit bulls keep biting after being shot .. huge agressive prey drive on them if trained to be that way ...
a baton wouldnt have been very effective..

a shotgun would have

stink_fist

civdef wrote: »

I'm not too worried about taking heroin dealer's protection away, TBH.

Agreed, banning convicted heroin dealers from owning pitbull's would be a good idea, but how can you justify taking one of the only forms of protection away from normal people while the crime rate is rising and the government is aligning itself against the people and the constitution, and on the side of aggressive states and destructive corporations

Terrontress

Surely discharging a weapon would have been impossible while your colleague is attached to the dog by way of its mouth. Especially indoors.

Eru

Tazer perhaps?

stink_fist wrote: »

Agreed, banning convicted heroin dealers from owning pitbull's would be a good idea, but how can you justify taking one of the only forms of protection away from normal people while the crime rate is rising and the government is aligning itself against the people and the constitution, and on the side of aggressive states and destructive corporations

I smell a troll!

stink_fist

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

Tazer perhaps?



I smell a troll!

Tazers have been proven to cause severe damage to the heart and the cops in the U.S. are way to trigger happy with them. I'm not trolling, my post is relevant and isn't controversial at all

yayamark

stink_fist wrote: »

Tazers have been proven to cause severe damage to the heart and the cops in the U.S. are way to trigger happy with them. I'm not trolling, my post is relevant and isn't controversial at all

Where is your proof please?

stink_fist

yayamark wrote: »

Where is your proof please?

Taser effecting the heart:

Tasers can cause cardiac arrest: heart specialists (article)
Taser, heart issue led to death (article)
Heart expert warns about using Tasers (article)
Taser may have regulated man’s heart rhythm (article)
CBC Documentary - Stunning Debate - Part 3/3 (Video)

Excessive use:

Mounties Taser 82 Year Old Man in Hospital Bed (article)
Chicago Police Tasered 82-Year-Old Woman (article)
Florida Deputy Tasers 11 year old Student (article)
Police Use Taser Gun On 6-Year-Old At School (article)
11 Year Old Girl Tasered At An Elementary School (video)
Pregnant Woman tasered by police (video)
Ohio Woman Taser Several Times By Cop (video)
News Report of LAX Police TASERing Unarmed Senior Citizen (video)
LAX Police Repeatedly TASER Unarmed Senior Citizen (video)
UCLA Student Gets Tased by UCPD Officers (video)

Irish Government violating the constitution:

http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/html%20files/Constitution%20of%20Ireland%20(Eng)Nov2004.htm

The government is violating article 28 and 29 of the constitution by allowing U.S. troops, and CIA torture flights to use Shannon airport.

civdef

And here is an off topic warning for you to take home with yerself.

Faheywitane

stink_fist wrote: »

Tazers have been proven to cause severe damage to the heart and the cops in the U.S. are way to trigger happy with them. I'm not trolling, my post is relevant and isn't controversial at all

Gardai arn't US cops though and remember all stories have two sides.

Eru

A tazer or a stun gun perhaps could have been deployed in this situation.

The discharge from either would not transfer to a second person simple by physical contact and the amp amount (which is whats important not voltage) is not a fraction of a defib machine.

In fact, you can use multiple Tasers on the same target at the same time without increasing the risks associated with it.

The simple reality here is that some people, who are now on my ignore list, will moan and try to stir trouble no matter what is said or done. First by coming to an emergency services site an making blatantly anti police statements then try a u turn and state that pit bulls are a common self defence item. Its laughable.

What these people fail to understand is that by denying the police less lethal weapons but at the same time crying about a persons right to keep a dangerous animal for self defence is hypocrisy.

However moving on from this and to the point. We have only a few options in this scenario. Use physical force against a pit bull is a non starter, its stronger, more aggresive, quicker and will have you for lunch.

Baton requires being able to deply and strike with sufficient speed and strenght to stop the animal. Besides not being very practical, the animal will not feel the strike. Your only hope is hitting it off you by sheer force which is highly unlikely.

Gun, well a bullet would certainly do the job but again, theres risks to the officer and people in the vicinity. I would not imagine that an officer under attack would be able to shoot straight enough nor could I see a second officer being able to safely shoot the animal and not the officer.

Taser / Stun is in my opinion the option to go for. A its less lethal so is safer even if it does hit the officer, its temporary and in the case of a stun gin, could be deployed by the officer during the struggle.

santosubito

As an aside, one of the members involved (ie attacked) was awarded the Scott Medal for an incident in Capel Street in 1989 when he rescued people from a burning house.
Get well soon.

mc-panda

I hope those guys make a full recovery and fast. What a horrible thing to happen.

I think if it happened to me, my biological defense would be deployed very quickly though. After rapidly soiling myself involuntarily, I reckon that the foul smell coupled with the dog's enhanced sense of smell would bring a quick end to the issue.

Very interesting to learn about the fire extinguisher.

---

On a seperate note:

I think Stink fist was banned without good reason by the way.

Reasons:

Another poster began the issue on tasers.
S/he commented against their use.
Another poster asked for evidence to support his/her claims re: same.
S/he provided some sources.

I dislike trolling as much as everyone else, but I call bad form on this count. No negative comments were made.

Shield

mc-panda wrote: »

I think Stink fist was banned without good reason by the way.

Reasons:

Another poster began the issue on tasers.
S/he commented against their use.
Another poster asked for evidence to support his/her claims re: same.
S/he provided some sources.

I dislike trolling as much as everyone else, but I call bad form on this count. No negative comments were made.

Stink_fist's ban had nothing to do with this forum. No moderator in here has the power to siteban anyone. If you see "Banned" under someone's name, then they made a big mistake. In his case, he threatened the owners of the site with legal action in this thread. That buys you an automatic bye-bye.

Dinter

Pitbulls are bred to go after prey a lot larger than a guard. They're bred to stop a bull in its tracks by grabbing its snout and holding on until they've pretty much been gored to death. I don't know what breed of pitbull was involved but there is no way a couple of slaps with an asp would stop it unless you were extremely lucky! Also they're very fast and nimble.

The best idea would be Metman's fire extinguisher idea. A friend of mine who runs a kennels says that's what they do when the dogs kick off.

Anyway best wishes to all involved.

Dyr

A pitbulls jaws arent structurally different from any other dogs, they don't have a locking mechanism.

Pitbulls werent bred to hold bulls, if you want to bolden a part of the name pit bull try the first bit, you wont find many bullfights in a pit. Pit bull terriers were bred to fight other dogs, usually in pit's. The bull in their name is a throwback, they're descended from larger bull terriers who were used to fight bulls/bears etc, most dogs of that lineage are referred to as bull breeds. Pit bulls were orignally bred to be dog aggressive and human friendly.

Pit bulls cannot fly or dodge bullets either, they are believed to be vulnerable to kryptonite :pac:

The media generally report any viscious dog story as being a pit bull, be interesting to see if this is actually the case in this instance

Dinter

Bambi wrote: »

Pitbulls werent bred to hold bulls, if you want to bolden a part of the name pit bull try the first bit, you wont find many bullfights in a pit.

Perhaps I should bolden the Bull in bull baiting, then you can quickly google it and see what that past time involved.

In all fairness though it's besides the point now. Whatever about the breed of dog it was a situation that would have occurred so quickly that drawing and extending a baton would have been very difficult.

Eru

Bambi wrote: »

A pitbulls jaws arent structurally different from any other dogs, they don't have a locking mechanism.

Pitbulls werent bred to hold bulls, if you want to bolden a part of the name pit bull try the first bit, you wont find many bullfights in a pit. Pit bull terriers were bred to fight other dogs, usually in pit's. The bull in their name is a throwback, they're descended from larger bull terriers who were used to fight bulls/bears etc, most dogs of that lineage are referred to as bull breeds. Pit bulls were orignally bred to be dog aggressive and human friendly.

Pit bulls cannot fly or dodge bullets either, they are believed to be vulnerable to kryptonite :pac:

The media generally report any viscious dog story as being a pit bull, be interesting to see if this is actually the case in this instance

Actually the 'Pitbull' as its known is a direct descendent of the 'Pit-Bulldog' used in fighting bulls alongwith other large animals and retains its abilities for attacking larger animals. In fact the Pitbull was often refered to as a Bulldog for years until groups became more defined by Kennel clubs. However what many call 'Pitbulls' are in fact Bull terriers which is a different dog altogether.

Their jaws are, as stated no different to any other species. The 'lock jaw' that people refer to is nothing more than this breeds determination when it gets hold of prey. Other animals are more prone to snapping especially if you try to get it off its target. Pitbulls are more inclined to increase its grip on the target to stop you removing it.

Simple reality is we dont know what breed this was, Pitbull being used to cover a wide variety of dogs which is based on nothing more than a slight relationship or even appearance.

As for the topic at hand, Im nearly sure Bambi was against arming Gardai and stated as such earlier in this thread so regardless of how they respond to bullets its not an option to shoot them nor is an ASP likely to do much against an animal that is stronger than a human, has an incredible grip on its target and is attack mode. If its attacking it will be faster than you, if its already got you chances of getting an ASP out and being able to hit an object thats attached to you is not good.

deadwood

Billy Connolly (I think), did a bit on this during one of the almost annual spates of hysteria about these dogs. Apparently, if you stick something up the dogs bum, he'll let go! (works on my missus too)
He describes the scene of a tattoed skinhead at home watching telly with the pit bull on his lap, looks around to see no one there, licks his finger and...
I'm sure one of you technophiles can find it on the interlinkweb.