On Thursday, a, English Bull Terrier escaped from an apartment and started attacking people on the street in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. A man and a woman were bitten on their arms and legs and taken to a hospital. People attempted to use several items to stop the attacks, kicking the dog, using pepper spray and even a hammer.
Nothing worked until a man with a gun waited for the right moment and shot the dog. Twice.
Paul Burek saw it all unfold and rushed to help. He had a gun in his car and shot the dog after everything else failed to stop the attack.
10 News talked exclusively with him about firing two shots at the English bull terrier.
“They pepper sprayed the dog. They beat it with a hammer. Somebody was screaming to shoot it and I, fortunately, had a gun in the car and I went and got my gun and once it pulled away from the people and started walking across the road I shot it,” Burek said.
This wasn’t the first time the dog had attacked someone.
The police have dealt with the same dog in the past. On Dec. 26, 2017 at 2:23 a.m., officers went to the same area because the dog had run off the back porch of the apartment and bit a man on his hand, Smith said. The man went to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment. Animals wardens followed up on the incident, but the man did not want to file charges.
Burek isn’t facing charges.
Animal attacks aren’t included in surveys of defensive gun uses. But people using a gun to stop dangerous animals is a common practice, especially in rural areas.
Attacks such as the one in Roanoke make the news while in rural areas, they’re seldom reported. People simply shoot the offending animal and dispose of it.
The lack of accounting for animal attacks in the gun control debate is deliberate. These situations aren’t mentioned by those working for a disarmed population because nearly everyone understands that using a firearm to stop a dangerous animal is prudent and positive.
©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.