52 year old Janelle Dalson was out jogging early in the morning a couple of Fridays ago in Fairfield, CA, when she was confronted by a horrific situation: 3 huge Pitbull-Bull Mastiff mixed dogs, each weighing about 100 lbs, came running after her, and proceed to viciously attack her. Dalson vainly tried to fight the dogs off with her hands, which then suffered horrific bite wounds. However, the powerful dogs soon overwhelmed her defenses, leaving her helpless.
Dalson's blood curdling screams broke the early morning silence, and reverberated across the neighborhood. First to arrive on the scene was neighbor Gary Paquet, who lost his composure when he described to reporters the horrific sight that he saw. He said "The 3 dogs actually had her entire body lifted off the ground, and they were literally trying to rip her apart."
Paquet had armed himself with his Walther PPK pistol. The largest dog challenged him, and Paquet shot the dog a single time in the head, instantly killing it. However, at that point, Paquet's pistol jammed, and he was thus unable to fire any further shots. Despite his best efforts, he could not get the two other dogs off of Dalson.
At that point, two younger women, one of whom was pregnant, came jogging up the street also. The two remaining dogs immediately took off after them, and they managed to catch pregnant women after she stumbled, and fell down to the ground. They then proceeded to attack her, just as they had done to Dalson. At that point, another neighbor, John Bettencourt, arrived on the scene with a .22 caliber Ruger pistol. He proceeded to shoot the two remaining dogs in their rear legs. Once wounded, the two dogs broke off their attack, and ran away. Fortunately, the pregnant woman only suffered moderate injuries. She was treated at the hospital and released the same day.
A spokeswoman for the Fairfield Police Department noted that if it had not been for the actions of Paquet and Bettencourt, at the very least Dalson would have not survived the attack. While upgraded to fair condition, she remained in the hospital several days after the attack. Sadly, her employer, a local dentist, told reporters that her career as a dental technician is now probably over. He said that the extensive damage done to her skilled hands is simply far too great for her to ever be able to work in her profession again.
The Fairfield Police Department has requested that the Solano County district attorney's office file criminal charges against the dog owners for allowing vicious animals to run free. Civil lawsuits are also expected against the owners. The surviving dogs were destroyed by Humane Animal Services in Vacaville, CA, a few days after the attacks.
What lessons should be learned from this incident? The biggest one that I see is that a gun owner has to absolutely make sure that his weapon is reliable, and will not malfunction on you in a crisis
Here are some news reports about this incident:
http://www.foxreno.com/news/24973101/detail.html
http://fugitive.com/archives/28286
And here is a photo that authorities took of one of the wounded dogs, before it was destroyed. Can you imagine being attacked by not one, but three of these monsters?? (THIS IS FROM A THREAD YESTERDAY BY "LANCEOREGON"- I COPIED AND PASTED THIS POST WHICH WAS ALSO THE 'THREAD STARTER')
THREAD: Walther PPK Jams in Attempt to Save 2 Women from Vicious Attack by 3 Pitbull-Mastiffs