Seen or heard in the ‘hood

Guns in the lake, scammers at the door

We received this surprising report last week from an MPB reader regarding an episode she witnessed at the E. Prospect St. road end:

“[My husband] and I were out with the girls yesterday morning and witnessed something fairly upsetting.  We came down the stairs adjacent to the north side of the Seattle Tennis Club and walked down to the public beach access (that has been the center of so much criminal activity). As we were getting to the driveway access there, two police cars pulled up. There was already a black SUV parked there, and the owner of it came out of his car and greeted the officers. I asked one officer if we should avoid going down to the water and he said no, that it was fine for us to go. We followed the officers and man down to the waterfront and saw that one officer had an evidence bag in his hand. They walked over to the shore nearest the overgrowth and pulled something out of the water that was covered by some leaves. We were both surprised to see that when the officer pulled the overgrowth off of it, it was a handgun.  
We didn't stay much longer but were very sad to see that a handgun had either been left or thrown there, where so many kids, families and the general public frequent it.”

Meanwhile, this arrived the following day from another reader:

“Saturday night I was home alone and a man posing as an employee of Scoop du Jour knocked on my door and gave me a very convincing story about how he had locked himself out of the store, and was short money for the locksmith. He had a sense of urgency and kept telling me how he was afraid he was going to be fired, and kept saying "I'm just a poor gay black man" and "I promise I'll bring you back the money" and "It's good karma, you won't be sorry," and on and on. The man even offered to leave his valuables with me. Stupid me, I fell for the story and gave him $10 in cash, which of course I never saw again.

I am normally very suspicious and he really was convincing. Obviously, he's done it before. Quite the scam. I informed the owners of Scoop du Jour that someone was posing as their employee. Lesson learned for sure (although I feel like quite an idiot for having opened my door in the first place).

The guy was African American, probably late-30s to mid-40s, fairly thin and about 5' 9".”

Listen to your dog

A couple summers ago we posted a story about a Washington Park family that one night thought their two dogs were barking at raccoons, told them to be quiet, but didn’t investigate further.  The next morning they discovered that during the night thieves had cleaned out their first floor.  Last week, our neighbor Wendy Skerritt shared the following barking-dog story with us, further enforcing the notion that sometimes it pays to investigate the causes of dog alerts.

In the early evening last week, Wendy’s dog Sammy began barking a weird kind of bark that Wendy said she had never heard before. Though Sammy was clearly agitated, Wendy told her to shut up and behave herself.  About a half an hour later Wendy and her family heard the approach of sirens, an SFD aid unit soon arriving directly in front of their house, lights flashing.  Rushing out to see what was going on, the Skerritts found that an elderly man had fallen onto their parking strip and had been discovered by a passerby, who called 911. The man, named Chuck, was disoriented and had apparently suffered some kind of seizure, though seemed otherwise unhurt.  Wendy says she apologized to Sammy for not taking her alert seriously and promised to pay attention next time.

Rest your weary bones

The construction crews finished up their work last week and the re-engineered Bank of America parking lot triangle was inaugurated without any apparent fanfare (well, if there was a ceremony, we certainly weren't invited).  The new stonework base and benches, coupled with some improved landscaping, make for a pleasant stopping point for passers-by on those rare sunny days we have.

People were busily checking out the new seating arrangements over the weekend, though we shooed them off to take this shot (so less cluttered don't you think?).


Clearing up some more rumors

There was a story going around about a stabbing that allegedly occurred at an apartment building just north of E. Madison St. a couple weeks ago.  As the story went, a young male was attacked by his girlfriend, who fled the scene after the stabbing.  Supposedly the police set up a stake out in a neighborhood parking lot on the following day, just in case the woman should return to the scene of her crime. We checked out this tale with the Seattle Police's public information officer, who told us that there was no record of such an incident in the neighborhood.  Sound like something that might have happened on Capitol Hill?

There was another story that perhaps there had been a big drug bust in a vacant house in the neighborhood.  The cops figured out that a pot-growing operation was underway as a result of a huge increase in the home's electricity bill, according to the story.  This too appears not to be something that happened around here, according to one of the cops that covers our Charlie 3 beat.  Sound like something that might have happened in Madison Valley?


Another business turns out the lights

A couple of readers pointed out that though we had covered the story of Bella Dolce shutting its doors last week, we had missed the fact that another longtime Madison Valley retailer, Gentlemen's Consignment, had done the same.  Although the shop had been in business since 1989 and had weathered many economic ups and downs over that period, the current environment was apparently the final straw.  Gentlemen's Consignment, located at 2809 E. Madison St., had specialized in upper-end men's designer clothes, not more than two years old.


Seen on a bumper sticker at Madison Park Beach:

Straight is the new gay! 

Little dog gone

Please consider my heartfelt story

Dear Madison Park Blogger,


I have a story I was hoping you might consider putting in the blog to help me pass the word around and get support from our local neighbors.
 
I've been a resident here in Madison Park for almost a year and a half now.  I love my neighborhood and all the people who live here. It's a GREAT community!
 
My story is a sad and terrible one, but I’m hoping to bring light to an unfortunate accident.
 
Last Tuesday, April 19, around 2:30-2:45 p.m., I eye-witnessed a dog by the name of Harry get hit and run over by the #11 Metro Bus on 42nd Avenue. It's the worst thing I've ever seen. Being an animal lover, this REALLY hit me deep in the heart. It was a blessing that Harry didn't suffer...he died instantly. It happened so quickly. I was the only one who saw it happen. Gloria the owner was parking her car, and when she opened the door Harry ran into the street and was hit by the bus. The bus driver did stop and seemed a little sorrowful, but he was more concerned about getting on his way on his route. We exchanged information and he was off. He didn't even offer to help "clean" up the situation or give condolence to the owner of the dog. I know we're all on a busy schedule but you just killed someone's beloved pet, and getting on your way seemed more important. I don't understand our world sometimes.
 



Harry may have run into the street too quickly, but I wonder if the bus driver had been driving slower and been more cautious when driving down our residential streets, maybe Harry's life could of been spared. He was running to go home, and instead his life was taken all too quickly.
 
After this happened, I was pretty stunned for the rest of the day, and quite honestly crying with sorrow because I just couldn't get the image out of my head. Have you ever felt you were somewhere at the wrong time and wrong place? Well, this was one of those days I wished I had walked a different way home. Then, I asked myself, maybe I was meant to walk this way, see what happened, and become the "voice" of Harry. I just felt in my heart I needed to do something about it and make sure Harry's unfortunate and quick death didn't go unheard or unnoticed. 
 



So I started a petition, hoping you could help me spread the word. If I can get enough signers and supporters, I would like to take this to the next level, possibly to Mayor Mike McGinn and Dow Constatine, King County Executive. I want them to realize, understand, take responsibility and action for educating their drivers on being more cautious and slowing down. Those who are walking our streets are just as important as the ones riding the bus. I would like to see if we could get them to change the speed limits within our residential streets on their routes.
 You can find my petition on the “Care 2 Petition” website under “Metro PLEASE Slow Down.”


I truly give THANKS for your time on this matter. It's not just Harry and all pets who we need to be concerned about when walking our streets, but also children, friends, neighbors and loved ones within our community. I know Harry would give thanks too! 
 



Sincerely and Again Thank You,


Tina Bryan
 


*********

Many of us noticed the little memorial to Harry set up in front of Starbucks this weekend, in space to the right of the main entrance. But only a few of us, probably, knew the story. Harry, a five-and-a-half-year-old West Highland Terrier, had been a fixture at that location every day.  We asked his owner, Gloria Bjornerud, to give us Harry’s story:

“Harry had been a Christmas puppy and was born in October 2005.  I walked Harry to Starbucks every morning, seven days a week, and tied him up to the gas meter outside Starbucks.  Because I read newspapers with my coffee, Harry would spend at least an hour tied up. So he made many friends.


Harry was raised in my store, Apogee [in Madison Valley], and when he was a puppy just about everyone who came into the store picked him up and loved him.  I believe this made him a very special dog because he loved people so much—particularly little girls, because his first week away from his liter he was just with my granddaughters, who were then nine and ten.”

Gloria with memorial at Harry's spot

*********

“If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness.”   Marjorie Garber

“Unlike some people who have experienced the loss of an animal, I did not believe, even for a moment, that I would never get another. I did know full well that there were just too many animals out there in need of homes for me to take what I have always regarded as the self-indulgent road of saying the heartbreak of the loss of an animal was too much ever to want to go through with it again. 

To me, such an admission brought up the far more powerful admission that all the wonderful times you had with your animal were not worth the unhappiness at the end.”   Cleveland Amory

*********

Update:  We hear that Gloria is getting a new puppy this weekend.

Photos courtesy of Gloria Bjornerud

Pit bull attack gets a reaction

This is Madison Park, a great walking neighborhood. A place, in fact, where residents and visitors expect to be able to stroll on a lovely summer’s day without fear or concern. So when an incident occurs that shows us our tranquil little community is not always as safe and comfortable as we’ve complacently believed, it’s a bit shocking. And it’s definitely a story.

The recent report of multiple attacks by a neighborhood pit bull on unsuspecting passersby presents us with a jarring case in point. While the attacks themselves are certainly alarming, their possible cause and what’s happened (and what hasn’t happened) in their aftermath are proving to be additional sources of concern for victims, neighbors, and dog lovers alike.

The registered owner of Honey, the Pit Bull in question, has not provided us with any insights into his own thinking. Though his wife requested that we delay posting our story for 24 hours so she could provide us with a written statement, she did not do so. The owner’s son, however, has responded; and what he’s had to say about the case, as quoted in our original story and in comments he later posted to the blog, is controversial at best.

First, the issue of responsibility. The son, who was the caretaker for the dog while his parents were away on vacation, admits that both Honey and a companion dog were left on their own at the Washington Park house for at least a week, with only daily visits by him to check on their condition. He told us that Honey had been well secured but had dug a “seven feet by four feet” hole in order to escape from the fenced back yard.

One of Honey’s victims (we’ll call her Jane) has a problem with the owner’s assumption that a Pit Bull left on its own for an extended period would not pose a potential threat. “Dogs get out,” she told me, “and a Pit Bull is a risky type of animal.” Jane noted that Pit Bulls have been bred to fight. “It’s in their DNA to attack,” and an attack is a particular risk when the animal is frightened, she said. Given the dog’s history, “she was probably always scared in situations where she was uncontrolled. She seemed frightened, and she attacked.”

In spite of having been injured, Jane is somewhat sympathetic to the dog’s owner, who she believes certainly didn’t want this outcome. But she’s particularly sympathetic to the dog: “Her situation was created by a human who abused her in the first place and then by an owner who allowed her to get out and become frightened,” she said. “The dog is a victim here too.” She believes that Pit Bull owners have a responsibility to protect the public and says the City should impose special requirements for people who want to keep Pit Bulls.

The most seriously injured victim of the attacks, whom we are calling Carol, totally agrees with that last point. She thinks Honey’s owner acted irresponsibility and that the City compounded the problem by what happened after the attacks. "They should never have let that dog out," she told me. As we reported, the City returned Honey to the owner’s son ten days after having impounded her. According Seattle Animal Shelter supervisor Ann Graves, the City had to do so because there is no law allowing for a dog to be held while the Shelter’s “dangerous animal” assessment is underway. A ten-day quarantine period is required under the law in order to check for rabies, but that’s it.

In this case, the “dangerous animal” investigation was only completed last week, the recommendation that Honey be declared dangerous is still under review by the director of the Animal Shelter, and due process for the dog’s owner may take several more weeks to play out, according to Graves. In the meantime, Honey is somewhere in West Seattle and under no special restrictions resulting from the attacks. Carol’s response to all this: “I think the City screwed up. If that’s the law, the law needs to be changed.” She said she’s talked to people living near Honey’s house and they told her that the dog was loose on other occasions. Neighbors confirmed this when we asked, but noted it was unusual for Honey to be out unsupervised. What was usual, they said, was for Honey to be off leash whenever she was out with her family. One neighbor told us that “it was terrorizing” when it happened, so she and her kids avoided being in proximity to the dog.

The owner’s son, who says he now has the dog in his care fulltime, questioned why this is a story for the Madison Park Blogger, given that the dog is currently living with him in West Seattle and is no longer a danger to anyone in our neighborhood. From Carol’s perspective, that question totally misses the point. The issue now is whether people in West Seattle are safe, she says.

Ultimately, the City’s process will result in a decision in Honey’s case, likely one that will force her owner to either euthanize the dog or place her in a secure facility. “Owning a dangerous animal in the City is against the law,” says the Animal Shelter’s Graves, so once such a determination is made—assuming it is upheld if appealed—the dog can’t remain inside Seattle’s boundaries. Criminal charges are also a possibility, she noted.

In the meantime, we understand that some of the victims have approached the City to discuss changing current law. It’s possible, we’re told, that at least one member of the City Council may get involved in this case. Since the Pit Bull story broke, we’ve noticed a fair number of hits to our website coming from the “Seattle.gov” server, so someone in the City is apparently paying attention. “These attacks do raise a question for the community,” said Jane, Honey’s second victim. “This was a more frightening experience than I ever would have expected it to be,” she told us. “I feared for my life, and it affected me for days.”

[Editorial aside: We promised we would be discussing both “breedism” and Pit Bull attack statistics in this posting. However, the son’s owner, in the “Comments” section of our last posting, seems to have retracted his earlier statement that the “fuss” over the attacks was because of the dog being a Pit Bull and not because of the severity of the attacks. So we’ll leave a discussion of “breedism” aside.

With regard to attack statistics, it appears that DogsBite.org has the most authoritative information available on the internet, although its information is based on media reports. The site states that in 2009 there were 32 fatal dog attacks in the U.S., with 44% of these being by Pit Bulls. The site notes that over 500 cities and other jurisdictions in the country ban Pit Bulls. “Unlike other dog breeds, Pit Bulls frequently fail to communicate intention prior to an attack. They possess a lethal bite style (hold and shake) and a ruinous manner of attack.” For the first six months of 2009, apparently the most recent statistics available, there were 318 Pit Bull attacks reported in the media, involving 388 victims. Of these, 64% suffered severe injuries, 4% having one or more body parts severed, and 2% being killed outright. Children under the age of 5 suffered 84% of the most severe injuries.

This is a quote from Farber Law Group, a local firm specializing in personal-injury work: “The data also show that 68% of the Pit Bulls that attacked were not on their owner’s property [and that] Pit Bulls escape their owner's property and bite people at a higher rate than other dog breeds.”]

Photos of the friendly and not-so-friendly Pit Bulls, above, are culled from the internet. The friendly-dog photo is courtesty of Missouri Pit Bull Rescue.

Madison Park Pit Bull attacks three women

but is returned by Animal Control to its owner

On the afternoon of August 21, on a quiet street in the Washington Park neighborhood of Madison Park, two women were attacked by an unleashed Pit Bull. Both of the women were bitten, one badly enough to require a trip to the emergency room. Later that afternoon, another woman, while walking with a friend on the same street, was viciously attacked by the same roving dog. She too ended up in the emergency room, injured so severely that she was unable to return to work for a full month.

Although Seattle Animal Control was able to capture the offending dog, it proceeded to release the Pit Bull back to its owner after just ten days, telling the victims that in spite of the dog’s multiple unprovoked attacks there was no legal basis for continuing to hold the animal. Today, more than six weeks since the attacks occurred, the City has still placed no special restrictions on the released Pit Bull, and no criminal charges have been filed as a result of the attacks.

That’s the broad outline of a story that is disturbing—at least to the victims—on many levels. But there’s yet another surprising aspect to this tale. Under Seattle ordinance an owner can be fined only $269 for allowing their dog to bite someone. Yet the maximum fine for allowing a dog to be on a City beach is $500. So while the Pit Bull’s caretaker is being cited for allowing the dog to bite three people, he apparently would have faced a potentially higher monetary penalty if he’d been cited instead for three trips with the dog to Madison Park Beach:

The August attacks occurred on 39th Avenue E., on the block between E. Prospect and E. Highland Streets (shown in top photo). The victim most seriously injured that day is a Montlake resident and trauma nurse at Harborview Medical Center. She prefers that her identity not be disclosed, so we’ll call her Carol. This is her description of the attack: She and a friend were walking along the sidewalk at about 5:30 in the afternoon when they came upon a dog lying in the grass. She said “Hi Doggie” as she walked past the dog, and the dog immediately attacked her. She was severely bitten on the lower right leg, causing her to bleed profusely (that’s her injured leg in the photo below, shown three weeks following the attack).

Carol states that the dog appeared ready to make another attack, but finally ran off when nearby homeowners came out to help her and her friend. According to medical records, she suffered a three-inch laceration and multiple puncture wounds and was treated at Harborview. Because of pain and a resulting infection, she was unable to return to her nursing job until recently. She reports suffering some nerve damage as a result of the bite.

Carol says that when the Seattle Police arrived at the scene on the day of the attack officers told her she was not the first person to be bitten at that location that day. Indeed, about an hour earlier two women walking along the same street were attacked by a dog that they later identified as the same tan Pit Bull that bit Carol. According to the report of one of the victims, the dog suddenly attacked her and bit her deeply on the right calf as she walked by a hedge. The dog then attacked her friend, though the friend was able to shake off the dog and was not as seriously injured. The bleeding victim was transported to the emergency room of the University of Washington Medical Center, where she was given several stitches.

After the second biting incident, Seattle Police discovered the Pit Bull and followed it to its house, located just two blocks from the scene of the attacks. The dog was later identified by Animal Control as “Honey,” a three-year-old female Pit Bull (also designated in some documents as a Pit Bull mix).

The investigative report of the Seattle Animal Shelter (aka Animal Control) provides clues as to Honey’s behavior and that of another dog, a Rottweiler mix, staying at the same residence. The second dog was also off leash, but was not involved in the attacks. According to the report, this is what officers discovered at the house: “There were at least 20 piles of feces in the backyard, a dry and empty dog bowl, and an empty bag of dog food. The back door to the home was open. There was much clutter, debris, and flies near the back door to the home. There were no dog houses and no water available for the dogs.”

After police “cleared” the house, Animal Control officers entered and took photographs, reporting that “the inside of the house was very cluttered and there was a lot of debris and garbage everywhere, on all three floors plus the basement. There were two overflowing litter boxes…and the animals appear to be abandoned.” Photos included with the report show places in the house where animals appear to have dug up the carpeting. Officers eventually discovered some cat food and water in bowls in another part of the home. The officers felt that the Rottweiler was emaciated, so they impounded it, as well as Honey, and posted a “Cruelty Notice” at the residence. According to Ann Graves, an enforcement supervisor with the Seattle Animal Shelter, such a notice requires the animals’ owners to correct the deficiencies noted.

As required by Seattle animal-control ordinance, Honey was held in quarantine for ten days; and when evidence of her rabies vaccination was provided, she was released. Carol, the nurse most seriously injured by Honey, says she was outraged when she learned that such a dangerous dog has been allowed back into the community. But according to Graves, that’s how the system works when there is no previous record of an animal biting someone, as was the case here. The fact that three biting incidents may have occurred on the same day does not change the situation, she said. Administrative due process is still required before the offending dog can be taken from an owner.

The son of Honey’s owner contacted us to state that he had been taking care of the two dogs while his parents and sister were on vacation. He said he visited the Washington Park house once a day to water and feed the animals. He reported that Honey is now owned by him and is living with his family at their home in West Seattle. He added that he has not received any reports from Animal Control and was therefore unaware of the details of the alleged attacks. He admitted that Animal Control had issued citations to him because of the biting, but he said he intended to contest or mitigate the charges.

He told us that he didn’t understand how it was possible that the dog had bitten anyone, since Honey was generally afraid of strangers and would run the other direction if anyone approached her. This was a legacy, he said, of her time with her first owner, who used to beat her regularly. Honey was a rescue dog that had lived with the family in Washington Park since about February 2009, he told us. “She is a completely sweet dog who sleeps with me,” and “she doesn’t deserve to be destroyed.” He added that if people were attacked “it wasn’t a purposeful act or an expected result.”

In addition to the controversy over the City’s handling of this dangerous-dog situation, the owner’s son provides us with more food for thought by stating that in his opinion the “fuss“ by the victims and Animal Control over Honey’s alleged biting is really the result of “breedism” (which is apparently something akin to racism). He told us that if the dog involved had been anything other than a Pit Bull, “we wouldn’t be talking today.”

Meanwhile, the Shelter’s Ann Graves has confirmed to us that she will be recommending that Honey be declared a “dangerous animal.” An overview of the potential implications of that action, commentary by Honey’s victims, a report on Pitt Bull-attack statistics, and a discussion of “breedism” will be included in a related posting later this week.

[Editorial aside: The victims, whose names are not part of the public record, requested that their identities not be disclosed for purposes of this story. We honored their requests. The family of the attacking dog, Honey, also requested anonymity in this posting. Their names are part of the public record, so acceding to their request was a difficult call. In the end, we determined that our responsibility as a neighbor trumps our responsibility as a journalist, at least in this limited instance. Madison Park Blogger, after all, is a neighborhood blog—not a sensationalist rag. We do, however, reserve the right to change our mind on this “anonymity-for-guilty-neighbors” decision as the case moves forward.]

Photo of Honey from Seattle Animal Shelter investigative report.

Happy ending to lost-dog story

When has this kind of thing ever happened? Contractors are working at your house and someone leaves the door or the gate open. The dog wanders out into the unknown, and you come home to find the house empty. That, at least, is the back-story on this little stray, found early Thursday evening.

The pup, however, was lucky enough to be discovered by the Tennis Club's Shannon Harney after it was almost hit by a car on McGilvra. She secured the dog in the Club's kennel, notified Club staff of her find, printed up posters, and contacted the Madison Park Blogger to get the word out. And it worked! Later that evening a woman looking for her lost dog contacted a Club employee, and the dog and its owner were reunited in what I imagine must have been a touching scene.

The story, however, contains an object lesson for those of us who are pet owners. This dog did not have any visible identification. We can only hope that it did have one of those id chips embedded under its skin (Shannon says that she would have investigated this possibility if the owner had not been found). Lost dogs are not that uncommon in the neighborhood, and many of these do not have collars or tags. Consider this a word to the wise.

Dognapping: yes, it can happen here

It was a balmy spring evening in early June, and Carolyn Howard didn’t think twice about the fact that her front door was open and her dog, Piper, was sitting on the porch. In her 35 years in Madison Park it had never crossed her mind that anyone might walk off with someone’s dog—and her Wheaten Scottish Terrier was certainly not known for straying from the property. So she didn’t give the situation a second thought. But when she returned to the porch after just a few minutes, the 9-year-old Piper (aka “Pipes”) was nowhere to be found.

“I knew that she had been taken,” says Howard, “because everyone in the neighborhood could have said where Piper lived if she had been found by someone. After I looked for her and couldn’t find her my first instinct was that things were bad.” Howard immediately went into action, calling up pounds and veterinarian offices in the area and posting fliers around the neighborhood.

We’re happy to report that this story has a happy ending, with Piper being discovered by Howard at the Bellevue dog pound five days later. A wheaten-colored Scottie had been turned in, and Howard learned this fact after calling to listen to the pound’s daily recorded message listing new arrivals. She had hope that the dog was Piper but had to wait until the animal shelter opened the following day to find out for sure. At the reunion, according to Howard, Pipes was glad to be reunited but had no explanation to give for her disappearance.

Howard, who lives on the 1600 block of 42nd Avenue E., says “people need to know that this can happen. In the good weather, there are lots of people walking around the neighborhood who don’t live here. I’ve never been concerned before, but I sure am now. Piper is not getting out of my sight!”

A neighbor who had a similar thing happen to her dog several years ago speculates that someone took Piper with the intention of breeding the dog, later discovering upon closer examination that Piper had been neutered. A wheaten-colored Scottie is very unusual, according to Howard, and this may have been the attraction. As a precaution against further temptation, Howard jokes, “I think I am going to dye her black.”

Piper’s story provides an object lesson for those of us who are dog owners, especially those who have small pure-bred dogs that can be easily lifted. Being trusting may be a Madison Park thing, but it’s not necessary a wise thing.