Pit Bull Terriers

For Tim Racer and Donna Reynolds, the dog rescues started with an open-door policy. Cruising around Chicago on winter nights, they pulled up beside bedraggled strays and swung open the car door. If the animal didn't skitter away, if it wasn't too beaten down to contemplate jumping inside, they figured, there was a chance to save it. Often, their hearts got the best of them. They bolted from the car and chased down dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Tustin police Wednesday were looking for the owner of two 80-pound pit bulls that attacked an elderly woman on her front porch, killed her poodle and bit her hands savagely enough to require hospital treatment. Nan Haacker, who says she's in her 70s, was stepping out her front door in the 17000 block of Vinewood Avenue about 6:30 a.m. to walk her small 4-year-old white poodle, Wolfgang, when she found herself staring down the snout of a large, snarling dog.

Authorities had no luck Thursday finding the owner of two pit bulls who attacked an elderly woman and killed her poodle in Tustin. The pair of 80-pound dogs, both female, were being held in quarantine at the Orange County Animal Care Center after Wednesday's attack.

A Pasadena man was arrested Wednesday after his pit bulls attacked three people, police said. About 8:20 a.m., police received more than 20 calls from residents in the vicinity of North Michigan Avenue and East Mountain Street reporting that "a small pack of dogs were roaming loose in the area and were attacking residents," said Pasadena Police Lt. Alex Uribe. Three patrol cars and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene.

The Los Angeles City Council may soon be employing an unlikely set of partners -- parolees and pit bulls -- in its efforts to reduce euthanized killings of unwanted pets, and a demonstration Saturday offered a glimpse of how such a program would work. The council postponed approval of the Pit Bull Training Academy at a Friday hearing in Van Nuys until issues of liability and public safety could be sorted out.

A popular 60-year-old mail carrier remained in intensive care Wednesday, two days after he was attacked by a pit bull on his route in Torrance, police said. The mail carrier, a Cerritos resident and 25-year employee of the U.S. Postal Service, was walking by a house in the 700 block of Amapola Avenue on Monday.

The owner of a pit bull faces the possibility of three years in prison after her dog attacked a letter carrier, Orange County prosecutors said Monday. Sheri Moody's dog allegedly jumped into a neighbor's yard on Sept. 4 and knocked the mailman to the ground, causing a large cut to his face and an injury to his left eye, which might require reconstructive surgery. Moody, 54, was charged Monday with one felony count of allowing a vicious animal at large to cause serious bodily injury.

Following the lead of San Francisco and San Jose, Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday asked the county counsel to draw up an ordinance that would require spaying and neutering of many pit bulls and Rottweilers. As in other communities, several animal activists opposed the requirement. But Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who offered the motion, cited a recent pit bull attack on a 11-month-old girl to argue it was necessary. The county intends to exempt professional breeders.

Animal control officials plan to start enforcing a new law forcing pit bull owners to spay or neuter their animals. The city's Animal Care & Control Agency has been issuing warnings to owners of pit bull terriers and pit bull mixes. Owners could face up to six months in jail and as much as $1,000 in fines for violations of the regulations. Agency Director Carl Friedman said Thursday the warning period was over and officers would begin issuing citations.

A man who unleashed his pit bull on a cat that later died was sentenced to nine months in San Mateo County Jail for felony animal cruelty. As part of the sentence, Anthony Makoni, 19, of East Palo Alto also is prohibited from owning animals and will serve three years' probation after he is released. Makoni's dog, Black, was scheduled to be euthanized for the February attack.