Safety Choices are Few in Dog Attacks, Vet and Other Experts Say

July 25--The horrifying attack of a Michigan jogger along a quiet, rural road in Lapeer County this week has dog owners, runners, bicyclists and others wondering what to do if a dog attacks.

The answers are limited and grim.

"Once they're in that fight or flight mode, they're going to do what they're going to do," said veterinarian Rachel Brown at the Affiliated Veterinary Emergency Service in Allen Park.

That's particularly true when the attack involves more than one dog, Brown said.

"With two of them, they can get that pack mentality," she said, adding that there's not a single easy spot on which to hurt a dog or injure a dog to stop it.

Once a seemingly unprovoked dog attack has begun, it's nearly impossible to de-escalate it -- an especially dangerous situation when it involves a large and powerful breed like the Cane Corso, she said.

Craig Sytsma, 46, died Wednesday evening after he was attacked by a pair of Cane Corsos -- an exotic breed of dogs bred to hunt wild boar in their native Italy -- in rural Metamora Township, just north of the Oakland County line.

Metamora Township Police Officer Sean Leathers, who was one of the first on the scene, said it appeared that Sytsma had simply been -- "jogging, doing what everybody else does out there, running and riding bikes."

Sytsma, a divorced father of three, was unconscious and undergoingCPR when Leathers arrived and died at a local hospital, police said. On Thursday, Oxford resident April Smith said she was attacked in 2012 by one of two dogs.

At Allen Park's Affiliated Veterinary Emergency Service, Brown and long-time vet tech Jeannette Raines have faced their share of snarling, snapping dogs.

Raines has had stitches twice, seen the doctor several times, and once was forced to jump on a freezer to avoid a scared Rottweiler that lunged at her. Another time, a pit bull snapped at her ear when she was examining it.

And those are controlled situations involving injured, scared animals. More dangerous? Dogs on the attack apparently for little reason, they said.

Both say it's wrong to blame a specific breed, and an attack is usually a result of several factors, including the lack of restraint and training by the owner.

Raines said she helped a Cane Corso that was having trouble in labor "and she was fine," Raines said.

But she and Brown also say the breed, described by the American Kennel Club as "noble, majestic, and powerful in presence," is also known for its aggression.

"We see a few of them. They're not very common," Brown said. "I never had one that I didn't have to sedate" to treat.

Renowned dog trainer, Cesar Millan, also says it's wrong to blame a breed for an attack; but it's equally important to understand that some breeds, like the Cane Corso, are known for their strength and power and their ability to inflict damage.

"Remember, these dogs don't dream of being in the news when they grow up. Dogs don't premeditate bad acts like people do," according to the Millan web site. "Bad things happen when powerful breeds (or mixes of powerful breeds) live with humans who like the breed but don't understand and fulfill the animal in the dog."

SOURCES: Affiliated Veterinary Emergency Service in Allen Park, www.cesarsway.com/

Copyright 2014 - Detroit Free Press