Mayhem, a young 2- to 3-year-old pit bull was put down after he mauled a volunteer and injured two other people at Pawsitive Warriors Rescue on Monday night.
Pawsitive Warriors founder and owner Molly Murray said she’s had about 1,000 dogs come through the rescue in about two year’s time and this is the first violent incident.
Murray said Mayhem was seized from a drug bust house and had been at the rescue for about two weeks — but she said what was shocking was that he passed all of the rescue’s temperament tests and never showed signs of aggression, even towards other dogs.
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She even let her own children around him without being concerned.
“The vet thinks it could’ve been something called ‘rage epilepsy,’” she said. “And it’s a seizure that causes them to act this way. Don’t know it’s coming. Don’t know what causes it. It just happens.”
Murray said a teen volunteer was bringing Mayhem inside around 7 p.m. Monday when he started becoming resistant. The volunteer tried to pull him into his cage with a slip lead, but then Mayhem bit her.
Murray said the volunteer called for help and Kim Hoke, a lead volunteer, came to the teen’s rescue — but then Mayhem mauled her.
The teen’s dad happened to be at the rescue and was able to pull the dog off Hoke and hold him down until the Clark County Sheriff’s Office arrive, but he also was bitten.
All three were taken to the hospital — but Hoke suffered critical injuries. She was taken by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.
As of Tuesday evening she had improved to serious condition, although Murray said she will have to undergo plastic surgery in addition to a previous surgery.
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Murray said Hoke has about two years experience working with the dogs at the rescue.
“(Kim’s) here just about as much as I am,” Murray said. “All the kids love to come in and work with ‘Mamaw Kim’ is what they call her. She’s really close with all the kids. She’s really involved here. She’s excellent with the dogs. She’s got pit bulls at home herself.”
Mayhem was euthanized by a local vet shortly after the attack.
Murray said she’s confident there were no warning signs that rescue volunteers missed, but she will be looking at the rescue’s protocols to see if there’s any way to prevent something like this from happening again.
One of her suggestions was arming all volunteers with Citronella — which she said acts like a pepper spray to dogs. The rescue has Citronella at different stations around the facility, but Murray is considering putting the spray on volunteers’ persons.
“I understand people’s concerns about volunteering and the kids — but I do everything in my power to keep the other dogs and kids safe.”
BY THE NUMBERS
2 — age of dog who was euthanized
3 — number of volunteers who were injured
1000 — number of dogs Pawsitive Warriors has served since opening
The News-Sun has written several stories about Pawsitive Warriors Rescue in New Carlisle, most recently a large donation the rescue received for its detailed care for its dogs.
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