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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Two Gun-Carrying Neighbors Save Women From Dog Attack
2010-09-13
Two women were still recovering Saturday after a vicious dog attack the morning before that didn't end until neighbors shot the dogs.

About 6 a.m. Friday, three loose dogs attacked 52-year-old Janelle Dalson, who was jogging through her neighborhood. The woman's screams woke one neighbor, who came outside to find her fending off the three dogs, which collectively weighed nearly 300 pounds.

"They actually had her body up off the ground, and they were trying to rend her apart."

Fortunately, her neighbor came out of his house armed with his Walther PPK Handgun. He shot the lead dog in the head, but the other two dogs continued their assault, and his gun jammed.

Just then, two other women came running up the street and the two dogs went after them. One of the women was pregnant, who was attacked.

Another neighbor came outside armed with a handgun, and shot the two dogs before they could seriously hurt the pregnant woman.

The lead dog, a bull mastiff has since been destroyed and the two others - which are pit bull - mastiff mixes - will likely soon follow. Police were investigating the attack Saturday and requested the Solano County district attorney's office file charges against the dog owners for allowing vicious animals to run free.

Dalson remained hospitalized Saturday, reportedly facing some paralysis because of the attack, which could end her career as a dental hygienist.
Posted by: Anonymoose

#15  "Grandma" sounds pretty fit to be jogging at 6am, probably a kick ass lady.
Posted by: Sprocket Muppet   2010-09-13 20:30  

#14  I'd give'm some credit - pretty sure when he went to bed he didn't set the alarm for a quarter till to prep defending grandma from three battle dogs. Credit to the others, sounds like a decent neighborhood.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2010-09-13 19:11  

#13  An axe-handle strike across the spine with 150-200lbs of force behind it will usually put most dogs out of action. Don't aim for the head, aim for the spine. As for a pistol, the best shot is into the chest or spine. Not many animals will keep fighting with a severed spine. If you're quick enough, and have no other defenses, a sharp blow with a fist to the nose or top of the head with every ounce of force you can muster will also usually put an end to most man-dog encounters. Does NOT work with very large dogs - you'll lose a hand. In an attack by a three-dog pack, kicking is NOT a winning situation.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2010-09-13 16:03  

#12  "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."
Posted by: mojo   2010-09-13 15:18  

#11  .380 ACP's are some what well known for being VERY ammunition picky. That's one reason why you have to fire a number of brands to find one that your weapon feeds consistently.

Without taking the time or money to figure that out, then someone is little better than completely untrained and surviving any sort of violent encounter is very much luck on their part.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2010-09-13 11:45  

#10  chemist: have you ever seen the size of a pit bull or bull mastiffs head? and being limp wristed with a pistol can cause it too jam. Happens alot with bigger models like the desert eagle 50. but I don't know why anyone with be limp wristed with a 380
Posted by: chris   2010-09-13 11:27  

#9  if you drop your wrist while firing you can actually cause a jam in some cases...
Posted by: Broadhead6   2010-09-13 11:10  

#8  
This is a WAG, but it sounds to me as if the first man with the Walther PPK owns it, bought ammo for it but basically has not taken the proper steps to train himself in it's use.


A wise man once told me that you shouldn't count on any gun for self-defense until you've but hundreds of rounds through it, and shouldn't count on any particular type of ammunition until you've put at least a hundred rounds of it through the gun.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2010-09-13 10:21  

#7  Silentbrick: Let me heartily endorse what you said. In a situation like that, I would prefer a substantial bladed weapon to most handguns, purely for tactical reasons and to insure a quick take down of the dogs. A machete with a wrist loop would be close to ideal--with a gun back up.

One good swipe, and the dog wouldn't have hind feet, since they are focused on their victim. Without feet, they are done.

It's a mistake to focus on the heavily "armored" head at first. If they can't walk, maneuver, or attack, you can move on to the next one.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2010-09-13 10:10  

#6  I think that the word "destroyed" is a funny one when applied to living dogs and probably means at the end of the attack they were all dead with the corpse of the lead dog already incinerated by the time the article was written.

For clearing the pistol I think that it is bad idea when you have two angry dogs near you and the guy was probably very close because it is difficult to hit anything with a pistol at more than 10 yards
Posted by: JFM   2010-09-13 08:27  

#5  Bone is more resilient than you think, and while there are some very effective .380 ACP loads, keep in mind that a .380 is a less powerful round than the typical 9x19mm used by alot of military pistols.

This is a WAG, but it sounds to me as if the first man with the Walther PPK owns it, bought ammo for it but basically has not taken the proper steps to train himself in it's use.

Simple jam clearing consists of three steps, tap the magazine to ensure it's properly seated, rack the slide to eject the jammed or failed round, ready to fire. Secondary clearing, if the previous fails is to lock the slide back, drop the magazine, rack the slide a few times to clear the obstruction, reload.

So likely the first dog was merely incapacitated, which is actually fine, the man stopped that attacker, the other two were hit in some non-immediately fatal part of their body. Guns are not magic death rays and people have survived being shot multiple times, so the fact they didn't die isn't that surprising.


Bit long winded there, but hopefully that sheds some light.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2010-09-13 05:37  

#4  I don't know much about guns so here is my question: If the lead dog was shot in the head, presumabably at close range (I'm assuming that the neighbour ran in close before firing so to be sure to not miss and accidently hit the woman being attacked), why was it necessary to 'destroy' (which I take to mean kill) the dog later? Wouldn't the shot to the head pretty much do the job. The other 2 dogs also seem to have survived the shooting....
Posted by: Chemist   2010-09-13 04:36  

#3  Yeah, James Bond's gun isn't supposed to jam.
Posted by: gromky   2010-09-13 04:12  

#2  Very nice "head shot" at any range with a Walther. Might wish to check the ammo regarding the jamming. What say you Ceser Millan?
Posted by: Besoeker   2010-09-13 04:04  

#1  "But my bull mastiff is a gentle heart! He'd never hurt a soul! Look how kind his eyes are, and he's so good with children."

Yeah, because the dog knows you and thinks you're the leader of the pack. Others don't get that consideration and may be considered prey.
Posted by: gromky   2010-09-13 03:05  

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