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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 1, 2009

Pit bull euthanized after Kailua attack

Advertiser Staff

A pit bull has been euthanized after the dog bit a child Friday night on Hualani Street in Kailua, police said.

The attack came three days after pit bulls attacked two women in separate incidents in Kapolei and Kalihi.

A police spokesman said the Kailua attack occurred as a woman was walking on Hualani with her small child, who was in a stroller. The dog, which was tied in its owner's yard, broke its restraint and bit the child. Police said the child was bitten on the face but the injury was minor and did not require stitches.

A neighbor came out to help the woman and restrained the animal, police said.

The pit bull's owner decided to have the animal euthanized by the Humane Society, police said.

A Humane Society spokesman declined comment last night.

The women injured in Tuesday's pit bull attacks were initially hospitalized in serious condition as a result of dog bites, officials said.

In the first attack Tuesday, two pit bulls attacked a 59-year-old woman in her driveway on Kama'aha Avenue in Kapolei. The woman suffered lacerations to her right leg and left hand. Police said she fought the dogs off by punching them.

Later Tuesday, at around 4:15 p.m., a Kalihi woman, said to be in her 60s, was attacked in her Kilohi Street driveway by a 60-pound brown pit bull.

Police are investigating both attacks.

And on Jan. 14, a man allegedly turned his 70-pound pit bull loose on a police detective during a confrontation. The officer was bitten on the stomach and shot the dog, which later died.

Although infrequent, pit bull attacks have caused serious and even fatal injuries in Hawai'i. In October 2008, a mixed pit bull killed a baby girl in her Wai'anae home as she slept.

Tuesday's attacks came on the same day a measure was introduced in the state Legislature to prohibit ownership of pit bulls in Hawai'i.