STRONG - Lori Podpora chokes up when she remembers her two-year-old pit bull mix, Delilah, playing in the yard with her daughters.
The family pet was put down by a local SPCA shelter after being taken by the state dog warden for being a dangerous dog, a claim that Podpora disputes.
"According to the law, a dangerous dog is one that attacks without provocation," the owner said. "I felt that she was provoked every time, but I never got to tell my side of the story."
A July 10 incident marked the third time that authorities were called concerning Delilah. State Dog Warden Alan Fegley arrived at the property July 15 to deliver a summons for the owner to appear in court on a charge of harboring a dangerous dog, and said he needed to take the dog. Podpora was given 24 hours to find a place for Delilah to be put up for adoption, but couldn't, and she said she couldn't afford the responsibility of keeping a "dangerous dog."
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's website, which oversees the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, if the dog is deemed dangerous by the magisterial district judge, several steps must be taken, including registering the dog annually with a $500 registration fee plus administrative costs, confining the dog in a structure and posting a bond or purchasing and maintaining liability insurance in the amount of $50,000 to pay for any injuries inflicted by the dog.
When the dog was taken from her on July 15, Podpora said, she asked the warden if the Lycoming SPCA would do an assessment. Fegley said they might. When Podpora called the SPCA July 18, she was informed that Delilah was euthanized, with no assessment done.
"The SPCA explained to me when the dog warden brings in a dog and tells them that it is 'dangerous,' by law, they have to put the animal down," Podpora said.
Samantha Krepps, press secretary for the state Department of Agriculture, responding by e-mail to a News-Item inquiry, said, "The dog warden was contacted by another law enforcement agency about a dangerous dog situation.
While investigating, the dog warden issued a dangerous dog citation to the owner. After the citation was issued and the dog warden had left the property, the owner contacted the warden the next day and relinquished ownership of the dog. The dog warden, at the owner's request, took the dog to the Lycoming SPCA. We do not have jurisdiction over the SPCA."
The summons has since been withdrawn, but there was no indication from Magisterial District Judge Hugh Jones's Mount Carmel office that a hearing was ever held to determine if Delilah was in fact dangerous.
'Protecting her family'
Podpora claims that in the three incidents that occurred since Delilah was nine weeks old, the dog was just protecting her family. The first incident happened during a Feb. 27, 2010, snowstorm when her daughters were walking Delilah. A female neighbor stopped to talk with the children and then bent down and put her hand in the dog's mouth, according to Podpora.
"One of Delilah's teeth pricked her finger, like a pin prick, but the person called police to respond to make sure the dog had its rabies shots," Podpora said. "She even said in the incident report that it was nothing serious."
The second incident occured in April 2010 when a next-door neighbor replaced a four-foot chain link fence with a six-foot privacy fence, with which Podpora had no problem. However, she said the neighbor didn't inform her when the work would be done.
"I let Delilah and my husky out that day to run in the yard, and there were gaps in the fence becuase of the work being done. Delilah must have thought he was coming into the yard and jumped over the remaining standing fence and grabbed his pant leg at the end and shook," Podpora said.
The neighbor ran into a tool shed while Podpora retrieved Delilah, then told them a few days later he went to the doctor for a puncture wound on his upper thigh, which he claimed was caused by a bite from Delilah.
"If the dog bit him, how is there only one puncture mark? Why not more?" she asked.
The last incident happened July 10 when Podpora claimed a neighbor's dog pushed through a fence and went after Delilah.
"My dog was bleeding from the initial bite. I sprayed the hose and Delilah ran away, but the other dog was still barking to intimidate. The neighbors came out and yelled about the blood on their dog, but it looked like blood from my dog when it bit Delilah," Podpora said.
Vincent Rovito, representing the neighbors who own the dog in the scuffle with Delilah, said authorities said the dog should have been put down a year ago.
"We are talking about a vicious pit bull that has bitten two people, and attacked and injured my client's dog," Rovito said. "Pit bulls are bred for one purpose, to be vicious animals, and that's coming from a dog owner."
After looking at pictures of the blood around the neighbor's dog's neck, Rovito sent a memo to both Fegley and his supervisor about Delilah, demanding action. Rovito said Delilah was so vicious that a neighbor had to stand outside with a gun while excavation work was being completed because a worker refused to be in the yard otherwise.
'No problems'
After the first incident, Podpora took the dog for obedience training, putting a muzzle on Delilah for the first lesson with teacher Luann Schleig, of Silver Hydrant Dog Training, Coal Township.
"I can tell through the demeanor that the dog didn't appear dangerous, so we took the muzzle off and had no problems with Delilah," Schleig said, "But that was a year ago, and if dogs are not given proper exercise and such, it's tough to know how they will react in such situations."
Despite accusations from neighbors, Podpora pours over pictures of Delilah with her daughters and other family members and can't understand how the dog could be considered dangerous.
"That doesn't sound like a dangerous dog to me," Podpora said, who plans to speak with an attorney. She has created a Facebook page as well.
"I just hope that someone can learn from Delilah's plight and loss. If one animal is saved, her death wouldn't be in vain," Podpora said.