Man in ICU after pit bull attack
Two dogs could be euthanized
By Mike Peters, Greeley Tribune
Published May 9, 2008 at 9:30 p.m.
While a Greeley man remains in the intensive care unit of the hospital, the pit bulls believed to have attacked him Thursday night are being kept in quarantine until a decision is made whether to euthanize them.
Gregario Rios, 54, suffered severe injuries to his head and face - one ear was almost torn off - in the dog attack Thursday night. He is in the North Colorado Medical Center's intensive care unit, reportedly in serious, but stable, condition.
According to police, the owner of the dogs, Sherry Gerdie, who also uses the name Sherry Pisano, is serving a 10-day jail sentence for driving after her license had been revoked. While she was in jail, the dogs were kept in an apartment in the 800 block of 12th Street and cared for by Victor Pisano.
Victor Pisano was the one who discovered the badly injured Rios on Thursday night.
"He was going to feed the dogs because I couldn't handle the male," Victor Pisano said outside his apartment Friday morning. "I went to the grocery store, and when I came home, I found him on the floor with blood all over."
Pisano said Rios asked him to get the dogs outside, so Pisano put them in his car and called 911. Two dogs - a male and a female - were taken to the Humane Society shelter in Evans, where they will be kept in quarantine.
"Normally, the owner has three days to ask for an appeal or the dogs become the property of the city," said Humane Society Director Elaine Hicks. "But we need to keep them in quarantine right now to make sure there are no rabies problems."
Hicks said about one-quarter of the dogs at the Humane Society are pit bulls or pit bull mixes.
"It's a long-standing argument regarding pit bulls," Hicks said, "nature versus nurture."
Victor Pisano said they were so worried about the male's aggressiveness that they were already considering having the dog euthanized.
After the 10-day quarantine, a decision will be made on whether to euthanize one or both of the dogs.
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
