Neighbors outraged over return of pit bull

Residents of a Williams neighborhood are outraged after a pit bull was returned to its owner last month, a day after it reportedly attacked and killed a smaller dog that was leashed to a teenage girl.

"We just don’t want any dogs like that around here," said Mayra Vega-Salazar, who lives in the 1000 block of Nicolaus Drive in Williams.

Vega-Salazar’s niece and nephew were walking their 2-year-old poodle, Spider, on a leash around 10 a.m. on June 30 when a blue-nose pit bull that was roaming freely reportedly attacked the poodle, grabbing it by the neck and shaking the animal to death, the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Sheriff’s Lt. Shane Maxey sympathized with residents’ concerns and said the problem lies within the state law.

“If we’d had legal authority to hold the dog, we would have,” Maxey said Tuesday.

Maxey said state law requires at least two separate attacks on another animal to hold a dog, and one attack on a person if multiple stitches are required as a result of injury.

“All we could do was hold the dog until (the owner) bailed it out,” Maxey explained.

Cynthia Pineda said she is still traumatized by the memory of the sudden attack.

“I think about it every day,” Pineda said Monday. “I can’t even walk down that street anymore because I see it all again in my head.”

Relatives said Pineda, 17, was eventually taken to a Colusa Regional Medical Center after experiencing panic attacks after the incident.

Pineda was walking with her younger brother, Noe Ramirez, 12, and said she saw the pit bull charging and tried to pick Spider up in her arms and run away, but said the pit bull was too fast.

“He just grabbed him out of my arms and I tried to keep kicking him to let go, but he wouldn’t let go,” Pineda said.

The pit bull, whose name is Chino, is owned by Luis Alberto Ramirez, who also lives in the same neighborhood.

Ramirez, 29, declined to comment when contacted by telephone Monday.

The Sheriff’s Office said Ramirez told investigators the dog has never had any problems before the incident, describing him as “friendly.”

Ramirez reportedly told animal control officers he was surprised and said he had never seen the dog act aggressively before.

Ramirez is set to appear in Colusa County Superior Court for arraignment on the animal control code violation “dog at large.” He faces a fine of about $215, court records state.

Pineda said she is extremely angry the pit bull was not destroyed.

“It sucks because that dog killed my dog and I’ll never get to see him again, but they get to see their dog every day,” Pineda said. “It just hurts a lot.”

Vega-Salazar said she “very worried” the dog may attack, again.

“What about all the kids that live here,” Vega-Salazar said. “We don’t want what happened (in Martinez) to happen here.”

Last week, a 2-year-old Martinez boy was killed when three of his grandfather’s pit bulls suddenly attacked, Vega-Salazar said.

“They are very dangerous, powerful dogs.”