Residents of a lawn in the Western Hemisphere in Amstelveen where four fighting dogs bit dog Tim to death yesterday are very upset. Some of them saw how the dog was torn apart.
NH spoke today with eyewitnesses who live around the lawn. Tim’s owner and her neighbor, with whom she walked the dogs yesterday, also told their story. The women live in the flat next to the lawn and would rather not have their names in the media.
“He had to fight a terrible death struggle”
“I’m really devastated,” says Tim’s owner. She’s just putting away his things. Now that Tim is no longer there, the woman lives alone. “My husband has passed away, my other dog is also gone.” She finds it difficult to digest the way Tim met his end. “He had to fight a terrible death struggle.”
Afraid of dogs
The neighbors often walk the dogs together. This was also the case yesterday afternoon around 3:30 PM. A little further away, a resident of an adjacent apartment is walking with his four dogs, which are not on a leash. According to the animal ambulance, these are two XL pit bulls and two Staffords.
Several local residents with dogs say today that they no longer dare to walk in the park because they are afraid of the pit bulls. “Normally, I walk in a different direction when I see those dogs coming. Then I often signal the owner, because he takes that into account,” says Tim’s owner.
Fighting dogs are dogs with wide jaws and a muscular body. They are also called high-risk dogs because they have an inbred aggression and background of attacking and killing. Originally, the dogs were actually used in fights. The types of Pit Bull, Stafford, Boerboel, Bull Mastiff, Dogo Argentino and Cane Corso are considered fighting dogs.
There used to be a ban on fighting dogs in the Netherlands, but that was abolished eleven years ago. The bulldog XL, which is larger than a normal bulldog, has been banned in England since January 1.
Dutch plastic surgeons sounded the alarm last August because they were flooded with (human) victims of biting dogs. In response to that call, the House of Representatives wanted a breeding and keeping ban on dogs that pose a risk of biting.
This time one of the fighting dogs comes running from behind out of nowhere. Before she can do anything, the animal grabs the little border terrier Tim. The three other fighting dogs follow his example and dive in. “I quickly picked up my dog,” says the neighbor. “A dog jumped at me to try to catch it too, but luckily it didn’t work.”
“He really tried everything to protect Tim”
According to the women, the owner of the fighting dogs is making frantic efforts to get his animals under control. “In the end he even lay on Tim. He really tried everything to protect him.”
Neighbor Maria, who came towards the screams, also saw this. “I called 112 from my balcony and the police were there very quickly,” she says. Maria eventually sees things go completely wrong. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The dogs were really aggressive.”
Torn
Meanwhile, Tim’s owner is shielded, so she cannot see what the dogs are doing to her beloved pet. Neighbors who continued to watch later told NH that one of the dogs flew at Tim’s throat and shook its head back and forth, while the dog dangled between his jaws. “He is really torn,” says Maria. She couldn’t sleep last night. “You’ll never forget this.”
The neighbors are still in shock from the explosion of violence that occurred on the lawn yesterday. Especially the fact that the dogs did not let go had a big impact.
Dog behavior expert Arnoud Busscher explains how a dog can go off the rails. He suspects that the ‘prey aggression’ has been fueled. “That was projected onto Tim. He was probably not seen as a dog, but as prey.”
In a trance
The dogs then ‘lit each other up.’ Due to the aggressive nature of pit bulls and Staffords, these types of dogs fall into a kind of trance at such moments. “They no longer feel pain and do not hear their owner calling.” This fits with the picture of the incident painted by eyewitnesses. “They no longer listened to his orders at all,” says one of them.
For this reason, Busscher, for example, advises against giving these types of dog toys in the mouth. Then prey aggression can also be stimulated. They then make the same movement with their heads as the dog that eventually bit Tim in the throat.
Several neighbors say the attack did not come as a surprise. According to them, incidents have happened before in which a dog belonging to this owner attacked other dogs. The police have not confirmed this.
Housing association Eigen Haard, which manages the flat where the man lives, can say that neighbors have complained about nuisance. “Things have been better lately,” a spokesperson said.
‘Sweet and social’
There is a lot of misunderstanding about the fact that the fighting dogs were running loose. A friend of the owner of the fighting dogs told NH today that he did that because it is normal in the neighborhood. “Other people also let their dogs run free.” According to her, the dogs are very sweet and social and so she does not understand how this could have happened.
A prosecutor interviewed the man today, but it is not yet known what will happen to the dogs. They are currently still seized.
Needs extra attention
Many neighbors also feel bad for the owner of the fighting dogs that this has happened, but still think it is better if the dogs do not (all) return. “It’s just not feasible in such a small apartment,” says a neighbor who wishes to remain anonymous. She has already raised the alarm with authorities several times.
Busscher acknowledges that there is a lot involved if you want to keep these types of dogs. “They need extra attention. With these types of dogs you have to pay extra attention to whether they are properly socialized. When they live alone in groups, they do not learn to get along with other dogs. This is due to the low aggression threshold of pit bulls and Staffords.”
“These dogs release a kind of power that we humans have no answer to”
He has also experienced a dog being torn apart in front of his eyes. He therefore understands that it was a traumatic experience for the neighborhood. “These dogs release a kind of power that we humans have no answer to. This will stay with you for the rest of your life.”