Two dogs involved in attack in Palatine have now attacked woman and dog in Elmwood Park, lawyer says
Two dogs that went on a bloody rampage in Palatine in May, leaving a dog dead, and two humans and another dog injured, have been involved in another attack, attorneys and victims said Tuesday.
"These dogs are essentially being trained to kill with nothing being done about it. What's going to happen to the next person?" said Steve Heinz, husband o the most recent victim.
The most recent attack happened in Elmwood Park on Aug. 20, according to attorneys. Aneta Heinz, 48, was walking her 4-year-old retriever mix, Piper Jo, near Wellington and 78th when the two dogs jumped out of a yard and knocked her down, attorneys said. Both Heinz and her dog were injured.
"The akita tried to snap her spine while the pitbull comes up from the front and tries to grab the neck and rip the throat out," Steve Heinz said.
The previous attack in Palatine happened on May 24 near Paddock Elementary School. A dog was killed, and two people and another dog were injured.
In that previous case, police said a woman was walking two large dogs on leashes, a Pitbull and an Akita mix, when they broke free and went after Amanda Ingram and her small dog, Casper. Ingram tried to protect Casper, but he ultimately died. She was bitten, scraped and had fingers broken.
I said it was going to happen again. I said they weren’t addressing the problem. My attack happened for seven minutes where I was being dragged along the concrete. Attacked myself, my dog was being torn to shreds, so to know that it happened again, that someone else had to go through it," Ingram said.
Police say the dogs then went after Chase Braun, who was walking nearby with his small dog, Kona.
"I think they should euthanize the dogs and do a better job of following up," Braun said.
Both Braun and Kona were bitten numerous times.
"Pitbull took a three inch chunk out of my arm," said Braun.
Attorney Michael J. Schostok, who represents the Palatine victims, said that he heard of the Elmwood Park attack accidentally while in court on another case. Schostok says the owner of the two large dogs, Meleina Teodoro, plead guilty to eight of the 13 ordinance violations she was issued because of the attack.
In addition to paying more than $800 in fines and court costs, Schostok says the Judge ordered her to get her dogs trained and move them out of Palatine to another municipality.
Schostok is now suing the Village of Palatine, along with the dogs' owner, Meleina Teodoro.
In a statement, Palatine said: "The Village sought the most stringent outcome that was supported by the law and local ordinances at the time of the dog bites in Palatine including criminal charges which remain pending. As to the administrative citations, to suggest that the dogs should have been euthanized would have been to ignore the law."