A NEIGHBORHOOD HELD HOSTAGE BY TWO PIT BULLS

It is a quiet well-groomed neighborhood in Lincoln Heights in East Los Angeles. The quiet is broken only at recess time with the laughter of hundreds of kids playing at the elementary school on Vaquero Ave.

Residents have signed petitions and are trying to fight back. They want another hearing. At the first hearing they say they were threaten by the pit bull's owner. One neighbor who lives two doors away said the dog owner told her if she continued to try and take action with the city about his dogs he would get her and her family. She says he said he would release the dogs in the evening when her kids were playing in their front yard or on the sidewalk. The residents want to know why City Officials will not take action. They say that at the hearing the dog owner was given the names, addresses and phone numbers of all the people who complained and signed the petition against his pit bulls. Now one woman, who led the effort to get the petitions signed, says the dog owner comes to her home and sits in his car across the street trying to intimidate her. Other neighbors say the owner has threaten to turn the dogs on them if they continue their protest to the city.

The residents say the dog owner and his pit bulls are going to kill someone very soon. The pit bulls have chased one elderly woman into her home twice. The second time was after the animal control hearing. If this elderly woman trips or falls trying to get back into her home the dogs will probably kill her. Police officers who answered one of the calls told the residents that the dogs were vicious and if they enter their homes they should shoot them. A spokeswoman for Los Angeles Animal Control says right now there is not much they can do. But one of the pit bulls named "Snoop" is in dog jail for the attack that came after the hearing. But the owner got another pit bull, so there are still two at the home. I am trying to help the residents with their battle with the dog owner and the City Animal Control Department. I contacted the L.A. City Attorney's Office and they are now investigating. I will keep you up to date on this investigation.

PIT BULL DOGS UPDATE, DECEMBER 2001

In early December the City of Los Angeles Animal Control held a second hearing about the Pit Bull Dogs running loose. The hearing came after resident Mrs. Cecilia Quintero wrote letters to the Mayor, City Attorney, Animal Control and other city officials. Mrs. Quintero was also on the Troubleshooter Talk Show explaining how the city held a hearing in the summer and refused to take action to remove the pit bull dogs that were stocking the neighborhood. The pit bull dogs killed Mrs. Quintero's two pet dogs and she was attacked and chased into her home twice by the same pit bull dogs. One of these attacks came after the first hearing when the dogs were returned to the owner. At the second city hearing all three dogs were ordered out of the City of Los Angeles.� The dog named "Snoopy" was ordered out of the city forever, and the other two pit bull dogs out of the city for three years. The owner of the dogs was extremely angry about the action taken by the city.

The City of L.A. fallout from the City Attorney's investigation, my Troubleshooter Investigation, the Troubleshooter Talk Shows, and the pressure applied by resident Mrs. Quintero and her sister Sally cost some city employees their jobs. LA Mayor James Hahn asked the Animal Control Director to step down form his position after the first hearing in the summer of 2001 when Animal Control refused to take action. The Director refused, and then Mayor Hahn fired him. The Animal Control Lieutenant who Mrs. Quintero says was always stalling the complaints of the neighbors was also let go. According to sources inside the Animal Control Department there was a major shake up. An acting director is now running the City of LA's Animal Control Department.

What made me think there was something rotten inside the Animal Control Department was when the PR woman told me that the residents who were attacked and the parents to the children who were bitten did not show up at the first hearing. She said the city had no choice but drop the complaints.� I went to the neighborhood and talked to the residents who all said they were at the city hearing but were not allowed to speak. The aunt of the little boy who was bitten said she wanted to explain what happen but they said she could not speak. Mrs. Cecilia Quintero who was attacked twice, also said she was told she could not speak. When I called the PR woman back and told her that all these people swear that they were at the hearing at 9:am. Many of these neighbors had to get excuses from their employers to be away from work that morning. The PR woman said she was not there but the Lieutenant in charge said they did not show up. He is the one who is no longer with the department. This proves that citizens can fight city hall! And remember I am ready to help you on the Troubleshooter Talk Show and right here on the Troubleshooter Web Site.����

Pit Bull Dogs are Still in the Neighborhood
(Up Date March 21, 2002) It has been almost three months since the City of Los Angeles Animal Control ordered the owner of the pit bull dogs to remove them from the city. But since he appealed the order, the Pit Bull Dogs are still there in the neighborhood. Mrs. Cecelia Quintero who has been fighting the LA City Hall for more than eight months says the appeal is taking way too long and the owner is still threatening the neighborhood of El Serino. Ms. Quintero says the parents of the children who were bitten by these pit bull dogs are fearful about testifying again at another hearing because nothing happen before and the owner has threaten to release the dogs at night to attack their children.


Ms. Quintero says the principal of the school that is 50-feet away from the yard where the two pit bull dogs are kept, says he is fearful that another child will be bitten.� Ms Quintero says the one red pit bull dog that attacked her at her home is still in animal control jail.� I will keep you up to date on what happens.