Wvsa Awards Contract To Panzitta Enterprises 
The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority Awarded Two New Contracts And Tabled 
Another At Tuesday's Meeting.

3 Hurt In 4-car Crash

By ANTHONY COLAROSSI; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Tuesday, July 23, 1996 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE -- Police said they shot and killed a pit bull in the back
yard of a Sambourne Street home Monday after the "attack dog" locked its jaws
around the neck of another canine and refused to let go. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The family residing at 101 Sambourne St. where the pit bull was killed was
evicted from the home shortly after the shots were fired. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The dog's owner, Edward Washington, 35, was cited with violating a city
ordinance that prohibits animals from running at large, police said. The
summary offense carries a maximum fine of $300. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police said city officials condemned the home Monday after they found
several uncorrected health code violations at the residence. City officials
inspected the home on July 12 and issued several citations to the occupants.
The tenants did not comply with the citations, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That inspection was prompted by repeated complaints by neighbors about
heavy foot traffic at the residence. Residents of the street asked city
officials to visit the address after a man crashed through the front window of
101 Sambourne St. and ran down the street chased by several others. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police received an anonymous phone call at 1:48 p.m. Monday about a pit
bull that was running loose in the Sambourne Street area. Police found the pit
bull and a second dog, an Akita, fighting in the back yard of the residence. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Deputy Chief of Police William Barrett said officers tried to subdue the
pit bull with a baton and Mace before Sgt. Brian Lavan shot the dog. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Our officers were fearful for their own safety and the safety of everyone
else in the neighborhood," Barrett said. "(The pit bull) was going to kill the
other dog out there. He had him by the neck." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Akita had an open wound on its neck and was taken by the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Luzerne County to an undisclosed
facility. The animal's condition was not known Monday night. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They just killed my dog," Washington said as he left the residence with
his children. "I was totally harassed." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Washington said he was unsure where he and his family would stay. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Akita, the pit bull that was shot and two other pit bulls apparently
were all kept in the home, police said. "The house was just filthy," Barrett
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Georgetta Washington, 14, a witness, said the two dogs had been separated
by the time the shots were fired. She said police fired two shots in the air
and five shots at the dog. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lavan could not remember how many shots he fired, but denied firing any
into the air. And, he said, the pit bull did not release its jaws from the
neck of the other dog. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We found the pit bull with its jaws biting the Akita around the neck,"
Lavan said, adding that another officer tried unsuccessfully to use Mace and a
baton to control the dog. "At that time, we felt in order to save the Akita,
we had to shoot the other dog." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A man who said he was the dog's owner was seen kneeling over the dead
animal in the back yard, petting the dog's black and bloody coat. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 SPCA Manager Ed Gross said that when a pit bull bites the neck of another
animal it usually takes a special "parting stick" to pry the jaws open. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Under state law, police officers have the authority to shoot dogs if they
are endangering the life of a human or another animal. Gross said he does not
know the circumstances of Monday's shooting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "All I can say is we would have used whatever other means possible before
it was shot," Gross said. "Obviously, if there's a dog dead, I would have
liked them to wait." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jim Hawk, 38, a friend of the Washington family, disagreed with the police
action. "I think it's terrible what they did to this dog," he said. "Even if
there were dogs fighting, they didn't have to kill him." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/BOB ESPOSITO &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 An unidentified man kneels over the body of a pit bull at 101 Sambourne St.
after police shot the dog as it was biting another dog. Deputy Chief of Police
William Barrett said officers tried to subdue the pit bull with a baton and
Mace before shooting the animal to death. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

City Police Kill Pit Bull On The Attack Residents Of Home Where Dog Was Dispatched Were Evicted From House Described By Police As `just Filthy.'