Dont mess with veteran old truck drivers!

[bparker]

Man Wins Fight With Vicious Pit Bull
By Associated Press


CONROE, Texas - A 65-year-old retired truck driver who was attacked by a vicious pit bulldog during a neighborhood walk choked the dog to death as he defended himself.

Von Pardue suffered bites on his arms and hands during the Wednesday attack, which occurred shortly after Pardue began his routine morning walk. Pardue was treated at a local hospital, and the dog's owners could face misdemeanor charges, police said.

Pardue said he heard barking and readied himself when he realized the dog was coming for him.

"I turned to face him, and when I saw it was pit bull, I knew I was in trouble," Pardue said. "I put my hands up and I hollered at him. He immediately jumped to my throat."

Pardue shielded his body by grabbing the dog's head and ears, but the dog shook loose and started biting his right hand. Pardue kneed the dog in the ribs, spurring it to let go of his hand, and then grabbed the dog by its thick collar.

Pardue said he then dragged the dog to his house while maintaining a firm grip on its neck. His wife called police from the house. When the police arrived, Pardue was on the ground with the dog and still holding onto the collar.

Police said Pardue's grip was so tight that he strangled the dog. Pardue said he didn't know the dog was dead until it was unresponsive when police tried to move it.

Emergency medics washed Pardue's bites and he received a tetanus shot and an antibiotic at the hospital, he said.

"If not for the collar, I don't know how I would have ever been able to wrestle him down," said Pardue, who weighs 200 pounds. "The dog was about 80 pounds and very vicious. It was hard to believe the viciousness in which he attacked me, but I was able to contain him."

Sgt. Mike Tindall, a Conroe police spokesman, said the dog's owners hadn't been charged Wednesday, but they could face misdemeanor charges for having a dog at large or for having a dangerous dog.

Tindall said the male dog was picked up by animal control officers in December for running at large. It was given a rabies vaccination and released back to the owner, he said.

The City Council in Conroe, which is located 40 miles north of Houston, is set to vote next week on a proposed dangerous dog ordinance that would require such dogs to be kept in a secure enclosure. The law might have prevented Wednesday's attack, Tindall said.