Village avoiding issue of vicious dogs

Some wounds will never heal. On May 25, I took my dog Casper for a walk as we always do. But our cheerful, daily routine turned into a horrific nightmare. I was violently attacked and seriously injured by two vicious dogs. The physical injuries are just as painful as the emotional ones and the haunting grief that I feel for my dog. To see his body be torn apart in front of my eyes and not being able to do anything about will torment me forever. To make things worse, these same dogs attacked another dog and his owner a few moments later.

I took every step to ensure that Palatine and Cook County Animal Control were aware of what had happened, the undeniable seriousness of it and what is arguably the right thing to do given what had happened. I feared that if these dogs lived, it would happen again.

To my dismay, Palatine offered a plea deal. The dogs could live, just not in Palatine. How does that fix the problem? What example does that set? The village took the easy way out, knowing full well what these dogs are capable of and what had just happened in its town. It's shameful.

I received an outpouring of support from the community. Sadly, I also received countless stories of similar fears, "near misses" and inaction by Palatine. How many complaints, 911 calls and attacks does it take for our leadership to take this seriously?

Unfortunately, on Aug. 20, these same dogs struck again, attacking a woman and her dog in Elmwood Park. It makes me sick that these dogs can continue their violent attacks, preying on innocent people, unaware of their vicious nature while my dog remains collateral damage to political stunts and issue avoidance by our leadership.

Amanda Ingram

Palatine