By Ruth Rendon
The Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — A Houston police sergeant used the remains of his own breakfast to help rescue a boy who was being threatened by a pit bull terrier on a playground this morning.
“He’s a very strong dog,” Sgt. Curtis Young said after luring the 60-pound pit bull into the back seat of his patrol car with doggie treats and a half-eaten breakfast taco.
Police were called to a small neighborhood park at Nettleton and Anita, just south of downtown, at 7:42 a.m. after neighbors heard the boy yelling.
The dog had gotten out of his nearby yard and chased the boy, who climbed into a play structure and was at the top of a slide when Young arrived.
The slide may have saved the boy’s life, or at least spared him from severe injury, because it allowed him to get about 8 feet above ground as the dog leaped at him, Young said.
He said neighbors who had come out with sticks urged him to shoot the dog.
The dog’s owner, Sharhonda Rounds, came to the park later and was cited by police for letting her dog run at large. She was cited by city animal control officials for not having a current license or rabies vaccination for the dog.
Since her dog didn’t bite anyone, Rounds can pick him up later today so long as she shows proof that she has gotten a current license and had him vaccinated, Young said.
Rounds insisted that the dog, named King, is not mean. She said she has two pit bulls and that they play with her 3-year-old son without hurting him.
The dogs get upset, though, because children in the neighborhood throw rocks at the chain-link fence and antagonize them, Rounds said.
“If you chastize any dog, it’s going to get angry,” she said.
The fence, which surrounds the front and back yards at Rounds’ home in the 3300 block of Anita, is about 4 feet tall and has a bright-orange sign that reads: “Beware of dog.”
Young said the teenage boy was not injured. He said there was no indication that the boy had antagonized King, which apparently jumped the fence to chase him.
Loose dogs have been a big problem in that part of town, said Young. He said 59 dogs were picked up in a roundup there last month and 41 citations were issued.
Another roundup is planned for this Sunday, he said.
Copyright 2008 The Houston Chronicle