OMG! So many unanswered questions. Where was the lab's owner? Was either dog off leash? Why was the person carrying a knife? Does that person have a criminal record? Did the person stab the dog during or after the attack? How is the little dog? Was it possible to pick up the little dog and turn/walk/run away? Were there any witnesses?

The article left out an important fact. The attacking dog was unleased and on the woman's property. I'm not defending what she did-- I wasn't there and don't have the right to pass judgement.

But I do know that unleased dogs are a huge problem in this neighborhood. I really wish dog owners would leash their dogs appropriately, for the dogs' safety as well as other people's.

Like MVOK said, there is a lot of non-information here that only those on the neighborhood e-list know about. I'm presuming this is due to it being an active investigation.

As GSB stated there is detail missing from the article, probably due to the ongoing investigation. Information on the neighborhood e-list however is also incomplete for the same reason. I agree, unleashed dogs are a huge problem.

Ok, let us be objective here. Would this be an issue if the victim was a small child instead of a small dog. I see so many irresponsible pet owners, especially people who own big dogs like dobermans, german shepards,pit bulls, rottweilers, etc.these big dogs may be great to their owners but deep inside these dogs are killers and they consider any other animal or human as enemies and they are willing to attack them and kill them with no mercy. Dog owners should be held liable and put behind prison bar for good when their dogs become killers. our laws are so ridiculous and I would really like to the politicians and their family members become victims before they do something right on this issue. we have seen so many cases of pit bulls mauling and nothing has been done and I still see thugs walking these dangerous dogs in our residential streets or in fairs and festivals.

I live in the Monte Loma neighborhood.
There have many neighborhood e-mails about this, and many unanswered questions.

Apparently, the lab was off-leash and this could have been a problem, but sometimes dogs do escape from people or get out of a yard. The dog was stabbed 5 to 7 times, and according to one witness, the stabbing continued after the little dog had escaped.

I have a little dog too and have occasionally had to kick at or frighten away a unleashed bigger dog, but I have never had to do more than push the other dog away, let alone kill the dog.

The headline is very slanted, Chloe, was a pet chocolate lab not a fighting dog. Sometimes dogs do play rough.

It is time for those in authority to give us some real answers.

I run through this neighborhood about 5 times per week and have never seen a dog off leash wandering around. This is an unfortunate situation, but you cannot blame "big dogs." Also, this situation does not involve pit bulls, rottweilers, german shepherds, etc., so why comment on those types of dogs.

@Member: The name of the neighborhood you live in is Monta Loma, not Monte Loma.

I thought Labs were pretty mild mannered. There IS more to this story! I may have done the same thing for my pet.

@Neighbor, I don't see off leash dogs wandering around on their own, but I frequently see off leash dogs walking with their owners, who choose to ignore leash laws.

Last weekend I walked my young neice to the park with my on-leash dog, and we were approached by aggressive, uncontrolled off-leash dogs TWICE within the span of a 10 minutes. When a large dog that is off leash approaches you, with an owner who may or may not be able to control that dog, it's a frightening thing for many people.

I have yet to hear of any injuries to the small dog.

what ignorance to call a lab a fighting dog and use it as headline. Let us all get the facts and stop speculating. It seems for most of you perfectly ok for a women to come running with a knife and stab the lab not once but four times, totally in rage. Looks like overkill to me. Thank god the other owner did not get stabbed...Has anybody given that some thought?

@ Dog Lover

Who cares why they were carrying a knife? That's not a concern and not illegal. I carry a knife every day, as to millions of people in America. The tool at hand was used in defense of her pet.

As for those appalled by this, keep your dog leashed and under control and it will be a non-issue.

Why is it our city council was rushing to try to enforce pet cat licensing, but the on-going issue of dogs running around off leash (especially at our parks) has not been followed up on? This is a real problem in this city. It is a law to have your dog on a leash, but many residents of Mountain View do not respect this law.

I'm not saying the owner of the dog that was stabbed intentionally had it off leash. I am pointing out an issue that many have already commented on here.

I met this dog who was a very SWEET, innocent Lab. She was NOT a "fighting dog" (that term is used usually for Pit Bulls who are trained to fight, and they are victims themselves of ignorant people). I am sickened by MV Voice's choice of words here. There is absolutely NO justification for stabbing the dog to death. Why didn't the killer just kick the dog? The killer needs to be held accountable. She is a menace and a danger to society. Sometimes, people, dogs do get away from their owner(s). There are tens of millions of dogs in our world. It happens. DEAL WTH IT. Most dogs are not going to attack a human. Most dogs will lick you to death. Sometimes owners of dogs are not "irresponsible", but perhaps their hand slips on the leash, or the dog wants to go after a squirrel, and maybe that dog owner feels badly that the dog gets away and has every intention to control their dog. If someone killed my dog, there would be serious legal consequences to pay. I will do everything I can to support the owner of the Lab and send the killer to jail. By the way, the Lab had a hard life. She was used for breeding and dumped, then rescued. She did not deserve this fate. I hope the neighbors of the owner STEP UP and support her. Send the violent killer to jail.

@ LL

Laughable. To think one would choose human life over that of a domestic pet is truly laughable. She obviously feared for the safety of her pet and responded in a way that halted the attack. No different than if she were being attacked herself.

As for the headline, I'm no fan of the Voice's journalistic styling, but it is painfully obvious that "fighting" is used a verb here and not as an adjective. But leave it to those that value animal life over human life to forgo the subtle nuances of the English language.

L.L. you need to cool off. You don't know much about the case. Sure, you might have met the dog, but you were not on the scene. So you cannot judge. Most dogs are not easy to just walk up to and stab. They are much faster and more agile than humans. For her to be able to get up to it and get a hold of it well enough to inflict fatal stab wounds means there is more to this than just a "menace to society" attacking a dog while playing rough. We will have to see what comes of the investigation. But you and I know about as much of the specific details of the attack as some guy in Miami at the moment.

FIGHTING dog?! Mountain View Voice that is an awful heading! The word fighting was not needed. Shame on you!

LL,
nobody is choosing a dog over a human. Did you read the comments above? The dog may have been stabbed between 5 and 7 times. The witnesses reported seeing the stabbing continue even after the littler dog had escaped. There is a lot of information that needs to come out on this. Last I heard is the owner of the lab who died had a hold of the lab while the other women continued to stab at the dog.

The dog was fighting. You may read the headline like the word fighting is describing the dog (a fighting dog), but that is not what it actually says. It was a dog that was fighting.

I also live in this neighborhood, which is a really mellow and charming area of Mountain View. This incident scares me to death. I appreciate the comment above: what if it had been a child scuffling with the little dog. Would the child be dead, too? The woman killer is a known nut case. I hope her legal bills are astronomical so that she is forced to leave this wonderful 'hood and be with her own kind someplace else. She does not belong here. I hope her name comes out pretty soon so she will be shamed and scorned forevermore. (I know her name from all the emails floating around on our neighborhood email list, but I have a feeling if I use it my comment will be deleted.) Her husband is very defensive, too, and I'm sure they'll both be happy someplace else where they can find lots more innocents to kill.

@ People

Regardless of how the word fighting is being used...it doesn't need to be in the headline. You know how people are going to take it. This is going to be a very heated conversation and we don't need MV Voice playing with words. Regardless if they are using the word to say what the dog was doing. We don't even know the facts yet. I guess MV Voice does.


I do appreciate what you wrote though. I'm just more concerned about our neighborhood and getting along as best we can with this unfortunate incident.

To the Voice:

Someone needs to do a better job at reporting this story. All Daniel DeBolt has done is create more polarization. It is especially appalling that the headline is "Fighting" dog. Maybe the lab was just trying to play with the other dog.
Why not the headline" Lab allegedly attacked Italian greyhound

@Anger control: Please stop. I don't think she is a "known nut case". As far as I can tell, no one has ever complained about her or her husband on the mailing list until this incident. If she loses an expensive lawsuit, perhaps she will use that sum to demonstrate damages in her libel lawsuit against you. And if you're so eager for her name to be revealed, why won't you sign your own? I can't stand hypocrisy, and you're full of it.

I wasn't there and don't know any of the people involved. It sounds like you weren't and don't either. Rather than be part of an uninformed, angry mob, why not let the witnesses, police, and justice system do their job?

Scott, yes, she certainly is a known nut case, and why you would defend her is beyond me. I get to state my opinion along with everyone else. I think what she did was terrible, but you want to sit and wait and see what the outcome is through a long legal process. Do you always agree with absolutely everything that is concluded via the justice system? How odd. You're probably highly educated, and did you not learn to think and opine? I guess you want me to wait to think and speak until you have decided enough information has come out for YOU to come to a conclusion. This was a tragic, stupid thing by a very out-of-control and angry woman who should never have a pet or live in a nice neighborhood, let alone have access to knives and who knows what else.

If the lady is smart she's not talking to the police. It's her own words that will screw her in the end since the police didn't actually see her do anything.

Dogs are property. Keep your dog on a leash and under control and you wont have these problems.

Come on people. The dog was fighting. "Fighting" is used as an adjective.

Same as "running dog" or "sleeping dog" or "swimming dog."


And any dog can become aggressive. When small dogs do (chihuahuas, terriers etc) it's not as "dangerous" as big dogs. Which is probably why owners of these dogs don't train them out of it.

Google "lab attack" or "labrador attack" and you will see plenty of stories of people with significant injuries. Often to their own families. Amazed that no one has bothered to do so yet.

They gave the story a new headline. Even the hysterical cant twist these words in their favor....

Oh well. MV Voice is catering to the LCD I guess. Dumb it down so they don't lose readers.

Everything about this story sounds skewed and badly reported with too few facts and too many assumptions. IF you can't get the facts before you write an account; then DON't write the account. The VOICE needs to use higher standards of reporting than this.

I do know this couple. They are a quiet, professional couple. And their dog was injured during this incident. There are obviously very strong feelings surrounding this issue but I don't think that it is fair to attack this person who acted in the moment to stop an attack on her dog. None of this would have happened if Chloe had been secure in her yard. I have been saddened by how people are dealing with this, and by the fact that Chloe is now dead.

Actually, the new headline is even more remarkable than the old one. Taken by itself, one might be misled into thinking one dog stabbed the other. The 'Enquirer' will be calling, they want their editor back!

Good for this poor woman for protecting her dog, on her property! I don't understand how so many of you are vilifying her for this.

Keep your dogs on leashes if you want them to be safe.

And please, quit using other lawns as your toilet.

I have met this couple several times when walking with the cute greyhound. I am disgusted by the evil comments about them and about what happened. Be aware, bloggers, that you can be sued in civil court for your comments...

This is just awful. I cannot believe a person would keep stabbing a dog to death. I've had over the years found dogs wandering the streets from getting out of neighbors' yards while walking our dogs and never once did I think about harming other animals. I consider this person who killed the dog to be a dangerous person and should be charged.

And I don't care if the couple or the woman is a "professional". She purposely killed a dog. Not injured, but killed. I can't fathom doing something this.

Responding to 1980's comment, you can't fathom doing something like this because it's the law of nature to protect children and animals. Most people protect; they don't kill. That's why I hope the DA charges the killer with the maximum crime allowed. This woman and her killing instinct should be put away for a long, long time.

This article is over a year old, but I just came across it when looking for info about the Coon Hound lost from the Monta Loma neighborhood. Does anyone happen to know if she found her way home? SVACA has been out 3+ times and many people have been looking for her. Her name is Sophie, but WAS Olivia in her former situation. I believe the people in Monta Loma 'hood had just adopted her. If anyone knows, would you kindly post?

Also, re dogs and stabbing one to death. This is very, very odd. If the lab was so aggressive, how could she have possibly gotten close enough to stab it to death? I can see stabbing it one time to get it off her dog (if it was attacking) but why KEEP stabbing the animal until it's dead? It kind of gives me the creeps, actually.

However, a word about off-leash dogs as well. I have a dog (large, a pointer, who is anti-social (rescue, abused, etc.)). He is exceptionally well trained, and ALWAYS on leash, no exceptions, unless I am up in the country and he can run like a maniac on 5 fenced acres. I've been approached by other off-leash dogs whose owners say "It's OK, he/she's friendly!" LIke I care? My dog isn't, and basically I am just a plain, ordinary citizen who follows the law.

I've been approached aggressively by a pit bull (off leash, with my dog on leash) and somehow managed to get the dog off of me and my dog (two guards came out when they heard me yelling, and helped get the dog off of us). I carry pepper spray, and have for years, and even at that, I couldn't use it - just didn't want to hurt the dog. It didn't end well - I wrote a statement about the pit bull, that I thought it could probably be rehab'd (it had been abandoned in an Intuit parking lot in MV), because it didn't go in for the kill - it was nosey and aggressive in its manners, but could have easily taken my dog down and didn't. Long story short (too late now, I realize), the dog went to SVACA (police came and took it) and about a week later it attacked someone who was feeding it. SVACA put him down. I blame the complete jerk who dumped him at Intuit.

Bottom line - leash your dog, no matter how perfect you think it is. No man is an island, period