Seeking safety from vicious dogs
Concerned residents present council with signed petition BROWNSVILLE – The father of a 5-year-old boy bitten by a dog in Brownsville Monday night presented council with a petition Tuesday signed by 140 of his neighbors seeking a safer neighborhood.
Robert Pritts of 409 Pearl St. presented the petition to council, asking for vicious and dangerous dogs to be taken from their owners. Pritts said his son, who was bitten on the leg, was not the first child bitten by a pit bull terrier in his neighborhood.
“I consider myself lucky tonight. If that baby had been grabbed around the throat or if a major artery had been hit, my baby wouldn’t be here,” Pritts said.
His wife, Lori Pritts, said that the dog has not been caught or quarantined and she doesn’t know whether or not it was vaccinated against rabies. Without knowing that the dog was vaccinated, her son could be subjected to a series of shots to protect him from rabies.
“We had more people come forward with more information about other attacks by these dogs,” Pritts said.
Council president Jack Lawver said the borough is working on the problem, but currently has no agency under contract to catch or confine an animal, since the Fayette County SPCA closed its doors. Lawver said the borough has been talking to an animal control firm out of Delmont and the police chief Tuesday spoke to a state official about the problem.
In other matters, it was reported that the borough has applied for $58,000 in county aid for repairs to streets damaged in last month’s flooding. It was also noted that the Brownsville Soup Kitchen in the basement of the borough building has been having an on-going problem with flooding. Lawver said the problem should clear up once the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation flushes storm drains under an agreement with the borough.
Under the community development report, Councilman Walt Costello reported that Ernest Liggett and Don Kobaly have torn down a number of dilapidated buildings as required under a court order. Costello said only a few items remain to be done before they are in full compliance with the court order.
It was announced that the Civil Service test for new full-time and part-time police officers in the borough will be administered June 29 in Baldwin Borough. Applications must be submitted to the borough by June 21 at 3 p.m., with a non-refundable $50 fee. The state is charging the borough $35 per applicant to administer the test, with a minimum fee of $350. Lawver said the fee would have been higher if the test had been administered locally.