Dog attack kills Chihuahua on North Side

Jan 22, 2024

Aug 31, 2023

YOUNGSTOWN — Shanise Clark, 39, said she will not soon forget the attack by a neighbor’s dog that killed her Chihuahua, Jazzy, and injured Clark’s thumb on Sunday afternoon.

The attack happened about 2:30 p.m. on Alameda Avenue on the North Side.

Clark said she took Jazzy outside for an ordinary walk in the front yard.

“We never go far, usually just out front,” she said. “We were walking back toward the house, and I saw this dog running toward us. It’s a pit bull mix, and this dog comes running toward (Jazzy) full force and I tried to grab her up with her leash, and the dog snatches her in his mouth and starts violently shaking her,” Clark said.

“He shook her and threw her violently in her mouth … back and forth, back and forth,” Clark said.

“I stuck my hand in the way. He bit my thumb and he released my thumb and he picked her up and did it again, and I started screaming, and he did it again, and then threw her in the neighbor’s yard,” Clark said.

The pit bull then ran back to his house.

A neighbor came over, and Clark’s mother came outside with no shoes on, Clark said. Her neighbor went to the home where the dog lives and told someone there that their dog had just killed Clark’s dog.

A Youngstown police officer came to investigate, and ambulance personnel treated Clark’s hand and recommended that she seek medical care.

The officer told the pit bull’s owner to quarantine the dog until he is able to talk to someone from the Mahoning County Dog Warden’s Office, according to the officer’s police report. The dog should stay inside the house except to relieve itself, the officer told the man. The dog also has to be on a leash until the quarantine is lifted, the report states.

Lisa Hill, dog warden’s office kennel supervisor, said an investigation has begun. There is a process through Youngstown Municipal Court in which a dog that has done something violent can be declared a vicious dog.

She said it was determined that the pit bull’s shots are not up to date.

Jazzy weighed 4 pounds and “was our baby,” Clark said of herself and her mother. “She brought so much joy to our home. I have multiple sclerosis, so she brought support to my mom and I.”

Clark said her mother wore a defibrillator at one time, and if the defibrillator activated, Jazzy would bark to alert Clark, who wears hearing aids.

“She loved to play,” Clark said. “I can’t have children, so Jazzy was my baby.”

She will be seeing her doctor Friday to determine whether she needs shots because of the dog bite. She already has paid $350 to have Jazzy cremated, and she expects more costs to treat her for the dog bite. She said she expects the pit bull’s owner or insurance to pay the bills she is incurring.

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