This is the woman here..and here is the Story.
Owners in a Bitter Dispute Over Dog Attacks
By LESLIE KAUFMAN
Published: September 2, 2004
Correction Appended
The first victim was Murphy, a statuesque standard poodle, who suffered a life-threatening puncture to her throat. This was in January 2003.
Then came Bentley, a 130-pound sheepdog, two months later. He needed surgery and an 18-inch drainage tube for his wounds.
Two more attacks occurred in next year, but none hinted at the approaching horror for Frank, an 8-pound, 14-year-old Chihuahua. Frank never stood a chance. On Aug. 20, his head was severed.
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In each case, the culprits were said to be a pair of pit bulls who live in Manhattan's Turtle Bay neighborhood. They belong to Rita Buium, a clothing boutique owner, whose female pit bull, Blush, gave birth to the two males a few years ago. Since then, those in the quiet neighborhood of brownstones and expensive apartment buildings say, Blush's offspring - Tiger and Bimby - have terrorized their dogs.
The story of the residents' failure to have the dogs taken off the streets, or at least muzzled, reads like a classic New York City tale of people trying to do what they believe is right, and discovering that gray areas in the law give them little recourse.
They have gone to court and won. They have contacted the city and the A.S.P.C.A. and learned that because the incidents involved only dog-on-dog violence, there is little officials can do. They have packed, roughly 60 strong, into a Starbucks after Frank's untimely end - he struggled in one of the pit bull's jaws for nearly seven minutes, and only pried free as his tiny head was severed from his spine - to plan strategy. Yet they have gotten nowhere. Tiger and Bimby remain on the streets. Ms. Buium proclaims their innocence; she said Frank brought it on himself.
"I was shocked to learn what little can be done to prevent and report dog-on-dog attacks in New York City," said Amy Apfelbaum, Murphy's owner. "I even sued the owner of the dogs in small-claims court and won, but this is not about money. Our neighborhood remains unsafe; and Frank's death could have been prevented."
Now they have attracted the attention of at least one local politician, Councilwoman Eva S. Moskowitz. "There is a giant loophole in the law," said Ms. Moskowitz. "If dogs attacks humans there is a lot the police can do, but it is not expressly stated what the police can do when a dog attacks another dog."
Ms. Moskowitz said she planned to introduce legislation this fall to make it a crime when a dog hurts another dog and it is not a case of self-defense. It all began at dawn nearly two years ago when Ms. Apfelbaum took Murphy to the dog run at Peter Detmold Park, a shaded enclave along the East River. Unprovoked, Ms. Apfelbaum says, Tiger and Bimby approached Murphy and went for the jugular. As Ms. Apfelbaum screamed and tried to rescue him, she said, Ms. Buium stood by impassively and did nothing. The veterinary bills topped $700. Ms. Buium refused to pay.
In an interview yesterday, Ms. Buium called Ms Apfelbaum "my first enemy." She said the dogs were playing gently when Ms. Apfelbaum suddenly grabbed her dog's collar to separate them. The jerk, Ms. Buium speculated, had inadvertently driven the buckle on the collar into Murphy's throat. But in April 2003 a small-claims court found Ms. Apfelbaum's version of events more credible and made Ms. Buium reimburse her for the bills.
Six dog owners who have organized to try to get the pit bulls off their streets said that what they called Ms. Buium's odd indifference to the violence as it occurred and afterward was especially troubling. They said she was violating an unspoken code of honor among canine owners that makes it possible to live with an animal in the crowded city.
Mike Marino, the owner of Bentley the sheepdog, recalls that as he was punching Tiger and Bimby to get them to stop, Ms. Buium did not command her dogs to stop. "Anyone else would have done something," he said. Ms. Buium did pay Bentley's $900 dollar veterinary bills without protest, but yesterday she said that she had been overcharged. "It was really just one little tooth bite," she said.