After a Yorkshire terrier was killed in an earlier attack, Rosebank resident Ricky Kavanagh made sure he never took his Chihuahua, Daisy, anywhere without a leash, and was careful to eyeball the surroundings on their walks.
His precautions failed Saturday, when a neighborhood pit bull attacked and killed his little dog. And he said things only got worse in the following days, when New York City Animal Care and Control, 311 and the ASPCA not only failed to help but responded with indifference and recorded messages.
Kavanagh, 49, and his wife, Luz, 50, feel betrayed.
"We have all these ... agencies with 'animal' in the name, what are they doing?" the 49-year-old asked yesterday, his voice a mixture of anger, frustration and sadness. "I'm a taxpayer, I'm a resident, what are you doing for me?"
Mrs. Kavanagh is distraught, sobbing as she pores over pictures of the toy-sized Daisy in her many doggie ensembles. She is a diabetic and her blood sugar has spiked and asthma worsened since the attack, she says.
"Daisy, why did you leave?" she asks repeatedly.
The attack happened while Kavanagh was taking Daisy for her normal walk on Bay Street. He was alert, always mindful of the incident in December when a stray dog killed a Yorkie terrier belonging to New Lane resident Ana Rios.
The attack on Daisy happened "like lightning," he said.
A pit bull who neighbors said lives across the street squeezed through gaps in a wooden fence and pounced on the Chihuahua, grabbing her midsection.
Kavanagh screamed for help, and neighbors rushed over to help fend off the larger dog. He gathered Daisy up in a sweater and hopped into a friend's truck and they rushed to a veterinarian's office.
Halfway there, "She looked at me, and she took her last breath. And that was it," Kavanagh said.
He went to the police, but since a dog-on-dog attack isn't illegal, he was referred to a city mediator, who in turn referred him to the ASPCA. Then he, his wife and brother-in-law spent hours calling different agencies, only to be hung up on, redirected or passed to an answering machine.
Finally they were told that if the dog didn't have identity tags or a leash, which Kavanagh says it did not, they could call 311 for assistance, as dogs are supposed to be leashed at all times, in accordance with Health Department regulation.
They again encountered a recorded message, this time on what to do in case of a dog bite.
An Advance reporter asked the Health Department about the case.
"A dog must be observed off leash in a public place by an issuing officer" for the Health Department to fine an owner, an agency spokesman said. Fines can range from $200 to $2,000.
If a complainant reports an unleashed dog with the owner's information, the Health Department sends a warning letter. More severe penalties would only occur if the dog attacked a human.
On Saturday, Rosebank neighbor Bateman Harris said the offending dog's owner, a young woman, came outside her Bay Street house and called the dog back. The woman did not respond to neighbors pounding on her front door, witnesses said.
Attempts to reach her yesterday were unsuccessful.
Colleen Conroy, who lives two doors down with her 9-year-old daughter, says there are many youngsters living on that portion of Bay Street, adding that the whole neighborhood has been on edge since the attack on Daisy.
"I don't want to see the [pit bull] get killed, but I don't want to see my daughter get hurt," she said. "
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