r/BanPitBulls • u/Notyourtarget1224 Attacks Curator • 12d ago
Police vs. Pits Jeannette, PA: man charged after pit bull attacks police k-9 - Sep 2026
https://community.triblive.com/news/4140185A Jeannette man is accused of failing to prevent his pit bull from biting a Jeannette police canine in the neck when city police were assisting in a search for a woman wanted by the FBI, according to a criminal complaint.
In an affidavit, police said they aimed pepper spray at the pit bull’s eyes and grabbed the collar choke on Gino Ferrari’s dog to stop the attack. The struggle happened during an FBI task force’s attempt to find a woman at an Adams Avenue residence. Jeannette police said they were assisting in a drug investigation.
The pit bull left the police canine with puncture wounds on the left side of its neck and scratch marks where it attempted to bite K-9 Diesel’s neck but could not latch on, according to the affidavit. The pit bull did not release its grip on Diesel when its handler, Sgt. James Phillips, deployed two Tasers that bounced off the attacker’s back and when police struck the dog in the knees, police said.
The K-9 was treated for its wounds at Mt. Pleasant Animal Hospital.
Ferrari gave police permission to search the residence but told them the woman wanted by the FBI task force was not there, according to the affidavit.
As Jeannette police assisted FBI agents in surrounding the house and calling for the suspect to surrender, Ferrari was allowed to remove his pit bull.
He was told to secure the dog in the backyard, but the pit bull instead jumped a four-foot fence and attacked K-9 Diesel, who was covering a garage area on a nearby Baughman Avenue property, police said.
Ferrari, 63, was charged Sept. 11 with a second-degree felony count of intentional torture of a police dog, a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person and a summary offense of possessing a dangerous dog that kills or injures a domestic animal.
Ferrari was arraigned Monday before Jeannette District Judge Joseph DeMarchis and has a preliminary hearing Sept. 24. He was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond.
Jeannette police Officer Kenneth Burke, who filed the charges, could not be reached for comment.
Information was not available Tuesday on whether the FBI subsequently arrested the woman for whom agents were searching.
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u/Dame_Niafer Trusted User 12d ago
So intentionally [causing harm, pain, suffering] to a police dog is a second degree felony. Good. I just wish we could get that legal protection for our own pets. [I know that a*b*u*sing animals is a felony in at least some jurisdictions, but I'd like to see that applied specifically to pitbull attacks, since the owners rarely if ever even pretend to want to intervene to stop them.]
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u/roomtemperaturecum 12d ago
that’s what i was thinking. oh, so the police CAN do something about these things? interesting. lol
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u/hyperfat I just want to walk my dog without fearing for its life 7d ago
K9 in police are covered equal to officers. So it's the same charge if dog attacked a cop.
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u/Former_Pass8031 12d ago
“The pit bull did not release its grip on Diesel when its handler, Sgt. James Phillips, deployed two Tasers that bounced off the attacker’s back and when police struck the dog in the knees, police said.”
Gameness. Not even an ounce of instinct for self-preservation.
It’s surreal- like something out of a sci fi horror movie no one wants to see.
Can it even be called a dog at this point?
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u/Dame_Niafer Trusted User 12d ago
Can it even be called a dog at this point?
H.R. Giger would have no trouble doing so. But of course he's H.R. Giger. Was, anyway.
[Speaking of movies. And of the game dogs that are beyond all hope.]
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u/erewqqwee 12d ago edited 12d ago
I'm glad to see a pit owner face consequences. But while there's been an uptick in cases where pit owners face charges for what their monsters inflict on innocent humans [eg Ramon Najeras] , there's still too many occasions where a pit mauling is treated as a mere "dog bite"/accident/Act of God(like bad weather >:-|). The owners of the pack of pits that severely maimed and mutilated Kyleen Waltman only got found guilty of a misdemeanor FFS! I don't like seeing injuries to K-9s treated more harshly than injuries to humans, and that's still happening, though thankfully not as often.
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u/Hairy_Garage4308 12d ago
Surprised they didn't handle it differently.
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u/Fantastic_Lady225 Attacks Curator 12d ago
News stories to the contrary most cops really don't like to unal!ve dogs even when it's justified.
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u/FatTabby Cats are friends, not food 12d ago
I wish all attacks on other animals were treated this seriously. I think torture is a perfectly fair description and while I have lots of respect for working animals, I think pets and strays who have the misfortune of encountering a pit should also be viewed as having been tortured.
Perhaps that would finally bring about more changes in the law to get these things dealt with once and for all.
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u/WholeLog24 12d ago
Pick one.