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Warm, fuzzy gift to ease loss

A woman whose Pomeranian was killed is given a puppy. And pit bulls must move on.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published October 15, 2006

PINELLAS PARK - The gift of a new puppy has made the loss of Sondra Ann Stabler's Pomeranian a bit more bearable.

Stabler's dog Mikie was killed this month, presumably by two pit bulls that were roaming her neighborhood. When a local breeder read about her story, she offered Stabler a 10-month-old Pomeranian to replace Mikie.

"I'm ecstatic. I can't wait," Stabler said. "I miss the little guy so bad."

The puppy was scheduled to be delivered around 5 p.m. Friday.

"How do I thank her enough?" Stabler asked.

The donor does not want to be identified, saying she tries to "pay things forward" and did not give away the dog for the publicity. She said she was touched by the story and the prospect of Stabler's 4-year-old son, Michael, wanting to bring Mikie back to life by spraying him with his Spider-Man spray gun.

"If something happened to one of my dogs, I'd be lost," she said. "It just got me. I just started crying."

In the meantime, Pinellas Park officials have twice served the pit bull's owner, Craig Wilcox Jr., with code citations.

The first, delivered Wednesday, ordered Wilcox to keep his dogs penned up. The second, served Friday afternoon, gave Wilcox 72 hours to get the dogs out of the city. If Wilcox does not, Pinellas Park can take him to court to let a judge decide. The citation was served under the city's vicious-dog ordinance.

"I think it's responsible for us to do that," said Capt. Michael Haworth, the Police Department's second in command.

"I think there's enough probable cause to get in front of a judge and let the judge decide."

Wilcox did not return a phone message asking for comment.

The incident happened Oct. 6.

Stabler was inside with her son when she heard Mikie yelp. When she went out front minutes later to check on him, his collar and leash were broken and Mikie was gone.

She and Michael searched the neighborhood but were unable to find him.

Instead, they encountered two pit bulls that followed them home. Stabler called the Pinellas Park police.

An officer sent to investigate found Mikie's body in the front yard of the pit bulls' house. Wounds on his body were consistent with bites from a pit bull, the officer said, although no one saw the dogs kill Mikie.

Wilcox said early last week that his dogs are not vicious and that the Pomeranian attacked his dogs.

The police, he said, were "racist" against pit bulls and were lying to make Stabler feel better and to make his dogs look bad.

[Last modified October 15, 2006, 09:06:13]