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Captain Picard's Hair wrote:When I've been to the Bronx Zoo and see the signs about the Animal Conservation society, I sometimes muse that one might prefer an animal conversation society.

Mikey wrote:Orangutans, as I understand, can be dangerous but are slothful enough to require some real ticking-off to get to that point.

IanKennedy wrote:Try calling them a monkey and say that

Captain Picard's Hair wrote:At least with our cats I have a decisive advantage in size and strength (though a function of their small size; a house cat blown up would pretty quickly overwhelm one of us too)

Lazar wrote:I just have one small housecat. One time we visited some family friends who had a Rottweiler, and although he seemed quite friendly, the whole idea of him being there kind of freaked me out a bit. (He also produced voluminous amounts of slobber, and he didn't smell so hot either.)

(1/31/07 - KTRK/MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX) (KTRK) -- A Conroe man wasn't about to let a neighbor's pit bull attack him. He courageously fought back and now that dog is dead.

Von Pardue bears the scars of a frightening attack. His hands and wrists are heavily bandaged, the result of the early morning attack. It all started when Pardue went for his morning walk. He encountered the dog along the street.

With the dog attacking him, what happened next is amazing. Pardue was able to drag the dog all the way down the street and to his house."

"I thought he was going to take that finger off," said Pardue. "I was going to try and grab him by his jaws, but his jaws were so big and powerful, I couldn't pull my hand out of his mouth. So the only thing I could do was hit him in the ribs as hard as possible and it popped his mouth open. Then I pulled my hand out and got him by the collar."

Pardue says even though he had the dog by the collar, it was spinning around, trying to bite him again. With no way to call for help, Pardue dragged the dog to his back door.

"I just had him like this and had him by the collar and head and you know, flipped him around here and held him and banged on the door," said Pardue.

Pardue's wife called 911. By the time authorities arrived, the dog was dead. Pardue had choked the dog. Police say the dog's owner thought the animal was in the back yard.

"The owner said they didn't realize the dog was out when they woke up this morning," said Sgt. Mike Tindall with the Conroe Police Department. "They found the dog was missing. They didn't know anything about the attack at that point

In a strange twist, police say there is the possibility the owners could face charges. However, I learned that same dog was picked up by authorities last month after it was found running loose in the neighborhood. We have some numbers on dog attacks in Harris County and pit bulls are at the top. In 2006, there were 244 pit bull attacks. Labradors were involved in 164 attacks, followed by German shepherds, Chihuahuas and chows with 55 attacks. Harris County tells us it has seen an increase in the number of pit bulls it's taken in.