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Pastor may need rabies vaccine after pit bull attack

Greg Andrews

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By Richard Wilson, Staff Writer 7:28 PM Sunday, October 4, 2009

HAMILTON — Pastor Greg Andrews paid a price trying to protect his parishioners from a menacing pit bull.

The 53-year-old leader of the House of Deliverance Church on Millikin Street was attacked late last month by a neighbor’s pit bull in the church parking lot.

Around 200 parishioners, including children and elderly, had gathered inside the church for a concert. The dog was loose in the parking lot. Andrews said he asked the owner to take the dog away and secure it.

“I turned around and the next thing I know the dog’s on top of me,” said Andrews, who was hospitalized for three days and sustained a broken wrist and puncture wounds in his hand. “I’m just grateful today that I suffered instead of one of them kids.”

Andrews said he may have to receive rabies shots because authorities can’t find the dog to quarantine it.

Hamilton Health Director Bill Karwisch confirmed that the bite was caused by a pit bull and that the owner, David Collins of La Grange Street, was cited for failing to confine a dangerous dog.

The owner was also cited by the Butler County Dog Warden’s Office, according to Hamilton police records.

According to the city’s charter, pit bulls are automatically classified as dangerous dogs; owners must observe strict confinement rules and carry extra insurance.

Pit bulls have been responsible for the majority dog bites in the city since 2001, according to city health records.

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