11 Month Old Mauled To Death By Pit Bull
>> Wednesday, April 22, 2009
While watching the news today, I saw a news report about a 11 month old boy in Eastpointe, Michigan who was mauled to death by the family dog. The parents were on the bed and the child was playing in the room when the family pit bull came in and attacked the child. The father got a gun and shot and killed the dog to stop the attack, by then it was to late for the little baby boy.
It seems like I hear about these pit bull attacks all the time. Where is your brains if you own one of these vicious dogs and have young children in the home? Maybe not all pit bulls are going to attack people but certainly it does happen. Are you willing to risk the life of your child or someone else because you believe the chance of your pit bull becoming vicious is too remote? I'm sure these parents are mourning the death of their child, but I think they should be charged with man slaughter for putting their young child at risk, and what were they doing on the bed while their baby was playing in the room? I'm thinking child neglect as well.
Owning pit bulls should be banned everywhere in my opinion because owners can't be trusted to use proper judgement in handling pit bulls that are very dangerous and unpredictable. If you want a nice dog that scares people without being unpredictable, get a German Shepherd or a Great Dain. Don't put children at risk of death or injury from pit bulls.
Owning pit bulls should be banned everywhere in my opinion because owners can't be trusted to use proper judgement in handling pit bulls that are very dangerous and unpredictable. If you want a nice dog that scares people without being unpredictable, get a German Shepherd or a Great Dain. Don't put children at risk of death or injury from pit bulls.
18 comments:
Oh..It's so sad to hear about the death of the little boy.. It's so dangerous to keep pitbulls and that is why, that dog breed is one of the banned dogs to be kept as a pet here..
that is horrible.. when a pit bull was loose in our development a few weeks ago I didnt let my kids stay out for fear that they may get mauled. Parent with younger kids should avoid getting dogs like that not until they are a little bit older.I wonder what set off the pit bull to attack the baby..
I was the Mom of a pit bull for 12 years. She just passed away 2 weeks ago. I agree with you to a point, owners of pits need to be hyper vigilant with there dogs and it has nothing to do with their turning vicious. It has to do with the fact that they are animals and things can set them off. As Life,marriage and kids said, I wonder what set the dog off. My pit was the sweetest dog you would ever want to meet, everyone loved her. Yet I would never in a million years have let her near a small child. Whenever children were around I would have her on a leash and keep her right by me. It's not that I didn't trust her, it's that I don't know what the child is going to do and it could set her off. One bite from a pit can kill a child. More people are bitten by Jack Russel Terriers then any other dogs but because they are so small they rarely kill anyone. A pit can bite someone just once and you have some serious damage.
As for banning any animal, that's where I can not agree with you. Do you really think that banning a breed will change anything? If there aren't pits for these idiots to use they will use rotts, or pinschers, or german shepards. Banning the breed is not going to make those people any smarter or more cognizant of what's going on. They are going to continue to do stupid things no matter what kind of dog they own. It is a horrible tragedy but banning a breed is not going to stop stupidity.
I've heard that a thousand times "my pit bull is the sweetest dog I ever had". You were wise to keep him on a leash when children were around because even your sweet pit bull could have been capable of killing a child, and that is reason enough in my book to ban pit bulls. If those idiots can't own a pit bull they will own other dogs that at least won't kill a child, maybe they just injure the child.
While it is sad that a child was killed by a dog, especially a pit, lumping all dogs of this breed together is sad as well.
I own a pit and have a three year old and a 4 month old. I trust him implicitly but we've been around him since he was a puppy (he was previously my brothers dog).
Not all pits are vicious. I can think of several other breeds that attack and maul children as well. Yet no one jumps on the bandwagon to ban other breeds.
The breed is a lovable and loyal breed that is great with children WHEN RAISED PROPERLY. People exploit the stigma of the breed and in turn people hate the breed. Owners should be punished as well if they in any way led to their dog being vicious.
My son has been bitten by two different dogs, neither of which was a pitbull. The media rarely talks of other breeds attacking children and yet it happens.
You may feel the breed is vicious and they should be banned but you have not seen the good side of the breed and are taking at face value what media outlets are putting out.
Bob, I have got to agree with Flo, banning the breed will not solve the problem. Maybe banning the owner?
When you decide to remove the liberty from one person to own something because it is feared dangerous to life and health, then you set a precedent to ban all things that are dangerous to life.
Look at the numbers, how many children died last year from Pit bull attacks, how many died in auto accidents, ligthning strikes? How many died from falling trees, or from drowning, or choking?
Do we then ban Pit Bulls, lightning, cars, trees, water, and items you may choke on?
Freedom to choose comes with responsibilities and consequences and if by choosing to own a Pit bull leads to the death of child, the owner of the dog will not only face penalty of law, but will carry the grief of the event in their heart for life. And it is in their heart and the hearts of those who feel affected where the Pit Bull is banned. That my good sir, is the where things should be banned, where it will not infringe on the liberty of others.
I couldn't agree more; but ever time I say this type of thing, lots of Flo's come out and talk about how sweet their dogs are. It doesn't matter, all it takes is once. I've read repeated accounts of where the sweetest dog in the world turned on their adult owner, so even Flo is being responsible with her vicious breed dog; she would not be strong enough should something actually happen. It's a risk no one should take or accept.
I have 2 of those nasty Jack Russell's across the street, hate them. Bark and run after everything and everyone. We had an incident a few blocks over a year ago where a Jack Russell killed a Pit; so Flo is correct about them also being a vicious dog.
Sandy
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Awfull!!!
Pitbulls are forbidden here in The Netherlands. Ofcourse there are very sweet and kind dogs among them, but there were too many incidents.
It's not the breed, its the training.
Friends of mine run a pit bull rescue service. One report about pit bulls puts it properly into perspective:
"Pit Bulls are not naturally human aggressive. The majority of attacks on humans preported to be by Pit Bulls are made in error through misidentification of the breed or through the wrongful lumping of mixed breeds in with reported bite statistics. When accounting for and removing the false reporting and skewed lumping in of mixed breeds compared as a ratio against the number or pure bred Pit Bulls the Pit Bull has one of the lowest bite rates to humans of any of the canine breeds."
Interestingly enough, Portuguese Water Dogs, the type that the Obama family recently got, were often used as attack dogs.
Instead, we need to focus on the training. Fortunately, these days, most Portuguese Water Dogs get trained as loving family dogs. Unfortunately, too many pit bulls get trained to be attack dogs.
So, I don't think the issue is the dog, but is the training. I must admit a bias here, but I wonder what sort of training the pit bull received by a person who keeps a gun in the house.
Instead of banning the owning of pit bulls, it seems like a better approach would be to make sure that any pet, whether Portuguese Water Dog or Pit Bull is properly socialized before it can be part of a family
My point is that more people have been killed by pit bulls than all other breeds put together. If banning only the pit bull sounds unfair than maybe we should just ban all dog breeds with a history of being vicious. We already ban bears, lions and other dangerous animals, so I say add pit bulls to the list because we can't control which owners are going to be responsible.
Yes I read about this on another blog, it is just awful!
We are seeing more and more of these stories. It is not the dog's fault. This is their breed. Owners do not take responsibility and these dogs should not be around children.
My grandmother used to breed, train and show dogs. She said that pit bulls and rottweilers are some of the only dogs that have to be taught to NOT attack. They have been bred for that purpose for hundreds of years, and it isn't going to go away just because you put a pink collar on them and give them treats when they sit pretty.
My province has banned pit bulls after numerous unprovoked attacks on children and others, including a few deaths. Since that ban, there have been almost no attacks. I guess they were right to ban them.
Don't get me wrong, I love animals, have a dog and cat myself (I'd have more if hubby would let me!), but some breeds just are NOT suitable around children especially. I'm sorry some people have to find out the hard way :(
My heart goes out to families having to deal with that kind of grief, it must be horrible.
Oh, man, this scares me to death. I think people should be screened properly before both owning a dog and having kids...
Meghan, I am sorry - but your grandma is utterly wrong. Rots ARE bred to attack people (guard), but not Pit Bulls. Pit Bulls are bread to attack animals and people needed to have control over them and be close to them without feeling threatened - so, NO, Pit Bulls are bread to be people friendly. They are not guard dogs. Its all on the person - if they are teaching them to attack, they will. But that goes for any dog breed, right?
I disagree that any breed needs to be banned because the media chose to put the spot light on them THIS DECADE....was it not once that the rots were up for a holocaust? The news are brainwashing people into hatred and fear instead of acceptance and understanding. No dog attacks without a warning - they dont "just snap". They do give you warnings - the licking of the mouth, the posture of the body, how they hold they ears...a lot of warnings - but who knows how to read them, huh? Of course not one that educated him/herself on the breed and on the animal language before getting one.
Flo, I agree with you about everything - except that you kept your dog on a leash around children. Dogs of any breed need to be exposed to all situation, kept an eye on and corrected if you see something that doesnt look right. Thats how you place yourself as an alpha dog in your "pack". If the dog doesnt have an alpha, it will appoint itself (they are pack animals and its a necessity that they have one) - and thats when unfortunate things happen.
People take Pit Bulls without understanding what the breed needs - a firm hand, a leader...otherwise they wont respect you and they will act out.
The dogs are very good around children. I have 2 male Pit Bulls and 2 daughters - 7yo and a 4 yo. The dogs give us our space when we eat, when we play, they dont run after the kids when they are running. I made sure they know who the boss is - and thats all the humans in the house. I made sure that there is discipline and exercise for the dogs so they feel
content and their needs fulfilled. My girls sit on them, drag them by their legs and tails, ride them as horses, drag them by their collar everywhere they go and the dogs have never even shown a sign of attack - just a sign of submission.
Hardly anyone can achieve their dog to submit that way. Thats why you see all these dogs barking like crazy from windows, barking and never stopping when people enter, being all over the human when the human enters the doror etc...
OMG, I can go on forever about this. Bottom line is - its the humans fault. Dont blame the breed, blame the deed. Think of it as a gold fish and shark comparison - a goldfish biting you would be nibbling, a shark would take your finger off. Is it the sharks fault?
To Mea Culpa Bath and Body- I agree with you. There are responsible owners like you who know how to handle dogs, but then are there are ignorant people who think that they need to let their dog be aggressive in order to have a good watch dog. The problem is, how do we stop these ignorant people from owning vicious dogs that can kill innocent people?
Bob, I dont think there is any breed that is viscous by birth - we can turn even a maltese to be an attack dog.
When you say that the dogs turn into attack dogs because humans train them to be that way - yes, true. People in my country that live in rural areas do the same thing so they can have a guard dog - keep it on a leash in the yard and let it loose at night. BUT, they have wild animals to protect themselves from too...so, understandable. AND they are not mean to them - they provide them with shades, nice dog houses, food, water, everything....
We can turn dog to attack seemingly without a reason in another way too - not by intent, but by giving the dog ONLY affection without discipline and exercise. That way the dog sees the humans as something on lower rank than its own and will protect by any means - it can even bite its own owners because they are not the owning the food, couches, rooms, beds etc. It all belongs to the dog (in the dogs mind). Thats how bad things happen.
How to stop all this? Wow, I can just hope that anyone thinking of getting any breed would first know how to be with a dog. Dont treat it as if its human, cuz it aint. Watch Cesar Milan on National Geographics first for Gods sake or read his book. Then and only then pick the dog that matchhes your energy, not a dog that you want to have. If you want to lay around, get a cat or a dog with lower energy levels....If you dont feel that you cant be assertive and firm, dont get a pet.
For those that want to make viscous dogs, I can only hope that Animal Control and the Police Dept can weed them out. They are not doing anyone a favor - the people nor the dogs themselves.
And I would have something to say about the Adoption Agencies too - let a family with young children adopt a powerful breed. Dont make it so hard. I am not a adopting a child for gods sake. Help the dog - if the family wants it and the family shows that they understand what comes with it, let them have it. We dont want another dog on the sleeping table :-(
very well said, this is not the firt time that it happen, parents must listen before it's too late.
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