Toddler mauled by Granny's 5 Pit Bulls

[reportertype]

Let's not blame the dogs, the blame is squarely on the idiot granny's shoulders. IMO

I've known many a pit in my time, they've all been wonderful, sweet, intelligent and well trained. Their owners were all responsible dog owners!

It's not a breed issue anyway. It's an issue of responsible dog ownership. Dogs (all breeds) should be socialized and trained. Backyard breeders should be BANNED, as that is how a lot of pits come to be. These are people who don't have a clue how to breed dogs and do it for a quick buck or continually have "accidents." Poor breeding leads to all sorts of issues: illness, bad temperament, etc. THAT's what should be banned.

My vet admitted to me that chows used to be gentle and awesome. Then they got popular, backyard breeding began, and he began seeing more aggression in the breed, generally speaking.

Children should never be left alone with any dog, especially a pack. Dogs are quick to form a pack mentality. (As are humans.) This is the human's fault.

This is just the media jumping on a series of bandwagon stories because it gets people reading and talking. Plenty of other dogs bite children, with severe injuries, every year. Labs, for instance, can be big biters, but are considered "family friendly." Pits have a bad rep because idiots bred them for fighting. How in the world is that the breed's fault? Humans, once again, at fault.

 

[aafromaa]

my little Buddy is a schnoodle (part schnauser & part poodle) - he's old & just as calm and gentle as can be - doesn't see well anymore & spends most of his time napping - loves to cuddle - has the run of the house & me wrapped around his little finger - BUT - my neice was here with her two little girls this weekend and when they are here, Buddy is not allowed to be anywhere except right beside me - if I leave the room he has to come with me even if their mother is in the room - I don't even let Buddy go outside to relieve himself without taking him on a leash when the little ones are outside - even their mother thinks I'm a bit overprotective about this, but I don't think I could live with myself if he so much as scratched one of their precious little faces or anything - I'd rather be too protective then ever have to feel how this grandmother must be feeling now

 

[legalmania]

The stories I've been reading is the dogs were running loose, of course they're going to be wild they never had supervision, or training. It takes a special kind of person to raise a pit bull. Unfortunately they have been raised by people who use them for fighting or breading. They stay tied to a pole 24/7 with no food or water. I think any dog living like that would be wild. Of course a bigger dog is going to hurt somebody a lot more they have a bigger mouth and are stronger. I have walked up to lost pit bulls and brought them home until I found their owner or took them to a rescue. I'm not afraid of them as a matter of fact I own a bull dog mixed and bull dog and Labrador mixed. They are good dogs and have never so much as growled at someone. As a matter of fact they are afraid of my cats.

 

[mimimama5]

It is the old "punish the deed not the breed" situation again. I have known wonderful pitbulls, and terrible ones. Some of my sisters have pitbulls, and my aunt has 2 herself. They can be wonderful gentle loyal dogs, but they are dogs, just like any other breed. They are not "killing machines" "natural born killers" or any such thing. What this case should show us is a lesson in unsupervised and untrained dogs. This could happen with a golden retreiver if the circumstances were the same. As most of you who have read my posts know, I have rottweilers, 6 of them. I also have small children. It takes some security and some serious training and socialization to make certain there will not be an incident with my dogs and kids. They are NEVER unattended together, and I would never allow all 6 of the dogs into the house with the kids even if I was in the same room. I know that I couldnt not restrain or control 6 dogs at one time, if something were to happen, so it just isnt done. I have one registered therapy rottweiler, one SAR trainee, and the rest are show dogs in obedience and conformation. I trust these dogs, I know how well they are trained to be obedient and to respond to my commands. I know they are gentle and loving animals.....I still realize that they are a large breed, and if in a pack, I would be unable to control everyone of them effectively. Its being a responsible owner, looking at all possible outcomes and realizing that when your dog outweighs you, there is a possibility of an issue. Im glad this woman was charged, rightfully so. To me letting untrained dogs out in a yard with a toddler is equivalent to leaving a loaded gun lying around within that childs reach. Be responsible to and for your animal!

 

[MorenoI]

Wow, this is such a preventable tragedy and it keeps happening each and every day. I have a toy poodle and I have a 4 month old. My poodle does not like to be around my baby and I can tell my poodle thinks my baby is a threat to him. By the way the poodle weighs 6 pounds, and even though my dog has never attacked anyone I still wouldn't trust the dog alone with my infant and again he only weighs 6 pounds. So why would anyone think its a good idea to leave a pack of dogs with a child? I believe granny should be held accountable for this!!

 

[LolaMoon08]

When my nieces were toddlers, I would never even allow them unsupervised access to my cat!! They did not know how to handle animals carefully and they did provoke the cat (not on purpose). Did my cat scratch them? Sure did. They pulled her tail. They would chase her. Pick her up (when she clearly didn't want to be bothered). All in my presense. They were quick little girls. I don't even want to think of what kind of trouble they could have gotten into left unsupervised!

People need to learn that children should NEVER be left unsupervised... let alone with FIVE dogs!! I don't care what kind of dogs they are!

 

[Melanie]

So ya'll know I'm a cat lover. Not that I don't love dogs, but I find the larger dogs can go from sweet to mean in a matter of minutes. My sister had a big ol' fluffy dog (sorry, I forgot the breed). Nicest dog as can be, BUT very protective. In walks a little girl neighbor, next thing the dog is on top of the child and 2 seconds later 1/2 her face is mauled. What a lawsuit that was, and not only that, this poor girl was scarred forever.

What I'm trying to say is it only takes 1 minute - 60 seconds.

No dog (1, 2, or 20) should ever be left alone with a child -- no matter how "sweet" they are or what breed they are!

MOO

Mel

 

[kline]

I agree first and foremost that supervision of children is the utmost importance.
However it is impossible to ignore the hugely disproportionate( and nearly weekly) number of attacks involving this breed of dogs....what the attraction is considering the hundreds of other breeds of canines is beyond me.
Much less choosing pit bulls to be around children to the exclusion of all these other breeds is willfull recklessness.
Trying to pretend that the breed of these animals is not a factor is delusional.
I think they should exist in the zoo and not be allowed to be kept as a pets.
It makes about as much sense as arguing that Rattlesnakes arent aggressive and wont bite unless provoked (which is true) and then having a couple of them crawling around the house and when a child is bitten saying the lack of parental supervision is the problem.
Which also may be true but I would say the idiocy of putting rattlesnakes in close proximity to children would be the problem that should primarily be addressed.
And yes every one of the advocates for Pit Bulls knows of one who is wonderful with kids.
I seems like they always are until some unintentional stimuli causes them to tear a child's face off.

 

[Txmom]

I personally do not trust this breed and actually back away when I come in contact with this breed. Several years ago my neighbors HAD 2 pit bulls, these dogs would be roaming in my yard (have 6 acres), on my back porch, barking at me in my yard when i got home day or night. I was terrified to walk outside in the dark. One day while on the computer I heard banging at the back door to find the 2 pits attacking my dog. Rushed my dog to the vet, and the vet told me that these dogs would be back to finish the job--killing my dog. He then told me to shoot these dogs dead the next time that they are in my yard.

I did report this incident to the sheriffs dept and a deputy went to the neighbor, the dogs advanced on him and according to the report he told them to call off the dogs or we would shoot them right now. I did take the neighbors to court and they were forced to pay vet bills for my dog and they also had to destroy their dogs. Needless to say relations are very strained. He still is upset that he had to destroy these dogs. Too bad, at least I can go outside at night and not worry.

We have 3 dogs and 5 cats at our house, and I would NEVER allow children to be alone with the dogs. The lab might lick the child to death, the other could cause you to go deaf with the barking and the small one would try and get into a lap.

Point being, surpervise the children and the animals at all times.

 

[Beyond Belief]

No pit bulls for me. I have one little tiny maltese thats a terror. She hasn't bitten any of us yet but she sure pretends she s going too. Especially if hubby accidently gets onto our (me and Chloes) side of the bed.
The pits large jaw is just too dangerous, its deadly as it has proved time and time again. Humans have the right to move freely without the fear of being attacked by these deadly dogs.

I hope this turns out okay for the little guy. What a shame.