VA - Bethany Stephens, 21, mauled to death by her 2 dogs, Dec 2017

[Soulmagent]

Falmouth father stabs pit bull to death after dog attacked 1-year-old daughter




Another case of an unprovoked attack on a person by a pit-bull. This case involved a one year old girl.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...ld-daughter/UgYaeH0NDLBpmU9wSDEHUO/story.html

I cannot count this as an example of unprovoked. There is not enough information to concluded that. Do not leave toddlers alone with small kids. Kids are mean to animals. Not on purpose but becuase they are learning. Often times so is the animal.

 

[rsd1200]

Another article about the attack:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5246835/Dad-stabs-death-pit-bull-mauling-baby-daughter.html

Father stabs family pit bull to death as it mauls his one-year-old daughter's face so badly she needed three blood transfusions and lengthy surgery

• Dog attack happened Sunday morning in Falmouth, Massachusetts
• The dog, a pit bull terrier, had inflicted severe trauma to the one-year-old girl before its owner killed it
• Girl's father first tried to shoot the dog but his gun was not loaded
• Toddler was airlifted to a hospital in Boston where she underwent blood transfusions and hours-long surgery, with more to come

People who want, or have, children should rethink if they are looking to get a pit. It just seems they have very low tolerance levels compared to almost any other breed (well, maybe except a Chihuahua, but it would take a pack of 50 Chis, to do much damage). I have never, out of all of the dogs I've owned in my life, had a single one of my dogs, be aggressive toward/or attack, me, or my family (and I've had a lot of dogs in my lifetime).

 

[rsd1200]

I cannot count this as an example of unprovoked. There is not enough information to concluded that. Do not leave toddlers alone with small kids. Kids are mean to animals. Not on purpose but becuase they are learning. Often times so is the animal.

She was only 12 months old. The pit mix I had as a child was a biter but even he didn't latch onto folk's heads. As far as a 12 month old hurting them? I saw that pit mix of ours get kicked by a horse, that horse sailed his butt half way across the barn lot, b/c he'd ran up and grabbed the horse's tail. He picked himself up, shook off the dust, and trotted off. He didn't grab the horse's tail anymore though.

 

[evelezrn]

People who want, or have, children should rethink if they are looking to get a pit. It just seems they have very low tolerance levels compared to almost any other breed (well, maybe except a Chihuahua, but it would take a pack of 50 Chis, to do much damage). I have never, out of all of the dogs I've owned in my life, had a single one of my dogs, be aggressive toward/or attack, me, or my family (and I've had a lot of dogs in my lifetime).

O/T, but the mental picture of "a pack of 50 chis" made me literally laugh out loud.

 

[rsd1200]

O/T, but the mental picture of "a pack of 50 chis" made me literally laugh out loud.

O/T Stephen King could write a novel about a pack of those little guys! Temperamental little buggers.

 

[Trident]

O/T Stephen King could write a novel about a pack of those little guys! Temperamental little buggers.

No, them little buggers aren't "temperamental", they're fear biters because they are so small. My daughter has two of them, one is fairly nice, while the other one is scared of it's own shadow and would bite himself if he was startled. The other one goes along with him, egging him on, and now you have two little monsters capable of biting your ankles and trying to drag you down by your pantlegs. They yap and they snarl, trying to keep the world at bay, to keep the world from hurting them. This pair, especially the smallest one, have bitten a lot of people, some badly, including my daughter. I, however, have never been bitten by them even though I have dog sat many times. I believe them when they growl/show teeth and say "I will bite you". I back off. They believe me when I say "you will only bite me once". So far we have a truce. I would never allow a dog of mine to act that way. Thank God they ain't bigger.

 

[JaneEyre]

No, them little buggers aren't "temperamental", they're fear biters because they are so small. My daughter has two of them, one is fairly nice, while the other one is scared of it's own shadow and would bite himself if he was startled. The other one goes along with him, egging him on, and now you have two little monsters capable of biting your ankles and trying to drag you down by your pantlegs. They yap and they snarl, trying to keep the world at bay, to keep the world from hurting them. This pair, especially the smallest one, have bitten a lot of people, some badly, including my daughter. I, however, have never been bitten by them even though I have dog sat many times. I believe them when they growl/show teeth and say "I will bite you". I back off. They believe me when I say "you will only bite me once". So far we have a truce. I would never allow a dog of mine to act that way. Thank God they ain't bigger.

I don't know that they are all fear biters. My first encounter with a chi was one getting off his leash and chasing me down while I was walking in order to attack me. I was nowhere near him, so he had no reason to fear bite. IMO, most chis and a lot of other little dogs are born arsholes and their owners make it worse by either getting a kick out of it or just not dealing with it because they don't think they can really hurt someone. I tend to ignore them when I meet them. If they want to be nice dogs, I'll be nice back. But I don't go out of my way to pet them like I do with big dogs. I'll hug your rottie as soon as I can, but I'll keep my distance from your chi, thank you very much.

My mom almost adopted one and I put the kabosh on that pretty quickly because I am not helping her with it. She later got a big old loving mutt.

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[rsd1200]

No, them little buggers aren't "temperamental", they're fear biters because they are so small. My daughter has two of them, one is fairly nice, while the other one is scared of it's own shadow and would bite himself if he was startled. The other one goes along with him, egging him on, and now you have two little monsters capable of biting your ankles and trying to drag you down by your pantlegs. They yap and they snarl, trying to keep the world at bay, to keep the world from hurting them. This pair, especially the smallest one, have bitten a lot of people, some badly, including my daughter. I, however, have never been bitten by them even though I have dog sat many times. I believe them when they growl/show teeth and say "I will bite you". I back off. They believe me when I say "you will only bite me once". So far we have a truce. I would never allow a dog of mine to act that way. Thank God they ain't bigger.

Hers may be fear biters (you can help a dog who has that problem), but most are temperamental. My ex brought one home and I said, he had to take full care of it b/c I wasn't fooling with the dog, and he took it back. My neighbor's Chi bit my mother and she was just standing there, doing nothing. They don't know that they are small. Just as my Rott doesn't know she is large. She thinks she can fit on the recliner, with me, on my lap. I don't allow it, but she will still try to inch her way up on a rare occasion.

I've been babysitting a small dog, for family, this past week, and it took a liking to the Rott's huge bed and tried to make her move. The Rott didn't like that and growled at the smaller dog. The small dog did not back down, and growled back. It was turning into a standoff. Neither know their size, so I just separated them, for precaution.

 

[Dkamplain]

Ah you sound like me🤗 I love me a BIG dog! Ive had dogs all my life and had about some interaction with about every major breed there is! Right now i think my fav is what i have: a Great Pyrenees, red heeler and i have a puppy thats a mix of the two... i have a wishlist of dogs that includes like an irish wolfhound and mastiff for example! Bigger is better! I had a wonderful pomeranian and a wonderful maltipoo and totally agree on the chi's🙄 My mom in law had 12 at one time🙏🏻😬 i know i think differently than most people as i carry on full discussions with my heeler and ask him to remind me of things sometimes😜 And my GP is in training as my service dog. I TRUST and KNOW these dogs! Ive been around dobermans and had a couple of rottweilers as my was younger. My kid even required stitches in her face at 3 because a jack russell terrier bit her due to a sitter not watching what was going on but i dont the dog completely for that. In fact the only canine i have only actively campaigned to get rid of was a husky/wolf that was double bred back so he was like 99% wolf... now i did NOT trust that dog! You could see the wheels working trying to see how to trick us😱

 

[wgram]

This is what I thought, too. Honestly, they keep releasing information meant to clinch the case for the dogs being the only ones involved in her death, but that actually make dog people more suspicious.

Throw a block of cheddar on the floor that's still in the plastic wrapper and see if any dog is going to spit all the plastic bits out while consuming the cheese. Not going to happen. This is precisely why so many dogs have gastric surgery each year. They often consume wrappers, paper towels, and other bits of inedible material while getting into food not meant for them and end up with life threatening blockages.

ETA - and I'm in the camp of people who believe that the dogs killing her is the most likely scenario, but I also believe there are plenty of things that do not add up in this case, and if they were humans who were going to stand trial, there is plenty of reasonable doubt. LE would have to come up with more evidence than this to have an airtight case.

That does seem odd and there was no mention of where her clothes were. My daughter just got a lab mixed with pit. Its just over 1 year old. I worry about it since i have a 5 year old grandchild. She wont listen to me and i worry everyday. But back to the case though. She had taken the dogs to her fathers. It was mentioned in online reports that he didnt take care of the dogs. If you look at her FB you will see she was married at one point. Nothings been mentioned about it, so i assume it doesnt play a role in her death. I hate this happened to her. Moo

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[GeorgiaSuzy]

Anybody who owns a dog and is bringing a baby home needs to take extra precautions and heed any warning signs.

I hope you can find a way to approach your friends that will allow them to be open minded about the safety of their newly minted family.

Imo, I'd leave the "need to have your head examined" part out if you value the friendship.

ETA:. Here is a 2008 story that stuck with me of a lab puppy that killed a baby. http://m.newson6.com/story.aspx?story=8746561&catId=112042.

I remembered this from 2006, but unfortunately it is a pit bull, not another breed, but still a puppy eating baby toes. http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/1...chewed-off-baby-toes-while-parents-slept.html

Babies in particular are truly in danger of any dog. These are clearly neglect cases as well, but babies and dogs require vigilance and knowledge and preferably experience.

Jeez, that pit bull puppy was only 6 weeks old. That seems like NATURE not NURTURE to me. Each dog breed has their specialty, ie herding, retrieving, rat-catching. Pits were selectively bred to handle or bait bulls, bears, fight each other, etc. Respect each breed for their specialty, don't ignore it.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Autopsy proves 22-year-old was mauled to death by her OWN pit bulls who were found chewing on her rib cage after they were left 'underfed and isolated' while living with her dad

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...es-woman-mauled-death-dogs.html#ixzz57qmWHb5r