Boy's arm amputated after family pit bull attacks

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8740906


PAW PAW, Mich (WOOD) - A 10-year-old boy had his arm amputated Saturday after the family dog attacked him.

It happened in the 52000 block of Brachetto Drive in Paw Paw around 11 a.m. Saturday.

Deputies from Van Buren County say the child was left home alone for a short time.

His brother arrived home to find the family dog, a two-year-old a pit bull named 'Torco' attacking the child.

The boy was taken to the hospital where he was listed in critical condition.

Authorities say the child had several puncture wounds and sustained injuries so severe that his right arm had to be amputated.

Neighbors in the area tell 24 Hour News 8 that they saw emergency crews at the same home earlier this summer because of the dog attacking another person in the home.

"We actually confronted him about it because we were very concerned for our own children," said Dave Bos, who lives across the street from where the attack happened. "It breaks my heart to see that a young child like that...had to lose his arm as a result of it. It's very depressing," he said.
Another neighbor, Doug Resman, says he even tried contacting law enforcement about the dog.

"They just said you have to wait until something else happens," said Resman.

The neighbors say that the man injured in the earlier incident had to have stitches and that animal control was called but the family refused to get rid of the dog despite their concerns.

"They are animal lovers, they have more than one animal and they just wanted to keep him," said Bos, "He (the dog owner) is a very nice guy and he didn't mean for this to happen. Unfortunately it did and you cant take back the inaction that you didn't take before."

The boy's parents were in Indiana at the time of the attack.

They were notified and police say they made their way back to West Michigan Saturday afternoon.

The dog was put down after being taken to the Van Buren County Animal Control Shelter in Hartford.

How horrible. It's so sad when a child has to suffer for their parents' stupidity. They knew the dog was dangerous yet left their child home alone with it.

Maybe the parents should have one of their arms amputated.:furious:

That's awful. I feel so sorry for that poor child. Shame on those parents for putting a dog before their children.

Another one??????????
Wake up people.:furious:

Grrrr this makes me angry:furious:

and it goes on and on.

kline said:

Another one??????????
Wake up people.:furious:

Click to expand...

Get rid of the Pit Bulls and if you have one and have a kid get charged with attempted murder or murder when they attack your child.

Why are people so stuck on stupid with regard to pitt bulls?

I just do NOT get it!:furious:

This did NOT have to happen!

fran

Poor child, people just don't get it

We start charging the idiot owners with attempted murder every single time their dogs bite someone.

That is when you will see a drop in aggressive dogs.

I am a dog lover. I love my beagles but I would not keep them if they were aggressive and prone to attacking people or other animals.

I feel terrible for the 10 year old boy, if his brother hadn't come home he could have been killed. Since the dog had already had atleast 1 attack before this IMO the dog should not have been around the children and the parents are responsible for what happened, just as if they left a loaded gun laying around for a kid to play with.
maybe the police will listen a little better also in the future when neighbors voice a concern. This was totally preventable.

VB

maybe one fine day.. we will all come to our senses and pass laws in EVERY state protecting us from these evil things. only then will i feel truly safe walking down the street. but sadly, i guess many more people, children, and other pets will have to be killed, in order for lawmakers to consider OUR freedom to be safe.. more important than the 'FREEDOM' of people to own vicious, violent dogs that randomly attack people.

pixies said:

We start charging the idiot owners with attempted murder every single time their dogs bite someone.

That is when you will see a drop in aggressive dogs.

I am a dog lover. I love my beagles but I would not keep them if they were aggressive and prone to attacking people or other animals.

Click to expand...

Amen!

becklynn said:

Get rid of the Pit Bulls and if you have one and have a kid get charged with attempted murder or murder when they attack your child.

Click to expand...

I couldnt agree more!:clap::clap::clap::clap:

reb said:

maybe one fine day.. we will all come to our senses and pass laws in EVERY state protecting us from these evil things. only then will i feel truly safe walking down the street. but sadly, i guess many more people, children, and other pets will have to be killed, in order for lawmakers to consider OUR freedom to be safe.. more important than the 'FREEDOM' of people to own vicious, violent dogs that randomly attack people.

Click to expand...

Laws against specific breeds wont' change a thing...until we start PUNISHING OWNERS who are irresponsible, abusive and neglectful we will still have dog bites and dog attacks becuase the same irresponsible people who own pit bulls will go out and get another large breed dog, tie it up in the back yard or the basement, make it mean for 'protection' and then claim to be shocked when it attacks someone.

Unless you are going to ball ALL large and medium sized dogs, then the problem isn't dogs but people who shouldn't own them in the first place.

I don't know why this isn't obvious to everyone. Everytime we pass a law aimed at the symptom instead of the cause it fails.

Medea said:

Laws against specific breeds wont' change a thing...until we start PUNISHING OWNERS who are irresponsible, abusive and neglectful we will still have dog bites and dog attacks becuase the same irresponsible people who own pit bulls will go out and get another large breed dog, tie it up in the back yard or the basement, make it mean for 'protection' and then claim to be shocked when it attacks someone.

Click to expand...

Medea, I absolutely agree.

I've mentioned before what happened in Denmark: they banned Pit Bulls, made extensive efforts to confiscate them and after a temporary dip in the number of bite cases, the bite statistics went right back up to where they were before.

It seems quite clear: it's not the breed of dog. Irresponsible owners can turn any breed of dog into a tragedy waiting to happen.

Unless you are going to ball ALL large and medium sized dogs, then the problem isn't dogs but people who shouldn't own them in the first place.

I don't know why this isn't obvious to everyone. Everytime we pass a law aimed at the symptom instead of the cause it fails.

Click to expand...

What's really frustrating is that most places have at least one of the two laws that have been proven to reduce bites: leash laws and banning unsupervised tie-outs. Strong, focused enforcement of both laws greatly reduces the number of bites, probably because irresponsible owners tend to be lazy owners. If they have to take their dog out on leash, if they can't just tie the dog out without supervision, they voluntarily stop owning dogs.

I wonder sometimes if the amount of hysteria directed at Pit Bulls isn't in part a result of the fact that most people do not live in rural settings any more, a profound sociological change in the last 75 years or so.

I do live out in the boonies--I have four "neighbours" and they are all a quarter mile or more away from my house. While there are three small towns in my county, the population of the entire county is less than 10,000 people. I live in a major farming area and I doubt there's anyone living in this county who doesn't have a direct connection to agriculture.

Out here, if someone gets stepped on by a cow, people shrug; that's what cows do. If someone isn't careful and gets bitten by a sow, people shrug; that's what sows do. If you don't like being stepped on by cows or bitten by sows, don't do things that put you in a position to suffer those fates.

Parents are far more likely here to ask their children "what did you do to that dog to make it bite you?" than they are to freak out and have hysterics because their little darling was nipped.

We've raised three generations of people in the US who have never actually met any of the animals that provide their food. They don't have that direct experience that teaches people that animals are animals and it's up to us humans to use our larger brain capacity in order to keep everyone safe.

ANTWERP TOWNSHIP -- The investigation of a pit-bull attack that police say resulted in a 10-year-old boy losing part of an arm was forwarded Wednesday to the Van Buren County Prosecutor's Office for review.

The boy, Patrick Crouch, remains hospitalized and is awaiting a prosthesis for his right arm.

Patrick, of Comstock Township, was staying at his 23-year-old brother's home in the 52000 block of Brachetto Street on July 26 while his parents were out of town in Indiana, Van Buren County Sgt. Scott Schmitt said.

Link: http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2008/08/findings_in_dog_attack_on_10ye.html

Did I miss something? Why are people attacking the parents? I thought it said that the parents were out of town when this occured?
Poor boy, I hope that he makes a full recovery.