My community is up in arms after an unleashed dog attack!

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

My apologies in advance for posting this, but I was shaking and sick after hearing this today. From time to time, we've posted about the danger of unleashed dogs. But this time I'm squarely focused on Pit Bulls. I really need to vent and I can only think to do it here and get your thoughts as I try to collect my own.  

Our community is reeling due to a pit bull attack.  A couple was walking their 7 lb. leashed maltese in a beautiful neighborhood not far from my office when 2 pit bulls belonging to a neighbor who rescues and fosters pits came from behind.  Apparently her dogs got loose--they get loose a lot. The couple never saw them coming until it was too late. The husband tried to pick up their little dog up but one pit grabbed her by the head.  Little Sobo died instantly. The dogs devoured parts of her while the owners tried to get her body.  If that isn't horrific enough…the two dogs, in pack mentality, charged another man down the street and then made their way to a nearby development and tried to attack a woman walking a pomeranian but the woman was able to lift her dog above her head and save it just as animal control got there.  Of course, the fault is with the owner for owning these dangerous dogs and not containing them. But it's not just these two that have been aggressive. She's rescued others just as bad because now we know that several neighbors have been bitten. What I want to know is when and where does it become unacceptable to own these dogs?  I can't believe I'm saying that, but I am.  

I've worked a little bit with Pitt Bulls and Pitt-mixes in rescue and I know they can be smart, sweet, loving dogs one-on-one but there's not one pure Pitt that I would have trusted completely with others or with other animals. 

One of my staff lives in that neighborhood and her 10 year old son (cute and bright as a button) started a dog walking business about a year ago after being smitten with Finn and Oscar (our office doodle).  His favorite "client" is Edgar - a pomeranian. Jackie spends his days off thinking up special things to do with Edgar.  It was sheer luck that Jackie wasn't walking Edgar. 

BTW did I mention that the owner came across this bloody mess and drove away without saying ANYTHING when the couple told her what happened.  The husband was so distraught, he was taken to the ER.  These poor people, I can't even imagine.  Children and adults have been bringing flowers and little dog toys to a memorial that's growing for little Sobo.

I know any breed can be aggressive but --as someone has said - an aggressive dog is like a firecracker, but a pit bull is like a hand grenade.

To the borough's credit, there's going to be a community-wide meeting next week to discuss what residents feel should be done. Come on DKers, (at least anyone who's made it through this awful post) please help me with a list. 

       

[BG and Gavin]

OMG I am sick over this! Ontario does have BSL around pit bulls which I do think is unfair, but if I had any first hand experience like this I would surely change my tune. My limited experience with a friends PB and mixes rescues have been positive. I worry first they came for the PB s, then the Rotties, then the GSDs etc.  Unfortunaely there are alot of jackasses that are attracted to these macho breeds and they are cluless about training or chain them up to make them mean. I am pretty positive that in this case the animals would be seized by animal control and likely put down.  

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

I don't know the answer BG.  This woman owner is a successful physical therapist living in an upscale suburban neighborhood who likes to rescue/foster pit bulls.  These dogs have been loose on at least a dozen occasions. One neighbor was bitten, another attacked (but got into his house), one other small dog attacked (but survived) and she had to euthanize a previous pit bull for aggression.  Where were the police/authorities on these two dogs?  Why have the neighbors been living in fear and not reporting her?  It's not like the police in New Hope have that much to do, I mean we're not talking the inner city here. I think either there aren't the right laws to enforce or there's a mindset that we don't want to create waves. There are no bad dogs, just bad owners?  I don't know. Even my own assistant who's young son walks dogs there knew about these dogs but seemed unconcerned until now. Huh?  Wake up call.

[Adina P]

I think sometimes there are bad dogs...or at least dogs that will continue to DO bad in the hands of MOST dog owners who don't go to GREAT lengths to contain and control the behavior. 

[BG and Gavin]

Laws are different here. Ownership bans through the courts are a regular thing around here. Muzzle orders are fairly routine too. There has to be some controls on these individuals.

[Christy&Riley]

It would be horrific enough seeing your dog attacked, but to see it eaten is INSANE. No words could express how disturbing that would be and how it will affect them for many years. I feel so bad for those owners that had to witness that and for their loss!

 

I think the problem is that many people have lost their sense of responsibility. The world revolves around them and they think they can do whatever they want even regardless of the consequences. A man jogging in our area was killed by two cane corsos who had a history of aggressive behavior. Can you imagine being chased down the road and mauled to death? Horrifying! The owners did nothing and ended up in jail which doesn't seem like proper punishment for the brutal way the man died and the fact that it was their lack of responsibility that caused it. The article link is below.

http://woodtv.com/2015/07/14/sentencing-set-for-dog-owners-in-jogge...

 

[Amy and Annabelle]

I am over near the Dexter/Chelsea area and I remember that. I also remember the guy last year near Detroit that was mauled by a pack of pitts. He lost an arm, foot and ear it the attack. The dogs were destroyed and they found pieces of the guys body parts in the dogs during their autopsies.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Pit bulls tore a man apart and ate parts of him. Pit bulls tore a Maltese apart and ate parts of her. Does this sound like a dog to you, or does it sound like a wild animal? A leopard maybe. You know, the kind of animal you aren't allowed to have as a pet? The kind you're banned from having as a pet???

Consider the fact that even police K9s who are trained to attack do not do this. They bite, but it's to "stop and hold" the person. Tearing a person apart once they have been caught and disabled, just for fun, is not instinctive in dogs...except for pit bulls and related breeds. Like those Presa Canarios who killed Diane Whipple in CA years back. The only parts of her without bite marks and torn flesh were the soles of her feet.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I work in downtown Detroit and I have seen hospital employees at the hospital I work at have to have emergency surgery because they were attacked by pit bulls while walking to or from their cars. It's absolutely crazy but one of the reasons I carry Mace on me at all times.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

As horrific as these stories of dogs being attacked and killed by pitbulls are, of far greater concern to many of us is the fact that pitbulls are the number one breed involved in human dog bite deaths, by a very wide margin, and the vast majority of those killed are children. And the numbers are increasing. In one of those links I provided, there's a heading "pit bull attacks today" , because they are happening daily across the country. These are facts. Google "pit bull attack" and the name of your town, and chances are pit bulls have killed someone very near your home recently. And "irresponsible owners" don't even enter into this much of the time, because those killed are most often members of the dog's own household or family. Again, facts. Often, a visiting grandchild is the victim. In many, many other cases, it's a neighbor child playing outside in his own yard and the pit bull next door gets loose. This frightens me to death, as I'm sure it frightens every parent and grandparent here.  So while I do understand that banning a breed is a slippery slope, what do you do when the people living next door to your grandchild get a rescued pitbull? Purchase a child-sized set of armor for your grandchild to wear when he's learning to ride his two-wheeler in front of the house? Phone the parents of every child who invites him over for a play date to ask if they have a pit bull? (My DD used to ask if people she didn't know had guns in the house before allowing my GS to go there. Not a bad idea.) 

Nobody hates the idea of a ban on, say, German Shepherds more than I do. I love those dogs. They are like superheroes to me. But when the number of innocent people killed by GSDs comes close to that of people killed by pit bulls, I'll be the first to sign the petition banning them. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here, take a look at the statistics: http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-study-dog-attacks-and-m...

Notice that the total number of deaths and maimings by pit bulls is more than double that of the other 12 breeds listed combined. 

And there are irresponsible owners of all breeds, even (gasp) doodles.

So this is not about irresponsible owners, it's the breed. 

[Christy&Riley]

I'm confused. If the breed is so bad (which I agree with) wouldn't it then be irresponsible to own one?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think it would be downright crazy to own one, lol.

But my point is referring to the usual pit bull advocates' statement that "It's not the dog, it's the owner". The implication being that when a pit bull attacks, it's the fault of an irresponsible owner.The dogs themselves aren't inherently dangerous, it's due to having a bad owner. I'm saying that it is the dog, no matter what kind of owner he has.