Free Republic

A dog injured a child onboard a Southwest Airlines flight, the latest incident in the controversy over allowing emotional-support animals on planes. It happened Wednesday night while passengers were boarding a Southwest flight from Phoenix to Portland, Ore. A spokesman for the airline said the dog’s teeth scraped the girl’s forehead as she approached the animal, causing a minor injury. Southwest said paramedics examined the girl, who was later cleared to continue on the flight. The dog and its owner remained in Phoenix while the plane left about 20 minutes behind schedule. Neither the girl nor the dog’s handler was...

A 6-month-old from Hawaii was mauled to death Monday by her family's pit bull. Layla Tsuda, who said she was with the girl, told KHON-TV that the baby was playing in a baby walker inside their home in northwest Las Vegas valley when she was attacked. Tsuda reportedly went to the bathroom and when she came back she found the dog mauling the girl. Tsuda was able to stop the attack, but the baby already suffered major injuries, according to KTNV. The child was rushed to the hospital where she died.

A post circulating about a dog shot and killed by Augusta Police Department is going viral. KSN wanted to hear both sides of the story, from the police and the dog’s owner. The dog’s owner, Alan Fitzgerald, is an army veteran suffering from PTSD. He says his dog, a black German Shepherd named “Midnite” helped alleviate his anxiety. Fitzgerald says Midnite got out earlier in the day Thursday chasing after something, as he often did with rabbits and cats. Fitzgerald alleges that Midnite was down several mobile homes from his, where he was hovering over a smaller dog there. “It’s...

Judge Valerie Stanfill said she didn’t believe Dakota’s new owner, Linda Janeski, had standing to ask that the original judgment that declared Dakota a dangerous dog, and ordered her destroyed within 48 hours, be withdrawn. [Snip] Gov. Paul LePage granted a pardon to Dakota on March 30 after a member of the Humane Society’s board sent him a letter. His news release stated “the dog ought to be provided a full and free pardon.”

CONCORD -- A 2-year-old girl was in stable condition at Children's Hospital Oakland after being bitten by a dog Monday afternoon, authorities said. The incident occurred about 5 p.m. in the 4300 block of Rose Lane, authorities said, and the girl was rushed to a nearby park, from where she was flown to the hospital. The girl was bitten on her face, head and right leg, according to fire officials at the scene.

A baby boy has died after he was attacked by his family’s mastiff dog during his first birthday party. A day after turning one, Jeremiah Eshew-Shahan was at his grandmother’s house in Las Vegas when he crawled over to the dog – a mastiff-rhodesian mix weighing about 120 pounds – and started to pet him. The dog then attacked the baby, sinking his teeth into Jeremiah’s head and shaking him...

85-pound Argentine mastiff dog dramatically rescued a day earlier from an icy lake was impounded Wednesday after viciously biting a Denver television news anchor on her face during a live in-studio segment. Kyle Dyer was conducting an interview on the rescue of Gladiator Maximus, also known as Max, after the dog fell into a frigid Lakewood lake Tuesday while chasing a coyote. The live segment was aimed at reuniting firefighter Tyler Sugaski, who rescued the animal, and Michael Robinson, the dog's owner. According to KUSA-TV ( http://on9news.tv/wOefIb ), firefighters, paramedics and animal control were called to the station after the...

A Salem man was arrested for killing a rabbit. He didn't actually kill the bunny with his hands. His dog did....in front of four little girls. It happened May 27 in a city park. According to the paper, the girls were at the park with their families during a lacrosse game, when they went to a wooded area to look for bunnies. While they were watching one hop around, a man drove up with his unleashed Doberman pinscher. The man apparently went over to where the girls were watching the rabbit and told the dog to “get it.” He laughed...

Americans who value the Constitution should stand with Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and oppose George Bush's attempted power grab in conjunction with establishing a Department of Homeland Security. The Bushies are trying to frame the debate as either protecting bureaucracy or providing security for Americans. In fact, the debate is about preventing an authoritarian president from sacrificing the Constitution in the name of providing security. Let me remind you that those who prefer security to freedom will lose both. Bush wants to be able to disregard labor contracts and civil-service rules, as well as move money within the department as...