Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

9-year-old attacked, bitten by pit bull in Ft Knox's Morand Manor
15 Jun 06 | SPC. IAN BOUDREAU /Turret staff writer

Posted on 06/15/2006 6:38:54 PM PDT by SLB

A 9-year-old boy was attacked and bitten by a pit bull in the Morand Manor housing area of Fort Knox June 7.

Bryce Burkett was riding his bicycle with his 12-year-old brother Brandon near their home when the dog jumped its back yard fence and ran up to Bryce, knocked him down, and began biting his thigh and side, said Angela Burkett, the boys’ mother.

The attack happened between 6:15 and 6:30 that evening, Burkett said.

“My son (Brandon) came running up the street, yelling that (Bryce) had gotten bitten by a pit bull,” she said. “We all took off running.”

Nearby, Staff Sgt. Jawara Middleton had just gotten home from his son’s baseball game when he heard his mother-in-law shouting, “That kid needs help!”

“I looked down the street, and I saw this dog jumping at this kid,” Middleton said. “I ran down there, not even thinking of what kind of dog it was.”

Middleton said he became worried when he realized the dog was a pit bull.

“From what I understand, the dog was chewing (on Bryce), and working its way up,” Burkett said.

Middleton said he charged at the animal, shouting to try to scare it away from the boy.

“Once the dog saw me coming down there, he kind of backed off,” he said.

Middleton picked up Bryce’s bicycle and positioned it between the dog and the boy, and shouted for his wife to come help. She and Brandon helped Bryce inside, he said. Middleton had identified the animal as belonging to a neighbor, and using the bicycle, he forced it back to the back yard it had escaped from and into its cage.

Bryce, meanwhile, suffered scratches to his arms and bites to his thigh and side, including at least two deep puncture wounds.

The pit bull was about six months old and weighed between 70 and 80 pounds, Burkett said.

Military police responded to the 911 call, and Bryce was taken to Ireland Army Community Hospital where he was treated and released, Burkett said. The animal was moved off-post for quarantine immediately following the incident.

“It’s scary,” Burkett said. “I don’t think people really think about it until a tragedy happens, and because there wasn’t a death here, people aren’t going to take it seriously.”

It’s not the first dog attack on Fort Knox. Staff Sgt. Anthony Etheridge, then a drill sergeant with the 2nd Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment, was hospitalized after a Rottweiler attacked him as he was coming to the aid of a small child in the Pritchard Place housing area Feb. 14, 2005.

Of the 104 animal bite cases treated at Ireland Hospital in 2005, dogs were involved in 79, according to figures released by the hospital.

Although Knox has regulations designed to keep animals safely under control, some residents—including Burkett—are concerned that they aren’t being enforced.

“If you walk through the post right now, there are violations all throughout housing,” she said.

Loose dogs and cats roam the housing areas almost constantly, she said. But it’s the larger breeds, specifically pit bulls and Rottweilers, that cause her the most concern.

“They’re status dogs,” she said. “There’s no other use for that type of dog than for status and protection... and you don’t need protection on a military base.”

Jennifer Smith, a pit bull owner who also lives in Morand Manor, agreed that many people purchase pit bulls and Rottweilers for the wrong reasons.

“A lot of people get them to make them look tough, without researching the breed,” Smith said.

Her pit bull terrier, Apollo, was certified a “Canine Good Citizen” by the American Kennel Club in February.

Smith said that dog breeds aren’t the problem-it’s dog care.

“If people were made to have control over their dogs, we wouldn’t have these problems,” she said. “I’ve seen MPs pick up the same dog over and over.”

She worries that incidents such as the one involving Bryce Burkett will lead to what she considers an unfair ban on specific breeds; namely pit bulls and Rottweilers.

“With pit bull bans, responsible dog owners are the ones who are punished,” she said. “The bad dog owners will just move on to another breed, and the same problems will occur.”

Ireland’s statistics back up her claim. The 79 dog bites treated at the hospital in 2005 involved 32 breeds.

Smith said she and her family-and their two dogs-are in the process of moving off post in order to avoid conflict if such a ban should be put into effect on Fort Knox.

Burkett suggested that post units could conduct unannounced inspections of pet-owning Soldiers’ quarters to make sure they were observing established policies on pet control, similar to the way barracks and vehicle inspections are conducted.

“If you’re going to own an animal, you’ve got take care of it as you would your own child,” Burkett said. “You can’t just lock it up in a cage and put it in the back yard and expect that everything’s going to be all right.”

Officials at the Post Veterinary Clinic said they had heard no discussion on enacting any breed-specific ban for Fort Knox. But Burkett and Smith agree that the bite incident calls for some kind of action.

“I think they need to enforce the regulations we have,” Smith said.

“I don’t know what will happen as a result of this,” Burkett said. “I really, really hope that something changes... If they’re going to pass something, they’ve got to actively enforce it.”


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: anotherdumbdog; bull; dogofpeace; pit
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last
To: solosmoke

The reason so many children are attacked by pit bulls is that the dogs do not recognize that something that is small and down on their level is human.


41 posted on 06/16/2006 5:58:37 AM PDT by Ditter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia
After seeing reports of 125 lb "pit bulls",
I've come to the conclusion that "pit bulls" have attained mythical status.
They're the latest boogiedog of the ill-informed.
42 posted on 06/16/2006 6:05:41 AM PDT by kanawa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Ditter

You could apply that reasoning to any dog.


43 posted on 06/16/2006 6:08:08 AM PDT by kanawa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: kanawa

Pit bull = Poster dog for the Dangerous Breed Ban.


44 posted on 06/16/2006 6:15:09 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: kanawa
Yes you could but pit bulls were bred to kill. Some dog were bred to herd, to point birds, to fetch birds, to dig in the ground and kill varmints and some dogs were bred to sit on someones lap. Breeding counts and is like a blueprint that the dog instinctively follows.
45 posted on 06/16/2006 6:15:44 AM PDT by Ditter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Ditter



And did you read the definition in post 36??


46 posted on 06/16/2006 6:17:19 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia

Yes and I know what a pit bull looks like. I can recognize one on the street, chained in a yard or the back of a pick up truck and so can everyone else, we don't need the American Kennel Club to point one out to us. They are very recognizable. Your point is?


47 posted on 06/16/2006 6:32:49 AM PDT by Ditter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: kanawa

What pit bull? She's a "harmless lab" now ;-)

It's not worth responding to the type of person who makes that assumption.


48 posted on 06/16/2006 6:35:58 AM PDT by rattrap
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Ditter
>>>>Yes and I know what a pit bull looks like.

Ok, which of the below dogs are a pit bull.

1.



2.



3.



4.



5.

49 posted on 06/16/2006 6:55:42 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: arizonarachel

You're right. I read too fast-my oversight. Thanks.


50 posted on 06/16/2006 7:37:38 AM PDT by kevin_in_so_cal (http://www.boycottmadeinchina.org - http://www.olympicwatch.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia

LOL! The one I saw yesterday chained in the back of the gang bangers pickup. I don't need anyone to tell me they were gang bangers either.


51 posted on 06/16/2006 7:40:15 AM PDT by Ditter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: pctech

Wow! I always thought all racists were pitbull owners as well.


52 posted on 06/16/2006 7:56:56 AM PDT by Sensei Ern (http://www.myspace.com/reconcomedy/ "Born to be M-I-I-I-LD!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: kevin_in_so_cal

LOL, I should have checked out the other replies first, I think someone else got to you before I did. :-)


53 posted on 06/16/2006 8:00:52 AM PDT by arizonarachel (Praying for a April miracle!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Ditter

I'm confused. What are you laughing at? Those are all pit bulls.


54 posted on 06/16/2006 8:03:07 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia
What am I laughing at? I am laughing at you Calpernia, just you. ;p
55 posted on 06/16/2006 8:09:32 AM PDT by Ditter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: Ditter

So you *didn't* read the definition in post 36??


56 posted on 06/16/2006 8:15:28 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: RepoGirl
"Yeah, I guess it throws people off when you slaughter one of their sacred cows or something. ;-)"

The main reason so-called 'breed ban' legislation doesn't work is because it's impossible to come up with & agreed upon & legally enforceable 'breed' definition for what's actually a very general type of dog.

Additionally, such laws grossly violate the rights of the otherwise law-abiding vast majority of dog-owners and, as they advocate arbitrarily killing animals based soley upon ignorance & hysteria, are - by definition - morally bankrupt.

Accordingly, to the best of my knowledge, there isn't a single reputable animal welfare body in all of North America - from the seeing eye dog folks to humane societies - which supports so-called 'breed ban legislation'.

As both examples & to offer legitimate solutions to the problem:

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

click here for full sized PDF of above

And who supports 'breed ban' legislation ???

Beyond knee-jerk liberals & a handful of statist control freaks on FR, none other than the ecco-impirialist, earth-worshipping, social fascists of PETA - & also see: A Letter To PETA .


click for bomb dog Neville's
'saved from Ontario's social fascists' bio



57 posted on 06/16/2006 8:42:27 AM PDT by GMMAC (Discover Canada governed by Conservatives: www.CanadianAlly.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

A little help for the rest of you having trouble with post 49....

*Pit Bull is NOT a breed. It's a generic term often used to describe all dogs with similar traits and characteristics often known by the public as "Pit Bulls".

There is no way to know for sure what a dog's heritage is unless you have the pedigree of the dog.

Some may be gamebred APBT (from fighting lines), some may be registered show dogs, some may be Am Staffs, some may look like APBTs but might be mixed with other breeds, etc.

58 posted on 06/16/2006 8:45:33 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia; Candor7; Fair Go; feinswinesuksass; solosmoke; proud_yank; fanfan; kanawa
"Pit bull = Poster dog for the Dangerous Breed Ban. "

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

PING!
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

59 posted on 06/16/2006 8:48:46 AM PDT by GMMAC (Discover Canada governed by Conservatives: www.CanadianAlly.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: GMMAC

You may be interested in the posts 14-25 here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1280305/posts


60 posted on 06/16/2006 8:51:03 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson