Posted on 02/06/2009 10:26:16 AM PST by DouglasKC
ROBINSON TOWNSHIP — Two children suffered minor injuries when a dog attacked them after following its owners onto a bus full of students headed to Robinson Elementary School on Wednesday morning.
According to Grand Haven Area Public Schools Superintendent Keith Konarska, the pit bull followed two children from his family onto the bus at a stop at 120th Avenue and Fernwood Lane. Once on the bus, the dog nipped at two students and the driver, who was trying to remove it, Konarska said.
A boy and a girl, both 9, were injured in the incident.
Parents of both injured students were contacted immediately, Konarska said. The boy, T.J. Tuttle, was taken to North Ottawa Community Hospital by his mother.
"It was a pretty scary moment for him," said the mother, Michelle Tuttle. "The dog lunged right at his face."
T.J. suffered a bruise on his forehead and had lots of scratches, Michelle said, but no major injuries. Doctors also prescribed him an antibiotic, she said.
According to Konarska, the 9-year-old girl suffered minor scratches in the attack.
The dog's owner has surrendered the animal to Harbor Humane Society, said Lt. Lee Hoeksma of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department, where it will be kept in a 10-day quarantine before it could be put down if it is believed to be a threat.
Michelle Tuttle, who does not know the dog or its owners, said she has heard from neighbors that the dog had a prior biting incident in Allegan County.
"This dog was not known as a friendly dog," she said.
Tuttle also plans to take legal action against the owners so an incident like this doesn't happen again.
"They have to be held accountable for it," she said.
Tuttle's family owns a large boxer, she said, and T.J. has told her that he is now afraid of big dogs. But Tuttle acknowledged that the attack could have been a lot worse, and commended the school and the bus driver for their swift actions.
"They handled it very calmly and expeditiously," she said.
In addition to contacting the parents of the two injured children, a note was also sent home with all the children on the bus, Konarska said.
Robinson Elementary Principal Jeffrey Marcus also brought the children into the auditorium to talk with them about the incident. The kids seemed to react well to the incident, Marcus said.
"I was very impressed at how well they handles themselves," the principal said. "It could have certainly been a very traumatic experience."
Konarska had never heard of a dog getting on a school bus and attacking students, he said.
"This is one of those very unusual incidents and we're glad that no one got more seriously hurt," he said.
I was JUST going to ping you because I searched for this ping list...
I just checked. 1.8 miles stood between me and certain pit bull death. Well, if I had been on the bus. And if I couldn’t have pushed a 7 year old old between me and the dog. But I could have been in peril.
Nope - I’ve seen it, but I don’t remember. Pit bulls figured prominently as did chows, but I don’t remember the rest.
Pit bull, Rottweiler, Akita or Chow. Most fatal dog attacks are by pit bulls. In 2008, 65% of the fatalities were by pit bulls.
The dog happily tags along behind its owners who no doubt think it is a sweet little angel, then once on the bus, it attacks. The two faces of the pitbull in one scene.
"Oh he don't mean no harm.....he's just funnin' ya!"
Soot the damn lot of 'em..
Yes sir! Front page headlines in the Tribune. LOL Now that my kids are out of high school, I really don't see the need for their paper. (I'm just northwest of you across the river. Howdy neighbor!)
Thank you. I'm not at all surprised.
I was at Surfside Beach down by Houston and witnessed a spectacle. Someone offered horse rentals. A man was enjoying a stroll down the beach when all of a sudden an unleashed pit bull, brought there by a bunch of rednecks, attacked the horse. Yes, a dog that weighed all of maybe 50 or 60 lbs attacked a 1,000 lb animal! The dog latched on to the first thing it could reach, which in this case was the penis of the horse. The horse gave the pit bull one hell of a kick and sent it flying backwards about 20 feet. Unfazed, the pit bull took off after the horse again! The horse freaked out trying to get away. It jumped onto the hood of a car, the man fell off onto the windshield and broke his arm, the horse rolled off the car and stampeded down the beach with the pit bull chomping at it's legs, being kicked in the head repeatedly with lethal force - flying backwards then rolling back to its feet to continue the attack. It was astonishing to see the aggressiveness of the pit bull and the punishment it could take.
So these jackasses with the pit bull
1) caused a horse stampede on a crowded beach
2) caused a guy to break his arm
3) caused injury to both the hose and dog
4) caused significant damage to a car
I also met a guy who had his face literally torn off and pulled up over his head, and was sent through a sliding glass door - by his own Chow at his birthday party. Everyone was so freaked out, he had to pull his face skin back down and call 911 himself. He looked worse then Frankenstein with all the scars.
I don't get the Trib either but my daughter told me about it last night....she has a step daughter in school and sure enough I looked on the web site and there it was!
Just....wow.
"The Council has identified 23 canine-caused fatalities for 2008, as compared with 34 the prior year.
Officials investigating the 2008 incidents claim to have identified
10 different breeds or types of dogs in connection with these 23 fatalities,
though experts caution that breed attributions are usually made on the basis of physical impression,
and should not be considered reliable."
Why was it loose to begin with if that was the case?
Problem is, only responsible people will follow the law. Those neighbors won’t and some kid is going to get it anyway. The best thing would be for some of the neighbors to figure out some way of getting rid of those dogs since they have already proved that they are dangerous. (If you get my drift....)
But dog bites are on the rise. Fortunately fatalities were down last year, but this is such a small variable number that the year to year shift is basically a random walk.
Post an article that states some facts and it’s *pit bull hate*?
Gee, that’s touchier than some religious groups....
Except, according to the article, this one was no Shirley Temple of the dog world.
Michelle Tuttle, who does not know the dog or its owners, said she has heard from neighbors that the dog had a prior biting incident in Allegan County. "This dog was not known as a friendly dog," she said.
Many pet owners are convinced that their little darlings are incapable of doing anything wrong.
Ain’t that the truth.
And when they do, the owners blame shift that their little cream puff was provoked.
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