Posted on 04/01/2009 10:34:18 AM PDT by Chet 99
A Warren toddler is recovering after being attacked by a pit bull over the weekend.
Three year old Christine Francis required 19 stitches after the animal bit her face. The dog got inside her home on Saturday after her father trapped it on the front porch, hoping animal control officers would come and pick it up. However, due to budget constraints, no one was available.
The girl's father, Thomas Holmes, says he understands the city's financial concerns, but feels an exception should be made when it involves something dangerous. "I know those dogs aren't good to have around. When something like this happens, they should come and get those dogs so nothing like this can happen. That is something she didn't need to go through," Holmes said.
Warren Police Chief John Mandopolis says the animal control officer is normally given permission to come out on overtime when vicious dogs are involved. He says he's not sure why that didn't happen on Saturday.
It’s hopeless to talk to these Pit owners who insist their little snuggle bunnies would never hurt anyone.
Just make sure you never take your child over to their house.
It IS a problem -but the solution is not racial profiling of a breed, but the prosecution of dog fighters who train these animals for sport.
At the turn of the century, Pit Bulls were very popular (remember the little rascals dog - Petey I think) as family dogs. They were not known for human aggression at all. Fast forward to today; why are the Pits in peril? The lowlife thug scum that trains them to kill and gets “shown the money” to do so. Do a little research people beyond the daily rags. Freepers, of all people, know “news” is not necessarily “truth.”
It’s true that many other dog breeds are just as prone to attacking as pit bulls. However, pit bulls have extraordinary jaw strength, which has been deliberately bred into them, and which is unmatched by any other breed except possibly certain individual dogs within certain types of mastiff breeds. The amount of damage pit bulls can inflict is much, much greater when they launch an attack with the same intent/mindset as another breed.
There’s only so much that training and good treatment can accomplish. Years ago, a young couple I knew who were very well-educated and responsible, both bankers, bought their first home and decided to get a Rottweiler (female) in addition to the black Lab they already had. They got it from a show dog breeder, took it to many weeks of obedience training, certainly never mistreated it or allowed it to be mistreated, and thought everything was fine. About a year later they had a houseguest staying for a few days. The couple and their guest were in the family room watching TV, and the guest decided to go out to his car to get something. As he came back in the front door, the dog snapped at him, breaking the skin on his arm. Yes, the owners were able to stop the attack at that point, but if it had been a pit bull, and gotten a hard grip on the arm, it might well have broken the arm and/or ripped away a chunk of flesh, and even with the Rottweiler, things could have been a LOT worse, if the owners hadn’t been right there to intervene. The dog apparently mistook the returning guest for an intruder, even though the guest had already been staying at the house for a couple of days, and went into attack-and-destroy mode. Without the authoritative voices and presence of the owner, it would very likely have continued and escalated the attack.
That’s because Pit owners work with facts - not mainstream media hysterics and fiction (locking jaws ring a bell?).
We are well aware of the “reputation” of our breed, and we are trying to fix it (taking it back to pre-thug pit owning days). We (the owners) are also aware that there ARE awful stories out there and some Pits (and their owners) are responsible. Again, check the stats before the inner city thugs took a liking to the breed. No issues, just a family dog.
I used to be one of you Pit haters, until my daughter took in a rescue dog (I had a FIT when she did) and I found I had been had by the media. Get to know a family loved Pit Bull Terrier..you will change your mind.
I don't think AnnGora or any of us, what you call “pit haters’ doubt that there are some good Pits out there, in like what you said a loving Pit home. But most Pit Owners I see around my neck of the woods are not what you would call loving homes. In large, they are not buying them to be lap dogs or race little Johnny and his friends to the Ice cream truck on a sunny afternoon. There are dozens of breeds of dogs in my neighborhood. My Shiba Inu was attacked by only one breed. Guess which?
They were not known for human aggression at all?
What are you smoking?
Based on pretty much any history of Pit Bulls that I’ve read, to believe what you just claimed, I’d have to believe that Pit Bulls were incredibly violent and aggressive toward people for much of their history, then during “the turn of the century” period you refer to, they weren’t known for being aggressive toward people, then later in the century began killing people at a rate several times higher than the rate of any other dog breed. And mauling people at a far higher rate than that.
And then I’d have to believe that just cracking down on dog fighters would solve the problem.
Logic isn’t your strong suit, mom.
Good for you, using facts to enlighten people. There are people who own Pits that want to feel good about their decision to own a dog with the most powerful jaws of any breed. I guess it’s like owning a Harley with no muffler - look at me, I’m a badass since I make so much noise to prove I don’t give a flip about anyone else but myself.
“pit bulls have extraordinary jaw strength, which has been deliberately bred into them”
(From the ADBA booklet, “Discover the American Pit Bull Terrier.)
http://www.realpitbull.com/myths.html
The jaws of the Pit Bull are functionally the same as the jaws of any other breed, and this has been proven via expert examination.
The few studies which have been conducted of the structure of the skulls, mandibles and teeth of Pit Bulls show that, in proportion to their size, their jaw structure and thus its inferred functional morphology, is no different than that of any [other] breed of dog.
- Dr. I. Lerh Brisbin of the University of Georgia (from the ADBA booklet, “Discover the American Pit Bull Terrier.)
Now you’ve done it. Any minute now, I’m gonna go off on motorcycles in my ‘hood. Noisy, rotten, lousy neighbors.
OK, shut up sbg. Back to Pit Bulls.
I applaud prosecutors over in NC who recently charged a Pit Bull owner with a dangerous weapon statute. And I hope that owner gets some serious prison time.
If a dog ever mauled me, I’d want the same thing to happen. Plus, I think I’d file a civil suit against the owner for violating my civil rights, and sue for several million dollars.
After winning a judgment, I’d file to garnishee their wages and all income for the rest of their life. I’d own the nasties.
The dog was used, historically, in BULL fighting - hence it’s name. It is not a dog with built in human aggression, however. Research is your friend.
Oh you know what - just keep drinking the koolaid the MSM serves up - just because you can see thru the Obama haze doesn’t mean you can see clearly on other things.
My dog breed today....your dog breed tomorrow....for whatever reason is convenient.
These are good animals being destroyed by bad...and stupid.. people.
So, the Romans DIDN’T use them to attack their enemies?
Please point us to a source for THAT history report.
Come on, they’ve been used for most of their history to attack people AND bulls AND rats. And other dogs.
Well duh. I don't think a government ban is the solution though.
So many other things kill more people.
You're not gonna see them because the media doesn't see the need to report that every single damned time it happens.
No, they're not. People go swimming in the ocean where completely wild sharks live and attack. Unlike pit bulls who are in the overwhelming majority of cases not attacking or restrained; sharks aren't.
The only logical conclusion is to ban swimming in the ocean.
I love Harleys, but people really over-do-it. I had my first motorcycle when I was 9 (a Suzuki 120) and yes, I would pull the downspout out of the muffler and ride it with guns blazing... but, I wanted attention and didn't give a flip about my neighbors :-P
"If a dog ever mauled me, I’d want the same thing to happen. Plus, I think I’d file a civil suit against the owner for violating my civil rights, and sue for several million dollars."
See my pit bull story here #28 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2179835/posts. It was crazy! "I was at Surfside Beach down by Houston and witnessed a spectacle"
Oh sure. There is a conspiracy by the media to cover up all Collie killings.
How ridiculous.
Wow!
No. There is collusion in the media to report every single, last pit bull bite.
}}}No. There is collusion in the media to report every single, last pit bull bite.{{{
But if a Collie, or Poodle, or Jack Russell Terrier ripped someones head off, the media would conspire to keep this news from the public.
Uhhuh. Right.
However, the basic laws of physics clearly show otherwise . . . And note the caveat that your excerpt includes: “in proportion to their jaw size”, which is in fact much larger than most other breeds, being both broader and thicker-boned. And the claim that their “jaw structure is no different from any other breed” is plainly preposterous — collies and English bulldogs are similar size dogs overall, but both have wildly different jaw structure from a pit bull.
Leverage is a significant factor — a long-jawed dog like a Collie can bite down with all it’s might, but the harder it bites, the more opposing force is tranferred back to the joint and muscles controlling the jaw closing, because of the long distance between the point where the object is gripped and the source of the dog’s pressure. And the narrower jaws that most breeds have limits how large a chunk of flesh/muscle they can grip firmly at once. And very short-jawed dogs like boxers also can’t get much flesh/muscle into their jaw-grip at once, even though they can clamp down very hard on whatever do they manage to get in. The functional morphology of different dog breeds’ jaws is very, very different, even within the same general size of dog or jaw.
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