Posted on 04/01/2009 10:37:42 AM PDT by Chet 99
A SEVEN-month-old boy has been killed by two pit bull dogs at his grandmother's house.
Texan news website Mysanantonio.com reports Izaiah Gregory Cox was attacked when his grandmother left the room to warm milk bottles. She was also attacked and injured by the dogs.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said officers had to shoot the dogs so that paramedics could get into the house.
"What can you say about the death of a seven-month-old baby at the hands of pit bulls?" he asked. "It's senseless without words."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
I’m not sure about the numbers, but it sounded pretty decisive. Many dog owners showed up in opposition during one of the open meetings.
From a local bully group:
One down and 14 more to win in Texas!
HB 1982 by Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D) relating to vicious dogs, is dead according to Jon Ryan Parker, assistant clerk of the House County Affairs Committee. This was reported to RPOA by one of our members so we just called to doublecheck. The clerk said she can’t say it is dead; only that “there are no plans to hear the bill.” When we asked if the bill could come back up again, she emphatically said “No!” There is no companion bill in the Senate to HB 1982.
This is the bill that many cities and especially San Antonio city officials have diligently tried to make breed specific, allowing cities to regulate certain dog breeds. The bill allowed vicious dog determinations on dogs confined in their own back yards that had not bitten and ridiculous requirements for all dogs over 40 lbs. The San Antonio Express-News editorial board also urged it be made breed specific and slanted newspaper coverage for the past two weeks to support their position.
Thanks to all of you who went to Austin for the committee hearing. Jeff Shaver and Zandra Anderson, our two attorneys, arrived around 1:30 p.m. for the hearing scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and did not get to testify until around 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. This made it 1:30 a.m. before they got back home in Houston.
He didn't jump on the "Pit Bull Hating" band wagon, he is the driver of that band wagon here on FR.
Probably a bull mastiff...I’ve been seeing more and more of them, I suspect they’ll be the new drug dealer dog of choice.
Bookmark
“He didn’t jump on the “Pit Bull Hating” band wagon, he is the driver of that band wagon here on FR.”
~~~
And I’m Ridin’ SHOTGUN for him!!!
There was another dog related death the week before the incident in San Antonio. A pit bull killed another child in Luling that’s just up the road. Two deaths in one week. Texas leads the nation in such fatalities. There was TV coverage in San Antonio about the two dogs killing the seven month old. Neighbors had reported they were terrorized by these dogs on many occasions and one had already been reported as biting another person on the face. I’d hate to have to live in any neigborhood where my child might die if I lived next door to such an animal. And unfortunately, many people do. I also wonder how many people are intimidated and in fact are afraid to report vicious dogs for fear of retaliation. And please no more bullshit about it’s the owner’s fault. That’s scant consolation after your child’s face has been eaten off.
So if you get your way and all Pit Bulls are banned from the earth- then what? How will that help people who are attacked by other breeds, children who are attacked and killed by other breeds? People who loose precious pets to attacks by other breeds?
The only solution is to go after bad owners, no matter what breed they own- they need to be responsible for their animals- period. All dogs need to be controlled by their owner at all times- loose dogs that aren’t dangerous are still a pain to others. Owners need to be held accountable for their dogs behavior and until that happens there will be no real solution.
In my opinion any dog that attacks a person (unless said dog is protecting his people on thier property depending on circumstances) needs to be put down- individually, not because they are a certain breed. The owner needs to be prosecuted to the max and possibly some laws need to be tougher since in some places it is not a serious offense to have a dog bite someone, and is really not serious to allow your dogs to roam unattended.
Going after specific breeds is not the solution, for one thing I have seen many problem dogs ID’d as Pit Bulls that are not, so who would be the judge of whether or not a dog even is a Pit Bull? Pit Bull has recently become a generic term for any stocky dog with a big head and even used for viscious dogs that don’t even look like a Pit. A neighbor of mine was insisting last week that her small dog was killed by a pack of Pit Bulls- I know the dogs and the owner- the dogs that killed her pet are registered hunting hounds that the owner uses to hunt mountain lions. Not one of those dogs has an ounce of Pit in them. The owner still needs to be responsible for his dogs being loose and killing another person’s pet.
While you and others are zeroing in on Pit Bulls, does that mean if my Aussie mix cow dog attacks a child it is ok- since the dog is not a pit? Is it ok with you if I let my big dogs roam to attack and kill smaller pets, livestock, and people as long as they are not Pits?
I don’t own a Pit so I don’t really have a dog in this fight you guys are supporting- but I have always been highly pi$$ed at any dog owner that doesn’t keep his dogs home and out of trouble. That is the real problem.
So are you saying the owner has no responsibility? Just blame it all on the dog? If that is the case what will keep the owner from simply getting another dog, handling it in the same way with the same end result? I have seen idiots train all breeds of dogs to be dangerous stupidly thinking they are training them to be watch dogs. The most dangerous dog I have personally been around was an Australian Shepard that was trained by such an idiot; he actually had people hit and kick his dog so she would not like anyone but him from the time it was a puppy. I'd rather outlaw idiot owners than any specific breed of dog.
The reason I say the owner is responsible is because if the owner gets in serious trouble for not containing their animals to begin with, and gets in very serious trouble if they do cause harm to others then that owner is less likely to repeat the bad behavior of having a dog, any dog and then not being responsible for that animal.
To me this is more of not taking personal responsiblity or expecting others to do so that has caused so many problems in our society- we are so quick to place blame on the wrong party. If we are so quick to blame the dog and especially certain breeds of dogs we are missing the fact that the dog owner needs to be held responsible.
Of course viscious dogs of any breed need to be put down, but if the owner is not held totally accountable for the actions of that dog then that is not a real solution. It is not a consolation to blame the owner- it is where the ultimate blame needs to be placed.
Our first hunting golden was like that. She had to be dragged out of a cactus once because she could not reach the bird and my husband didn’t want to pull massive amounts of thorns out of her. She was very unhappy about not being able to get that bird. She didn’t notice the pain, because she was in serious hunting mode. She had a very high prey drive, but it was directed at small animals and birds (she did do in several gerbils—she was a master at getting them out of their cages)
Sadly, the majority of people don’t understand dog behavior.
All dogs should be under the owners direct control at ALL TIMES. Period. Any dog can bite in the right circumstances.
Be careful, I got dressed down for daring to ask someone what their expertise on the topic was. Apparently that is taboo!
Yeah, I’ve seen many goldens at field events who sound like they would bite. I don’t go close enough to find out, but they certainly make a show of it.
I have spent over 20 years involved in dogs in a way that most people are not. I have trained my own, I have trained group classes, I have trained privately. I have shown in a number of venues and I have owned 2 pit bulls, altho they are not my breed of choice.
I will pit my general knowledge against yours any day. If you have greater experience than that, please let us know.
By the way, I got the results back from the U.Minn. genetics lab yesterday - my young Ruby is a double positive for the gene for Exercise Induced Collapse. They just isolated the gene and a test became available last year, so it's nobody's fault - nobody knew. Both her parents must at least be carriers (could be double positive).
I've spoken to a local trainer and to her breeder -- I was thinking about just going ahead and having her spayed, and the local trainer thinks I should, but her breeder said wait and see. If she is bred to a negative dog, then the pups would be carriers but not affected.
Apparently the gene is so commonplace in Labs that it cannot be bred out - at least not without breeding out a lot of desirable qualities because it seems to go hand in glove with the very high-drive field dogs.
She doesn't have what I would call a bad case -- she collapsed once in conditions of extreme heat and stress but has never gone down again despite doing hunt tests and field trial type long retrieves (200+ yard multiples). And as her breeder said, there are plenty of affected dogs with FC titles . . . .
So I'm sitting here scratching my head wondering what to do. "Wait and see" seems like the best option right now. I have two sires in mind for her, a yellow and a chocolate (she is tri-factored), so we need to see if either of them tests positive for EIC. Her hips are 'good', not quite 'excellent', and her eyes are clear.
Ruby of course doesn't care. All she wants is "another duck, please!"
Do carriers (with one copy) have any symptoms? If not, and there is a test for the gene, and you think she is otherwise worth breeding, I don’t see why not. Every cull pulls genes from the gene pool.
She is definitely worth breeding. Looks, speed, style.
(She's the loon on the right. The photographer just showed them a bumper. Old hand Shelley is reserving judgment, Ruby is ready to go RIGHT NOW.)
LOL love that look! I think the most important thing is that you’re honest (and I know you will be) to buyers and are careful if any go to homes that might breed them. If you breed long enough you will produce something you didn’t want/expect. It’s how you deal with it that shows your character as a breeder.
She pushes her dogs VERY hard and she got heavy on the Ecollar with him and he just flung up his head and chomped her forearm.
I don't burn 'em when they're at heel, I thwomp 'em with the heeling stick and yell, "SIT!" That's bad enough. They get the message.
And I haven't been bitten . . . . on the other hand, her dog has run in the Grand. Mine will only get there as spectators.
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