[kanawa]

I just got off the phone with Lisa Norwood of San Antonio Animal Services.
She was there at the scene of the attack and observed the dogs.

I raised the question of the reported weights of the dogs.
She said the reports were not accurate
and gave the weights of the dogs as between 75 and 85 lbs.

She said that one of the dogs was a type of pitbull mix
the other definitely was not...she judged it to be a Retriever mix.

She had this important piece of information...
both dogs were intact males.

Animal Services had never been called to this address
nor had any reported problems with these dogs.

She did say there were anecdotal reports some of which fell
into normal dog behavior...barking at the fence at passerbys
but they had no reports of bites and under Texas law
bites must be reported no matter how small and the dog must undergo quarantine.

The dogs were both licensed but didn’t have the recommended micro-chip
also, they did not have the required special license for an intact dog, cost of which is $50.

We discussed the function of the dogs
and agreed that while it was appeared they served as guard dogs
the fact that they lived in the house indicated
they also functioned as family dogs.

She mention that one of the elements of the story that still is not clear
is how the dogs got outside which is where they were when the police arrived.

We chatted a bit longer and both agreed
that so many of these tragedies could be avoided
if people just did the sensible and responsible thing
and did not leave infants unattended with dogs.

She was very helpful in answering my questions and I’d like to thank her
and all the folks at San Antonio Animal Services for the fine work they do.

[brytlea]

Thank you for going to the trouble to get some real info. The media is worthless in these cases. They want to scream pit bull attack because they know it frightens the masses. Any large dog that will bite/attack is a menace and should be done away with BASED ON BEHAVIOR.

[Peace4EarthNow]

Thanks for the ping to the actual & very accurate information by an animal services officer who was actually AT the scene.

I’d be curious to see if we hear from Chet99 about this update from the scene, especially about the one being a retriever mix, since he specifically joked in one thread that retrievers can’t be dangerous (not exact quote)...

Also, thank you so much for calling to get the correct information to refute any misunderstanding or rumors about the dogs. It is horrendous that a baby was killed by these dogs, and I truly do pray for the family...but it’s also important to get the CORRECT information out there instead of all this hype about the incorrect breed of at least one of the dogs.

[meandog]

We chatted a bit longer and both agreed that so many of these tragedies could be avoided if people just did the sensible and responsible thing and did not leave infants unattended with dogs.

Well, I wouldn't recommend leaving a youngster unattended around ANY breed of dog as most kids are not recognized as being a pack leader...add in ear and tail pulling and you've got a tragedy on your hands. I will say, however, that a child under the supervision of a competent and dominant adult mastering a so-called PBT would probably be accepted by the dog as they have a long tolerance for being ear-pulled and an extraordinary tolerance for pain--still I don't recommend it. I don't recommend children around firearms either though.

BTW, pitbull-haters, did you know that two of Michael Vick's fighting dogs here in Virginia are now used as therapy dogs. There are even more cases of his dogs being adopted and living as loving family pets... CLICK HERE

[Eaker]

I noticed the dog haters upthread don’t care to here the real story.

Typical.

[behzinlea]

Why do the attacking dogs NEVER bear responsibility in some folks’ eyes?

Dogs like this should be shot summarily and without tears.

[ARridgerunner]

Kanawa, I deeply appreciate this post, in part because I understand how difficult it can be to track down the facts. When I had the time, I did tracking on the pitbull horror stories (mostly picked up here at FR) and I know how often the offending dogs were called Pitbulls but were not. The media is not interested in accuracy because accuracy does not stimulate emotion in these stories. If the pitbull nazis at FR were honest they would admit "dog mauls child" does not quite arouse them the way "pitbull mauls child" does, and people want and need the name. Not all, but enough certainly need to rage.

Needless to say, it is difficult to be accurate and the media is, point blank, composed of lazy, irresponsible juveniles.