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Woman, 70, in hospital after pit bull attack
NJ.com ^

Posted on 12/05/2009 12:37:51 PM PST by Chet 99

Saturday, December 05, 2009

By SARAH RAHMAN

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A 70-year-old woman was critically injured yesterday morning when she was mauled by two pit bulls that had gotten loose from their Bayonne backyard, police said.

Maria Zaldana, of Jersey City, was attacked at 9:11 a.m. outside the dogs' 15 W. 34th St. home, Bayonne Police Lt. Robert Deczynski said.

Part of Zaldana's scalp was torn off, he said, and she also suffered numerous puncture wounds and had skin torn off from her right knee and calf and the left side of her face.

Zaldana was just steps from the floral shop she's worked at for 25 years when she was attacked.

According to Deczynski, the dogs are owned by Jessica Manno, who was in Florida, and were being cared for by Manno's sister, Kristy Manno.

Kristy Manno told police she had let the dogs out into the yard and went back into the house to fill their water bowls when she heard screams from the front of the home. She ran out the back door and saw that the two chain link gates were open, police said.

(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: maul; pitbull; seniors
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To: allmendream

” Five Pittbulls attacked me that I can recall off the top of my head. Two wound up dead. The other three wouldn’t get close enough, I wasn’t armed with a ranged weapon, or the owner was there saying “They won’t bite!” (the wife)and “why are you attacking my dog? How would you like it if I attacked you?” (the husband); my brother and I were walking on the other side of the street when their dogs crossed the street to attack us.

“a certain segment of society” indeed.”

Can’t you see that your stories mirror almost every other dog attack victim? I’m not talking about the breed of dog involved, but the situation. Dogs running loose, some in packs. That is irresponsible ownership, and THAT has been proven by the AVMA and the CDC to be the single most common factor in dog bite fatalities, not the breed of dog. If it was just a breed issue, we wouldn’t have 50 some other breeds involved in dog bite deaths.

Not to mention the fact that pit bulls were never trained or bred to fight or guard humans. They fought other animals like dogs, bulls, and bears, and simultaneously were bred to have a willing, trusting demeanor so they would not bite people trying to separate them. There are so many other breeds of dog that started out this way that are not viewed as monsters.

Animal aggression and human aggression are two completely different things. If you are willing to use the argument that they were bred to fight and that’s why etc., then you must also agree that they are mostly not vicious towards humans because for all the years they were bred to fight dogs, they were bred not to bite people. Can’t have it both ways.

There are an estimated 5 to 10 million pit bulls in the U.S. today, which makes the breed more popular than labs in some areas. However, the average number of dog bite fatalities has not risen during this time in any significantly noticeable way, and the average remains from 17 to 35 a year. Of course, the dogs doing the most damage change with changes in the popularity of certain breeds, and this has been true since we started calculating fatalities in the 1800’s (when bloodhounds were considered vicious mankillers), but if only 0.00004% of the entire breed has done this, and of those, almost 100% were irresponsibly owned, the only logical thing to do is to blame the owners. Whether they believe their dog is a creampuff, or they want a chained monster to look threatening, both types of owners are wrong, and should be held liable if they are unable or unwilling to keep their dogs safely confined and healthy.

Lastly, since other dogs take human lives, what were they bred to do? Collies, chespeake bay retrievers, labs, border collies, dachshunds, west highland white terriers, pomeranians, saint bernards, bloodhounds, and newfoundlands must have all been pit bulls in past lives, because these breeds have all taken lives. Dachshunds have taken several, by the way. Yet, before pit bulls came along, the death toll was the same. The amount of serious attacks was the same compared to the population. So what is the difference? Ban the dogs so you can feel safer getting your face ripped off by some other breed? Are you any less dead if a saint bernard kills you? How about some responsible ownership laws? It has been proven to work in Calgary. Their dog bites have been drastically reduced, and they didn’t have to ban a breed of dog. Denver has had a ban for twenty years and their stats haven’t changed. The same can be said for certain areas of Florida, some of which have seen increases in their serious attacks.


61 posted on 12/08/2009 8:15:04 AM PST by solosmoke
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To: allmendream

I own a pit (both my DH and I are white collar professionals), my daughter and her Military husband own a pit, my boss (former career Navy) owned a Pit, My pet’s Vet has 2 rescue pitties.


62 posted on 12/08/2009 8:51:59 AM PST by mom4melody
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To: Shooter 2.5

don’t blame me — anyone can enter a keyword.


63 posted on 12/08/2009 10:42:32 AM PST by Chet 99
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To: mom4melody; allmendream

I too own a pit bull-type dog. I am college-educated. I own a home. I am also a woman who hated the breed about 13 years ago before I was set straight by a friend who simply told me to prove it after telling him he was crazy for owning four of them.

All the extra time I had during those days was spent doing research to prove the dogs were more of a danger than other breeds. The problem was, as I found pretty quickly, that no proof exists that can positively identify a single breed of dog that is more dangerous than another, and there are many sites that put bogus information together to make it appear different, which is why you should always check the sources you use for credibility. The dog I have now is my third of this kind. I have also rescued and fostered several others without incident, although I believe personal experience is not necessarily a good determining factor for an entire group.

However, owning several over the years in combination with enough research to write my thesis on, I am absolutely confident in my opinion of the breed, and I urge you to do research of your own and not rely on media reports or other so-called experts that have no real information to give. I am sure you are intelligent and driven, and you seem really affected by the situation. That says to me that you really would want to do the right thing and figure out a real solution, even if it means you were originally mistaken about the cause. I was, and boy am I glad I bothered with all the research.


64 posted on 12/08/2009 10:54:10 AM PST by solosmoke
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To: kanawa

Only fools make such comments as you and I know kanawa. btw, since we last talked I’ve picked up a pit/akita pup...who will be ‘September’ in next years pitbullrescue calendar!


65 posted on 12/08/2009 11:08:03 AM PST by Badeye (www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: holyscroller
These dogs should be outlawed. Kill 'em ALL!

come try to kill my pet.
66 posted on 12/08/2009 1:36:51 PM PST by absolootezer0 (2x divorced, tattooed, pierced, harley hatin, meghan mccain luvin', smoker and pit bull owner..what?)
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To: allmendream
Because if I leave the gate open on a couple Labrador retrievers they would be out in the street in seconds all OVER that 70 year old lady.... sniffing her and trying to get her to pet them.

tell that to my neighbor's lab that has tried to maul children.
67 posted on 12/08/2009 1:40:11 PM PST by absolootezer0 (2x divorced, tattooed, pierced, harley hatin, meghan mccain luvin', smoker and pit bull owner..what?)
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To: JLLH; kanawa; allmost

Great post JLLH.

The other thing about the story of pits that supposedly “snapped” is that the owners have a legal interest in portraying the dog that way because many states have laws that base liability on a dog’s known past viscousness. So if a dog has no past history of viscousness there is no liability for negligence and no question of insurance coverage. So no person would admit to anything but an unpredictable “snap.”


68 posted on 12/08/2009 1:49:57 PM PST by dervish (I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself)
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To: Chet 99

I don’t. I realize there are those who don’t understand the banglist is for firearms and the Second Amendment.


69 posted on 12/08/2009 2:32:09 PM PST by Shooter 2.5 (NRA /Patron - TSRA- IDPA)
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To: allmendream

The purpose a PitBull was bred for was to fight and kill.”

You know nothing about the breed.

They were bred to bait bulls and later to fight other dogs. But at both so called sports they were bred to be HANDLED BY HUMANS. Any dog who demonstrated any aggressiveness to people was culled and considered a breeding failure.

Do you know anything about the famous breeders of this dog? Who they are? Their breeding standards?

These breeders still exist and still adhere to these high standards of people friendly dogs.


70 posted on 12/08/2009 2:33:43 PM PST by dervish (I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself)
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To: Don W

exactly. see my post #70


71 posted on 12/08/2009 2:36:01 PM PST by dervish (I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself)
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To: dervish

Thanks. As usual, the breed-haters are out in full force. It’s sad they aren’t really interested in looking deeper. It’s a known fact the media don’t distinguish between a “family dog” and a “resident dog” - although there’s all the difference in the world. A true “family dog” is fixed, trained, socialized, well cared for, gets regular vet care, and is not chained up intact and unsocialized. Of course, the media neglects to mention that little detail, and those who hate irrationally don’t really care to look for the truth of the matter. Sad.


72 posted on 12/08/2009 2:41:01 PM PST by JLLH
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To: kanawa

Appreciate the post, kanawa.


73 posted on 12/08/2009 2:41:49 PM PST by JLLH
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To: allmendream

Of COURSE the owner didn’t think it was his fault!! Basic human nature. There are bad owners (haven’t we established that already??) HOWEVER your belief that pits are trained just to fight and kill reflects a narrowly-held view without any science to back it up. If this is ALL the pit had ever done, don’t you think they would all have been killed by now and there would be NO good stories about them (THERE ARE - if you care to look), and NO ONE would have ANYTHING good to say about them WHATSOEVER???

Furthermore, you paint with a broad brush when you state that a specific behavior is “typical of Pitbull owners”. I suspect that while you have had some bad experiences, you really don’t have anything more on which to base your assumptions. You aren’t being fair-minded or open-minded and don’t care to be. Sadly, that is your choice, but keep in mind that such broad generalizations regarding what pit owners do or don’t do is not based in fact and shows a lack of integrity.


74 posted on 12/08/2009 2:48:54 PM PST by JLLH
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To: kanawa

“Arguing that a particular person is irresponsible or a ‘lowlife scumbag’ may be appropriate
but generalizing such behavior, without proof, as ‘typical’ is unwarranted
and offensive to the vast majority of owners who are responsible
and whose dogs spend their whole lives never having been in trouble.”

VERY WELL said, Kanawa.


75 posted on 12/08/2009 2:56:06 PM PST by JLLH
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To: brytlea

Good post!!


76 posted on 12/08/2009 3:02:37 PM PST by JLLH
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To: Copernicus

Knock it off with the keyword abuse.


77 posted on 12/08/2009 3:21:56 PM PST by Admin Moderator
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To: Admin Moderator
Please to post a definition at the top of banglist that is universally accepted by all banglist participants.

Please to allow me to be on the committee for the creation of such a definition.

Where do people meet now to decide they have somehow been offended by material on banglist?

Can I join THAT group?

Banglist preceded keywords as an attempt to bring order out of the flood of stories that changed hourly on Free Republic and allow people to follow topics of interest from around the country and around the world.

I am aware of exactly two people who have somehow taken up the cause of what constitutes appropriate banglist material and both of them seem to take great joy in going over the head of banglist participants to the executive suite to enforce their view.

Oddly, when I try that trick (for cause!) (due diligent fair use copyright violation) I am ignored.

Call up my record of posts. It is all there.

Best regards,

78 posted on 12/08/2009 4:40:01 PM PST by Copernicus (California Grandmother view on Gun Control http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7CCB40F421ED4819)
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To: Chet 99
I added the banglist keyword and said so in this post:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2401132/posts?page=57#57

I did so because I think your campaign to eliminate "pitbulls" or "pitbull" types is misguided and I thought a counter example of a woman who shot her last dingo(a truly aggressive and dangerous feral caninid) at the age of 93 ( and lived on to the ripe old age of 108) was a more practical way to handle threat of any kind, not just dog attacks.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2401132/posts?page=3#3

I hoped others from the banglist would join me with other examples.

Best regards,

79 posted on 12/08/2009 4:52:20 PM PST by Copernicus (California Grandmother view on Gun Control http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7CCB40F421ED4819)
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To: Shooter 2.5
Bingo! Now I understand.

In it's heyday the banglist was a vibrant, robust, vigorous gathering place for all things RKBA (Right To Keep And Bear Arms)- Militia, Cowboy Action Shooting, Corrupt Cops, ReEnactors,Street Crime,Target Shooting et.al.

Now because of weak institutional memory in the opaque Moderator Corps and some covert activism by Freepers Without Portfolio the Banglist suffers from the death of thousand keywords and has become an anemic shadow of it's former self with a half dozen to a dozen posts a day from a handful of posters and chaos restored where order once reigned.

Why would anyone want to do this?

I learned about the Massilon, Ohio shooting from a Banglist Post.

The banglist is not about firearms and the Second Amendment, it is about the REASON for firearms and the Second Amendment.

To wit: A 70 year old woman mauled by an aggressive caninid because in spite of her years she never learned the importance of a community of adults who assume responsibility for their own safety and the safety of the weak and young in their immediate vicinity with their own means of personal protection.

80 posted on 12/08/2009 7:44:23 PM PST by Copernicus (California Grandmother view on Gun Control http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7CCB40F421ED4819)
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