Posted on 04/14/2010 5:14:21 PM PDT by Chet 99
9-Year Old Badly Hurt In Pit Bull Attack By Michael George SHEBOYGAN- 9-year old A.J. Sterling is recovering at home after being attacked by a pit bull. His injuries are severe, and his parents are angry with the dog’s owners.
Witness Connor Lieser tells TODAY’S TMJ4 the attack appeared to be unprovoked, as the boy was reaching down to pet the dog.
Maria Ramirez and Afero Sterling, parents of A.J., just watched him go through plastic surgery. He was bitten on the face by the pit bull just one block from his home in Sheboygan.
“I wouldn’t want any child to go through that, let alone any person. It’s just really hard,” said Ramirez.
Police say the dog was being walked by a 12-year old girl on the sidewalk. A.J.’s parents say their son told them he was talking to the girl when the dog started growling. A.J. says he was backing away.
“That’s when the dog lunged at him. He said it bit him in the face, drug him across the ground, and that’s when it ripped his cheek off,” said Afero Sterling.
The gruesome injury described by Afero is confirmed by witness and police accounts.
Police will be checking whether the dog has a history of violence or has rabies. For now, the dog is on quarantine at the owner’s home. A.J.’s parents say they were told the dog was originally rescued from an abusive or neglectful background. They say the dog’s current owners are to blame for the attack.
“That dog needs to be put to sleep. To have a 12-year old girl walk around a pit bull with a history of abuse and neglect and violence, it’s just absurd to me,” said Maria Ramirez.
A.J. is now out of the hospital and recovering at home, but he will likely need more plastic surgery in 6 months. Police are still investigating to determine whether any charges will be filed against the owner or whether the dog will be surrendered or put down.
All hail Discordia!
[how da ya like *them* golden apples?]
SomeButNotAllMander
Why is that? Are those victims any less a deserving of attention and compassion?
And why is it that one decrying the lack of compassion for victims
as his first post on a fatal attack story
chose not to express compassion for the victim
but rather attempts to use the death to instigate a flame war.
Oh, now you’ve done it.
Why not just invoke Cthulu and get it over with??
Bad attention is better than no attention.
If all pit bulls vanish tomorrow, there goes his raison d’être.
Why?
Does he prefer smaller or larger ones?
Yipes.
Now that’s just too creepy.
Coonhound
this is the first dog attack I have ever known of personally...I've owned a lot of big guard dogs and never had any problems around my wee ones but you sure have to keep an eye out especially around any dog that shows hostility like that
child is lucky to be alive...unlucky to be bit
as of today there were 600 stories on Google for “Rottweiler attacks” and 241 for “Pit Bull Attacks”
I would guess aside from the obvious propensity for aggressiveness consideration that dog attacks are proportional to numbers...used to be more common with Shepherds and Dobies etc
Culture and movies really provoke this....I'm surprised some wiseassed tort lawyer hasn't sued Hollywood studios over the Omen for Rotts or Gangsta Videos for Pits since this really pushes the demands for breeds...like the Incredible Dobermans or Magnum PI which came later did in early 70s (for kids who don't remember...Dobies were like Big Macs in the early 70s...everywhere)
I think Pits really doubled up because not only big demand push but the demand came from a lot of unsavories....
anyhow....this has put my wife and I on alert for our dog and those that prowl our mini farm and out smaller ones....
thanks....this is eerie considering these threads we argue on here...Chet’s dog threads are like the Civl War threads...always fun to sharpen yer teeth gnashing
but this is scary I confess
the manner in which grandpa dispatched the dog seriously spooked all my ladykin while we were talking about it at dinner last night
i explained he might not have had time to go get his pistol....
the baby’s mom was in PA at a religious seminar..she is very devout CofC...the daddy is more libertarian...an unusual couple ...yes...the grandfather is no doubt very distraught..thanks
update on our Rott attack:
little boy is recovering and may go home tommorow...he had 5 hour surgery to his leg and many stiches to his scalp and elsewhere
boy was with grandpa and aunt...he was of course supposed to be locked out of dog pen in back but managed to get in....aunt looked out and saw him going in....she screamed and her and grandpa ran out as lad tumbled into pen and was attacked immediately as Rott grabbed his head and did what crazed dogs do to toddlers heads sadly....Grandpa ..who is 66 and serious Viet combat vet....dove in with folding hunting knife and killed dog in hand to hand and got mauled pretty bad too
ambulances called...baby to Vandy trauma and grandpa to Ft Campbell area hospital
that’s all I know...coulda been a lot worse....
just me but I would not have a known vicious dog around if I had little children
Poor baby, I hope his recovery is speedy and full; and I hope grandpa recovers, too. I can’t imagine what he must be feeling right now.
>Hail Eris!<
‘K, I like my cell phone and all, but hailing it? No way.
I knew you guys were holdin' out on me.
puff puff give - puff puff give /extreme sarcasm>.
[Hippo Hippies ;^)]
She can cuss a man out and use nary a profane word.
I think he's now aware of that. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.