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.
I was thinking about getting a hippo to guard my place out in the front yard pool. The feeding bill, the danger of them getting loose, and vet bills might be high but it’ll be worth it if it stops just one thug.
We just got a rescue Lab and Great Dane mix. I wonder if watching “Scooby Doo” in college was an underlying factor?
It sounds as though the toddler you know of is going to make it? What a life-changing event for everyone.
The problem is not “big guard dogs” the problem is the aggression level, socialization, and training of the dog, or lack there of. My son was bitten in the face by a retriever mix when he was two (not our dog). Our big guard dog, a boxer, would have crawled over broken glass before harming my son or his sister, and woe to anyone that ever tried to harm her kids.
I don’t support breed bans. I do support harsh penalties for owner’s that own vicious dogs, of any breed or mix. I would also support mandatory licensing for prospective dog owners of all breeds.
You can’t see it but I’m giving you a standing ovation.
:)
Etiquette is everything.
:)
Sorry you didn’t figure that one out before hand.
I’ve done some pretty dumb things before that should have killed me too.
Like when I messed around and got myself pitched off my own sail boat Bay of San Francisco in March 1993. High wind conditions, only one other person on the boat, I had no life jacket on. The water is so cold that if you cant override the gasping for air reflex you’ll never come back up. And when you do come up the wind is driving wavelets into your mouth. He was an experienced sailor. He made couple of passes to throw me life vests but the wind took them away. He thew a jib line for me to grab onto nut the boat was still going to fast even with just a small jib sail flying, it drug me along like a bass popper. It was 7 minutes before he could get the boat back to me in an upwind position.
I don’t equate Yorkies with my Scott American Bulldog as the same power of threat nor do I support even more govt intrusion
I will go further and make the claim that uncut male guard dogs are potentially more dangerous as a rule than beyatches
even though freepers love simple solutions this is not a one size fits all problem
need it be said I do not support SBLs
sadly that 3 year old will always been a bit dog paranoid
like kids who almost drowned
still...a far better outcome than others we read about from time to time
while gleaning through all this I saw where in NZ some lab-shepherd mix actually ate the 2 week old baby while the parents slept...drunk presumedly
Thank you. I see this from both sides. I have had to hold my sons legs down in the ER while he received 13 stitches in his face. All of this because the dog had a history of biting that the owner, a relative no doubt, kept hidden. Of course, fuzzy cute dogs are NEVER a threat.
I am also an animal lover, but I see dogs as dogs, not as my children. We’ve owned a Boxer, an English Bulldog, and on Saturday, will be getting our newest addition...a Bullmastiff.
I don’t want people uneducated about dogs raising vicious animals. I also don’t want bureaucrats that are uneducated about dogs making laws and ordinances that will be ineffectual.
I hope your son got through it okay.
You are dead on about dog/human/bureaucrat relationships.
[and you sure do like being slobbered on, don’t you?]....LOL
Hail Nokia...oh, nevermind.
Since fear of drowning is my #1 phobia, thanks a bunch for the shriveling-Salamander-up-into-a-little-quivering-ball story.
[Aaaaack!]
LOL!
p.s...it turned out okay.
When they went over the jump and it became obvious that I was *not* going maintain footing on both horse’s backs, I just shoved off from the QH and landed on the pony.
[I may not have had “classic style” when riding but I could put an Indian to shame. Dad always said I was like tick on their back...or neck...or rump...whatever I happened to be clinging to at a full gallop, at any given time]....:)
Far out, maaaaaaaan!
thank God for small favors....no more posts from s & a :O)
Now our Angus was delicious. Grain fed and no artificial junk added to that heifer...more to my liking....you keep an eye on Harley, I worry about that guy and his neighbors...
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