5-year-old mauled by pit bull in Hurricane

KSL (Utah) ^

[Chet 99]

5-year-old mauled by pit bull in Hurricane

April 20, 2010

HURRICANE -- Many owners of American pit bull terriers say the dogs get a bad rap, that they can be as sweet as any other breed and can make great family pets. But if a pit bull attacks, one Utah mother says the results can be devastating.

A pit bull mauled Katie Weeks' 5-year-old daughter, Saleena Wickward, in Hurricane Monday night. The little girl is now recovering from reconstructive facial surgery.

"She's already asked her mom for a mirror, and we're waiting on that," Weeks says.

Right now, Saleena's face only resembles what she used to look like: swelling, stitches and staples consume her innocent face.

"I was so afraid to walk into that room and see my little girl because I just thought she would never look the same again," Weeks says.

But she says her daughter already looks better than she did right after the attack.

It happened Monday night in Hurricane around 5:30. Weeks says her daughter wandered to the next yard over to catch a caterpillar.

According to the dog owner, Saleena was throwing rocks at the pit bull. Then, it lunged at her face.

"The dog was on a chain, but he grabbed her and didn't let go," Weeks says.

The owner had to pry the jaws off of Saleena's head. Neighbors called 911.

Saleena stayed conscious while waiting for an ambulance.

"We got a towel and pushed the skin up against her, and just wrapped it around and held it there until 911 got there, and just rocked her and tried to comfort her the best we could," Weeks says.

At Dixie Regional Medical Center, the 5-year-old had six and a half hours of reconstructive surgery. Two plastic surgeons helped put Saleena's face back together.

Stitches go from the middle of her lip, to her nose and cheek, then around her ear. A plate and screw are stabilizing her fractured cheek.

Now, doctors and family members will have to wait to see if there's any nerve damage. In the meantime, weeks says her emotions are all over the place.

"Fear, hope, more prayers than I've ever said in my life," she says.

The dog owner didn't want to comment. Weeks doesn't place blame on the owner. She says the dog had played with her kids before.

Hurricane police say the pit bull is with animal control.

[Chet 99]

[JoeProBono]

Yo Chet gettin' a little graphic?

[Moonman62]

Poor girl.

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[Chet 99]

Yes, a 5 year-old girl is brutally mauled, so let’s bring out pictures of hippos. Haha, hilarious!

[Salamander]

http://www.troubledwith.com/AbuseandAddiction/A000000776.cfm?topic=abuse%20and%20addiction%3A%20pornography%20and%20cybersex

Stage 3.
[not all “porn” is “naked people”]

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

You're right - it's a jungle out there!

[Tammy8]

You are over the top. One would think from this post that you have concern for children mauled by dogs- which would make sense. However you only post on those harmed by pit bulls as if no other breed can harm a child. You are not doing a service to concerned dog owners or parents or anyone by concentrating on one breed.

A daughter of a friend of ours was mauled this badly by a Mastiff recently. Any dog can be a danger to a child and NO dog should ever be trusted around one. ANY large breed can do major damage and even kill a child or adult.

I sincerely hope your focus on Pit Bulls does not cause some people to make the mistake of thinking a child is safe around other breeds. A dog is a dog and does not have the thought process needed in order to be trusted around children. That is the message that needs to get out there.

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

A dog is a dog

[Chet 99]

Islam is a peaceful and loving religion.

[JoeProBono]

“Dogs of peace” huh?

[JoeProBono]

http://www.thebestpitbull.com/pitbullheroes.htm

[beaversmom]

Poor little girl.

[shibumi]

"Yes, a 5 year-old girl is brutally mauled, so let’s bring out pictures of hippos. Haha, hilarious!"

You are free to conduct your little experiment in "consciousness raising" (sounds terribly liberal, doesn't it?) with Pit Bulls, but at the same time, you must remember some facts.

First, Hippos are extremely dangerous. In Africa, they account for more attacks on humans than all other animals combined! (Including that hyena you keep posting.)

Second, while maulings are bad, Hippo attacks are worse, in that they are almost always fatal.

Third, you must remember where you are doing this. FreeRepublic is a conservative site. In this, there is no compromise. The efforts at Breed Specific Legislation are a wedge issue used by the nanny state socialists to incrementally abridge our freedoms.

No one is saying that what happened to that little girl is not horrible, and out hearts and prayers go out to her and her family. The effort to eradicate a breed based on these incidents, however, is the same thing as trying to limit the Right To Keep and Bear Arms just because there are some who use guns irresponsibly, or for nefarious purposes. This girl was attacked, and you want to kill all the dogs that didn't do it.

You want to talk about measures for assuring responsible pet ownership? You want to talk about severe penalties for owners whose animals commit these attacks? You want to see stiff penalties for irresponsible parents who do not properly supervise their children's safety? You want to put the puppy mills that produce these ill-bred critters out of business? You might be quite surprised at how many on the "Hippo List" would be on your side.

When you limit your focus to a "Final Solution" for a whole breed of dog, however, you'll get this in response:

(St. Augustine of Hippo)

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Aim With The Hand,,,

Shoot With The Mind,,,

Kill With A Hand Like Arctic Ice...

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Hand = Heart...(duh)...