I got him from some people who loved him but they lived next to a highway and he couldn't get outside without being on a leash. Now he has the run of a half acre.
Posted on 05/21/2010 4:46:38 PM PDT by solosmoke
GIRARD - The owner of the dog whose bite left a 12-year-old with more than 100 stitches is sorry the girl was injured but says she was not bitten while walking past the 15-month chocolate Labrador as she claims, rather because she was too close to it.
"Destiny (Turner) walked over to Schnook and put her face next to the dog's face," Christina Morris said Thursday. "That's when he bit her face."
The girl claims she was walking toward her house, 211 Broadview, about 7 p.m. Sunday when the chained dog leaped on top of her and began biting her face.
Morris says she has told Destiny and other kids in the neighborhood on numerous occasions not to go too near to the dog, which she said was chained to a tree in the rear of the house Sunday.
Morris said she has owned Schnook for five to six months and that he listens to commands.
"He is basically a good dog," she said. "Yes, he can be aggressive at times. Kids in the neighborhood throw rocks at him at times. I think something may have happened at the prior owner's home." Schnook, meanwhile, has been kept at the home of Nick Spelich, 622 Johnson Plank Road, Bazetta. Spelich is Morris' sister's boyfriend.
(Excerpt) Read more at tribtoday.com ...
The owner was aware of past aggressive behavior of the dog.
The dog should have been secured in a locked enclosure that prevented any contact with the child.
“What else was the owner to do?”<<<<<<
Not have an aggressive dog? And if they had to have it, they should keep it away from all children, especially when they aren’t around. Kids aren’t able to make grown-up decisions because they lack the ability to rationalize or the maturity to consider the consequences of their actions. And chaining a dog will simply make matters worse, as it frustrates them by creating a constant stressor, as well as making some dogs much more protective of their area than they would be otherwise.
Yes. Except baths. :)
German Shepherd Dog (just quicker to type, sorry)
I don’t know, do you consider a dog, known to bite being tied up, where a child can wander close enough to get within biting range to be sufficiently confined? If so I would like to suggest that you might consider not getting a dog, or if you do, get advice from other people before you decide how to keep it. Also, you might get advice from people about children and the likelihood of their always following advice. And you might also keep a lawyer on retainer.
A small pen? No. A properly fenced yard would work, however keeping the dog inside the house would be ideal. Chained dogs are MUCH more likely to bite, by the way. Bear in mind that the owner KNEW THE DOG WAS PRONE TO BITE.
Chaining a dog makes it hyper-territorial, they get more aggressive because they literally cannot get away. Kids throwing rocks at a dog that apparently has been abused in the past didn’t help matters at all.
If the girl entered the man’s property and went within the radius of the chain, she’s not exactly an innocent victim, but the law is such that if the property wasn’t posted, the property owner may well be held liable.
Why anyone concerned about animal abuse would chain a dog, a form of abuse itself in my opinion, is another question.
Parents who do not teach their children *never* to stick their faces right up to an unknown dog are irresponsible. Staring at the dog is perceived as aggression by the dog, too.
So many things went wrong here. They’ll probably end up putting the dog down, but of all the parties to this, he was least in control and did what dogs sometimes do when challenged, especially abused dogs.
It’s a pity.
I’m sorry if I was snippy...watching the news on fox I get cranky..ha. Love shepherds.
You weren’t snippy! And yes, the news makes me crazy these days. I loved my old girl, but these days I feel safer with goldens, they are a little more predictable with strangers. Then again, if someone attacks me I suspect they will sit back and watch.
It really is too bad that most people (kids especially) have no clue about dog behavior and how to avoid getting bitten. But it is what it is and I suspect the law will see it in favor of the child’s family.
There’s more than enough stupidity by all involved to go around with this.
A girl is going to be scarred for life due to her own lack of caution, her parents’ lack of supervision and lack of teaching her how to deal with strange animals, and the dog’s owner, who chained an abused dog, let it remain there despite neighborhood kids throwing rocks at it by his own admission, and not devising some means of keeping people away from an overly-agressive dog, that is probably going to pay with his life for this.
It’s just dumb. Sad, and dumb. The girl’s parents shouldn’t get off scot-free either, they’re the ones who let a twelve year old girl roam the neighborhood unsupervised and didn’t teach her not to trespass and to leave barking, chained dogs alone.
“If the little girl came into the yard and was attacked who’s fault is that?”<<<<<<<<<<
The dog owner. They already knew the dog was aggressive, yet they felt it was perfectly fine to play with the dog around the child. They could have told the child to leave, brought the dog inside, or (my personal choice) euthanize it when they discovered it was unstable and adopt a friendly dog.
The key here is going to be that they knew the dog was likely to bite and they kept the dog in a manner in which the dog could get to a child and bite that child. That’s all that’s going to matter. You may not like it, but that’s how it’s going to work out.
Hey, who was that guy saying that only pit bulls and rotties maul people? We should ping him.
wonderful!
Yes, he is saying” Dad...watch me now! Watch me run now! are you watching now??”
Why should the dog be put down?
Well, since animal control always just kills the dog, I guess the owner should just save taxpayer money and kill their dog when they bring them home.
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