Chalmette Woman Severely Bitten by Pit Bull while Visiting Friend's Home

A 51-year-old Chalmette woman was severely bitten by a pit bull dog in the face, chest arm today, according to the St. Bernard Sheriff's Office.

The victim, whose name wasn't released, was in serious but stable condition after the 4 p.m. attack by a family dog in the home of friend Dawn Hammers at the 300 block of West Virtue St., just west of Paris Road. She required surgery at University Hospital in New Orleans

The owner of the dog accompanied her friend who was taken by ambulance to the hospital after being mauled. The woman had injuries to her left arm and the right side if her chest and and arm.

The pit bull was signed over to the parish animal shelter by the Hammers family after the attack and the animal will be euthanized and tested for rabies, said.

The women were out front talking when the visitor asked to use a restroom. When she went inside the residence she was attacked by the family's pit bull who was being kept in the rear yard, but found a way to get into the house through a back door.

No charges or citations were filed because the dog was in the yard and the home and hadn't been running free, which is illegal. No one else was injured in the incident.

"It appears this unfortunate attack may have gone on for as long as 10 or more minutes'' as Dawn Hammers attempted unsuccessfully to free her friend from the dog, Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said. He said it wasn't until Hammers reached her husband, who was about five minutes away and rushed home, that he was able to pull the animal from the victim.

The husband said the dog had never attacked a person before but had fought raccoons once.

This was the third incident in St. Bernard Parish in the last month in which a resident was attacked by a pit bull and in a third incident a man was bitten while breaking up a fight between a pit bull and another dog.

A young Arabi child was bitten and required more than 30 stitches April 29 when he was attacked in his driveway by a neighor's pit bull. That dog was signed over to the parish and later euthanized and the owner of the dog was arrested for negligence in letting the animal run free outside without a leash, Pohlmann said.

Also, in early May a man was bitten while trying to break up a fight between a pit bull and another dog, Pohlmann said.

“Well for me I would just rather not have them around where I live, period...just too risky...and if I had kids..absolutely not under any conditions whatsoever! Just too many of them do awful harm...not just a nip or bite but when they go after you it’s fierce from what I understand. Once they clamp down that seems to be it.”<<<<<<<

Unfortunately, your sentiments are shared by lots of other people. However, this is something that should be corrected. Pit bulls are the most popular dog right now, yet attacks from them (although widely publicized compared to other attacks with similar injuries) are still relatively rare. Due to the global network of news companies pumping out endless stories from all over the world seemingly instantly, it can appear to be an epidemic if you are not able or willing to compare it to attacks as a whole.

The media is certainly doing a disservice to the breed by reporting more pit bull stories than any other, despite evidence coming from public health records that other dog attacks are occurring at the same percentage compared to population, as well as being similar in severity. It is a myth that all pit bull attacks are devastating. In fact, several stories have been published recently where pit bulls were alleged to have been involved in attacks, but no injuries were reported! Not to mention that pit bulls are involved in single-bite incidents causing minimal to nonexistent injury much more frequently than they are in maulings.

This is not a new phenomena. Every few decades, a new dog breed gains in popularity with people desiring a macho guard dog, mostly due to either movies or myths associated with their abilities. Pit bulls have been around a long time, and in our country’s history, they were once before an extremely popular breed (without all the hype- they were actually pioneer dogs that had jobs and were very well-respected as a breed). It wasn’t until some movies came out using the dogs as vicious monsters (The Good Son comes to mind first) along with some subsequent stories appearing in magazines such as Time and Sports Illustrated (which used false information in the first place, creating the stigma of the locking jaw and the ability to “turn”) that the breed started getting noticed by the very people that should not own them.

The breed needs a job. Much like Border Collies and Belgian Malinois, they are not for everyone, as they are extremely high-energy, and absolutely need a structured, active lifestyle with knowledgeable dog owners that are willing to care for the dogs. Unfortunately, because they are so popular, cheap, and easy to find, young people are the most commonly-seen owners, and they don’t necessarily have the knowledge, money, housing, or desire to do the right things when raising the dogs. Most end up breeding them, chaining them, or kenneling them, and the dogs end up with behavior problems ranging from extreme shyness to outright aggression.

It isn’t that the breed is more predisposed to human-aggression than others. In fact, according to their history, they were concurrently bred to be extremely human-submissive, while being bred to excel in the pit (whether it be against other dogs or larger animals, such as bulls).

Places that have banned them have seen no decrease in attacks because the irresponsible people are either getting other dogs to mess up or illegally keeping their current dogs. Places that have instead opted for responsible ownership laws have seen a dramatic decrease in attacks from all dogs. I am in favor of this, as breed specific legislation has been proven ineffective everywhere it has been implemented.

I understand, but the fact an owner, as you have stated here,... has to be so very much aware of this specific breed, and all that is entailed in their care and owning one, simply sends up more red flags that these dogs are far from the average family dog...”Lassie” comes to mind.

Simply because a dog might be “popular” does not warrant owning one. People like tigers too, and other “exotic” pets which need special care and attention. So at the very least I would expect perimeter's around ownership of this breed of dog.

Yes, news does travel about them...perhaps rightfully so...perhaps not as you have indicated...but from the limited knowledge I do have about this breed I would not own one, nor would I want them as neighbors. IMO

Let me rephrase what I said, as I think it was taken the wrong way. Pit bulls require no more special care than other breeds built for work, like Border Collies and Malinois. Owners of these dogs will tell you that they can be very destructive if not given a creative, active way to get rid of their energy. It isn’t a matter of being too aggressive or wild, but like any working breed, they are not built for lounging. Comparing them to wild animals like tigers does no good, as tigers have not spent the last ten thousand years becoming domesticated, not to mention they are several hundred pounds, and therefore present a much higher risk, even if they were not wild.

“Simply because a dog might be “popular” does not warrant owning one.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I was not implying that their popularity warrants having one. What I was trying to get across to you is that their extreme popularity is what has gotten them into the spotlight for bad behavior, despite the fact that the dogs that do harm are less than a half of a percentage of the total. My point was that it is irrational to attribute characteristics to an entire breed that only an infinitesimally small percentage exhibit. It is not only counterproductive, but dangerous, as many other breeds have taken lives and will continue to do so (19 people died last year from dogs that were not pit bulls) until people realize that this is a social issue, not a dog issue.

www.kcdogblog.com - This site lists all of the deaths from last year, including the breed of dog, the care it received, the situation leading up to the incident, whether the dog had a history of aggressive behavior, and even the income level of the area. Notice that of all the fatalities, no matter what breed is involved, the same factors are present in most of the cases (irresponsible ownership, parental neglect/oversight, or in the rare cases, dogs that have become feral and formed packs).

I agree with you that there should be more regulations for dog ownership, but I believe this should extend to all dog owners, as many of them are misled into believing because they have a “friendly” breed, they don’t need to be aware of dangers. In Calgary, responsible ownership laws have made dogs much safer through their owners. They have found that attacks by all dogs have plummeted, and licensing rates have increased to over 90 percent of the population. They didn’t have to ban a breed or regulate one over another, and because they used legislation that addresses the societal issues, they have been one of the few that have seen positive results. Even in places where mandatory spay and neuter is implemented for pit bulls, it has been found that nothing changes in the way of dog attacks. The same can be said for places with outright bans. No place that has banned a breed has seen any reduction in attacks.

No matter what you believe the real problem is, you must see that the above information is important and should be used to make better laws. Banning is not the answer, and has not worked anywhere. Treating all dog owners the same by raising the standards for all seems to be the only thing so far that has had an impact, and this is what I would like to see happen everywhere. Since Calgary has not had a pit bull problem since their laws were passed, I can only assume that the solution was better dog owners, not less pit bulls.

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