Posted on 06/06/2018 10:13:01 PM PDT by Norski
A little girl torn apart by savage dogs lay on her hospital bed as nurses pumped her full of painkillers and pleaded, "Mummy, please don't let them put me down,".
Five-year-old Leah Preston heard the vicious animals who mauled her in Low Hill, Wolverhampton, had been destroyed and was worried she might be put to sleep, her family said.
Doctors said the youngster was in a stable condition in Birmingham Children's Hospital after undergoing surgery for bite wounds to her leg, groin and arm on Friday.
Onlookers watched in horror on Thursday afternoon as schoolgirl Leah was tossed around like a rag doll being viciously savaged by the two animals.
She was playing in her front garden in Hawksford Crescent when the two dogs, named Gina and Kaiser, escaped from a metal cage behind the next door house and attacked her.
The Bull Mastiff cross-breeds tugged her between each other, tearing chunks out of her flesh before turning on their owner and her two young children, witnesses said.
The owner of two dogs, Jean Harvey, today broke down in tears, shaking and unable to speak, as she tried to relive the horrific incident.
With bloodied teeth marks covering her arms, Ms Harvey wept as she vividly recalled the two dogs attacking her, her two children, Liam, five, and Lauren, three.
Friends said she had used her body as a shield to protect her five-year-old neighbour, who was being torn apart by the two fighting dogs. (excerpt) (continued at site)
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Note: This is Great Britain.
Onlookers watched in horror? Just watched?
Not all of them. This article is excerpted. Please read the rest of the story at the link, unless the Daily Mail allows full reposting. The dogs attacked multiple people, including other children.
Why Do We Call Them ‘Pit Bull Type Dogs’? 31
We use the term ‘pit bull type dog’ because that is biologically the most accurate term. In order to understand this, you have to look at the biological history of the present day pit bull type dogs. Their history is twofold.
bullpit1-300x198The bulldog: The bull-baiting, bear-baiting, horse-shredding ‘bulldog’ has existed at least since the reign of Richard III in England (1452 – 1485), when watching ‘bulldogs’ slowly torture bulls, bears, horses and other animals to death was considered normal public entertainment. These dogs were also used to hunt wild boar, not only tracking the boar but engaging directly in killing it, and in dogfighting matches where they were pitted against each other in fights to the death. There were no breed clubs to give these dogs fancy names — they were called simply ‘bulldogs’. The term ‘pit bull’ was an American variation on the same theme, referring to any of the pit fighting bulldog types.
Until the late 19th century, the only pedigree that mattered for any bulldog was its fighting pedigree – the list of kills it had committed on some other bulldog in the fighting pit. It wasn’t until early in the 20th century, as dogfighting declined, that the breeders of these dogs sought other ways to sell them. They turned to the new kennel clubs, which had been established to cater to the upper class hobby of breeding dogs for shows. After much lobbying, the 1930s saw the registration and re-branding of the pit fighting bulldogs by various kennel clubs, always with a name intended to hide the type’s bloody history (eg, changing this molosser’s name from bulldog to ‘Staffordshire terrier’). Since that first deception, many new breed clubs have arisen, dedicated to producing slight physical variation in the fighting bulldog so as to claim a new pit bull type ‘breed’ all their own (eg, American Bully, Pit Bull XXL, Olde English Bulldogge, American Bulldog).
All of these dogs in fact come from the same limited gene pool, all of them retaining both the physical and the behavioral traits that have always typified the fighting bulldog. Pasting a new ‘breed’ label on yet another slight variation of the pit fighting bulldog does not change this fact.
I suspect within a decade, ownership of this breed or derivatives thereof will be as rare as ownership of wolves or wolf-dog hybrids. I know this story is from Europe, but the same thing happens over here in the states.
I read that Quebec was close to outlawing ownership of Pits, but fell short of the required votes this time around.
I never hear of Pit Bull attacks from Africa in any great numbers. Maybe because they already have sufficient amounts of other animals even more deadly, that now freely roam the countrysides.
I do not know about the rest of Africa, but the country of South Africa apparently has the 2nd greatest number of victims per capita. The USA is number one.
You may find the statistical information story here:
http://www.animals24-7.org/?s=south+africa+pit+bull
I am sorry to say that unless major changes are made, I must respectfully disagree with your conclusion. I would very much like for you to be correct.
I do not know about the rest of Africa, but the country of South Africa apparently has the 2nd greatest number of victims per capita. The USA is number one.
You may find the statistical information story here:
http://www.animals24-7.org/?s=south+africa+pit+bull
I am sorry to say that unless major changes are made, I must respectfully disagree with your conclusion. I would very much like for you to be correct.
(Article continued)
“Ms Harvey’s sister-in-law, Diane Harvey, said: “As far as I know she went to feed the dogs and next thing she realised they was not there.
“She heard a scream and she has run out to save Diane’s baby next door.
“Even though her two were outside she ran straight to the baby.
“She then threw her body on top of the baby so the dogs could not get to the baby any more.
“She is bitten from her shoulders all the way down to her heels because she used her body as a shield.
“She keeps saying, ‘I tried to save the baby’.”
Leah’s mother, Diane Reynolds, 28, looked on helplessly as they mauled the little girl, biting flesh from her body and leaping for her throat.
Leah’s uncle, Peter Reynolds, 38, received a frantic phonecall from his sister to say that the dogs were attacking her daughter.
He said the family had only moved into the house five days before and he had boarded up the back gate because they had been afraid of the dogs.
He arrived on the scene in minutes to find Leah inside the house covered in blood and the two dogs attacking the Harveys next door.
“It was savage, man,” he said. “It was like she had been mauled by a shark it was so horrific.
“The two policemen were crying.
“We knew the dogs were dangerous. I think it is criminal to breed dogs like that.
“I want the breeder prosecuted and the rest of the dogs killed.”
Family friend Carol Read, arrived at the scene to find Ms Reynolds screaming from inside the house, “Please, Carol, save my baby”.
The 47-year-old, of nearby Showell Road, said: “I saw the dogs and at first I thought they’d got a rag doll.
“Then I saw there was one dog going for Leah’s throat. That child looked like the victim of a shark attack.
“I was a coward when I saw what was going on. I turned away and screamed for somebody to help me.
“Nobody would come so I knew I had to get that baby.
“When I picked her up my hand almost went through her leg.
Leah’s aunt, Linda Reynolds, 39, said: “She has lost all the muscle in her leg.
“There are bite marks on her head, on her arm and on her throat.
“But she never even cried. Not after the attack.
“The baby in hospital said to her mum, ‘Mummy, don’t let them put me down’.”
The two dogs were taken away by vets and destroyed, a police spokesman said.
Chief Superintendent Tom Duffin said officers were still investigating the incident to determine whether or not any prosecutions would follow.
He told a press conference today at Wednesfield police station: “What happened yesterday was a really nasty event.
“The thoughts and emotions of people must be with those people but the police must continue their inquiries.
“It is harrowing. I have taken steps to ensure that staff involved receive proper support.” “
With respect to dog-bite related fatalities, when the rates are computed by breed (fatalities per 100,000 dogs), no less than eight dog breeds had a higher rate of fatalities than the dreaded pit bull.
In order, starting with the worst:
I wonder why the Bull Mastiff was not included in the “Dangerous Dogs Act.”?
no knives or guns, what could they do?
wipe 1 through 9 out completely, problem solved, and the pit bull is still gone.
A bull mastiff is not a pit bull. A bull mastiff us a criss between a bI’ll dig and a mastiff.
The problem here is the owner and possibly the breeder and whoever of the two was responsible shoukd be severely punished.
The fact is mastiff and pit bulls CAN be very loving pets. They can also be very dangerous destructive monsters. It’s all on the breeding and training. And SOME breeds, like these two, need an experienced handler and owner and responsible breeder. All of which was apparently lacking here.
If these dogs were being used for fighting, everything rises to an even greater level of culpability and people engaged in THAT activity are vicious subhuman who shoukd be horsewhipped.
No guns in UK and they are about to ban knives
Among the breeds which had a higher rate of fatalities were the beloved Great Dane, the sturdy Rottweiler, and the popular Doberman Pinscher.
If these rates are accurate—and this research has been confirmed by peer review—it means that for any individual dog, a person (such as your child) is at greater risk in the company of a Doberman Pinscher, for example, than a Pit Bull...
When your disarmed that's all you can do until the government decides to show up.
Would you please post your statistic source and url.
Thank you.
What would the risk to dog size ratio be for each breed? If ordered that way, the Chow Chow would probably head the list. Dogs like Malamutes would rank lower, with the pits close to them.
from the Sun:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1621022/dangerous-dog-breeds-banned-uk-act-2018/
“What is the Dangerous Dogs Act?
The act specifically made four breeds of dog illegal to own, breed from, abandon or sell: the Pit Bull terrier, Japanese Tosas, Dogo Argentino and the Fila Braziliero.
But according to the RSPCA over a third of the people killed by dogs since the act was brought in were attacked by legal breeds.
The Pit Bull terrier was originally bred in England for fighting in sports such as bear bating and dog fighting which took place in a “pit”.
The Japanese Tosa was also bred for fighting in the Far East.” (excerpted)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Staffordshire Terrier is the same thing as a pit bull, but if you call your pit bull a Staffordshire Terrier, you can keep it. Interesting.
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