This 158-pound hunk of teeth licks the guinea pigs until they're dripping wet, wags his entire back end at the sight of the cat, and lets 4-year-old strangers hug him around the neck and smooch him on the nose.
Posted on 08/03/2005 10:19:25 AM PDT by Travis McGee
Dog Rips Child From Mother Arms
GLENDALE — A Rottweiller ripped a toddler out of her mother's arms in Glendale, dragged the child up a driveway and mauled her to death, police said today.
The dog, which belongs to the victim's grandparents, pulled the child from her mother's arms about 7 last night in the 2300 block of Via Saldivar, said Sherri Servillo, a Glendale Police Department spokeswoman.
The infant was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Servillo said.
The woman was housesitting for the child's grandparents, Servillo said, adding authorities received a "hysterical 911 call" after the attack.
The dog is being held by Pasadena Animal Control, she said.
The woman holding the child was also holding a hose and watering a lawn when the 150-pound Rottweiler attacked, said Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz, calling it a "horrific and tragic incident" that has shocked crime scene investigators.
He said the dog dragged the infant several feet down the driveway before mauling her. The mother suffered no major injuries.
After being notified of the attack, Glendale police officers went to the place where the victim's father works in Pasadena and drove him to the hospital where his child was pronounced dead, police said.
Yawn.. Stupid people like you should be exterminated as well.
If I see a Rottweiler in the street, it gets its head blown away.
"Then their keep should be licensed to those who can document such training."
I agree but also all swimming pool owners should have a license and go through extensive pool safety course before they are allowed to dig.
Agree.. All Rottweilers should be rounded up and put down.. For the sake of saving our our children.
I read through this entire thread before offering up my 2 pennies.
I own 2 Belgian Malinois, am a grandmother, and have owned German Sheps and Dachsies before. I train my own dogs, and really know a lot about dogs. I do not believe that specific breeds are dangerous, but any individual dog in any breed can be dangerous.
Size is the factor that makes a dog a "killer", not breed. Poor training and socializing is a factor in dog biting and agressive behavior, as is poor dog manangement.
My Belgians are as sweet as pie with me, but my male acts like Cujo on steroids when a stranger comes to the door. I have him trained to do this, because we are elderly and live way out in the boonies. But, I also have him under control at all times, and as soon as I tell him "enough", he sits and waits for me to go to the door to see who the stranger might be.
He does not bark this way this for "friends" who come to the door.
All that aside, I would not let my grandchildren play with either dog unattended. When they visit, my dogs are leashed and under control at all times.
Responsible dog owners must understand the pack order, what environmental triggers will set a dog "off", and at all times keep a dog under control. Things that would set my well-bred, and well-tempered Mals off, you might wonder. I know, because I have studied the breed, and know what "herding" dogs have been selectively bred to do.
For example, small screaming and running 3 or 4 year olds might trigger the "prey" instinct. A flying crow or owl overhead might trigger the "attack" instinct. Strangers coming into our dogs' "territory" will trigger the "defend the homestead from rustlers" instinct.
The grandparents, in this case, should have known enough about their Rottie to not allow him unleashed around their daughter and the baby, in that specific circumstance. The daughter should not have had the baby in her arms, with a hose in her hand, with the Rottie loose in the yard. Too many triggers were potentially being pulled in those circumstances.
My female Malinois is "hose happy". She thinks the hose, when on one certain setting, is "attackable". We use this to give her some fun and exercise, but I wouldn't suggest that my daughter-in-law use the hose with a baby in her arms if I weren't right there beside her, for who knows what goes through a dog's brain in those circumstances...
Knowing how ready to go on the attack my male when crows are outside threatening our "Air-Sheep", I would not let a casual friend stand between my male and the door to the outside, for my male does not know that the casual frien will immediately let him out to give chase the same way he knows we will. My male could easily conclude that the casual friend was in the way between him and the varmints, and snap at him to get him out of the way.
Just because a dog learns a command in the house, he does not generalize it to other locations. Just because my Mal knows to "sit" on command at the front door, doesn't mean he knows the command at the back door, or out in the yard, for that matter. He has to be trained to do so in every location possible, so he doesn't think "sit" only means it when at the front door.
What I am trying to explain by this long post is that people are responsible for understanding their pets temperments, making good judgements about how and when to control their pets, and to be constantly training and re-training them. My preferred means of control in a good leash, a good set of commands, constantly practiced oin all location, and when I am not able to be paying attention to the dogs, good strong crates for them.
My dogs will go to their crates on command when we have strangers in the house, as they like their crates and feel safe in them. The reason for this is that I always feed them in their crates, do not use them except in certain circumstances, such as a stranger in the house doing odd things, like plumbing, working on the air-conditioner or furnace, with strange and "dangerously scary" tools, etc...
People need to spend more time thinking about what dogs need, and some people shouldn't have big dogs at all. They can mess up the little ones, and while bites will still occur, at least people won't get killed because of owner stupidity.
" All Rottwielers should be put down. It's only common sense."
All swimming pools should be filled in. All toasters should be fork proof. Motorcylces should be illegal. All compact cars should be crushed (in the junkyard not by an SUV). All homes should have video cameras in every room linked to a central safety control center. yada yada yada
" The dog is being held by Pasadena Animal Control, she said. "
Frankly if an animal kills a child or adult they should be immediately put down unless they're holding this dog as proof, evidnce for a pending court case. Most domesticated pets are imprinted and become what their owners make them out to be just like most troubled teenagers who come from broken homes raised by screwball parent(s).
"People need to spend more time thinking about what dogs need, and some people shouldn't have big dogs at all. They can mess up the little ones, and while bites will still occur, at least people won't get killed because of owner stupidity."
Sorry but according to many on this thread your knowledge and experience with dogs disqualifies you as an idiot with an agenda. Owner stupidity is never involved. Some breeds "just snap" and should be exterminated. You can never know what a dog is thinking. Just kill them all.
" I also remember vividly a woman whose baby was eaten by her dog."
Maybe if the mother had fed the dog on a regular basis with quality food instead of cheap corn filler dog food lacking the proper protein nutrients, the dog wouldn't have viewed the child as food?
Thanks for your response, and the humor.
You are dead on that we can never really understand a dog's "thinking", though. We must understand that instinctive drives can and do take over in the right environmental circumstances, and plan accordingly.
Dogs do "think" in a primitive way. What we humans have to do is understand which stimulus is more rewarding to an individual dog. Given a choice between a nice chunk of meat, and chasing a crow, my Mal will pick the crow in a millisecond.
The mother was a poor lady who was hospitalized for the birth and didn't understand that when she left the newborn baby at the apartment with her dog that hadn't been fed for five days to go out and buy dog food what would happen.
Not my patient, thank goodness. She thought the dog would protect the baby.
But I am not blaming the dog. I'm trying to get the word out that one has to understand that most dogs are not Lassie, or the image we've seen on TV. They can be jealous and they can be hungry, and they cannot be trusted around new children just brought into or visiting a family.
Report entitled "All in the Species":
In one case six dogs of beagle, dachshund, and terrier breeds (all small dogs) killed and partially consumed an 81 year-old woman!
Other small dogs have killed people. Pediatrics (1982) reports of a Yorkshire terrier that killed a child. Public Health Reports (1977) reports of a dachshund that killed a 7 month-old boy when the mother left them alone together momentarily.
Of course the report goes into deaths caused by pit bulls and large dogs, as well:
The award for the most non-fatal bites goes to cocker spaniels and chow dogs. Next on the list of fatal bites were German shepherds at 9; huskies at 7; malamutes at 6; Doberman pinschers, rottweillers, and wolfdogs at 5; Great Danes and Saint Bernards at 4. The rest are hounds, bulldogs, chows, cocker spaniels, labs, retrievers, boxers, and English sheepdogs.
Disclaimer: I own a beautiful Rottie/German shepard mix that is the most tolerant, sweet-natured, friendly dog I've ever had.
Watch it! *wink*
Ahhhhhhh, another voice of reason.
This 158-pound hunk of teeth licks the guinea pigs until they're dripping wet, wags his entire back end at the sight of the cat, and lets 4-year-old strangers hug him around the neck and smooch him on the nose.
That's because he's been smothered with YOUR love and fed well too. He obviously isn't a fear biter(driven to be a neurotic mess). Most pets raised from pups are a direct reflection of their owners. I've seen over and over.
Gruesome story. Poor infant.
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