Posted on 08/23/2007 5:55:30 AM PDT by grjr21
69-year-old Victim in Critical Condition
Three pit bull terriers attacked their owner, inside a Frankford home Wednesday night.
69-Year-Old Margaret Grace is hospitalized in critical but stable condition, after having surgeries to repair injuries to her face, ear, arm, and leg.
Philadelphia Police say Grace was mauled by the three dogs in the living room of her home in the 5400 block of Montague Street.
Grace lives in the home with her daughter and adult grandson. All three had ownership of the dogs.
Right now, it's still unclear what provoked the attack. The victim's daughter says the dogs did not show any signs of aggression, but neighbors tell Action News they were frightened by the two adult dogs, and one puppy.
"I asked her (Grace), ain't you afraid of these dogs? And she said 'Yes, they're getting kind of mean'," said Dorothy, who didn't want her last name used.
Officers with the Philadelphia Animal Care Control Association took the dogs into custody shortly after the attack.
Police say they normally see cases where dogs have gotten free and attacked strangers, not their owners. "Here it's unusual, because they're inside the residence, and they are the owner of the dogs, so we're going to conduct an investigation as to what happened here." Said Police Captain Frank Bachmayer.
Right now, the fate of the three dogs is unclear.
There are different strains of pit bulls. Some are bred for pet quality, some are bred for fighting. All have extremely strong jaws and have a tendency to be aggressive with other dogs but necessary people.
Personally, if I wanted a persoanl protection dog, I’d get something attractive and intelligent like a German Shepherd, Belgian Shepherd or Dobermann, not an ugly mindless set of strong jaws ready to explode any minute.
I have been told, repeatedly, that attacks like this are rare.
Well at least they’re not poisonous.
Another mere coincidence involving pit bulls.
And I’m sure someone will along in a minute to tell you so again.
ping
The moral of the story: People should not own dogs they cannot control...but leave those of us who love this breed, and can and do control our dogs, alone!
I've been around at least a dozen pit bulls and several pit bull mixes over the years and every one of them I've encountered I thought was very aggressive, but none were bred for fighting. Personally, I prefer Labradors. Not an aggressive bone in their body, but they will make a lot of noise if something startles them. You do run the risk of being licked to death, though......
I’m going to disagree with you about pits. I have never owned a full pit, but I own a mixed breed with pit in it. I wouldn’t get one again, not because of aggression, but because the dog is so energetic that you have to commit a lot of time to the dog or you are mistreating the animal unless you have a very big place (say a ranch). That said, the pits seem less likely to challenge the authority of the owner than say a German Shepard or a Doberman, and are less aggressive with people. My dog will calmly watch a man fixing our porch, but go bonkers if he sees an animal. Think they’d make great working dogs on a ranch, keeping the snakes and the critters out of the yard and pastures, if they can get along with the other dogs.
We had a part pit on a ranch as well that we had to get rid of, because once it started to grow up it began to challenge the other dogs for dominance and the changing of the guard would have been ugly (and we liked current leader of the pack . . . smart, good dog).
Damn Lhasa Apsos! Always getting into trouble!
Yeah, every few weeks. A 5 year old boy was killed by one of these monsters less than two weeks ago.
It's a lot like owning a throw rug that breathes.
My Labradors are a lot like that.
I bet she thought they were the sweetest babies in the world.
Dogs should not be allowed to watch TV. The light sentence being offered a certain sports figure must be infuriating them. /sarc
It’s always a good move to get a PACK of dogs you can’t control. No possible problem with that at all.
Sheezzz people are dumb.
I bet this old woman beat these dogs and caused this agressive behavior.
The breed is for fighting and that is the point just like Border Collies have the herding instinct. This is rocket science for the people that can’t figure it out.
“””get a PACK of dogs”””
As I understand Cesar Milan, dogs are descended from wolves and maintain a pack mentality, which humans can emulate and use for discipline.
Do we know if wolves attack the weakest members of their pack, i.e. young kids and old, frail humans?
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