Family dog attacks and severely hurts child, 6 (Pit bull, again)

Anchorage Daily News ^ | August 13, 2008 | By JAMES HALPIN

[rbmillerjr]

lol, good one.

[AlaskaErik]

If you ever shot this dog, I would personally shoot you. This is a great dog.

First, I have to see it in my neighborhood. But that's unlikely to happen. Much more likely is that it turns on you or some child one day.

[LongElegantLegs]

I can never quite explain the reasons why people who would be happier with calm, friendly dogs buy pitbulls, although it’s clear enough in my head.
It’s like people who own realistic looking pellet guns, but fear real ones. They want the feeling of power and control, but can’t handle the responsibility that must come with it.
Does that make sense?
Someday I’ll be able to articulate it better.

[LongElegantLegs]

That's Daddy, a dog who is frequently featured on The Dog Whisperer.

Whatever you may think of the show, he's a good example of a what a pitbull can be when handled by a knowledgeable owner.

[Mariebl]

There is no way you can convince me that the media is engaged in a cover up of attacks by other breeds just to promote the pit bull as vicious. What could possibly be the motive?

A fair proportion of journalists are lazy, and I think they're very prone to writing an article that conforms to the pre-set script they already have in their mind. Therefore, any dog that's vaguely heavy-set and largish is a 'pit-bull', just as all swords are 'samurai swords', and all rifles are 'assault rifles.'

[Mariebl]

No conspiracy--just journalistic laziness.

August 8, 2008:
By AP Police have recovered what they believe to be the body parts of an infant who was killed by his family's 3-month-old Labrador retriever while the ...

[trussell]

I haven’t been able to find the story since, but I remember one time reading a news story about an old lady who had died in her home. She had small dogs, one of which was a chihuahua. They found her partially eaten body with her small dogs gnawing on her and the dogs got very aggressive when the coroner came to take the body away.