Pit Bulls attack, kill 4-month-old ["They ripped" her "to shreds," baby now identified.]

KVBC, WorldNow ^ | 15SEP08 | Jesse Corona reporting

[familyop]

It was a tragic scene in North Las Vegas involving a baby and two dogs. A four-month-old was attacked by two Pit Bulls. The dogs were attacking so viciously police say they had to shoot them dead upon arriving at the scene.

Residents in the neighborhood near Cheyenne and Martin Luther King say they are shocked but not surprised that it happened. Neighbors tell News 3 the two Pit Bulls were full grown dogs and when the baby girl arrived at the house four months ago they began to display aggressive behavior towards the child and anyone who held her.

"We knew that someone had shot somebody," a neighbor named Gloria told News 3.

The shots that Gloria and her neighbors heard was North Las Vegas police shooting the two dogs still on the attack.

"I look in. You could see the dogs laying dead," another neighbor, Jason Howell said. The shots prompted Howell to run to his neighbor's house to see if he could help. He says that what he saw will haunt him. "There are some peculiars I don't even want to discuss," said Howell.

Howell says other neighbors have commented on the dogs' aggressive behavior. "You don't have Pit Bulls around children, period," Howell said.

Also according to neighbors, the child's grandmother was at the home babysitting when the attack happened.

Neither police nor neighbors know what sparked the attack. "You have an aggressive breed dog, a Pit Bull and a child in the house. They ripped it to shreds," Howell said. What could the child possibly have done to instigate that? I have a daughter who is 18 months old. And the look on the father's face is something I'll never forget, ever. That's all I have to say."

The grandmother who was in the house sustained injuries. She was taken away by ambulance.

It was just a couple of months ago that a local animal control officer was attacked by three pit bulls. In July the officer responded to a home in North Las Vegas.

According to reports the dogs were loose in a neighbors yard near Centennial and Lamb. The officer managed to get away from the dogs and locked herself in her vehicle.

In April two 5-year-old boys were attacked by two Pit Bulls outside a home near Vegas Valley and McLeod. One was bitten in the face, the other in the leg. Both dogs were put to euthanized..

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Only if you “Like” babies ripped apart,,,

Search for yourself :

1 - 10 of 9,930,000 for Pit Bull attacks in the US. (About)

[yorkie]

ROTF!! Post of the day!

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Your just bein’ Silly!...no wait...;0)

[beckysueb]

They'll do anything to protect "their" humans. They also recognize kids as different, and treat them with a whole new level of protection.

Yes they will and therein lies the problem. They see everyone as the enemy and they don't stop till a person is a dead bloody mess. And as far as recognizing that children are different, why do they kill so many children, then?

[Porterville]

like gun banners... common sense... like liberal common sense of attacking trucks and suv’s... like the common sense of banning chainsaws because they cut trees... like the common sense of banning motorcycles because they destroy park land... like the common sense of making people wear seat belts- helmets and not ride in the back of pu trucks- b/c it is for our safety...

Like outlawing cellphones while driving or keeping 18 year olds from buying beer... it just is common sense.

Stupid is to the bone.

[beckysueb]

Just give him time.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Hey there,,,

Only when his “Daddy” is Packin’...;0)

[FormerACLUmember]

The usual pit bull story. This kind of thing happens each and every day.

[RedMonqey]

One should never trust any breed of dog with a baby without direct supervision.

Exactly.

I agreed with the people who say it isn't the dogs' fault completely and the owners made them "mean." However some breeds are more prone to aggression and having the overpowering neck and maw muscles makes pit-bulls more dangerous than a smaller but more aggressive, territorial breeds.

Dogs are pack animals and sometimes when a child is added to a family the dynamics of the pack is disrupted. A child's natural playful antics may be interpreted by the dog as a challenge to HIS rank of the pack and the dog bites the child to regain his status in the pack. The bigger the dog, the more serious the wound.

To prevent this the strong pack leader(owner) must assert his status, particular around their child, to send a signal to the dog that this baby is to be protected, not challenged as if it was just another dog.

And some breeds are bred to be aggressive. The smell, taste of blood excites them and they simply go out of control.

And pit bulls are one of those breeds.

No to outlawing them but no to having them around small children.

[beckysueb]

These attacks by pitbulls are not extremely rare. Unfortunately they are all too common.

[zipper]

Liberals will take guns, dogs, knives, cars, motorcycles, boats, three-wheelers, trucks and money away...

Excuse me, but of that list, dogs are the only ones with FREE WILL.

[luckymom]

This is such a poorly written article that at first I thought Cheyenne and Martin Luther King were the parents of the child!

[yorkie]

Tight pink sweater (and bow) - I just know Harley would rescue me!

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

WOW,,,What a Looker!...;0)

[Tennessee_Bob]

I watched both videos and I’m heading to bed - if I can go to sleep. I mean - in the first video - that toddler is savaging the poor dog - it’s terrible, and will keep me awake all night!!!!

[avenir]

If you look closely, behind every story like this you will find...arrogant fools. “No harm will befall me!”

They were wrong.

[matthew fuller]

"I haven’t seen any stories about maurading Beagles or Yorkies killing kids, for example"

More relevant to this argument, I've never heard of this with Labs or Golden Retrievers, both of which are large enough to really do damage. I do agree with you, this breed (Pit Bulls) were bred to fight and kill. I have seen a few that were loving pussycats however.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

In MY home town :

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu.No59VINaQA_2NXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2Yms2Nm5oBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNTQEY29sbwNhYzIEdnRpZANNQVAwMTlfMTE2/SIG=124se7sm6/EXP=1222064360/**http%3a//www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp%3fS=7938167

Two in one week...

[Gator113]

Harley is looks precious.

[allmendream]

Nothing “poorly designed” about the breed at all.

A hunting dogs gotta hunt.

A herding dogs gotta herd

A tracking dogs gotta track

A retrieving dogs gotta fetch

A killing dogs gotta kill.