Posted on 06/01/2018 4:58:07 AM PDT by familyop
A Florida mother was reeling after her 9-month-old daughter was fatally mauled by a pit bull as she sat in a bouncy chair,...Brenda Villasin, 24,...said she’s not ready to blame the breed entirely. "I still don’t feel any type of way about a pit bull," Villasin told the Herald.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Sad. That behavior isn’t limited to the pit bull terrier breed but SURE SEEMS over-prevalent with them. Said on another thread, all versions of this breed should be heavily regulated like firearms, licensing (annual) and prohibited from anyone with a criminal record. Add in $1,000,000 liability insurance to boot.
Insurance coverage won’t restore a dead child.
I think granny being charged with manslaughter would save more lives.
I will NEVER trust pit bulls, especially around children.
I taught Sunday School at our old church. 1980s I taught 2 and 3 year old kids. Dustin was a quiet little blonde boy, so sweet, smart and cute. His grandmother’s pit bulls killed him. He was about 4 or 5 at the time. I still grieve. His folks had two daughters after he passed, but they never had another son. People who hate cats, just remember, they won’t kill you. I was attacked at age 5 by a Cocker Spaniel. Had to wait to see if I had to have rabies shots, they hid their dog, didn’t want him tested. What was my offense that caused the dog to attack, I walked past him while going into OUR grocery store. 1956
As I wrote 13 years ago in this thread....
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1350012/posts
I don’t think anyone is arguing that it’s a trend but it is a set of 5 attacks on a baby in a swing.
Yes, pit bulls and other dogs have been known to go after kids with or without a swing.
But that is irrelevant to addressing these particular attacks.
It is proper to look at these instances and seek to discover any commonalities and make recommendations to prevent future attacks
A search shows the 1999 Maryland fatal attack is attributed to 2 dogs, a Chow and a Dachshund. Doesn’t say which one was Alpha.
The other two dogs will have to go unidentified for now.
We are not told is the age of the dogs and whether they had previous exposure to babies.
In one case we’re told the dog had been around since the victim’s brother was four, hardly a baby.
We’re given the ages of the victims..
Baltimore - 2 weeks
Edgemere - 3 months
Tampa - 18 days
Summerville - ??
Peru - 9 weeks
Relevant? Is 2 weeks or 18 days way too soon to be putting a baby in a swing? Does it reflect on the responsibility of the parents?
Circumstances....
baby’s mother left him to answer the front door
her mother left the room to warm a bottle for her bit baby in front of mother
had gone to the store while her husband napped
his parents slept in another room
4 out of 5 cases - baby left alone with dog
The Experts.....
Doctor of state’s medical examiner’s office suggests motion may trigger prey drive
-An Italian lady doctor, no mention of credentials, while conceding movement can trigger attack she’s not convinced, cites attacks in cribs and beds.
- Dog trainer-25 years and an Animal Behaviorist recommend desensitization
The only thing all agree on is not leaving a baby unattended.
Whether we agree or not with the experts theory on triggering mechanism
(Some Freepers have suggested jealousy could be a factor)
we can’t ignore that 4 out of 5 times these attacks took place baby was left unattended.
A look at the site I linked[no longer active] above shows contributing factors....
1994 out of 14 deaths, 4 -”Unsupervised child”
1995 out of 13 deaths, 1 -”Unsupervised child” and 1 - “Infant death”
1996 out of 17 deaths, 2 -”Unsupervised child”, 2 -”Infant death”, and 1 -”One day old infant left with dog”
1997 out of 20 deaths, 5 -”Unsupervised child” and 1 -”Infant death”
1998 out of 9 deaths, 1-”Unsupervised child”
1999 out of 26 deaths, 3 -”Unsupervised child”, 2 -”Infant death”, 1 -”Infant in baby swing”
2002 out of 15 deaths, 2 -”Unsupervised child” and 1-”Infant death”
2004 out of 24 deaths, 5-”Unsupervised child” and 1-”Infant in baby swing”
The site also shows that numerous breeds are involved in fatal attacks.
The conclusion I’m forced to draw is that leaving a baby alone with a dog is risk
and no matter how small that risk might be it’s, not worth taking a chance. The possible consequences are too dire.
All dog owners should be aware of the danger and behave accordingly.
Large breed owners should be particularly concerned since the majority of fatal attacks are by large dogs.
Small dogs can cause extensive damage and their owners should not take the risk lightly.
No one should get cocky that their dog, “the big suck” isn’t capable of behaving aggressively.
That is what got my little friend killed, 3 pits at grandma’s house.
It is also wise never to trust young children around dogs.
” “I still don’t feel any type of way about a pit bull,” Villasin told the Herald.”
What sort of idiot has to “feel any type of way” about it when it’s common knowledge that some pit bulls are known to behave this way. Common sense and logic should tell her everything, but no, she insists on being stupid.
“These are the same people who vote dem.”.....
Having a known to be “dangerous” breed of animal around, especially with an infant or young child, makes absolutely ZERO sense. People who allow their pit bull pets to be with those children are just playing roulette. Sooner or later, something is going to happen. For some unknown reason such animals will go rouge and in this case, it’s too late.
Why should firearms be heavily regulated. They don’t have a mind of their own and centuries of breeding in a killer instinct.
“How many damn big dogs do you need unless you’re on a farm.”.....
Pit Bulls are definitely NOT a typical farm type dog.
Pit bulls are loving cuddly wonderful affectionate happy sweet delightful kid friendly dogs if you just don’t train them to be the killers they are instinctively.
Agreed.
“If you own this breed, you should be required to purchase a $10 million liability bond for any attack on a human.”....
Common sense!
By any chance, do you happen to sell liability insurance? :)
Pit Bulls around children is a recipe for disaster. Then again, pit bulls DO attack grown people as well.
While I totally agree with your post, never leave a child unattended, especially around dogs!
Manslaughter assuming this wasn’t an intentional act on the part of mom and/or granny to murder the child and blame the dog/s.
Aggravated manslaughter if unplanned and the dogs are being used in the furtherance of any criminal activity (puppy mill, dogfighting, drug running). If so, throw the book at any and all involved.
But I won’t hold my breath waiting for Broward to do it.
Euthanizing the dogs, which needs to be done, won’t solve the problem.
But prosecuting the owners might.
Not directed at firearms, they should be less regulated. Pit bulls, OTOH, well...
No, it wouldn’t, but it could prevent that child from ever suffering in the first place - the dirtbags who have them now would be forced to give them up or face heavy jail time - win-win IMHO.
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