Posted on 04/05/2005 6:22:36 AM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Family's two pit bulls kill Hamtramck girl, 6
4/5/2005, 4:28 a.m. ET
The Associated Press
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — Two pit bulls attacked and killed their owners' 6-year-old girl in the backyard of a home near Detroit, state police say.
Cassidy Jeter was killed Monday morning, said state police Lt. Harold Love.
The girl had known the pit bulls since they were puppies, The Detroit News said.
Cassidy and a younger child were walking down an alley next to the home about 9 a.m. when the dogs attacked, Love said. The family recently moved out of a home around the corner, and the dogs were still staying at that house. The alley separates the two homes.
"For some reason the dogs were loose, and one of them attacked the girl," Love said.
The other dog apparently joined the attack. The younger child climbed a fence to get away, and the girl's mother tried to save her daughter.
"The mother tried to beat the dogs off the girl with a 2-by-4," Love said. "She was screaming for help from the neighbors."
The girl was dead at the scene. Police shot the dogs to death.
Police in the Detroit enclave of Hamtramck asked state troopers to investigate because a person died and its officers used their weapons.
Yep, anyone who owns a pit bull is an idiot.
I'll take my golden with his 80lb "big boy bark" used sparingly and when appropriate. My experience with yappy dogs is that they also yap at hallucinations.
I've never met a dog I didn't like (even Rommel the Rottweiler, lived across the street from me a number of years ago).
They were completely unsupervised. The family moved and left the dogs at their old house. This and that the story comes from detroit is what people should really be focusing on. This is not a surprise. The people who owned these dogs didn't know what the hell they were doing. They likely bought the dogs from someone selling cheap fight bred pitbulls, then neglected them most of their life, failed to train them to do anything, and then wonder why the dogs would attack someone. I don't feel the least bit sorry for this family. Maybe that is cold hearted, but oh well. I similarly do not feel sorry for people who fail to teach their kids how to properly use the guns in their house and fail to lock them up and then their kid blows their own brains out. Ignorance and stupidity should not get sympathy nor pity. If a heroin addict dies of an overdose we don't say "oh how tragic" - we say yeah it was bound to happen - just as an attack was bound to happen in the hands of these owners. It wouldn't have mattered what type of large breed dog these people owned - it was going to end similar.
Does anyone have any familiarity/knowledge with Catahoula Leopard dogs? Are they 'safe' as a family dog?
I'm looking into dogs that can help with our horses, but yet still be a family member.
>There may be some people who can handle them. But as dogs they're decidedly not for every one - certainly NOT for families with children.<
I agree. In addition, they are not the breed of choice for the first time, nor for "casual" (read that laizzez faire) pet owners. They must be carefully managed, and never, ever be allowed to roam without hands-on supervision.
The owners should be charged with manslaughter.
My wife and I almost bought an Am Staff 12 years ago when we first began considering getting a dog. Ultimately, we picked another breed because most of the neighbors surrounding us already had dogs and we were concerned about territorial disputes that could end badly for those around us.
We now have two very elderly Shelties and four Pomeraninas of varying ages. We're considering a move to a rural area with a coyote population...the Am Staff or a Rottweiler or two may become an option to keep Wylie and his pals honest
So Teddy Roosevelt and Jack Dempsy are Idiots?
Look it up on www.dogbreedinfo.com its a great dog site.
That is too funny! The kids just told me that while they and he were out canoeing Saturday, someone was excercising their lab in the lake and my husband sighed, wishing it was his dog. He'd be set, his pick-up, his canoe and his lab.
What did the 6 year old do to deserve your ire?
I take my golden swimming in the cold waters of the Gunpowder Falls year round (well, it's only really cold in the winter), he doesn't care, but when it too cold, I don't wanna go.
Border Collie.
Did their dogs run loose and kill someone?
I have a cat who is normally a very pleasant, friendly creature. Friends of mine came over once with their toddler daughter. The little one began pulling my cat's tail. I had picked up the cat and was about to lock her in a bedroom upstairs, when the toddler pulled on the cat's tail once too often and was bitten. Fortunately, it wasn't a big bite...didn't require anything but the most basic at-home medical treatment from me, and the parents didn't sue me. I learned my lesson -- keep the cat away from any children visitors and the parents learned to supervise their toddler around animals.
Not much more severe than losing your little girl, imo.
I don't have anything against the 6 year old. It is sad that she had to reap what her parents sewed. What I was saying is that I have no sympathy or pity for the parents.
I don't know. Probably not, as is the case with most dogs.
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