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.
Manchester Terrier
"No - it wasn't a story about Killer Chihuahuas. In my opinion, any one keeping a pit bull for a pet is asking for tragedy." Exactly correct..well said.
I suggested the Border Collie specifically because they are NOT a "nipping" type of herder..
A nipping instinct is not desirable in a family dog.. ( Little fingers..)
A simple Google search for terms "herd dogs" or "sheep dogs" or "shepherd dogs" will produce more sites than you can shake a stick at..
Yeah the healing isn't a very desireable trait. I have always kind of liked Border Collies as well. I love it when they are blue merle. They always seem to be the winners of fly ball competitions and frisbee - stuff like that. They're pretty cool.
Pit Bulls are responsible for 30% of all fatalities from dog bytes. If you count in Pit Bull crosses the number jumps to 35%
The two next closest breeds are the most ones most often trained for police and guard duty - the Rottweiler (14.5%) and German Shepherd (9.5%). No statistics are kept on the number of these bites that occur in the line of duty.
The "Pit Bull" is not even close to being one of the most common breeds. The Labrador Retriever, arguably America's favorite dog is the most common breed of dog and accounts for less than 1% of all fatalities due to dog bytes.
I haven't looked up the statistics for Big Cats and fatal bites yet, but I'm almost willing to bet they are safer to own.
All great points about dog training and stuff. But you dodged my questions. You must choose one kennel. You can't choose both, one and only one. You seem well versed in dog breeds, and indicate a high level of confidence in your knowledge of dogs and their behaviors. So put that to use and choose one kennel each week. You see this little thought experiment really boils down to your confidence in the breed. Which is a point a lot people are making, that they have none. Those people, most people, given the same choice would choose to go into the kennel with a whole lot of breeds before pit bull. Since you are defending the pit bull I want to know how far you are willing to go with that? Will you choose the pit bull kennel week after week and knowingly, (you seem credible and knowlegable about dogs, I mentioned that already) put yourself at risk?
So I wask again and for fun I want to add a modifier to illustrate the weakness of the gun comparison.
I will now build a third kennel. In the third kennel sits a gun. You do not know who trained the gun, or who owns the gun. You may or may not know the breed of the gun. It is just sitting there. Which kennel will you enter week after week?
The one with a strange pit bull?
The one with a different strange breed?
The one with the gun? (I am choosing this kennel btw)
I also asked the question which breeds are you hoping are in kennel A?
Lastly since the whole world isn't the dog whisperer like yourself I will ask you which kennel do you think most people posting to this forum would choose to go into? (I bet the gun kennel)
For a whole lot of fun, which kennel would you go into with your 6 year old child in your arms? (still the gun kennel for me)
Remember you must choose to go into one of the kennels, only one. Answers like I would go into any are answers to a different question I didn't ask and may indicate you realize answering will either clearly make my point.
For your gun argument I will simply reverse it. You say all gun owners are likely responsible dog trainers, I will say all pit bull owners are likely gun owners. I wonder what the stats are on gun accidents with pit bull owners vs pit bull accidents with gun owners? You will probably answer guns with no evidence as I will answer pit bulls with no evidence. There for my questions above are really more important.
-- lates
-- jrawk
my thought exactly.
I want to see a manslaughter indictment. Maybe they can beat it at trial, but they need to explain in a public forum.
What kind of magazine were those rascals reading...about violent video games?
Just "Guns and Ammo".
By myself I would probably go into the kennel with the pitbull - because I like them a lot. Thus, I enjoy being around them in general.
In kennel A I would actually hope for an American Bulldog or Rottweiler - because these are my two favorite type of breeds. Then I would go into kennel A because I like those two breeds better than pitbulls.
If I had my 6 year old child in my arms I would go into whatever kennel the child wanted to go into - so long as I thought it was safe. This may not be the specific answer you are looking for, but I would not blindly go into any place with my 6 year old child. I would always assure I believed it was safe, or that I could negate any danger. If my child wanted to go into the kennel with the pitbull I would be no more prone to not allow it than I would be to not allow going into the other kennels. DIfferent situations call for independent and critical analysis.
Further, most of the people on this site would probably either go into Kennel A with some cute small dog, or the Kennel with the gun depending on their interest in firearms. The pitbull is a very divisive breed and the tendency is that people generally love them or hate them, there is generally not someone who is indifferent.
I agree that many people who own pitbulls are alos gun owners, but they are likley the irresponsible gun owners. I would venture a guess it is pretty even in both accidental and deliberate violent events relating to the guns and the dogs in these people's hands.
Further, about the gun kennel. There are things about certain guns that could make them inherently dangerous to children if not kept in a safe place. A gun that lacks a safety, has a hair trigger, and is fully automatic - shouldn't be left sitting around with children. Just as a dog shouldn't be left unsupervised with a child.
I agree that pitbulls wre bred to fight. Although, responsible breeders can help do away with that tradition. There will likely always be dog aggression in pitbulls, but it can and should be controlled.
Not that it matters to folks who have their minds made up...but there is nothing inherently unstable about the breed. For crying out loud, pitbulls have been around for over 100 years in this country--Petie from the Little Rascals was a pit, Helen Keller was devoted to her pit, "Sgt Stubby" was the first American War Dog, memorialized at Georgetown for all the lives he saved (he even captured a German spy), and inspired the creation of the K-9 Corps--and was a pit. The US Navy used the pitbull in recruiting posters during WWII. Only recently became all the rage of the "ban the breed" contingent. Mostly due to idiot criminal gangsters who make money breeding and fighting dogs.
This breed is not inherently dangerous. It is not inherently mean. It is not inherently intent to kill. This is common sense, obvious stuff...yet so many are so wedded to the successful campaign against this breed---that they are being euthanized by the thousands every day. But pitbull haters will never listen...no matter how hard you try to make them understand. No matter how right you are. I am with the pit owners in this fight. I've known too many pitbulls and trained too many dogs to think otherwise. In Wisconsin, the same thing happens to owners of Rottweilers, after a pack of them killed a 6 year old girl a few years back in Elroy. Rottweilers, pits, presa canarios, neo mastiffs, cane corsos...they are all on the list somewhere of dog breeds to ban.
Animals cannot be "guilty" of anything. They do not choose to do right or wrong. In fact, they are unable to make that choice.
These dogs were not "punished" any more than an unsafe car is "punished" when it is sent to the scrapyard.
An incident very similar to this just happened in Virginia, except that the THREE pitbulls mauled and killed both the small on-leash dog and its elderly owner. The owner of the pitbulls is being tried for involuntary manslaughter and is looking at ten years. I'd have preferred voluntary, since her dogs were off-leash.
If a certain make of gun would occasionally get up out of the drawer and chase down and kill a random person who just happened to be walking by, you bet I'd be calling for a ban of that "breed" of gun.
This is one big ugly dog.I saw one up close when I went to buy my dog and it was the most intimidating dogs I ever saw.One of the reasons I bought a Cane Corso was they didn't drool like other Mastiffs.These dogs are all big and could be dangerous if not handled responsibly.I caught a lot of flack after the two Pressa Canara dogs killed the female jogger in San Fran because they resemble my dog.Those two dogs were bred as attack dogs by the gang member who was an inmate in Texas.I would be in favor of putting restrictions on who can breed certain types of dogs.The way it is right now there are too many bad people creating too many dangerous dogs.
Agree. Pit bulls and their like are a loaded gun pointed in your direction with the trigger cocked. If someone in my neighborhood showed up with one of these, I would take it out.
I've never had my neighbor's gun try to break through a fence to shoot me... When will you people admit that there is a difference between owning a dangerous dog and a gun. I can gaurantee the safety of my gun by locking it up. You can never fully gaurantee the safety of a pit bull.
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