Coral Springs mother of two savaged by her 120-pound pet (dog)

South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | Posted August 19 2006 | By Robert Nolin, Sallie James and Jennifer Gollan

[EEDUDE]

Owning one of these dogs is equivalent to keeping a Siberian Tiger in your back yard.

Just plain stupid.

[DTogo]

All the more reason to own a German Shepherd instead!

[Moonman62]

Looks like pure muscle.

With teeth mounted on vise grips.

[ItsForTheChildren]

Wikipedia is sure up to date!

The Presa Canario breed is known for its calm temperament, which is often referred to as the "island temperament." It is considered "gentle and noble" with the family, and distrusting of strangers. The Presa Canario forms a strong bond with its master and human family and can be very protective. The breed is intelligent and is known to possess a "severe gaze." It is also known to do well with children. Yet, a Presa Canario attacked and killed its owner a 30 year old mother of two in Coral Springs,Florida on Aug. 18, 2006, and had to be shot by police. (Sun Sentinel Newspaper report)

[dynoman]

WE have had a female German Shepard for about 8 years. This dog has been almost perfect, no problem with our four kids or anyone who comes to visit. She did kill every chicken in the yard (the chickens belonged in the coop, those who refused to stay in the coop died). Cats who don't submit to her authority die. Sometimes I wish she was more agressive with strangers but she is friendly with everyone. She is a smart dog, doesn't chase cars on the road like the previous dogs we had.

One thing she did have a fit about was our roadside mailbox after the school bus backed into it. It was at an odd angle, our dog noticed something wasn't right and barked and barked at it until I straightened it up.

[Moonman62]

Landscaper? $800,000 house? Maybe her boyfriend engaged in some enterprises in addition to landscaping? Just a thought.

He was making a fortune selling the grass clippings.

[mockingbyrd]

Remember the dog mauling case the San Fran a few years back? It was two of those dogs.

[EEDUDE]

I shot and killed a neighbors Rottweiler after he became aggressive with my 3 and 4 year old kids.

I told him several times to contain his dog because it was being very aggressive. He told me that if it came on my property causing trouble to "drop him".

So I did.

[Moonman62]

Or he could have had more than one landscaping crew working, the business can be quite lucrative, some of the figures I have heard quoted make me want to load up my riding mower and set out.

I have seen a couple on business broker sites. The revenues look good, but when costs are deducted, like for gas, it's not so impressive.

[Chode]

isn't 120lbs kinda small for the breed??? my Rotty was a solid 135lbs...

[Moonman62]

$800,000 homes in South Florida were $200,000 homes 6-7 years ago.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. $800,000 will still buy an impressive house in South Florida.

[DannyTN]

"I had a German Shepherd as a child too, and he was very protective of our family. Now that we have a young one I'd like to have another dog that I know will be protective, but not attack the child? Is that possible?"

I don't know. My father had a German Shepperd when he was young, but one year it turned on them and they put it down.

I had a yellow lab, which is considered a very peaceful breed. But it was very hyper and it bit me once. We got rid of it because we had young kids.

I also had some dogs, that I played too rough with, when they were young.

I think with kids, it's better to go small, beagle size or less. But the most important thing is to keep in perspective, that it's a dog. And if it shows signs of being agressive, you don't take the chance.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Scary...

[pnz1]

Now we have an older Shepherd/Chow/Retriever mix. It's an older dog, so I know the day is coming that we will need to get another dog.

[ItsForTheChildren]

One of those bit my sister in law in the face when she was a kid. They were napping together on the floor and when she woke up she apparently startled the dog.

Best dog I've ever seen with a child is a Pug. My daughter used to lay all over and hug that dog when she was a toddler. He never snapped at her. Not once.

[I still care]

My first thought. Landscapers down here get $15 a lawn - none of the landscapers I know could afford a house like that. And why keep a dog like that in Sarasota? It's a nice area.

Something doesn't pass the smell test.

[I still care]

Whoops it says Coral Springs. But thats nice also.

[Joan Kerrey]

Willey has had several citations for owning a vicious dog, allowing a dog at large,

Let's be thankful that this mauling happened to the irresponsible and careless owner rather than the children or neighbors. Somehow this mauling/killing doesn't bother me to any large extent. This owner terrorized the neighborhood and got numerous warnings which were arrogantly ignored.

[pax_et_bonum]

Now that we have a young one I'd like to have another dog that I know will be protective, but not attack the child? Is that possible?

Collies and Shelties are wonderful breeds.

We had collies when I was a child, and they would actually "herd" us off the road and back into our yard.

Both breeds are very smart and protective, and extremely gentle.

[motzman]

That beast 'aint no poodle...