Oh, but they are such good dogs.
Islam = “Religion of Peace”
Pit Bulls = “Dogs of Peace”
The local newspaper had a story this morning about two loose pit bulls killing a Yorky while a guy was taking it a walk.
I used to get that load of b.s. all the time from my neighbor who owned pit bulls. She was always telling me what wonderfully gentle dogs they were and how my threat to shoot them if they ever got through the fence and into my yard again was completely unreasonable. Then about a month ago one of her “loving and gentle” dogs, that she’d had for years, decided to try to take her right arm off, and the others joined in.
She’s out of the hospital now, and the dogs are gone. Imagine that.
I can’t imagine the horror of these people being ripped apart by dogs. No one jogging down the street or picking weeds in their yard should be subject to this. The natural liberal reaction is to call for bans, restrictions, etc. which I disagree with but the person responsible for this should face life in prison or even the death penalty if he knowingly trained them to kill.
The next question is who let the owner have that many big, violent dogs? I thought everyone had to register dogs at the town hall. Didn’t the Animal Control Officer think “hmm 10 pitbulls, maybe I should check that out”?
Just another news story that reminds me to pack heat more often just in case.
It is insane not to consider any pit bull a danger. It’s double insanity not to consider an unknown pit bull doubly dangerous.
Sounds like another dogfighting ring.
What do people expect when centuries of breeding to select dogs that fight and kill?? This is like saying Border Collies should not be allowed to herd livestock.
‘Investigators confiscated 10 pit bulls from a nearby residence. ‘
Pretty obvious its a dog fighting operation.
Dog Of Peace Alert
Vicious dogs attacked and killed two more people Thursday afternoon, even as police were continuing to probe the death of a 4-month-old child who died the previous day when a Rottweiler pounced on her during a party at a private home in Warren.
In the Thursday incident in rural Iosco Township in Livingston County, police said a 91-year-old man and a woman, 56, who was apparently a passing jogger, were set upon by a marauding pack of at least 10 dogs on Crofoot Road.
Alex Gierlach, who also lives on Crofoot, said Thursday night that it was his brother Ed Gierlach who died in the attack.
“I’m quite distraught about this,” he said.
“He was my brother. These pit bulls that did this ... you hear about these deaths. I’d like to see some legislation to get rid of these dogs. How many deaths have to occur before something is done?”
Police have not confirmed the breed of dogs involved in the attack.
A relative of Gierlach’s on the scene said the jogger’s body was found about 100 feet from the house where Gierlach lived.
State Trooper Jeff Frasier said the dogs were rounded up after the attack and taken to the Livingston County Animal Shelter. Police said the dogs were found at a residence in the area.
Kelly King, a neighbor on nearby Elliot, said she had seen two stray dogs, a Doberman and a pit bull, on her street several days ago, and was concerned for the safety of her own pets.
Thursday’s attack comes a day after the death of Kylie Cox in Warren. The baby was attacked Wednesday in a private home by a Rottweiler.
The dog was put to death Thursday afternoon while relatives grieved for the infant.
The baby’s 17-year-old mother, Alexis Cox, left the child in the living room about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday to go into the kitchen to prepare the baby’s formula, “and the dog came out of nowhere,” said Kimberly Sundman, Alexis Cox’s aunt.
“This is devastating,” Sundman said. “Alexis can’t even talk right now. She loved that baby so much. She took her everywhere. Warren has a special program that allows mothers to take their children to school, and she even took the baby to classes with her.
“She was young, but she was a good mother,” Sundman said. “She left the room for just a second and this happened. It’s terrible.”
Dog was aggressive before
Chopper, the 120-pound Rottweiler who mauled Kylie, was euthanized by lethal injection at the Macomb County Animal Shelter, Chief Animal Control Officer Susan Jeroue said.
After the attack, the dog’s owner told police Chopper had been aggressive with children on at least one other occasion. Sundman said Alexis Cox was only a casual acquaintance of the dog’s owner.
Police are considering whether to bring charges against Alexis Cox, or the dog’s owner. Detectives Thursday were re-interviewing people who were at the party, Warren Police Sgt. Louis Galasso said.
“We’re still sorting through the details,” Galasso said.
“What presents somewhat of a problem is, we don’t know exactly who knew what. We know there was a party at the house, but the mother of the baby didn’t live there, and neither did the owner of the dog. So we don’t know if the mother even knew there was a dog at the house.”
As detectives tried Thursday to sort out the details, animal experts offered mixed opinions about whether Rottweilers are an inherently aggressive breed.
Rottweilers often are bred to have aggressive traits, said James Gillingham, an animal behaviorist at Central Michigan University.
“You can breed for many different characteristics, including hunting, pointing, and, yes, aggression,” Gillingham said.
“Over the past century or so, larger dogs like Rottweilers, pit bulls, Doberman pinschers, and German shepherds were often bred as guard dogs, so now you have a higher instance of aggression in those breeds.”
Owner defends Rottweilers
But Dr. Julie Cappel, a veterinarian at Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital in Warren, said Rottweilers are no more aggressive than any other breed.
“They’re not specifically an aggressive breed,” Cappel said. “It depends how they were raised. I’ve seen some mean ones — but I’ve also seen some mean chihuahuas. The difference is, a chihuahua isn’t strong enough to kill a baby, whereas a larger dog like a Rott has strong jaws and could do more damage.”
Mary Liz Curtin is a Rottweiler owner from Clawson. “We’re on my 4th Rottweiler, and they’ve all been delightful,” said the mother. “But there are problems with the way the breed has been treated, just like with pit bulls. There are lovely pit bulls out there, but because they are big, strong dogs, they’re often mishandled and misused.
“But no dog should be left alone with an infant — especially if it’s not your dog,” Curtin said. “Kids do things sometimes to scare dogs, and you don’t know what’s going to happen with a strange dog.”
Galasso said detectives are trying to determine if Kylie’s mother was criminally negligent by leaving the baby alone with the dog. He said police likely will sit down with Macomb County prosecutors today to determine what charges, if any, will be brought.
The baby’s name originally was incorrectly identified by police as Lylie.
According to Galasso, Kylie’s mother, who was not identified by police, brought the baby to the party still strapped to her car seat. When the woman left the living room to make formula for the baby, the 2-year-old dog suddenly attacked the child, Galasso said.
The dog pulled Kylie from the car seat and began violently shaking her, Galasso said. The 15 guests in the home began kicking the dog in an effort to get it to release the baby. The owner of the dog was finally able to free Kylie from its jaws, and the girl was taken to St. John Oakland Hospital, where she was pronounced dead of massive head trauma.
After the attack, the dog’s owner brought the animal to the Warren Police Department.
“Everyone has been cooperative,” Galasso said.
The owner of these dogs needs to be neutered. I hate that a breed of dog which I have always found to be loyal and friendly is often owned by people who revel in the negative image pitbulls have ( too often factual). These owners breed inferior dogs with bad traits. They encourage aggression and do not train or discipline their dogs. They are major cretins who should be jailed.
Because of an owner’s ignorance and neglect a man and woman are dead. What a senseless and horrible death. God be with their families.
Investigators confiscated 10 pit bulls from a nearby residence.
Dog of Peace alert.
And now, from the Dog of Peace file...
I'm of two minds here... one, the guy is a jackass for kicking his dogs, esp. with skates. And two, two pit bulls in the same house- only one will survive. Should I be worried? I only see them on the bike paths when they are being walked and they steer clear.
Does anyone here know of any statistics for serious dog bites or fatal maulings that include the spay/neuter status of the dogs? I’ve always assumed that intact male dogs are by far the worst offenders, but I don’t know that for a fact.
I have been personally involved in just one potentially life-threatening incident with a dog, and that was with an intact male pit bull. Off the top of my head, I think the majority of the friend-of-a-friend incidents that I know about also involved large male dogs that had not been neutered.
Geez, a lot of ignorance here. I can make any dog mean and dangerous. It has little to do with the breed. It’s the scum who train them to be attack dogs.
Pit bulls running in a pack are very bad news..