Posted on 05/15/2008 6:04:35 AM PDT by tuffydoodle
FORT WORTH -- A 3-year-old girl was in critical condition at Cook Children's Medical Center after being attacked by two pit bull terriers Wednesday night.
Police responded to the call shortly before 8 p.m. at a mobile home park in the 5000 block of N. DeSoto Court, Lt. Jimmy McCarthy said. The child's aunt, who was also injured, was taken to Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital, McCarthy said. Police declined to identify the woman.
The girl does not live where the attack took place, but was in the care of her aunt at the time, said Lynn Alexander, a neighbor at the Redwood Estates Mobile Home Park in southeast Fort Worth.
"This is unbelievable," said Leslie Cranston, a neighbor who lives across the street. "I walk my dog every day and never knew they even had dogs in that house."
The mobile home park manager said residents are required to sign a contract when they move in, and the rules are clear.
"They state, 'No pit bulls, Rottweilers, Dobermans, chows or other dangerous breeds,'" said Walter Winters, manager. "If we would have known, I would have given them a notice to get rid of the dogs or vacate the property."
The dogs were seized by the city's animal control department.
The Fort Worth Crimes Against Children Unit is investigating the incident.
Yep, protecting my family from vicious killer dogs makes me a SOS. Get a grip diphead!
RDO Ping
If your vicious dog represents a threat to my family, and you have an attitude about it, your dog is going to die.
I like dogs. But I like my family more.
You stay in your neighborhood, and out of mine. I have no desire to meet anyone who thinks the rights of their dog are greater than those of my family.
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P.S. How did your dog happen to be poisoned? What breed was it? Had any of your neighbors complained about your dog? What did you do about the complaints?
I find it curious how those that seem inclined to paint pit bull owners as insecure and emotionally immature are themselves the ones who advocate anonymous criminal acts of poisoning as a remedy for their own inability to cope with the presence of a neighbor’s dog.
gentile little creatures
I don’t know him THAT well.......
Hebrew? No, He Bites.
Pitbulls do not have a "tendency" to "snap." They are extremely long-suffering animals.
If human beings had at least the attention span of a knat they would understand that a dog - any dog - does not "snap." As living creatures They can certainly be stressed to the breaking point, however.
Having said the above irresponsible people should spay and neuter their pets.
I can assure you that it’s a duly codified criminal act to poison someone else’s animals.
>I cannot go into my own back yard and do gardening without that dog flailing himself against the chain link fence while barking, snarling and growling the whole time I’m in the back yard. <
Have you asked the neighbor to control his dog? If he has blown you off, have you spoken to animal control? There are laws against nuisances if not against people inflicting their dogs on their neighbors. Call the authorities and report the owners. Remember, the squeeky wheel gets the grease. No neighbor has the right to leave a dog out to rail at his neighbor every time he works in his own yard.
The neighbor doesn’t seem to care and animal control cannot do anything unless the animal is outside the yard. The noise ordinances here don’t kick in until after 10 pm, so I have to pretty much resort to my own solutions....
It will be D-CON-taminated.....
No kidding. Conservatism isn’t what a used to be. Now we have morons who brag about killing other peoples pets. There has to be a special place in Hell for these people.
Being long suffering and snapping unexpectedly are not the same thing. I agree that they can take guff and not go nuts. But I also believe both can happen. And so do the owners of pit bulls I have talked with on this forum when this topic has previously been discussed.
And I also believe, given what I have seen from fixing animals (spays/neuters, etc) - in horses, dogs, cats, rabbits - that the pit bull owners have told me that fixing these dogs greatly reduces this kind of negative behavior.
>The neighbor doesn’t seem to care and animal control cannot do anything unless the animal is outside the yard.<
Badger, that’s outrageous. I wonder what would happen if you (a) contacted a newspaper about the abuse your neighbor is subjecting you to, and (b) showed up at a city council (or whatever your local governing body is called) to petition for relief. You can’t be the only person who has to put up with people not controlling their dogs. I bet you’d be a local hero.
What about writing a letter to the editor. Sometimes, a little publicity will encourage politicians to listen, and to rewrite laws so everyone’s rights are respected.
Good luck.
My opinion (worth everything you pay for it!) is that pit bulls are more dangerous than a similarly-sized dog of a more gentle breed. They are massive, powerful, and have the terrier drive. I think that an unintended consequence of being bred for gameness created a certain reluctance to give themselves over whole-heartedly to human beings.
Now that they are ‘fashionable’ dogs, clueless people buy them and expect them to be happy with the normal sort of human-dog interaction that most dogs thrive on. A pit bull will get bored, and even though it may adore it’s owner and never exhibit signs of aggression towards them, it will try to find a way to fulfill it’s instinctual urges.
Of course, all dogs do this. A retriever can fulfill himself playing fetch, a herding dog can chase cars...But there is nothing a pit bull can do by itself to approximate a bloody fight to the death, that’s not going to result in tragedy.
The way to give a pit bull an outlet is to get him into weight pulling. It fulfills his need for battle. It’s not hard to get into, and you don’t have to compete, you just have to invest in some equipment and a few hours every night. Are alot of people willing to do this? No.
They treat the dog like a chihuahua or a lab and then are shocked when he tears apart the neighbors cat, or dog, or child.
Too many pit bull apologists spend all their energy defending the breed as gentle, loveable little fuzzballs without realizing that this is NOT a backyard breed, not a dog for the sedentary or irresponsible and not a dog to be taken lightly.
I was digging in my garden Sunday and the dog came and did his usual shtick. I happened to have a small hand spade in my hand and promptly delivered a face and mouthful of dirt through the chainlinks. He took off for the other side of his yard and stayed there for the rest of my time in the garden!........I think he is a coward............
If that doesn’t keep Sweetums from charging you, try a change of tactic. Grit your teeth now...
Try tossing the beast a dog biscuit and if he snarfs it up, say, in a happy tone of voice (grit those teeth < gg >) Good dog! The object is to get your canine neighbor to look at you as a treat source. Dogs don’t charge people who give out free goodies. There is actual research that food causes chemicals in the dog’s brain to change away from aggressive behavior.
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