Pit bull mauls toddler

york daily record ^ | 1/3/03

[knak]

Nicole Reisinger rocked her 17-month-old daughter, Ciera, at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center on Thursday afternoon, just days after the York toddler survived an attack by a pit bull, leaving her with broken bones and more than 100 stitches.

“She’s doing real good,” Reisinger said, holding her daughter close after nurses gave the girl medication for the pain. The doctors said that Ciera is recovering so well that she might be able to come home by early next week.

Her family says that Ciera is lucky to be alive.

The attack happened on Sunday night while Reisinger, Ciera and other relatives were visiting a friend at a home on West Princess Street in York. Reisinger declined to name the friend.

Ciera’s aunt, Chauntay Jordan, was watching the child while Reisinger went to the bathroom.

While Jordan was holding Ciera, the little girl wanted down to see the dog. The toddler had been around the dog many times, her mother said, and she liked the dog. The dog often would lick Ciera in the face.

Jordan put Ciera on the floor. The little girl fell, but got back up and started walking. That is when the pit bull lunged at Ciera, grabbing her by the throat.

Jordan screamed that the dog got the baby.

The dog swung Ciera like a rag doll.

“He was whipping her around like she was nothing,” Reisinger said.

The friend repeatedly struck the dog until it let go of the girl. The family then grabbed Ciera and ran out of the house.

“I was screaming. I was like ‘Oh my God.’ I thought she was dead,” Reisinger said.

Ciera made a noise, though, easing their fear. They knew she was alive.

The family hurried Ciera to the trauma unit at York Hospital. Her injuries were so severe that Ciera was flown to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, where she underwent surgery.

She suffered a broken eye socket, a broken nose and a broken jaw, York Police Detective Laura Beveridge said. Doctors used staples to close up the gash in her neck and more than 100 stitches to sew up the injuries on her face.

Detectives are investigating the attack. No one has claimed ownership of the dog, which is being held at Animal Control and Rescue League in Lower Windsor Township. The dog was expected to be destroyed today, shelter manager Roxanne Smeltzer said.

After the attack on the girl, someone shot the dog. Police don’t know who did that, or why the dog was found by a resident in another part of the city. The city’s animal control officer took it to the shelter. Jordan identified the dog on Thursday.

Because of the delay in finding and identifying the dog, doctors started giving Ciera a series of rabies shots. Even though the dog has been found, doctors still plan to give her the full treatment.

Jordan said she had her 3-month-old baby, Ajinae Sease, at the house too. The dog had been smelling her baby before the attack.

“I feel as though it is my fault because I put (Ciera) down,” Jordan said.

Reisinger said that no one was at fault, including the friend they were visiting.

“Nobody knew that dog was going to do it,” she said. “... It scared him as much as it did us.”

Reisinger said her friend has been checking in to see how her daughter is doing.

Ciera moved into a private room at the medical center on Thursday. Reisinger’s cousin, Jenn, bought Ciera a Pooh and Tigger balloon that said “Get Well Soon.” A nurse brought in a stuffed lion. Teddy bears laid in her crib.

Ciera’s great-grandmother, Nancy Reisinger, said the family prays for the toddler’s recovery every night.

When Ciera returns home, she will get to play in her ball pit — a favorite toy — and with Christmas gifts that remain unassembled.

“It’s sad she’s got to go through all this pain and waiting for the scars to heal,” Nancy Reisinger said.

[Mamzelle]

That little terrier that is in all the commercials right now (I'm having a senior moment, it sounds like a Jack Daniels Terrier) is quite the biter. I've seen several small bites on various children around my kids' schools. (I always ask the breed). Sounds like a nasty dog, but it doesn't have the strength to do the real damage.

Water-sport breeds for me--setters, retrievers and spaniels.

[muleskinner]

Pit Bulls have the gene of the English White Terrier and the Bull Mastiff. Not six or seven other breeds which would "dilute" the behavior.

The English White Terrier was made extinct in England in the 1800's by public degree because of its psychotic reputation.

[Pintobean]

"Where are all the pit bull defenders today?
Usually they show up right away, claiming it's the owner, not the dog, that is at fault and pit bulls are really loveable, cuddly little things that are just misunderstood!"

Any large dog is capable of killing/maiming. Don't fool yourself.

A friend's dog of ours that has known our son since they were both just weeks old. She is a german shepard, a good dog who is well-behaved and trained. She was raised around kids, but she is also a guard dog who is capable of using her teeth to severely maim a grown man.
With that in mind, my son has never been near her without an adult very nearby.

I happen to like snakes. Snakes just want to be left alone and some species will attack only when cornered or stepped on. Fairly predictable. :-)

[muleskinner]

degree s/b decree

[HairOfTheDog]

Jack Russel Terrier. Terriers are tough little dogs! - Fun, bright, quick, but tough!

[LibKill]

We'd be in big trouble if Chihuahuas were the size of Rottweilers

If Bluejays ever get to be the size of turkeys, we're toast! :)

[Mamzelle]

Jack Russell! Thanks. My processor wasn't firing (g). Next I'll be calling them Jim Beam Terriers.

[Pintobean]

"They were not bred to be pets, but powerful fighters. They behave true to their breeding more often than apologists would have us believe. "

Interesting that you use the phrase "bred to be pets"...Think back to the reason most dogs were bred to be domesticated, work. Dogs were originally bred to do for humans what we could not: catch rats, flush out birds, herding and protecting property, some even specifically bred for gladiator-type sports.
Just in the last 50 years or so have the breeding of dogs focused on being companion animals that can also do what they were originally bred to do.

[rogue yam]

While I do not know enough about pitbulls to be their designated defender, there is clearly far too little being said on this thread about the human beings involved. People who don't name their "friends" who were involved and probably responsible for this horrible incident. Anonymous people who shoot a dog and drop it off across town wounded yet alive after such an occurrence. There is something seriously wrong with these folks. If I had three guesses they would be drugs, drugs, and drugs.

[HairOfTheDog]

I know what other breeds were bred to do, and that is why I consider how those instincts will fit into my house. Because I have bird dogs, I don't have chickens.

The companion traits in working dogs is integral with their desire to work and live with us. That goes back much longer than 50 years. Where do you want me to go with your post?

[LibKill]

Any large dog is capable of killing/maiming.

Indeed. However I vote for the Black Labrador as the 'least likely to do something really unspeakable'.

Granted, they DO jump up on people to say 'Hello' but otherwise they are really good dogs.

[knak]

here's mine

[Mamzelle]

That's a cutie...name him "Warg" (g). One of these days I'll have to learn how to post pictures.

[VermiciousKnid]

Count me among those that do not understand the fascination with these pitbulls. I absolutely LOVE dogs, but as another poster has stated, if you can't trust your animal, then why have it?

IMO, pitbulls simply cannot be trusted.

BTW...we are thinking of getting a dog within the next year or two. Have any of you FReepers ever had dealings with Vizslas? That breed is high on my list of possibilities.

Regards,

[Ole Okie]

We'd be in big trouble if Chihuahuas were the size of Rottweilers ----there isn't anything meaner but usually they just grab your ankles.

Ah, but you see, they AREN'T the size of Rottweilers and they can't pull the face off a little kid (happened in Tulsa about three years ago - don't remember if it was a pit bull or a Rottweiler).

My Jack Russell terrier, now nearly ten, is a good natured little dog (16 pounds) who has never bitten anyone. But like most terriers, he's somewhat hyper, and he likes to jump up on my wife and me. He's strong enough that he can nearly knock my wife off her feet. So we watch out for that possiblity.

[dtel]

Don't interrupt their fun.
Some really seem to get off on this.
Let them be.

[Terriergal]

Well at the very least, don't buy a pitbull from a backyard breeder - if you can't afford a good proven one, don't buy one - go to the shelter and get a nice mutt. And NEVER leave small children and *any* dog unsupervised, especially a dog of that amount of power. It only takes a split second for the dog to get protective.

[Terriergal]

lol!

[Terriergal]

I just didn't see how it addressed the article. It seemed kind of funny actually. :-) Kind of like the cheese/moose/sister stuff that seems to pop up now and again.

[Terriergal]

Yeah I know. When you buy a dog, especially an average to large size dog, what you have is a creature with the moral and mental capacity of a toddler, but which can run about 30 mph (some run faster) and is built for killing things on its own volition.