Was pit bull attack child abuse?

Pit bulls - friend or fiend? Today from the AP:

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Police have recommended child abuse charges against the mother and sister of a 10-year-old boy who lost his left arm after being attacked by three pit bulls.
AP story

Random but related links:
Controversy Over Pit Bull Bans Still Red Hot (Doggienews.com)
Pit Bulls May Be Banned In  San Francisco
Missouri Pit Bull Rescue

(Above: "Pink", a pit bull featured in The Star earlier this year as available for adoption)

Comments

[Kimberly Tarpley]

The photo above appears to be that of "Pink" a Missouri Pit Bull Rescue dog featured in an article the Kansas City Star ran earlier this year.

I do hope that no one has the mistaken and unfortunate belief that Pink is one of the improperly owned and managed dogs referred to in the article from Aurora, CO.

Pink is a sweet and loving dog, deserving of a good home with kind and responsible owners.

Kim Tarpley

[Crime Scene KC]

Hi Kim Tarpley,
Thanks for pointing that out. I went all over the Web looking for non-copyrighted photos of pit bulls...harder to find than I thought! So I took Pink's picture out of the Star electronic library, cropped it and posted it here. A story about Pink, who was available for adoption, was published July 23 of this year.
Greg Reeves

[frances]

If you can't control your animals no matter what the breed ,then you certainly don't need to have any as pets .
Its how the animal is raised & trained.
small dogs can be mean too.treat them right & they will luv you forever.
Does anybody have an update on Pink ?

[Stephanie]

I agree with Frances. Pit Bulls seem to be getting a lot of bad press, but I am not convinced they are more likely to bite or attack than any other breed. I have been bitten a few times by dogs-once a chihuahua, once a miniature Schnauzer, and once by a Sheltie. These small dogs may not do as much damage from an attack, but they are not less prone to being violent.

[Tori]

I agree, many breeds are biters - I've been bitten by both a sheltie and a cocker spaniel, but my dad nearly had his face RIPPED off by a Pit Bull when I was young. The difference is, the aggression in which they bite. There is a difference between an attack and a bite -- how many people do you know who have been brutally attacked by a cocker spaniel??? Not many, I'm sure....This lady deserves to be charged with child abuse, she's lucky it's not murder!

[m]

I have had several pittbulls as pets and they are wonderful I have had 3 since they were puppies and 2 adults, which I adopted. They were all very happy gentle playful. I have 2 young daughters and never had any problems with the dogs getting aggressive. I love these dogs they have great personalities. I do think it is there surroundings and how they are raised that make a dog agressive. The little yappy dogs are very agressive they just aren't big enough to hurt anyone. Why don't they get put to sleep when they attack? It would only be fair. ( I know it wouldn't happen in many cases and many people beg to differ.)

[Karyn Alcalde]

I recently found a stray male pitbull. He was very timid and sweet. I could pet him while he ate. No problem. I am tired of the bad rap this breed receives. I was able to place "Meat Mouth" aka Bruno in a very loving home. I miss him and I wish I could have kept him, but I already have three dogs and two cats.

[kerry]

it is possible that the boy was bundled up for the cold weather in colorado.. i have 3 dogs and if i wear a jacket and have my face covered, they are suspicious of me when i first appear.. the boy climbing the back fence might have appeared as an intruder..i doubt he would have gone into the back yard if he had ever had problems with the dogs.. he was probably too young to sense the dogs suspicions of him.. just an idea..
i have a pit bull, border collie, australian cattle dog, 2 cats, and a little boy.. they all get along great.. the dogs tend to rough house alot in the yard, but the pit bull lets my little boy crawl all over her.. he stretches her skin and tugs and pulls.. her only response is to give him wet kisses.. she also loves when company comes over.. if anyone broke in, she would likely fix them dinner and offer them a cigar.. ;-)

Please remember that these dogs are physically capable of a ton of damage. The question is not one of stupid dogs but one of stupid people. Unfortunatly we cannot outlaw stupid people. We can outlaw their dogs.

[sara]

Yes, Pit Bulls are capable of causing damage. Yes, they have powerful JAWS. Tendencies to bite? Not mine. My Cami is 3 years old. We have had her since she was 6 weeks old. She has been raised around my 8 and 4 year old daughters, I should say her daughters. Those are her children. She paces the house then they are not home and has to sleep with me and my husband when they spend the night somewhere. I am tired of Pits getting the bad rap. I hear if from my co-workers about what damage they can make. The only damage I have seen is chewed up belts and barbie dolls. Any dog is going to react, depending on the situation. And the last post was right, you can't outlaw stupid people. Pits are very loyal. That is why the crack-dealers whatever use them. But, don't punish my girls for their dog. If you ask me, its the little dogs you need to worry about. I would like to see someone do a comparison, a recent one on who bite more. Pits and Rotts or Chows and Jack Russells.

I have to say that I currently have a beautiful red nose pit bull 2 yrs old. These dogs get the worst media attention! I have owned these animals before and have never had a problem, although I've seen my fair share of mean pits I have to say that it was not the fault of the dog. The owners of these dogs train them to be mean. These animals are not born this way. It's the same with people, the way you are raised greatly influences what you are like when you grow up. Besides, I've got a 4lb yorkie, 2 cats and 2 kids and have never had a problem. Although, she just might lick you to death if you let her. Pits are great pets and their breed should not be punished for the wrong doings of their owners.

[Pit owner]

So a Pit Bull bites somone means that they are all mean and going to attack? So if I had a crazy family member that attacked someone and went to jail does this mean I sould be locked up because were related? Same principal but seems diffrent like that huh..............

Oh, Please!! That 10year old child was ATTACKED by his own family dogs!! Drive this into your consideration: they were his OWN dogs, yet they tore into him and either tore one of his arms off or damaged it so much that it could not be saved!! His own dogs ATTACKED him and did not stop, despite SMELLING him, recognizing him, and HEARING his voice!! The neighbors certainly heard him, they drove the animals off of the boy! In thirty-five years of breeding Cocker Spaniels, and training various other dogs, I have NEVER seen of, nor heard of, a dog ATTACKING, not biting nor nipping, ATTACKING its owner, other than Pits. The inbreeding in these animals is HORRIBLE. The breeding was for ATTACKING with an emphasis on NON-RELEASE. The results are just as we predicted: a dangerous animal that ATTACKS without provacation and that WILL NOT release from its OWN OWNER once it is on the ATTACK.

Oh please, lady or man, that dog could have been living with the boy but not interact with the boy. The owners of the dog or previous owners of the dog mistreated it some way or taught it to be agressive. I know of many dogs not just the pittbulls that attack. My sister has an austrlian sheep dog, she has to keep her locked in the bedroom when people come over because she will bite a face off. In my opinion her dog should be put to sleep. PITT BULLS ARE NOT BRED FOR FIGHTING ONLY, MAYBE IN THE GHETTO.

"A 10-year-old Aurora boy was listed in critical condition Wednesday afternoon after he was mauled by family dogs in his back yard."

". . . three of them were just literally attacking this little boy and he was calling (the dogs) by their names, but they wouldn't let go of him, . . ."

"The dog had him by the neck. It was like he was just a doll."

"Neighbors who fought off the dogs said one dog appeared to be gnawing on the boy's neck, as if it was eating him."

"A 10-year-old boy who was attacked by three pit bulls in his backyard last week has lost his arm as a result of the mauling."

" . . . he will also have to undergo other procedures, including facial reconstruction, . . . "

"Gregg, who also has undergone facial reconstruction surgery, would need physical therapy. She said in a year, doctors will try to remove scar tissue before fitting him for a prosthetic arm."

"The boy was bitten on his head, throat, legs and arms, . . ."

Oh, Please!! Get your facts straight. All of the animals were well known to that kid. He called them by their names and they still tried to KILL him. Yes, they tried to KILL him. Read the above quotes, please.

All were "family pets" and he knew them by name. This was not some strangers yard. These were not some strange animals to him. They were all being CARED for by him and his family.

Pits, by and large, have been bred for aggressive ATTACKS. They are dangerous. They were bred to be that way. It has been selected for in their genetics by intentional breeding.

I do not believe for one minute that "I [you] know of many dogs not just the pittbulls that attack." Many dogs will snarl, growl, bark, lunge, nip, and/or bite. They do NOT ATTACK. There is a world of difference; the former are acts of warning from a pack member to another pack member, the latter is an act of predation.

PS ". . . lady or man . . . " = It does not matter, does it?
" . . .MAYBE IN THE GHETTO." = Are you a racist or are you trying to blame the victim?

[Patrick]

to the person who likes to type in capitals while using words like "attack" etc, you're an idiot. get a life.

[john]

well I am white, have a pit, and live on the eastside...so I dont think "ghetto" has anything to do with racism...practically everyone around here has a pitbull. Best alarm system known to man, and just having a pit greatly reduces your chances of a breakin..

we have had several types of dog, irish setter, fox terrier, poodle, and this is the best dog I have ever been around. Loyal, athletic, and super smart.

[Michelle Gonzalez]

Just for the record I was raised with pits, 4 of them. Never did we ever have any kind of problem with our dogs nor did any of our neighbors or friends. I have never been bitten by any dog but I can say from experience that pits are not what the media would have you believe. All 4 of ours were very sweet, happy, dogs who loved everybody the met! I am absolutely convinced that all that the only determining factor in an aggressive pit is the way it was raised.

RE: The Jack Russell comment. They don't attack people. They are breed to chase and track down rodents, snakes and what not. They are not big enough to cause sever damage or death to a person, maybe a cat. I know I have a Jack and 2 cats. And her best playmate is my son's Rotty. But my neighbor has a pit bull which he breeds. He may have 3 to 4 at a time over there and they get into fights at least once a week. We called the police several times because they get out of their fence. They come and pick them up but they end up back over there. He has small toy he drags around the yard making meow sounds. I don't want these dogs around my dog, cats or the small children living in the neighborhood. Yes, it is irresponsible owners that cause this, there should be some kind of screening process. And if your dogs have to be picked up more than once, you should not! be aloud to own them. We all have a right to feel safe when we go for a walk or go out in our own yards.

[julie]

Yes, there are some examples of pit bulls that are sweet and loving dogs. But overall, they have been bred to be agressive. We all want to think our dogs are the greatest, but the fact is that breeding does lead to predominant charater traits - that's the whole point. It's naive and in my opinion very irresponsible to trust an agressive breed around small children. So far you may not have had any issues, but it only takes one attack to ruin a kid's face, tear off a limb, or kill him. Or say your lovely pit gets loose one day and attacks an unfamiliar neighbor. It happens all the time. http://www.dogbitelaw.com/breeds-causing-DBRFs.pdf

[ignoranceisgettinold]

It's a sad day when someone says that they work with animals, and yet they can act this way towards them. I think you should read a book and gain a little knowledge on the breed before you start hittin the keyboard A Pit Bull was bred as a fighting dog in Europe centuries ago by mating a bulldog and a terrier. Through the years these dogs have become the subject of all you poodle toting idiots jokes. Becoming a "ghetto" dog while they rot in pounds because of people like you. THEY WERE NOT BRED TO ATTACK HUMANS!!!! They were bred to be a owner pleasing dog that fought other dogs for SPORT this not because that is what they wanted to but because that's what they were made to do just as hounds were made to sniff and find and retreivers were made to retrieve. They will do anything to please an owner, have a high tolerance for pain, and will fight to the death if "trained" to. The dog is not the problem it is people uneducated people who do not understand that these dogs have tendencies and continue to keep these dogs irresponsibly. So others like yourself become "right" in a sense when you say they are vicious. There are conditions that coe with dogs and with any animal you must be aware of it and know it. To say no other dog has attacked it's owner but a pit bull is very ignorant and frankly I would be embarassed to have written such idiocracy. All dogs cats whatever can inflict harm, it is a owners responsibility to do what it takes so that does not happen.

[Concerned Citizen]

All dogs bite, studies have shown that pit bull type dogs (per dog) are less aggressive in terms of major bites (those requiring hospitalization) than many other common large dog breeds, such as German Shepherd Dogs. The issue is that the media generally reports all pit bull type dog attacks as “maulings,” whereas genuine maulings with other attacking breeds fail to make the news. In the past year, in the Midwest there have been fatal attacks by Akitas, Chows, and Border Collies that have not made any reports except those in the local papers. Most people’s frame of reference with regard to this issue is based on media reports; those reports on this issue are extremely biased. Furthermore, pit bull type dogs are made up of 4 breeds of dogs, but most analyses group all four together (plus mixes of these dogs, as well as up to 20 breeds of dogs that look similar to pit bull type dogs) and compare bites to individual breeds for example, Labrador Retrievers or Rottweilers. Interestingly in most areas of the country some of these individual non-pit bull type breeds have the majority of bites. For instance in Olathe, KS, Labrador Retrievers cause more than 25% of all bites in the community compared to less than 4% for pit bull type dogs and mixes of all pit bull type dogs. Pet population estimates for this city indicate that labs possibly constitute twice as many pit bull type dogs, but not more than that (thus labs bite more often than pit bull type dogs in that community). Some might suggest that the pit bull type dog bites were more serious. In actuality the most serious dog bites in that community have been from rare breeds like the Catahoula Leopard Dogs, an attack that caused the owner to be hospitalized for two weeks (yet did not make the local news). The reality is that all breeds of dogs bite and large breeds of dogs generally cause more damage.

If people really cared about safety, they would focus on real concerns such as public safety and unneutered dogs. Sexually intact male dogs are the most likely to seriously or fatally injure someone (causing 70% of all serious bites and over 90% of all fatal bites), regardless of breed. Intact female dogs are the next most likely. The third causal factor is if the dog is unsocialized (as measured as chained or tethered outside). These are risk factors that communities can work on. The only study that has shown that breed of dog matters in is a small study in Pennsylvania indicating that the risk factor for German Shepherd Dogs was slightly more than all other breeds. Pit bull type dogs are not more dangerous than any other type of large dog as illustrated by all of these studies.

If we look at biting in general, not just serious bites, then toy dogs have some of the worst records. In many locales, popular toy breeds are the most common biters.

The policy of banning pit bull type dogs centers on the appearance of “doing something” about an urban myth regarding their aggression towards humans. Responsible citizens and politicians recognize that public safety is not improved (and may actual decrease because of misuse of public safety dollars) with banning pit bull type dogs; we support incentivized and low cost spay/neuter programs, prohibitions on 24/7 chaining, graduated fines for irresponsible owners (those that let their dogs run loose or have a previous bite record) and public education for children and the community about responsible ownership and dog safety. These programs have a proven record and should be the focus of our attention.

[deb]

why do people fight over this issue so much? do you love your kids and family or not?why put them at a risk? most of you act like total idiots trying to prove a point. you may get lucky you may not. stop being idiots and love your familys.

[Kelly]

While I agree with the comments that imply that breeding (including - and especially - improper breeding) causes tendencies to fight or become more aggressive, responsible owners understand this and take preventative measures to control, such as proper training and socialization, keepng dog aggressive animals away from dog parks, ensuring that dogs stay in the yard, etc.

However, we do need to take note that the media has over-reported and over-exaggerated incidents with this particular breed. For example, last week 2 Rottweilers attacked a woman on the street. The news account stated that 2 "dogs" attacked her but did not mention the breed. The story in Independence read "Pit bulls attack and maul men" - making obvious mention of the breed. This biased reporting is causing unreasonable hysteria! For example, not long after the Independence incident, a man shot and killed a black lab mix who escaped from its families yard because he thought it was a pit bull coming to attack him!

Also - I would like to point out that many - if not most - of the pit bull attacks (and dog attack incidents in general) happen with multiple dogs. This is no coincidence. In general, dogs in a pack will do things that one alone would not. One growl or bark can set a pack off in a frenzy. Perhaps it is safer to prevent pit bulls - or other of the top 'biters' - from living in "group" homes rather than banning them all together? Or ensure special screening of owners if this is the case?

Therefore I do not support a ban on these animals based mainly on this hysteria fueled by the media, but would support greater vigilance in policing the owners.

[TJ White]

http://www.atts.org/testdesc.html

Click the link to check out the description of the temperament test given to over 26000 dogs of over 200 different breeds.

There's also a listing of how those different breeds performed under the button 'Breed Statistics'. To kinda clean up that data, I sorted out all breeds that had one-hundred or more tests performed.

Do you think that cute little Corgi is a 'safe' dog? Only 78 percent of them passed.

What about those sweet Schnauzers? 74.1% of the Giant Schnauzers passed, and 78.6% of the Minis passed.

Surely Collies did well.... Lassie was _such_ a good 'boy'.... wrong! 79% passed.

Weimereiners: 79.4%

Border Collies: 79.7%

Dalmations: 81.6%

Cocker Spaniels: 81.7%

But those mean, vicious, unpredictable, and dangerous pit-bulls were probably somewhere down in the teens or twenties, right?

There are two breeds commonly referred to as pitbulls, the American Pit Bull Terrier, and the American Staffordshire Terrier. Of the 515 American Pit Bull Terriers given the test, 430 passed; Am-Staffs: 503 tested, 419 passed.

American Pit Bull Terriers 83.5%.
American Staffordshire Terrier 83.3%.

Surely those gentle, loving Golden Retrievers scored FAR higher.

NO... an almost statistically identical 83.7%.

I've uploaded the stats on all breeds with 100 or more tests here:
http://www.geocities.com/etaion_99/attstest.xls
http://www.geocities.com/etaion_99/attstest.html

[Allison m]

Just some facts w/ sources included:
1) Pitbulls don't even account for the most amount of human deaths (rottweilers do)
(http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/15/deadly.dogs.ap/index.html)
2) For the record, the woman in France who had her face ripped off my HER OWN DOG was a labrador retriever
3)Cocker spaniels actually WERE responsible for 1 fatal dog attack between 1979 and 1998 (as opposed to 66 pitbulls)--shall we kill all of them as well? this is according to the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf)
EDUCATE YOURSELF before you start killing innocent creatures!!

[Unbelieveable]

I can't believe the idiotic way some people try to play down pit bull attacks! Sure small dogs do bite... but they DO NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF KILLING A HUMAN BEING! The fact is that pit bulls have a very strong prey drive. They typically will run after anything that runs from them, such as a CHILD. Bring more than one pit bull into the mix and you have a pack mentality to hunt and kill, usually other peoples pets, and occasionally killing and maiming human beings. Sure it is mostly owner responsibility, but we cannot change the irresponsibility of human beings. We can stop putting what is basically a loaded gun in the hands of people with no regard for human life. BAN ALL PIT BULLS!!!

[Stephani]

So only pit bulls have the ability to kill and attack? Why not Golden Retrievers or Labs? Or are they to nice?

http://www.goodpooch.com/BSL/slantedmedia.htm

How about some quick info about the majority off all dog attacks. This is the version that the newsroom wont show you.

Or how about how many times a pit bull was wrongly accused because another dog looked like it?

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

Try to pick out the real American PitBull Terrier. How many tries did it take you?

Because of some peoples ignorance and slanted news reports people are trying to tell me that my dog is vicious and should be destroyed. Here are my personal statistics. I have had over 7 pitbulls in my life and not one of them have ever bittin, attacked, nor lunged at someone or something. But our Cocker Spaniel bit me hard enough that required me to get 27 stitches, a neighbors "family" Golden Retriever attacked their own child, by best friend, because she opened the front door after school, a poodle at an art show started biting me and a friend for no reason, but it was just being friendly, yea right, that friendly bite drew blood on me and my friend had to go and get stitches, and my brothers Australian Cattle Dog attacked his neighbor. So now that those statistics are out there, should we just ban all those breeds for biting?

[Jonas Bogarin]

I don't agree with the comments given above about Dogs like Pit bulls. Obviously a dog of this type have a potential to cause severe damage to a person, specially a small child (I'm not talking about agressivity but potential to cause injures or death).
I like dogs and I have read a lot about them.
I agree the PBT is a gentle dog not agressive against any person. I have read same about boxer.
Also, I think dogs are great pets.
But no one can control 100% dogs (family pet or unknown) to avoid the attacks, specially the people that love them too much to leave them alone with kids and visitors. That's stupid.
I think the risk increases when the people claim to know a lot about dogs to the point they think they can full control them (even after their loving family dog attacked their own kids or themselves).
I think that's very usual problem.

Same for other potentially dangerous breeds. Also, if a dog attacked somebody already, must be put to sleep instead of doing long a stupid investigation. It is a dog. Cannot think and later will do same to a kid. Children is more important than dog.

I want a pit pull terrier that ate a cat befor!

and wears a spiked collar!

[~*PITBULL LOVER*~]

I would like to say from expierence,i own three pits.And none of them have ever hurt a child,growled,bit at or anything aggressive towards a human.Someone i know has a min. dashund and it has attacked their other dogs and bit their daughter. When pitbulls do something heroic they call them some kind of mixed breed,but when they attack they make sure they put pitbull.

[PissedOffWithPitHaters]

I find all of you to be wrong! Especially the ones against pitbulls. I own a pit and he has been around my young cousin, who is 2!! Yes, 2! AND HE HAS NEVER BITTEN HER! Yes, he jumps out of excitement and tends to lick people for God knows how long, but he has NEVER, and I say NEVER bitten someone in his life and we have guest over all the time! I'm about 16 and he hasn't even bit me because he has been raised in a proper, loving family, not some slum, broken down trashy dog ring! People are the reason dos bite. Not the dogs in general. Their history is horrible and we blame them even though behind ever pit is a stupid owner. So if you want to talk about pit bull when you do not own one, shut up. Don't even post a friggin' comment. God only knows what stupid things your gonna post.

[mutt]

The only thing that I can say about Pit Bulls is "Ban the Breed because of it's Deeds"