Two Pit Bulls Attack 6-Year-Old Child, One Euthanized by Owner

 

Two pit bulls that got loose at approximately 8:25 p.m. Thursday evening attacked a 6-year-old child playing outside a home on Sage Road in San Angelo, said Lt. Christina Lopez with the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office.

“At this time, the condition of the child is unknown,” Lopez said. “The child was taken by EMS to Shannon Hospital.”

Officers were dispatched to the home, but when they got there, the dogs’ owner had euthanized one of the animals, but was able to stop the other. Officers ordered the owner to quarantine the remaining pit bull for 24 hours, and cited him for not being able to provide proof of rabies vaccinations for the animals.

Lopez said she would not comment on the child’s sex or name at this time, and as of today, there have been no updates on the child’s condition.

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and yet another child is thankfully spared from death yet scarred for life and most likely terrified of animals the rest of his/her life.... I just don't know what it takes for someone to determine these dogs, regardless of how they are raised or trained, or meant solely for one thing.... "Killing" and "Maiming".... It's time the US adopt the slogan, "Human lives matter" and make this dog breed go extinct.....

Time to get these breeds off the streets. They should all be euthanized.

also, INB4 someone posts about how "their pit bull is a good doggy and would never hurt anybody". I'm sure the dog owner in this story said the same thing.

This is horrible! Poor child! I'm sure the dogs owner didn't intend for his pets to attack that's why they (dogs) were properly secured and vaccinated...
Right...

I totally agree with Dr. Ding-bat, you don't see any other dog breed most of the time attacking. That is the instinct of pit bulls, that why some people use them in dog fights. It has to do with the owner having short comings in masculinity or something..

j.a.w., Fri, 08/14/2015 - 21:35

You do see other dog breeds attack humans, and some are more likely to attack than any "pit" type breed. It isn't that all pit bulls or similar breeds are inherently more violent, but badly bred dogs (like any pit bull borne of a backyard breeder's stock) will often have temperament issues, and yes, pit bites can be fatal because of how big they are.

With that said... instead of banning all pit bulls and similar breeds, I would love to see the city crack down even further on backyard breeders who are mating unsuitable dogs and creating unstable animals, and on irresponsible owners who don't take basic precautions to keep their dogs vetted and contained on their property. The worst bite I've ever had was by a dachshund, and a rat terrier actually killed my pit mix dog a few years back. The problem goes beyond just breed.

We have an AmStaff, one of the breeds most commonly confused with a Pit Bull Terrier. He's purely an indoor dog and is never allowed outside unless he's on a leash. We are responsible owners, and I would be devastated to lose my "pit bull" to breed legislation just because folks want to jump into action, even if wha's being proposed isn't the best solution to the problem. Let's think it through and come up with solutions that will actually benefit the city.

Someone on here said that they've never heard of another dog breed attack, here's a story for you. Two German Shepherds killed another dog across the street from my 93 year old great grandmother (she lives by Lake Nasworthy). My grandmother was going to go there and try to save the dog's life, but she decided against that since he was dead in no time. Animal control was called, but the dogs were penned back up by the owner before the city got there. When my grandmother went to confront the owner, her response was "It's a good thing you didn't come over here, they probably would have killed you, too.". On the other hand, I live between two houses that have a combined total of 6 pit bulls, and no one has had any problems from them in the six years we've lived here. Pits are not a dangerous breed, owners are dangerous people.

Part of the problem is with the media! When any other breed is involved, the headline reads "dog" attack, however, pitbulls seem to be the only ones called out by their specific "breed", which further perpetuates the ignorance. In fact, "pitbull" isn't even a BREED; it's what we call any dog of unknown origin that has a certain "look" (stocky, muscular, block head...). Currently there are over 25 different pure-breeds that are commonly mistaken for a "pitbull", and that's not including all of the mixed breeds. Many of these breeds have little to no common ancestry or breeding purposes for which that breed was developed. More importantly is that fact that the blame is always put on the breed, when almost every time an incident occurs, humans (usually the owners) are to blame! (Be it provocation, poor breeding, poor upbringing, neglect...) It has been scientifically proven that no specific breed of dog is intrinsically aggressive or predisposed to become vicious. Furthermore, according to the American Temperament Testing Society, a national not-for-profit organization for the promotion of uniform temperament evaluation of purebred and spayed/neutered mixed-breed dogs, the American Pit Bull Terrier has a passing rate of 86.8%, which is higher than the Golden Retriever (85.2%), Dalmatian (82.7%), Border Collie (81.5%) and many more of America's favorite family dogs. So for those that think banning a specific breed will solve our problems, that just shows that ignorance is winning out. Breed has no more influence on a dogs disposition than race does for humans. So, please, for the sake of the animals, educate yourselves before sharpening your pitchforks! The most dangerous species in existence is us. How can we blame an animal for being the way we make it to be? We breed them, we neglect them, we treat them horrendously, then we blame them for the way they turn out. Seems like the issue with us, not them!

Well said JImJustJim ......BSL is just stupid and based on ignorance of dumb people ....BSL is deciding IF you the owner are smart enough to own a big breed dog ( Pits , Rotties , GSD , even danes) ...to the ones saying all these breeds should be destroyed you spitting out hate towards certain breeds ( just like the Nazi did with Jews) ..... and if anyone that does their homework on "vicious" breeds would see that the Number 1 breeds that attack are the little ole chihuahua why dont we ban them then huh where is the stupid BSL law for them there isnt one ..... but by God a pit bull (any bully breed) freaking growls and holy S^&% kill it ...... People needs to be aware that if BSL comes into a town it gives law enforcement the right to kill the animal on site even if sitting in its own back yard doing nothing and it will not be just pits they go after and thing with the bully breed is subject to being murdered and the owners fined and having any others animals they may own taken but what do i know having only had Bully breeds for 20 years and not once have they attacked another animal or ignorant human or kids of ignorant parents ...... and for one last thing if coming around my house you need to afraid of the person with the shotgun then the pitbull you looking at END BSL END the Needless Murder of Beautiful Animals

All good points concerning bad owners and unfounded breed fear, but your comparison with guns is false and undermines your argument. On its own, no gun has EVER broken out of a fence and attacked a child or elderly person.

Thanks for backing up my points, Mr Young. We actually work together, so it's good to see ya commenting on Live! I look forward to your contributions!

I don't understand how it undermines my argument, though, and you can feel free to offer an explanation. It's just that growing up, there were always firearms in our home, and even though we understood that no gun just ever really "up and shoots someone" on its own, we still never left them loaded or easily accessible. We also strictly maintained them and regularly inspected them. Accidental discharges (ADs) do occur, however uncommon, and are a direct result of a mechanical failure of the firearm - most often through horrible negligence from the owner. Just like a weapon, no dog owner, regardless of breed, should ever behave like a dog can't hurt a fly. My dog has never escaped my control and never will because I always operate under the assumption that she could easily hurt someone, intentional or not. I take every precaution possible at all times. I could list them but I've already written an essay. Furthermore I would never even consider owning a dog that I couldn't control, regardless of breed. All dogs have the potential to become a weapon; they have teeth after all. Now whether or not you subscribe to making certain weapons illegal, it's never stopped criminals from obtaining them and using them. Similarly, BSL will not stop ne'er-do-wells from obtaining these dogs and using them for nefarious purposes. All BSL does, like gun control law, is create logistical/financial nightmares and punish responsible owners and encourage unwarranted species eradication, and as I said, in my honest opinion, it's a small step in a direction I don't think we should go. Instead, I fall in line with what J.A. Whiteley said. I think we need to work on a better solution, like holding "vicious breed" owners legally/criminally accountable for their dog. I'm not in favor of Breed Specific Legislation. I'm in favor of Owner Specific Legislation.

To speak frankly, I'm positive that no decent human being wants to see a child harmed, and I doubt these dog owners had anything other than the best of intentions, but they should definitely be held accountable. My dog is literally in my direct line of sight at all times when I am at home, with the exception of when I may be showering or using the bathroom. When I am unable to supervise her for any reason, she is crated inside my home. These owners couldn't even provide proof of rabies vaccinations for their animals. Maybe this is extreme, but I keep all my dog's vet records up to date in a file in my firesafe. I don't take risks, and these people left a loaded gun unsupervised because it had never just up and shot somebody on its own before. That's negligence, and if the city started issuing citations and establishing records for that sort of thing, this dog bite problem would drastically drop, regardless of breed.

I believe we should euthanize ignorant people, such as Dr. Ding-Bat, sal smit, Joseph Kerr, and Patrick Bateman. These are the guys who cry the most without any real information on any subject. They are just as bad, if not worse, than the horrible people that use a dog breed for bad reasons. There are no bad dogs, just bad people.

His incessant trolling always makes me laugh.... and I have to admit it *gulp* sometimes he is capable of making a good point...

Joyful, Mon, 08/17/2015 - 16:02

I will admit that not all dogs in a breed or breed type are good or bad. However, breeding does have a lot to do with what they want to do. If the dog does not show what is expected of the type, then they are usually not bred. We use Genetics in dogs, livestock, plants, etc. to make them do what we want.

I have never trained a Border Collie to work livestock. I have never trained a Bird Dog to hunt birds. I have only taught them their commands. Out of 12 working dogs I have only had one that did not have the desire to do what he was bred to do. That desire and will is bred into them. You look at their breeding if you want one that will really work. Yes, others will work and I did have a Basset Hound that appeared (to the untrained eye) to work sheep but it was only chasing them. So if you want a dog that will fight, you look at the fight in the parents and grandparents.

Most owners will not admit that their dog will harm someone. Even though my neighbor's Pit Bull type dog was knocking the boards loose on our fence trying to get to my kids playing in our backards, they said that he wouldn't harm anybody and was only trying to get over there to protect them. Yea Right!

Have my dogs ever bitten anybody? No! But there is always a chance that I must be aware of. So it's a factor of breeding and the owners having the sense to know what their dog is capable of. A lot of owners don't have the sense, capability, knowledge or care enough to be able to control a strong dog that can cause serious harm. Thus the breed / breed type is at fault and we must control that breed / breed type.

These dogs are more often than not completely capable of being rehabilitated and rehomed. That's been proven. It's not the breed's problem. It's the breeder. It's also the pet owner's problem.

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