Baby attacked, killed by two pit bulls in San Antonio, Texas

NEWS.com.au ^

[Chet 99]

A SEVEN-month-old boy has been killed by two pit bull dogs at his grandmother's house.

Texan news website Mysanantonio.com reports Izaiah Gregory Cox was attacked when his grandmother left the room to warm milk bottles. She was also attacked and injured by the dogs.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said officers had to shoot the dogs so that paramedics could get into the house.

"What can you say about the death of a seven-month-old baby at the hands of pit bulls?" he asked. "It's senseless without words."

[scottdeus12]

Chet...you have 2 posts today on Pit Bulls....what’s the deal?

[kanawa]

what’s the deal?

Fanatic on a crusade.
I've given him 3 links this week...2 mauling and one fatality...
non-"pit bull" types...he refuses to post them.

btw...

the two dogs were at least 120 pounds

..if true these dogs are not pit bulls by any accepted definition.
Perhaps American Bulldogs or some sort of Mastiffs

[kanawa]

From another source...

They don't come out the gate," Raymond Sanchez told News 4 WOAI. "But, I mean, they're huge. They're just not average dogs, they're big pit bulls. Do you know what I mean? They must weigh 150 pounds."

Again, if these reports of the dogs' weights are correct
then these dogs are not "pit bulls".

[kanawa]

Update

Baby said to have fallen off bed and startled dogs.
Dogs reported as intact males.

Still from video...

unable to identify breed from this pic

[kanawa]

I just got off the phone with Lisa Norwood of San Antonio Animal Services.
She was there at the scene of the attack and observed the dogs.

I raised the question of the reported weights of the dogs.
She said the reports were not accurate
and gave the weights of the dogs as between 75 and 85 lbs.

She said that one of the dogs was a type of pitbull mix
the other definitely was not...she judged it to be a Retriever mix.

She had this important piece of information...
both dogs were intact males.

Animal Services had never been called to this address
nor had any reported problems with these dogs.

She did say there were anecdotal reports some of which fell
into normal dog behavior...barking at the fence at passerbys
but they had no reports of bites and under Texas law
bites must be reported no matter how small and the dog must undergo quarantine.

The dogs were both licensed but didn’t have the recommended micro-chip
also, they did not have the required special license for an intact dog, cost of which is $50.

We discussed the function of the dogs
and agreed that while it was appeared they served as guard dogs
the fact that they lived in the house indicated
they also functioned as family dogs.

She mention that one of the elements of the story that still is not clear
is how the dogs got outside which is where they were when the police arrived.

We chatted a bit longer and both agreed
that so many of these tragedies could be avoided
if people just did the sensible and responsible thing
and did not leave infants unattended with dogs.

She was very helpful in answering my questions and I’d like to thank her
and all the folks at San Antonio Animal Services for the fine work they do.

[brytlea]

Hey, stop confusing people with facts!

[Palladin]

When are these monsters in dog suits going to be banned forever?

[brytlea]

I would not even leave a small child alone with my golden retrievers.

[brytlea]

Most people can’t ID a pitbull anyway. I know you know that, but I had to mention it.

[brytlea]

Thank you for going to the trouble to get some real info. The media is worthless in these cases. They want to scream pit bull attack because they know it frightens the masses. Any large dog that will bite/attack is a menace and should be done away with BASED ON BEHAVIOR.

[Crawdad]

It would be great if there were no pit bull attacks. It would be great if there were no abortions.

[Peace4EarthNow]

Thanks for the ping to the actual & very accurate information by an animal services officer who was actually AT the scene.

I’d be curious to see if we hear from Chet99 about this update from the scene, especially about the one being a retriever mix, since he specifically joked in one thread that retrievers can’t be dangerous (not exact quote)...

Also, thank you so much for calling to get the correct information to refute any misunderstanding or rumors about the dogs. It is horrendous that a baby was killed by these dogs, and I truly do pray for the family...but it’s also important to get the CORRECT information out there instead of all this hype about the incorrect breed of at least one of the dogs.

[LasVegasMac]

Count me in........

[Peace4EarthNow]

<< Any large dog that will bite/attack is a menace and should be done away with BASED ON (INDIVIDUAL) BEHAVIOR. >>

If the above inserted word is not what you are trying to say, lmk...

I feel rather confident that it is however, and I could not agree more!! Judge a dog (ANY dog) based on it's own specific & individual behavior. If ANY dog (even pit bulls, but again ANY breed) hurts or kills a child (or anyone), then I agree, they should be euthanized.

People see these stories, and appear to think "I see bad stories about pit bulls in the news, so therefore, all pit bulls must be bad"...

OK, by the same token, if you google "pit bull hero", "pit bull heroes", or similar, you will see a great number of examples of those stories. So will these same people then think "I now see good, positive stories about pit bulls, so therefore, all pit bulls must be good".

It's the individual behavior of a specific dog, not the whole entire breed!

[meandog]

We chatted a bit longer and both agreed that so many of these tragedies could be avoided if people just did the sensible and responsible thing and did not leave infants unattended with dogs.

Well, I wouldn't recommend leaving a youngster unattended around ANY breed of dog as most kids are not recognized as being a pack leader...add in ear and tail pulling and you've got a tragedy on your hands. I will say, however, that a child under the supervision of a competent and dominant adult mastering a so-called PBT would probably be accepted by the dog as they have a long tolerance for being ear-pulled and an extraordinary tolerance for pain--still I don't recommend it. I don't recommend children around firearms either though.

BTW, pitbull-haters, did you know that two of Michael Vick's fighting dogs here in Virginia are now used as therapy dogs. There are even more cases of his dogs being adopted and living as loving family pets... CLICK HERE

[vetvetdoug]

Argentine Dogos.....they have the same look as pit bulls but are two to three times the size. I have a research article of the dogs that were used to chase the Union prisoners of war that escaped at Andersonville Prison and from the photographs the Dogo looks a lot like the Cuban dogs used during the Civil War.

[Chet 99]

I never said retrievers were not capable of being vicious... just that as a breed, it is unusual behavior. The prime characteristic of retrievers is to... retrieve... and be wonderful family pets. Every now and then, an abnormal one will be born who will be vicious.

Just like how once in a blue moon there will be a pit bull who isn’t vicious.

[Eaker]

I noticed the dog haters upthread don’t care to here the real story.

Typical.

[9YearLurker]

The idea that dogs bred to fight are no more aggressive than your average dog is preposterous. And almost daily news stories confirm that.

[behzinlea]

Why do the attacking dogs NEVER bear responsibility in some folks’ eyes?

Dogs like this should be shot summarily and without tears.