Cattle dog nearly kills two-year old boy; neighbors fighting over who is responsible

Kens5 ^ | May 19, 2010 | Amanda Stanzilis

[solosmoke]

n Sunday around 7 p.m., Jana Juhasz was watching roping practice at the Fallen Badge Arena in the small town of Christine. Juhasz had been to the property before, but this time, she watched her two-year-old son nearly get killed in front of her.

Juhasz says her toddler, Brock, was playing with some of the Australian Cattle dogs, or Blue Heelers. But then Brock tripped over one of the dogs, and the dog turned on him.

Juhasz says the dog, "wasn't just mad. It wasn't just intending to hurt him. It was out to kill him." She ran toward her son, and started kicking the dog until he got off the toddler.

It took a 6 hour surgery to save Brock's life. He needed more than 300 stitches to his face, and screws to wire his fractured jaw. He also lost a great deal of blood, and may still need a metal plate in his head. He will have to be fed by a syringe for the next 6-8 weeks, and there is concern he may lose too much weight during that time. Juhasz says she wants an apology, but the owner says she has nothing to apologize for. She says, "We have a beware of dog sign. It was an accident. It wasn't our fault. Of course, you feel bad, but we did all we could." Juhasz also wants the dog put down, but the owners say they see no reason for it.

[solosmoke]

Poor child has to suffer because the owners of the dogs felt a two year old should understand what a "beware of dog" sign means. How upsetting.

[GSP.FAN]

We need to kill them,nasty dogs...

[guitarplayer1953]

Maybe the mother should of read and understood the sign. You don't let a two year old roam around a corral what would of happened if one of the horses would of trampled him. I have owned blue healer's and blue healers with ausi Shepard mix and they are not a mean dog they are a very loyal dog.

[shibumi]

Gee! All these “other breed” dogs must be channeling the spirits of Pit Bulls Departed.

[chris_bdba]

NO the child has to suffer because it’s parents didn’t understand they shouldn’t let the child run on a farm with working dogs that he shouldn’t have been allowed around!

[humblegunner]

should of = should have
would of = would have
blue healer’s = Blue Heelers
Shepard mix - Shepherd mix

[Secret Agent Man]

No, the mom should understand what a “Beware of Dog” sign means.

The dog was on its own property. It is a working dog. It was working that day. While working something tripped over it and it went after the thing that tripped over it.

I feel for the child. The owners seem not to come across as deeply bothered by it.

I hold the child’s mom the most responsible for this mess. She has the duty and responsibility to make sure her kid is safe - yes, at all times. You err on the side of extreme caution with a very small child. Kid should not have been in there, by himself out of arms’ reach of mom, mom should not have let him in there in the first place, it’s a serious place of work where grown adults can get seriously injured or die if things go bad quickly.

The owners, if they gave permission to be there, have to be partially responsible as it was their dog. But I believe the biggest party to blame for this is the mother and her overwhelming bad judgment. She never sat down beforehand and considered the serious negatives that couldeasily happen to her child while in there.

[shibumi]

You forgot the run-on sentence.

(Automatic “F” in Dr. Cronin’s English Comp classes.)

[BBell]

Any dog that attacks a 2 year old child needs to be taken out and shot immediately.

[FortWorthPatriot]

Also:

ausi = Aussie

[McGavin999]

My guess would be that when the child tripped over the dog he managed to squash a very tender part of the dogs anatomy. Those dogs are NOT vicious.

[GSP.FAN]

I would agree i have 2 huskies and a 19 month old daughter,she tries to feed them ,pokes them in the eye or nose.
If i was not in the room with them,the boys would get get nasty...

[Blood of Tyrants]

The story must be wrong because everybody knows that only pit bulls are killers.

[guitarplayer1953]

OMG it the English police. Good thing that Klingon is my first or native tongue.

[Thinkin]

So sad for the child.....both to be so hurt and also to have such a IDIOT for a mother.....mommy is mental !!!!!!!!!!!

[goat granny]

Not all of them, just that one........I have had grandchildren fall over my dog (that went through a storm door to keep a repair man off the porch) and she never even growled or was upset, dogs and kids can mix and some dogs seem to understand that a child, the youngest member of the pack is not to be attacked.

also had another dog that loved kids and women, but went nuts if a male neighbor walked into the back yard or the house until I told her to be quiet...the only thing we could figure out was that she did not like the smell of testosterone from an unknown male...

The first dog was named Mona, and the second named mugsy..both great dogs...I have been fortunate in my dogs..

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Any dog that attacks a 2 year old child needs to be taken out and shot immediately.

Sad but true. If this dog ever attacks anyone again the current owners could be found criminally liable, even if they re-homed the dog to someone else. As it is now they already face an enormous civil liability. I know people who have lost their property insurance and nearly lost their mortgages over incidents far less severe than this. A dog that gives a two year old 300 stitches must be put down.

[Let's Roll]

I couldn't even look at a dog of mine that had done that to a child ... can't believe they don't want their dog put down.

[lolhelp]

The parents should have read the sign and taken the proper steps to keep their chid safe.

[Amberdawn]

I agree-tripping over a dog shouldn’t trigger it to attack to kill. If it had merely nipped the kid, I’d say differently. P.S. My brother owns a blue heeler and they are one-person dogs who take some time to warm up to strangers. They have Dingo in their breeding-IOW’s, wild.