Posted on 10/29/2009 7:31:48 AM PDT by DCBryan1
Edited on 10/29/2009 7:58:33 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
A 2-year-old boy died after a chained-up pit-bull terrier in a neighbor
(Excerpt) Read more at ardemgaz.com ...
No one’s blaming the toddlers for doing what free-range toddlers do. Clearly, the snoozing mom gets the biggest piece of this pie.
Plenty of blame to go around here. The mother or babysitter (there seem to be conflicting reports as to who was “watching” the chidren) is the primary culprit. You simply cannot allow toddlers to wander the streets. Criminal charges should be filed against the person who was responsible for supervising the child.
The dog owner may or may not be legally responsible, but keeping a pitbull chained in an unfenced yard is irresponsible. Chaining dogs causes them to become territorial and aggressive and pitbulls are predisposed to aggression and have tremendous killing power.
Finally, the dog deserves blame. I believe it should be put down. An animal that will attack and kill a child, even if provoked, is not a suitable pet. I am not saying that all pitbulls are unsuitable as pets, but this one has killed a child, and is clearly dangerous.
I think pitbulls can be great dogs, but the vast majority of people lack the knowledge, skills and responsbility to handle them.
You simply can’t leave toddlers unattended; this is really what the root cause is for so many tragedies like backyard pool drownings, dog maulings, strangulation from window-blind drawstrings, and so on. I learned early on with my kids that toddlers can be surprisingly adept at getting into dangerous situations. My son, two-years-old at the time, managed to climb over a six foot fence when I thought he was safe in the backyard, and he was attempting to cross into the backyard two houses away when I discovered him missing. There were dogs in that yard, and we think that is what attracted him. As I recall, these seemed to be friendly dogs, and I don’t think they would have been a danger, but there was also a pool in that yard.
and i find no justification for 2-3 year old children to be out wandering the streets alone.
Just an FYI for the future, local rescues do vaccinations clinics throughout the year in most areas of the country, often charging only 10 bucks per vaccine (rabies, DHPP). Craigslist pet section often has announcements about low-cost vaccine clinics. Also, depending on your vet, you might be able to get away with just the vaccine cost vs. paying the office visit. At my vet, they will charge just for vaccine ($16) unless client requests appt w/ exam. Doesn’t hurt to ask.
Depending on how you feel about vaccines and the status of the vector load in your area, in adult dogs you really only have to do rabies as required by law. Current thinking is that vaccines *might* confer lifelong immunity (the Rabies Challenge program is currently investigating whether the rabies vaccine confers 5-7 year, possibly lifelong, immunity).
Vet schools now encourage q 3yr (vs. old yearly protocol) core vaccines after puppy vaccine series and adult booster. Change in recommendations is due to increasing reports of vaccine reactions and vaccine induced disease. I don’t give my old dogs vaccines any longer other than rabies as required by law. My younger dog has a localized autoimmune issue and I haven’t vaccinated in four-five years other than rabies. He might get one more and then he will be done. My vet only vaccinates her dogs q 3yrs.
If this is stuff you already know, my apologies :-)
Well at least we agree on something.
I agree absolutely.
And we don’t know, mayhbe they werre up to date
No matter how sad the situation is whoever neglected these 2 babies should be charged
and probably on the fact that the dog does now need to be put down.
whether or not we agree that the dog is at fault, the fact remains that it has killed, and is more likely to kill again given the opportunity.
Before we adopted him, he was found with his littermates in a taped up box outside a fire station in 98 degree weather. Only two of the puppies survived and they had to rescusitate them. Apparently due to lack of oxygen to the brain, he is mentally unbalanced and will never grow up mentally, he will basically be an overgrown puppy the rest of his life. He has severe memory problems and the only people he allows near him are my husband and I as we are the only "constants" in his life, he forgets who other people are if they are not around every day. He reacts out of fear to anyone else, runs circles around them and barks viciously and it scares the heck out of people, but he has never bitten anyone.
We didn't know about the mental problems when we adopted him as he was only 6 weeks old, he is 2 y/o now. I kept telling my husband that something just wasn't right with him as he had a kind of blank look in his eyes. However, a dog is a life-long commitment in our eyes and we have vowed to keep him no matter what.
Also, our vet is very good with him as he understands the issues he has and is patient and gentle with him. We do muzzle him and we wait outside if there are other animals in the waiting room or if they don't have an exam room available right away because he wants to play with them, but he just doesn't realize how big he is and he is huge, even for a German Shepherd. Because of that, there really isn't any way we could take him to any type of public vaccination clinic.
I raised 5 and kids get out of the house without you knowing it unless you lock them in a cage,....
Gee, thats a real intelligent comment.../s
How many times have non-murder make the news
How many hit and runs not made the news....
How many SUV's didn't hit anyone..
Yep that mother should have kept her kids in a cage...she was neglectful.
You think too clearly for pit lovers...its never the dog, its the victims....some sick puppies of the 2 legged kind.
But gee whiz, its the 2 and 3 year olds fault. They opened a door when someones back was turned..like kids never do that......
The dog should be put down and the owner fined heavily..
Kill the dogs, kill them now, all pit bulls should be eliminated until the breed is gone, period.
Your first sentence is stupid...How many children have you raised? Kids get out of the house unless you cage them..No parent has eyes on kids 24/7. Mothers would not be able to clean house, wash clothes or fix meals. She would be sitting watching the children 24/7.
Dog is a dangerous animal...put it down... 10 kids could wander into my labs yard and all she would do is lick them clean......
>>In some places it’s against the law to keep a dog tethered.<<
Goodness! Really?
Do you know where? (hope it’s not my area. My pup is on a stringer when she goes out)
Guns don't go off by themselves....there is no comparison. The straw dog, gun vs pit bull maulers has been tried before on threads that are about The Dog Of Peace...A gun sits on the table for decades and kills no one on its own..pit breeds and rottys do the most killing or mauling of all the hundreds dog breeds there are.. My sympathy is always with the victim not the perp.
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