pit bulls, love children Options

[Divergent Realit...]

XOXO

This two-year-old pit bull shows no signs of aggression, but it did on Sunday when it apparently sodomized a Lockport toddler.

Residents who live in the neighborhood where it happened are still talking about it.

One neighbor said, "You hear about dogs attacking children in horror films, but as far as in this community, it's never happened."

Police say the boy was sexually assaulted in his Washburn Street home by his family's two-year-old pit bull, who had been with them since it was a puppy.

Lockport Police Detective Captain Larry Eggert said, "A little boy was home with his family, and the family pit bull actually sodomized the boy."

Eggert told us the boy's family members and neighbors had to beat the dog to get it off the child.

Schultz: How serious are the child's injuries?

Eggert: He's had some surgeries to repair some pretty significant damage.

Animal advocates agree that this case is an unusual one. While pit bulls are notorious for being aggressive, they say it's not always true.

Al Chille is executive director of the SPCA in Niagara County.

Chille said, "I, personally, am against this idea of outlawing any specific breed of animal."

Schultz: What would trigger a family pet dog to attack like this?

Chille: One doesn't know, really. ... There could be some quirk in the brain of the dog. ... It could be the smell of the diaper or something. I don't know.

Police are bringing in a behavioral expert to help determine what triggered the sexual assault.

The boy's family wants the dog destroyed, but nothing will be done until the investigation is completed.

Chille said, "The intent, apparently, wasn't to hurt the child. ... My understanding is the child had no bites on him at all. ... I guess the message is be respectful of a dog, until you absolutely know the animal."

well, the family concerned seems intent on removing the doggie.

thats a very strange situation.

[impala454]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...MNGRODDH561.DTL

Attacks by pit bulls accounted for about a third of the 238 fatal dog attacks in the United States during a 20-year study, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pit bulls were blamed for killing 76 people, or 32 percent, during a study of dog attacks from 1979-1998, the study showed. Rottweilers were the second most deadly animal, reportedly killing 44 people, or 18.5 percent, during the same period.

..

Children, according to the 2000 federal study, are the most vulnerable victims in dog attacks. Those under the age of 14 account for 42 percent of dog bite injuries. The highest rate of injuries was to children between the ages of 5 and 9.

Of the 27 people who died in from dog bites, 19 were children under the age of 15. The animal responsible for 3 out of 4 injuries involving youth under the age of 14 is the family dog.

...

Carl Friedman, director of San Francisco's Animal Care and Control, said that although he does not want to condemn an entire breed, local and national statistics support taking steps to regulate pit bulls, such as mandatory neutering.

"When you have a mauling where a 12-year-old child is killed and when 50 to 60 percent of our hearings for vicious and dangerous animals are for pit bulls, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to see we have a problem with pit bulls," Friedman said.