Fatal Dog Attack, Elmont NY

[federali]

There are occasional threads about defending against dogs and or wild animals. Yesterday, 11/8, at 10 AM, a nine year old girl was mauled to death by a pit bull in Elmont, NY while playing with friends. The dog belonged to a tenant in the same building and the dog was described as "friendly."

Attempts to free the girl from the dog's jaws proved futile until the first police arrived. The dog then focused its attention on, and attacked a police officer, who shot it dead.

It's a tragedy that a young girl has lost her life. I'm familiar with Elmont. It's the kind of neighborhood where residents tend to own formidable dogs.

 

[SteveA]

I'm in the process of putting together a breed specific pit bull ordnance for a small town I represent as city attorney. The impetus for the law is two pit bull attacks in the last couple of years. The latest was an 8 year old boy playing on his front porch. He was literally scalped, but survived. Seems like the dog owners never have any form of insurance to cover these things either.

 

[JcMack]

Half the reason I carry a gun is because of stray dogs. Here in some areas of my town and certainly in the next town east of me they keep and fight vicious dogs. When they're done with these dogs they turn them loose.

 

[Brian41]

I always hate to hear about dog attacks especially with children involved. Pit Bulls get a bad rap whenever one does attack and yes they can do some serious damage as well. My ex-wife worked in a city hospital OR for many years and the worst dog attack she ever dealt with was a little girl whose face was tore up badly from a Collie of all dogs. Who would think Lassie could do such a thing?
I've never owned a Pit but have been around a lot of them properly trained and of good blood lines that never showed any sort of aggression.
My niece is a professional dog trainer and I asked her on Sunday what kind of dog should I get next. A Pit Bull was her first suggestion but I told her no as I have plans to do extensive traveling in an RV next summer and sure many parks wouldn't want them.
The RCA dog, Buster Brown dog and Our Gang dog were all pits. Too bad many have been screwed up in recent years.

 

[walkin jack]

Don't get me started....

 

[M29since14]

That is a terrible tragedy, but it seems to me generalizing about dog breeds in ordinances is not any sort of answer. Any dog can and will bite under certain circumstances and any medium or large size dog can do a lot of harm. Requiring physical control of the dog and holding owners responsible for their pets seems like a better subject for ordinances. I'd be more concerned about the owners, and their reasons for having the dog, than the breed in question. JMHO.

 

[Comrad]

I love dogs but I have a hard time trusting pit bulls.

The LEO that shot that dog had to be a good shot, these are not large dogs and one moving fast toward you with bad intent...that's some good shooting.

 

[vito]

I walk with my little dog at the nearby community college where they have a nice long recreation path. Being school property I cannot carry a firearm. But on occasion I have run into unruly dogs and once, a coyote (who ran off as fast as he could once he saw me). For awhile I carried a walking stick but that was a pain. Now I just carry a pocket knife with a 3-inch blade. I'm not trained for knife fighting but I'd rather than something to fend off an aggressive dog than just my hands and feet.

 

[msinc]

I had a neighbor once that owned a chow. This dog was very aggressive and the idiot just let the dog run loose. At the time my daughter was 2 and my 84 year old father lived with us. I went to the guy and said, "I am not stupid enough to tell you that you need to tie that dog up...you wont do it anyway." He said, "you are right, the dog was here before you." So I said, "no problem, I get it...when he don't come home...you know I got him."
He realized I was serious because I never saw the dog again. He lived there for about another 6 months or so and when he moved out of the house we found out that this genius put the dog in the crawl space and that is where it lived all that time, what a mess.
I really don't think I could control myself if some idiots dog attacked and hurt one of my family, the dog would be a target, but not my primary one.
A "good bred pitbull" is like a good bred lion...they are bred to kill. Aggressive breeds of dogs don't "get a bad rap", they are a bad rap.

 

[rwsmith]

It not only depends on the pit...

All pits aren't vicious but they are capable of inflicting great harm. And they way they are treated has a lot to do people getting bit. A dog that is well treated and socialized are lest likely to attack. Also the durn owners need to take responsibility and not let their dogs wander around on their own. That's how my wife got eat up that time. Also, it's easy to make a pit bull 'tough' and people do this to keep people away. Well an animal like that needs to be thoroughly controlled.

During his 'thug' phase my boy wanted a tough dog and we got him a Rotweiller. She's a sweet little baby and I told him that if he did anything to make her aggressive he was going to lose her and if she bites somebody she's a goner. I'd hate for her to go because I've gotten really attached to her.

 

[Arik]

I'm in the process of putting together a breed specific pit bull ordnance for a small town I represent as city attorney. The impetus for the law is two pit bull attacks in the last couple of years. The latest was an 8 year old boy playing on his front porch. He was literally scalped, but survived. Seems like the dog owners never have any form of insurance to cover these things either.

How do you define "pit bull"? It's not a breed. If you remember the Target store dog...spot....that dog is technically a pit bull as well. So is the Bulldog

Pit bull type include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The American Bulldog, Bull Terrier(standard and miniature).

What would you do with this dog? It's not a pit bull!

 

[CH4]

There are occasional threads about defending against dogs and or wild animals. Yesterday, 11/8, at 10 AM, a nine year old girl was mauled to death by a pit bull in Elmont, NY while playing with friends. The dog belonged to a tenant in the same building and the dog was described as "friendly."

Attempts to free the girl from the dog's jaws proved futile until the first police arrived. The dog then focused its attention on, and attacked a police officer, who shot it dead.

It's a tragedy that a young girl has lost her life. I'm familiar with Elmont. It's the kind of neighborhood where residents tend to own formidable dogs.

As a retired chief of police and city manager, I wish you the best of luck.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breed-specific_legislation

Arguments for and Against Breed Specific Laws

 

[Drm50]

I like dogs. Real "Dawgs" hounds, setters, ect. I have been dog
bit many times. I get tired of the line, he never bit anyone before. People that own the questionable breeds should be
required to have special permit and insurance. I realize some
never bite, but I don't play Russian Roulette either. Try telling
some Dad that your pit bull had never bit anybody before,
while your in waiting room of ER, while his kid is getting sewed
up. Most dogs were bred for a purpose, people ain't.

 

[Salty RI]

I like dogs. Real "Dawgs" hounds, setters, ect. I have been dog
bit many times. I get tired of the line, he never bit anyone before. People that own the questionable breeds should be
required to have special permit and insurance. I realize some
never bite, but I don't play Russian Roulette either. Try telling
some Dad that your pit bull had never bit anybody before,
while your in waiting room of ER, while his kid is getting sewed
up. Most dogs were bred for a purpose, people ain't.

One day I was going hunting parked my truck on the side of the road and was just about to go in the woods and I saw a police car coming down the road, he was flashing his lights at me, I waited for him to pull over, he said there is a pack of wild dog's in the woods if I see them shoot em, I had a 20ga O/U, I figured there must be more than two dogs in a pack, I better find someplace else to hunt.

 

[the ringo kid]

Sad the girl died.

I've known three people who owned piut bulls. The first I encountered, was the nicest dog one could know--so was the second. The third was kept in a crampt cage and IMO abused. The owner sprayed the dog on the face--snout because it barked too much. That dog I'm sure, would be a neighborhood menace.

 

[Sailor29]

Oh but I thought pitbulls were darling little creatures?

 

[Arik]

Oh but I thought pitbulls were darling little creatures?

Guess you've never heard the one where a year old German Shepherd bit his owner's (13 year old girl) face off. Or the police dog German Shepherd almost killed his handler's baby!!! Nope those never happened. Must have been a pit in a furry suit

 

[hangnoose]

PITS

Pits were extremely popular in the 1930's +, for their being loyal family/kid friendly. Blaming or trying to ban the breed is IMO just like banning guns because we all know it's the gun that kills not the owner. Would you prefer to have a Doberman rip your face off? ONCE AGAIN, ENFORCE THE CURRENT LAWS. Think the owners of these fighting dogs have no criminal records? Do not allow convicted felons to own dangerous breeds. Banning violent felons from breeding themselves MIGHT be a "little" over the top, Hmmm.

 

[msinc]

Blaming or trying to ban the breed is IMO just like banning guns because we all know it's the gun that kills not the owner.

You are kidding with this statement right???? I'll grant you one thing...the gun, like the pit bull was made to kill. The gun does not have the ability to decide to kill on it's own and then act on it.

 

[SteveA]

A brief response. First, I'm not espousing breed specific prohibition. I'm drafting this ordnance for a client city that has a large population of these dogs.

The draft ordnance is modeled on many common in this state. It contains a rather broad definition of pit bull, including Staffordshire terriers etc. Veterinarians can and undoubtedly will be called in as experts in any trial to testify as to breed characteristics.

The ordnance is not an outright ban. Those owners wishing to maintain existing dogs within the city limit will be required to have the dog microchipped, maintain liability coverage that will cover damages caused by their dog, and comply with all notice requirements imposed, including signage in yards. Further, the animals will be required to be maintained in locked, maintained kennels. The dog in the most recent case charged through rotted chain link fencing.

I personally understand there are good and bad dogs in any breed. The problem in this particular community is that many of its residents are folks that probably shouldn't have a dog in the first place. The pits they have tend to be abused and as a result, dangerous. The owners for the most part, are not financially able to cover the damages for an attack. The medical bill on a nurse attacked by her patient's dog last year was well north of $100,000.00. There was of course no homeowner coverage.

Salina, Kansas enacted an ordnance similar to that I'm drafting. They have gone so far as to put pictures of the dogs online, as well as a city map showing where the dogs reside. Its very similar to Kansas' sex and violent offender registry. The law has been successful as well as the number of attacks by pit bull types has greatly decreased.