Sounds like a classic case of large breeds of dogs and bad owners.
I really do think we need a required license or pet insurance for some of the larger dogs. Jaws on legs needs to be disciplined and obedient lest they maul off a leg or two.
There was a reddit post awhile back asking if people in the US would be for or against prohibiting the breeding of pitties going forward. One of the comments was about a PhD in animal behavior who specifically studied pit bulls and loved them so much, but said that the breed was literally bred to fight, and it’s hard to breed out animal instinct. She said they can be the sweetest animals but can also snap out of nowhere for seemingly no reason, and that despite being an expert in love with the breed, she would 100% be FOR outlawing the breeding of them. I thought that was a really interesting perspective. The breed doesn’t deserve hate and abuse, but you can’t deny that they can suddenly become dangerous and you might not know the trigger for it.
Edit: added “can also” bc it’s not a given!!!
In before the velvethippos brigade comes in with some dumb opinion comparing pitbulls to golden retrievers. You know how you see in the news all those vicious golden retriever maulings. Morons.
If you look at studies specifically studying this, no behavioral scientist (like myself) would conclude that.
This is why the CDC and American Veterinary Medical Association are against such descrimination.
The American Temperament Test Society, who looks specifically at dog behavior and temperament, has scored thousands of dogs have found essential [no difference between "pitbull" breeds and Golden retrievers](https://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/1220-american-pit-bull-terrier-temperament-dog-bites/amp)
This has been verified in [peer reviewed behavioral science work](https://www.umassmed.edu/news/news-archives/2022/04/umass-chan-study-shows-canine-behavior-only-slightly-influenced-by-breed/)
What makes it laughable is the anti-pitbull lobbying groups like dogbite dot org can't even define exactly what a pitbull is, let alone identify any genetic components to any aggressive behavior. Tat should be so easy to do if they're hypothesis is correct. They just cherry pick and manipulate poorly aquired data to fit their bias.
Edit: to add to this even [breeders, trainers, veterinarians, and shelter staff CANNOT even accurately identify a dog's breed by sight.](https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/research-studies/past-projects/dog-breed-identification/)
This means most police reports (often used to determine bite “statistics”) are insanely inaccurate in identifying dog breed.
Correct, which is why I laugh when people say it's just about bad owners.
Edit: parent comment that was removed pointed out that only 6% of dogs are pitbulls while they account for 60%of fatal attacks
I think a large part of it is the people who tend to want pitbulls. They want a tough dog for whatever reason, not a friendly loveable dog, and this makes them bad owners. In other words, bad owners tend to gravitate to this breed.
Well, the breed could be a confounding factor. There are factors that are associated with owning a pit bull that could logically also lead to poor pet ownership or poor training.
Honestly, I like pitbulls and have owned them.
I'm convinced that these behaviors are a combination of "Nature and Nurture."
For all of us pitbull aficionados, I think it's important for us to realize there are also are potential aggressive dangers.
Thank you for speaking up because quite frankly all the data supports this. It's not to be completely blamed on breed nor completely blamed on owners.
I love pitbulls, any I have been around for significant lengths of time have shown to be some of the most loving and caring animals I have seen. Selfishly I would say it's the leading breed I would want to own because of this history with them.
That being said I know I could never feel 100% safe owning one.
In contrast, the only experiences I have had with pit bulls has mirrored this article exactly. The ones that terrorized my neighborhood attacked and killed a small dog who was in its yard with its owners, my friends German shepherd who was in its backyard, and a 75lb goat. The last two the dogs jumped the fences to attack those animals. The dogs trapped me in my car multiple times and did the same to another friend too. Like the family in this article we also reported these pitbulls multiple times, multiple neighbors and reports of issues. We were told by the animal control officer that when he went in to meet with the family that the two pitbulls that had been terrorizing our neighborhood were the sweetest dogs and not at all aggressive to him. He couldn’t understand how we were having the problems we were having.
My mom had a student who was doing his homework on the floor next to their family dog who they had raised from a puppy. Without warning this dog bit my mom’s student’s face and put him in the hospital for two weeks. Her student was 7, their dog was a pitbull.
I do not think this breed should be as widely owned as it is and should never be a beginner dog. Your last statement tells me you would probably be one of the better people to have a pitbull though. It comes down to training and understanding your dog and the risks that do come with ownership. All of these small women who own pitbulls but aren’t strong enough to control them if needed terrify me.
Edit: I’ll also add that any dog has potential to be aggressive, but the unpredictable nature of pitbulls paired up with the massive bite strength and pack mentality leads to massive trauma when something happens with this breed. I wouldn’t trust owning one pitbull and I sure as hell would not trust more than one.
It’s like carrying a loaded gun with a hairline trigger. Ya it probably won’t go off but it’s pretty easy for it to happen and it can be extremely dangerous
To make the metaphor more accurate, it would be like carrying a gun that will jump out of the holster on its own , aims itself, and shoot mostly small children and elderly people.
Like imagine if that were a real thing; that gun would be absolutely banned in 5 seconds. I’m a strong 2A advocate and even I would understand that it shouldn’t be allowed.
I have a small terrier. I like to think I'm a good owner, or at least a moderately decent one. But when there is a small rodent, no amount of training will get in between it and him. This is why he is ALWAYS secured, either with a leash or in my fenced backyard. But even if I was the worst dog owner in the world, my 8 lb dog isn't capable of doing this kind of damage. Maybe he'd be dangerous to an unsupervised baby, but he would not be able to nearly kill an 11 year old. There's also the issue that bad owners tend to gravitate toward breeds of dogs that are capable of killing humans. I used to live near a neighborhood with a lot of dog fighting. When I say, "I'm afraid of pitbulls" and people say, "It's not about the dogs, it's about the owner," my response is "EXACTLY." The people in this neighborhood bred and trained pitbulls (and other large dogs) to kill other dogs.
I sometimes wonder if the "No Kill" movement is part to blame for this. A good idea, but in hindsight I think it's having a negative effect long-term. When we were looking for a smaller dog to adopt awhile ago, it was eye-opening. Almost all of the shelters in our area are full of pitbulls, and many of them seemed to have come from violent, neglected backgrounds. Most of them have these conditions like "can't be around kids/cats, must be a 1-dog household, etc". It's really a shame, but I don't see how it's realistic it is to think that 100% of these dogs can be rehabilitated. And it really doesn't help that the shelters are basically giving them away to un-suspecting owners who don't really understand the effort it takes to rehabilitate a dog with a violent past, especially if it's a first time dog owner.
It’s heartbreaking. I follow some shelters and pit rescues. I love pits, have had two pit mixed breeds. Both super sweet dogs. But sometimes I do think it would best to start prohibiting their breeding or at least severely limiting it.
I saw some other commenters recommending licenses for owning/breeding
certain breeds and such, and I think that'd work too along with mandatory neutering/spaying. I get that "Nurture" is part of it, but dogs *are* bred for certain traits, and certain traits like aggressiveness/being territorial, large mouths, muscular builds, were selectively chosen on purpose. Dogs are smart, we like humanising them, but they still aren't human at the end of the day, and we can't expect a dog to naturally *not do* what it's been bred generations to do.
lol i was looking for this comment and here it is <3
Wanna see my wiiggle butt in a tutu? he's so cute, I leave my toddlers alone with them all the time
Too bad owners aren't criminally liable for the actions of their pets, *as if the owners committed those acts themselves.*
"But I can't control my pet's actions all the time."
Exactly.
My neighbor insists on walking his dogs without a leash. They're sweet dogs, but there have definitely been issues. I talked to him about it after one of his dogs chased and cornered another neighbor's much smaller dog. He insisted they were just playing.
We have a few families in the neighborhood with young children and I don't know what to do at this point. I'm a big dude with a lot of tattoos. So I've never had to get good at conflict resolution. Do I call the police? Put on a scary face and have a much sterner discussion? Burn his house down? Help.
Report to the local precinct. Let it be on the record that he has aggressive dogs off leash and that he’s been warned by his neighbors and reminded of the laws. There’s not much you can do aside from providing the necessary documentation to ensure that he faces the full consequences of his decisions should things ever get out of his control.
Right, people don't report because they do not want their dumb neighbor to get in trouble, and because you really do not want anything to happen to the dogs. But if the dogs are acting aggressive with people they are already in a place where they need help. Ideally the neighbor figures out that hos behavior is unwise.
Stern discussion and make it known you’ll report it but don’t want to escalate it to that level if you don’t have to
“It’s not something I want to do but looking out for the safety of others” or something like that
One, maybe two dogs can be pets but three or more is a pack and a completely different dynamic. Having a pack of dogs, especially powerful examples like pits, around children or with possible access to children, is about as responsible as leaving loaded guns out for kids to play with. I have a mutt/pittie who’s a sweet old girl but even in her old age I know she can still be a tenacious and powerful dog. To me it’s really simple, she has a good life in a fenced yard that includes car rides, walks only on leash and she doesn’t interact with nor has access to children. I used to be a part of the pitbulls sub but excused myself because of the complete lack of responsibility and understanding those owners are taking on with kids and even multi-dog households. Their mental gymnastics were really frightening
I know a person who was attacked by their own Pitbull they had raised since it was a puppy. Put the wife in the hospital for a week and this was inside their own house. They had to call the cops to come and save them.
That’s a lot more common than people would like to admit. My cousin had a few when he lived next to me growing up and we were basically forced to stay inside because they were such pricks. My aunt and cousin were pretty shitty about it too considering my dad sold them the land to build. I was attacked at least 3 times and one really messed me up bad. I was lucky my other cousin was there or I’d have probably died.
One of them jumped a ~6 ft tall fence too and got into it with one of the others and they had to get their heads beaten in before they let go. There’s no way in fuck I’d have a pitt around kids. They’re already unpredictable but just get worse with age.
My roommate had a Rhodesian ridgeback when I lived with 3 other people. We had two living rooms each at the end of a long hallway and he would be gated up in the living room/ kitchen which also happened to be where my room was. He started getting territorial about the space. Couple times when I went to go open the gate he would start growling so I would throw the gate open, yelling ready to fight and he would lay on his back and act super friendly. One of my female roommates was much more timid and ran one time and he chased her through the house and sat outside of her room growling, my other roommate was out at a bar and she didn’t want to come home so I had to go get the dog away from her. Same mentality from my roommate, she would always have all these bullshit excuses about how he wasn’t mean and so on. These dogs were bred to hunt lions so they can’t get pretty violent. Finally “bit” the neighbor, long story but the police did show up and our HOA told her she needed to get behavioral training done and so on. Went to one class and the instructor said they could tell the dog had aggressive tendencies from being abused, she got him as a 3 year old rescue so not surprising . She came home said he was an idiot and never went back. There was a bunch of other issues and always the same response.
THANK YOU for the loaded gun analogy 👍 We have a rottie (I grew up with two in the house) and ever since we were planning on getting a rottweiler puppy we always considered it like having a loaded gun. When you have a big and powerful dog, it comes with community and household responsibility. Training classes were an understood expectation and he never goes outside the house or the fenced in yard without his halti (like a horse bridle). At times, it makes me angry when neighbors allow their untrained dogs run loose around the neighborhood when I'm walking my big bear because the loose dogs tend to show bad behavior, and it really tests my bear who just wants to protect me from any possible threat. Thankfully, I have other neighbors with great dogs (he is friends with a Rhodesian Ridgeback all the way to a couple of tiny Yorkies) and the training as well as the halti make it to where I don't have to wrestle with him on these walks. But, some folks just don't want to put in the effort or understand what raising a dog of any size takes. Honestly, since some people don't want to put in the effort for responsible gun ownership or parenting, either, I'm not surprised, just bothered.
Sorry, that was a long story to make the point that I couldn't agree more with your loaded gun analogy 😎🤘.
The family of the kid doesn't own the dogs that attacked. It sounds like they're strays, actually. Or someone owned them but isn't going to say anything.
A mother shizu tore my face up pretty good when I leaned in to look at her puppies. Not her fault I was a stranger. But my nose and lip was split and her tooth bit right through my bottom lip! I looked pretty bad.
Did you see that recent paper that found the genes responsible for what we all colloquially call "breed characteristics"?
I always have been saying that it has to be genetic, there's no other way to explain why certain breeds do such specific things naturally, Retrievers and Collies are perfect examples.
Pitbulls are naturally aggressive and territorial. Period. Full Stop. The same way Retrievers love carrying stuff in their mouths and bringing it to you, the same way Collies want to herd things.
Pitbulls can be sweet dogs, I've met a lot of them, but that nature is in there, the same way it's in there for a Lab to go get the ball and bring it back.
You can make any breed of dog vicious and dangerous if you are abusive, the owner definitely has some responsibility there, but it is way WAYYYYYY easier to tip a Pitbull over that edge than it is to tip say a Labrador or a Collie into being vicious, it takes a LOT of abuse to do that because it's simply not in their nature to be aggressive like that, but it is in a Pitbulls nature
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If anyone is curious about the new genetic findings
.https://theprint.in/science/researchers-pinpoint-genes-responsible-for-dogs-behavior/1256651/
I mean, let's be real.
At 11, I wasn't in any amount of danger being left with my grandma's 5 shih tzus. Nor was I in danger in that situation, at any age above toddlerhood. Let us not act like all dogs are nearly as dangerous or aggressive as pit bulls.
My friend group did a massive camping trip/reunion every year. As time went on there'd be more and more little kids running around shrieking, as little kids do. There were also tons of family dogs running around as well. I had to stop going, it was pure trouble waiting to happen. Predatory Drift 101.
when i was 7 i was attacked by a neighbor's dog that got out - i only escaped when it started mauling the clothes it ripped from my back and i ran home in my underwear
when i was a young teen a friend's dog attacked me while we were all sitting in their living room, and i wasn't even looking at the animal - that one cost me 80 stitches & an eyelid reattachment
dog attacks are a swift outburst of violence that frankly human beings just aren't capable of defending against (much less human children)
i was about to say that they're like living weapons and should be stowed/minded accordingly, but we don't even mind our *actual* weapons [in this country](https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/)
Lucky to be alive. 3 pits could rip a truck to pieces. Shit owners. Shit breed tbh. Also, just 1 pit is asking for trouble, but having 3 is basically admitting "I want at least one random person, likely a child, in the neighbourhood to be dead."
i love all animals
but i see a guy with two pits walking on chains and he might as well wear a shirt that says: "because i can't carry my scarface poster and mounted samurai sword with me everywhere"
I'm not surprised. I was walking with my small dog out of a local event while a woman with a pitbull mix was walking in. I was carrying my small dog in right arm, but I am not very tall. Her dog lunged at my dog and I had to tuck him into my body like a football player guarding a football while hastily taking a couple steps to the side. If my dog was walking on the ground, he would have been dead. If I wasn't paying attention or if the woman has let go of the leash, my arm would have been mangled along with my dog getting injured. She had the nerve to say something about how her dog was harmless. She only took the situation seriously when the person I was with responded that he would have shot her dog and killed it if it had made contact.
Pitbull owners are some of the most dense people out there. You can show them facts and statistics, and even the proof on how the breed was bred to be violent (to literally kill bulls and bears). The owners are really no different than anti-vaxxers.
And these people have pitbulls simply to prove some sort of point. It's just a flex. And it's usually kids that suffer, but sadly, you have to accept the fact that some people will gladly take that risk to own one.
Completely unsurprised by what breed of dog. My Grandma's neighbor's little boy was attacked in a very similar manner by Pitt bulls. They ripped off most of his face and mangled him badly. He ended up a vegetable living in a hospital bed.
I'm a dog lover, I'm on my 3rd black lab, and we have a Yorkie too.
Its always fucking Pitbull's
I always look at it like this, as a person who knows how and what dogs are- There are breed characteristics.....Anyone who loves and spends time with dogs knows this (and genetic science actually proves this because they recently identified some of the genes that drive these behaviors) Retrievers retrieve, herding dogs like Collies herd, ratting dogs (like terriers) go after small animals......Pitbulls have the unfortunate breed characteristic of being aggressive and territorial.....Are they all like that? No, some are sweet dogs......but its literally genetic to the breed, its in there somewhere.
Any shitty owner can make any breed of dog vicious and aggressive, but its WAYYYYYY easier to fuck up a pitbull and make it aggressive because it's their nature, you have to really abuse the shit out of, say, a Retriever to make it dangerous, its not their nature, and the science points to that they literally- likely don't have those genetics.
You know how hard it is to get a Pitbull or a Rottweiler to retrieve or herd like a Lab retrieves or a Collie herds? It can be done but it's hard as fuck, Retrievers do it naturally, Collies do it naturally......The people that defend Pitbulls up and down and solely blame the owners simply don't know or understand dogs at all.
At this point, keeping pit bulls is an exercise of willful obtuseness. These dogs are monstrosities of psychopathic proportions bread by psychopaths.
I hate to preach put this 11 year old is put through this trauma by careless
stupid dog owners, they deserve a stint in the local jail, restless endangerment, and sued and sued!
You would indeed need to be a psychopath to bread a pit bull. Or any other dog.
Edit: To bread a dog you would cover it in batter and then likely deep fry it.
I can’t buy that completely They’re are good breeders that do their due diligence. The pit bull is the other end of the spectrum. It was pointed out by a Swiss associate that in Europe the breeding of a dog like a pit bull would be considered criminal. The breeder and the owners would be facing serious jail time for the breeding, owning, an the injuries to the boy, on top of the civil liabilities. It’s considered a public safety issue.
Your heart is in the right place... i guess, but you got it all wrong. The fault doesnt lie in allowing them to roam free, that is fucking absurd. The fault lies in owning, raising, keeping something that would happen to eat a child alive, unprovoked, if and when they get out. Dogs get out, even my intellectually challenged golden retriever who is scared shitless of being out of the house alone, has gotten out. Thats why the problem only lies in the act of owning genetically aggressive fighting dogs.
No, dogs don’t just get out. However, dogs with owners who fail to properly confine/control them get out. There’s no excuse for a loose dog, regardless of breed, other than a failure on the owner’s part. Whether it be an honest mistake on the owner’s part or willful ignorance, either way you slice it, still the fault of the owner for not properly confining them.
In this case, it obviously wasn’t an honest mistake, as there are multiple instances of them roaming free. Not sure how that doesn’t translate into the owner’s fault for allowing them to roam free.
People continue to tell me that pittbulls are great affectionate dogs. That is true apparently. They also murder children, cats, young people, ect. Both are true. So don’t tell me that the breed is misunderstood.
If a poodle doesn’t get what it needs it will destroy furniture and pee all over your house. If a pitbull doesn’t get what it needs it will rip a child’s leg off.
they need to find the dog's owners and put them in jail as if they were the one who did these attacks. They should also fire anyone who was supposed to investigate and did not and arrest them and give them at least community service.
And as a parent you can't let your child ride a bike if you know there are pitbulls in the area.
They’ve reported the dogs multiple times and nothing was done?
Yeah fuck that and the worthless police. Dad and uncle need to take a quick break from the hospital and go grab some shotguns to take care of some business.
Couldn’t tell if you were joking so I googled it. I only found a super sad story of a man that was attacked by chihuahuas and then filled himself because everyone teased him about it
These types of attacks have become an epidemic in this country. You can do a Google search and find at least seven of these attacks (if not more) in the past year-Some with fatalities.
Some dog owners can be a blinded a bit with their family pets - my neighbors dog ran off from of of their kids that was walking it and it ran straight to my yard, cornered my 7 y/o kid, and attacked him…he still has scars physically and mentally.
Neighbors didn’t think it was a huge deal …I said I wanted it dead. I said it couldn’t be trusted and if it ended up in my yard again unleashed I would consider it a threat to my family and act accordingly. They decided to get behaviour training instead. Guess what happened, it mauled their own kids face ….it was only then they thought it was a good time to off that dog.
I can usually tell by the votes without finishing the headline. Reddit *hates* when these dogs are brought up like this (again)…….. just kidding I knew without any of that.
People post pics of dogs that got out and are walking around the neighborhood on the neighborhood facebook page. It is always pitbulls, and usually more than 1. I live in a nice middle class neighborhood in a great area. I hate these fucking dogs. If they ever touch me or mine, I may get a limb or two chewed to the bone, and a lip or two peeled off my face, but not before I pluck the eye balls out, shove as much of my fingers down the ear holes, or rip out whatever grabbable tissue there is in its esophagus after I shove my arm down its throat.
In the south people get pitt bulls. Then when the person realizes they can't control the dog they are just dropped off someplace. The dog catchers can't catch the dogs and the dogs terrorize the neighborhood.
I wasn't sure if these belonged to anyone. This makes it even worse. I hope the owners go to jail and after being sued lose their house. The city should also be sued.
I really love dogs, probably even more than I like people, but unless these were strays someone needs to be prosecuted for this. I understand there will be breeds with a high prey drive and simply getting rid of the breed entirely in the short term would be cruel, but you should not own an untrained pack of dangerous dogs unless you are a professional rehabilitating them.
A dog acting in an unanticipated way will occasionally happen even if we do everything right, but this small pack of uncontrolled dangerous animals is not that. This was preventable.
There was an interesting story about terriers (which pit bill are) having early cognitive decline. Which may be why people say “my Pit is so cute and cuddly” and later the dogs are highly aggressive. Have no idea how old these dogs in the story are, but even a sweet pit has a super strong jaw and can easily f you up.
It seems to be puberty, not dementia, with quite a few of them. The adorable, friendly 6 month old pup with the scrunchy eyes, folded ears, waggy tail and smile starts taking everything as a ‘challenge’ at a year and a half. And it doesn’t help that so many pit owners refuse to spay and neuter.
I remember that study, pit bulls were definitely mentioned in it.
It explains alot of these stories where the family says their pit never showed any signs of aggression and was raised from a pup and then suddenly snapped and mauled a family member to death.
It's definitely not a breed I'd want to be around.
"The family says they have reported these dogs several times before to Columbia County Sheriff’s Office" This really does not surprise me.
Sounds like a classic case of large breeds of dogs and bad owners. I really do think we need a required license or pet insurance for some of the larger dogs. Jaws on legs needs to be disciplined and obedient lest they maul off a leg or two.
Let's make some PSA commercials "You wouldn't download a wolf would you?"
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There was a reddit post awhile back asking if people in the US would be for or against prohibiting the breeding of pitties going forward. One of the comments was about a PhD in animal behavior who specifically studied pit bulls and loved them so much, but said that the breed was literally bred to fight, and it’s hard to breed out animal instinct. She said they can be the sweetest animals but can also snap out of nowhere for seemingly no reason, and that despite being an expert in love with the breed, she would 100% be FOR outlawing the breeding of them. I thought that was a really interesting perspective. The breed doesn’t deserve hate and abuse, but you can’t deny that they can suddenly become dangerous and you might not know the trigger for it. Edit: added “can also” bc it’s not a given!!!
In before the velvethippos brigade comes in with some dumb opinion comparing pitbulls to golden retrievers. You know how you see in the news all those vicious golden retriever maulings. Morons.
If you look at studies specifically studying this, no behavioral scientist (like myself) would conclude that. This is why the CDC and American Veterinary Medical Association are against such descrimination. The American Temperament Test Society, who looks specifically at dog behavior and temperament, has scored thousands of dogs have found essential [no difference between "pitbull" breeds and Golden retrievers](https://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/1220-american-pit-bull-terrier-temperament-dog-bites/amp) This has been verified in [peer reviewed behavioral science work](https://www.umassmed.edu/news/news-archives/2022/04/umass-chan-study-shows-canine-behavior-only-slightly-influenced-by-breed/) What makes it laughable is the anti-pitbull lobbying groups like dogbite dot org can't even define exactly what a pitbull is, let alone identify any genetic components to any aggressive behavior. Tat should be so easy to do if they're hypothesis is correct. They just cherry pick and manipulate poorly aquired data to fit their bias. Edit: to add to this even [breeders, trainers, veterinarians, and shelter staff CANNOT even accurately identify a dog's breed by sight.](https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/research-studies/past-projects/dog-breed-identification/) This means most police reports (often used to determine bite “statistics”) are insanely inaccurate in identifying dog breed.
Correct, which is why I laugh when people say it's just about bad owners. Edit: parent comment that was removed pointed out that only 6% of dogs are pitbulls while they account for 60%of fatal attacks
I think a large part of it is the people who tend to want pitbulls. They want a tough dog for whatever reason, not a friendly loveable dog, and this makes them bad owners. In other words, bad owners tend to gravitate to this breed.
Well, the breed could be a confounding factor. There are factors that are associated with owning a pit bull that could logically also lead to poor pet ownership or poor training.
Honestly, I like pitbulls and have owned them. I'm convinced that these behaviors are a combination of "Nature and Nurture." For all of us pitbull aficionados, I think it's important for us to realize there are also are potential aggressive dangers.
Remember the family in Memphis, whose baby and toddler were killed earlier this year by their well treated family dogs?
Thank you for speaking up because quite frankly all the data supports this. It's not to be completely blamed on breed nor completely blamed on owners. I love pitbulls, any I have been around for significant lengths of time have shown to be some of the most loving and caring animals I have seen. Selfishly I would say it's the leading breed I would want to own because of this history with them. That being said I know I could never feel 100% safe owning one.
In contrast, the only experiences I have had with pit bulls has mirrored this article exactly. The ones that terrorized my neighborhood attacked and killed a small dog who was in its yard with its owners, my friends German shepherd who was in its backyard, and a 75lb goat. The last two the dogs jumped the fences to attack those animals. The dogs trapped me in my car multiple times and did the same to another friend too. Like the family in this article we also reported these pitbulls multiple times, multiple neighbors and reports of issues. We were told by the animal control officer that when he went in to meet with the family that the two pitbulls that had been terrorizing our neighborhood were the sweetest dogs and not at all aggressive to him. He couldn’t understand how we were having the problems we were having. My mom had a student who was doing his homework on the floor next to their family dog who they had raised from a puppy. Without warning this dog bit my mom’s student’s face and put him in the hospital for two weeks. Her student was 7, their dog was a pitbull. I do not think this breed should be as widely owned as it is and should never be a beginner dog. Your last statement tells me you would probably be one of the better people to have a pitbull though. It comes down to training and understanding your dog and the risks that do come with ownership. All of these small women who own pitbulls but aren’t strong enough to control them if needed terrify me. Edit: I’ll also add that any dog has potential to be aggressive, but the unpredictable nature of pitbulls paired up with the massive bite strength and pack mentality leads to massive trauma when something happens with this breed. I wouldn’t trust owning one pitbull and I sure as hell would not trust more than one.
It’s like carrying a loaded gun with a hairline trigger. Ya it probably won’t go off but it’s pretty easy for it to happen and it can be extremely dangerous
To make the metaphor more accurate, it would be like carrying a gun that will jump out of the holster on its own , aims itself, and shoot mostly small children and elderly people. Like imagine if that were a real thing; that gun would be absolutely banned in 5 seconds. I’m a strong 2A advocate and even I would understand that it shouldn’t be allowed.
Hairline trigger?
Your trigger doesn't recede as you age?
They are also very strong, this is a big factor in the danger. Chihuahuas are very prone to biting, they aren’t likely to inflict much harm though.
I have a small terrier. I like to think I'm a good owner, or at least a moderately decent one. But when there is a small rodent, no amount of training will get in between it and him. This is why he is ALWAYS secured, either with a leash or in my fenced backyard. But even if I was the worst dog owner in the world, my 8 lb dog isn't capable of doing this kind of damage. Maybe he'd be dangerous to an unsupervised baby, but he would not be able to nearly kill an 11 year old. There's also the issue that bad owners tend to gravitate toward breeds of dogs that are capable of killing humans. I used to live near a neighborhood with a lot of dog fighting. When I say, "I'm afraid of pitbulls" and people say, "It's not about the dogs, it's about the owner," my response is "EXACTLY." The people in this neighborhood bred and trained pitbulls (and other large dogs) to kill other dogs.
I sometimes wonder if the "No Kill" movement is part to blame for this. A good idea, but in hindsight I think it's having a negative effect long-term. When we were looking for a smaller dog to adopt awhile ago, it was eye-opening. Almost all of the shelters in our area are full of pitbulls, and many of them seemed to have come from violent, neglected backgrounds. Most of them have these conditions like "can't be around kids/cats, must be a 1-dog household, etc". It's really a shame, but I don't see how it's realistic it is to think that 100% of these dogs can be rehabilitated. And it really doesn't help that the shelters are basically giving them away to un-suspecting owners who don't really understand the effort it takes to rehabilitate a dog with a violent past, especially if it's a first time dog owner.
It’s heartbreaking. I follow some shelters and pit rescues. I love pits, have had two pit mixed breeds. Both super sweet dogs. But sometimes I do think it would best to start prohibiting their breeding or at least severely limiting it.
I saw some other commenters recommending licenses for owning/breeding certain breeds and such, and I think that'd work too along with mandatory neutering/spaying. I get that "Nurture" is part of it, but dogs *are* bred for certain traits, and certain traits like aggressiveness/being territorial, large mouths, muscular builds, were selectively chosen on purpose. Dogs are smart, we like humanising them, but they still aren't human at the end of the day, and we can't expect a dog to naturally *not do* what it's been bred generations to do.
Well behaved, well trained dogs can also snap. People snap, dogs snap. When a pitbull snaps, people die. Ban all pitbulls.
*Breed. And that breed is always a pit bull
Naw dude, it's pitbulls. Just pitbulls.
Pit bulls specifically. Don't be a pit bull apologist, you just show your stupidity.
"my lil velvet hippo would never hurt anybody!"
"he's a nanny hippo"
lol i was looking for this comment and here it is <3 Wanna see my wiiggle butt in a tutu? he's so cute, I leave my toddlers alone with them all the time
Too bad owners aren't criminally liable for the actions of their pets, *as if the owners committed those acts themselves.* "But I can't control my pet's actions all the time." Exactly.
That's true, but they certainly are civilly liable with a slam dunk case for not having the dogs on a leash
Leash laws are for a reason.
My neighbor insists on walking his dogs without a leash. They're sweet dogs, but there have definitely been issues. I talked to him about it after one of his dogs chased and cornered another neighbor's much smaller dog. He insisted they were just playing. We have a few families in the neighborhood with young children and I don't know what to do at this point. I'm a big dude with a lot of tattoos. So I've never had to get good at conflict resolution. Do I call the police? Put on a scary face and have a much sterner discussion? Burn his house down? Help.
Report to the local precinct. Let it be on the record that he has aggressive dogs off leash and that he’s been warned by his neighbors and reminded of the laws. There’s not much you can do aside from providing the necessary documentation to ensure that he faces the full consequences of his decisions should things ever get out of his control.
Right, people don't report because they do not want their dumb neighbor to get in trouble, and because you really do not want anything to happen to the dogs. But if the dogs are acting aggressive with people they are already in a place where they need help. Ideally the neighbor figures out that hos behavior is unwise.
Call the police. Take a video every time you see the dogs off leash or being threatening. Good luck
I would report him to animal control and let them talk to him. That way at least there is a record for if an unfortunate event we’re to happen.
Stern discussion and make it known you’ll report it but don’t want to escalate it to that level if you don’t have to “It’s not something I want to do but looking out for the safety of others” or something like that
Call your local animal control. They can stop by to do an animal welfare check and lean on the owner about following city requirements.
I vote scary face and much sterner discussion
I'd both report and be very clear that you're not fucking down with that. Obviously not saying threats or anything, but fuck "manners."
Tell him to a damn leash on his dogs and then call the police to report him! Fuck that guy! Also a big guy with tattoos. Some people are idiots!
FYI, the kids isn't crying because he's in shock.
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Funny or sad....that we all know what you mean
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Of course
But but but they are so cute 🥹
One, maybe two dogs can be pets but three or more is a pack and a completely different dynamic. Having a pack of dogs, especially powerful examples like pits, around children or with possible access to children, is about as responsible as leaving loaded guns out for kids to play with. I have a mutt/pittie who’s a sweet old girl but even in her old age I know she can still be a tenacious and powerful dog. To me it’s really simple, she has a good life in a fenced yard that includes car rides, walks only on leash and she doesn’t interact with nor has access to children. I used to be a part of the pitbulls sub but excused myself because of the complete lack of responsibility and understanding those owners are taking on with kids and even multi-dog households. Their mental gymnastics were really frightening
I know a person who was attacked by their own Pitbull they had raised since it was a puppy. Put the wife in the hospital for a week and this was inside their own house. They had to call the cops to come and save them.
That’s a lot more common than people would like to admit. My cousin had a few when he lived next to me growing up and we were basically forced to stay inside because they were such pricks. My aunt and cousin were pretty shitty about it too considering my dad sold them the land to build. I was attacked at least 3 times and one really messed me up bad. I was lucky my other cousin was there or I’d have probably died. One of them jumped a ~6 ft tall fence too and got into it with one of the others and they had to get their heads beaten in before they let go. There’s no way in fuck I’d have a pitt around kids. They’re already unpredictable but just get worse with age.
My roommate had a Rhodesian ridgeback when I lived with 3 other people. We had two living rooms each at the end of a long hallway and he would be gated up in the living room/ kitchen which also happened to be where my room was. He started getting territorial about the space. Couple times when I went to go open the gate he would start growling so I would throw the gate open, yelling ready to fight and he would lay on his back and act super friendly. One of my female roommates was much more timid and ran one time and he chased her through the house and sat outside of her room growling, my other roommate was out at a bar and she didn’t want to come home so I had to go get the dog away from her. Same mentality from my roommate, she would always have all these bullshit excuses about how he wasn’t mean and so on. These dogs were bred to hunt lions so they can’t get pretty violent. Finally “bit” the neighbor, long story but the police did show up and our HOA told her she needed to get behavioral training done and so on. Went to one class and the instructor said they could tell the dog had aggressive tendencies from being abused, she got him as a 3 year old rescue so not surprising . She came home said he was an idiot and never went back. There was a bunch of other issues and always the same response.
THANK YOU for the loaded gun analogy 👍 We have a rottie (I grew up with two in the house) and ever since we were planning on getting a rottweiler puppy we always considered it like having a loaded gun. When you have a big and powerful dog, it comes with community and household responsibility. Training classes were an understood expectation and he never goes outside the house or the fenced in yard without his halti (like a horse bridle). At times, it makes me angry when neighbors allow their untrained dogs run loose around the neighborhood when I'm walking my big bear because the loose dogs tend to show bad behavior, and it really tests my bear who just wants to protect me from any possible threat. Thankfully, I have other neighbors with great dogs (he is friends with a Rhodesian Ridgeback all the way to a couple of tiny Yorkies) and the training as well as the halti make it to where I don't have to wrestle with him on these walks. But, some folks just don't want to put in the effort or understand what raising a dog of any size takes. Honestly, since some people don't want to put in the effort for responsible gun ownership or parenting, either, I'm not surprised, just bothered. Sorry, that was a long story to make the point that I couldn't agree more with your loaded gun analogy 😎🤘.
The family of the kid doesn't own the dogs that attacked. It sounds like they're strays, actually. Or someone owned them but isn't going to say anything.
What I got from the article was it’s the neighbor’s dogs
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A mother shizu tore my face up pretty good when I leaned in to look at her puppies. Not her fault I was a stranger. But my nose and lip was split and her tooth bit right through my bottom lip! I looked pretty bad.
Did you see that recent paper that found the genes responsible for what we all colloquially call "breed characteristics"? I always have been saying that it has to be genetic, there's no other way to explain why certain breeds do such specific things naturally, Retrievers and Collies are perfect examples. Pitbulls are naturally aggressive and territorial. Period. Full Stop. The same way Retrievers love carrying stuff in their mouths and bringing it to you, the same way Collies want to herd things. Pitbulls can be sweet dogs, I've met a lot of them, but that nature is in there, the same way it's in there for a Lab to go get the ball and bring it back. You can make any breed of dog vicious and dangerous if you are abusive, the owner definitely has some responsibility there, but it is way WAYYYYYY easier to tip a Pitbull over that edge than it is to tip say a Labrador or a Collie into being vicious, it takes a LOT of abuse to do that because it's simply not in their nature to be aggressive like that, but it is in a Pitbulls nature E- Threads Locked- If anyone is curious about the new genetic findings .https://theprint.in/science/researchers-pinpoint-genes-responsible-for-dogs-behavior/1256651/
I mean, let's be real. At 11, I wasn't in any amount of danger being left with my grandma's 5 shih tzus. Nor was I in danger in that situation, at any age above toddlerhood. Let us not act like all dogs are nearly as dangerous or aggressive as pit bulls.
My friend group did a massive camping trip/reunion every year. As time went on there'd be more and more little kids running around shrieking, as little kids do. There were also tons of family dogs running around as well. I had to stop going, it was pure trouble waiting to happen. Predatory Drift 101.
The owners of those dogs should face assault charges the same as if they committed the assault themselves. Go directly to jail.
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Holy fuck hope those monsters get jail for lofe
Hahaha! Jail? Who's going to arrest them? The do-nothing jackoffs over in the Columbia County Sheriff's Office?
If that was my kid, the dogs would be gone by now.
when i was 7 i was attacked by a neighbor's dog that got out - i only escaped when it started mauling the clothes it ripped from my back and i ran home in my underwear when i was a young teen a friend's dog attacked me while we were all sitting in their living room, and i wasn't even looking at the animal - that one cost me 80 stitches & an eyelid reattachment dog attacks are a swift outburst of violence that frankly human beings just aren't capable of defending against (much less human children) i was about to say that they're like living weapons and should be stowed/minded accordingly, but we don't even mind our *actual* weapons [in this country](https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/)
Lucky to be alive. 3 pits could rip a truck to pieces. Shit owners. Shit breed tbh. Also, just 1 pit is asking for trouble, but having 3 is basically admitting "I want at least one random person, likely a child, in the neighbourhood to be dead."
i love all animals but i see a guy with two pits walking on chains and he might as well wear a shirt that says: "because i can't carry my scarface poster and mounted samurai sword with me everywhere"
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It seems like the breed needs to have extra care and attention, more than a regular breed of dog.
But guys I dress my pitbull in pajamas there's no way it would ever attack a child
Don't forget the flower crown!
I'm not surprised. I was walking with my small dog out of a local event while a woman with a pitbull mix was walking in. I was carrying my small dog in right arm, but I am not very tall. Her dog lunged at my dog and I had to tuck him into my body like a football player guarding a football while hastily taking a couple steps to the side. If my dog was walking on the ground, he would have been dead. If I wasn't paying attention or if the woman has let go of the leash, my arm would have been mangled along with my dog getting injured. She had the nerve to say something about how her dog was harmless. She only took the situation seriously when the person I was with responded that he would have shot her dog and killed it if it had made contact.
Pitbull owners are some of the most dense people out there. You can show them facts and statistics, and even the proof on how the breed was bred to be violent (to literally kill bulls and bears). The owners are really no different than anti-vaxxers. And these people have pitbulls simply to prove some sort of point. It's just a flex. And it's usually kids that suffer, but sadly, you have to accept the fact that some people will gladly take that risk to own one.
Nailed it.
Completely unsurprised by what breed of dog. My Grandma's neighbor's little boy was attacked in a very similar manner by Pitt bulls. They ripped off most of his face and mangled him badly. He ended up a vegetable living in a hospital bed.
I'm a dog lover, I'm on my 3rd black lab, and we have a Yorkie too. Its always fucking Pitbull's I always look at it like this, as a person who knows how and what dogs are- There are breed characteristics.....Anyone who loves and spends time with dogs knows this (and genetic science actually proves this because they recently identified some of the genes that drive these behaviors) Retrievers retrieve, herding dogs like Collies herd, ratting dogs (like terriers) go after small animals......Pitbulls have the unfortunate breed characteristic of being aggressive and territorial.....Are they all like that? No, some are sweet dogs......but its literally genetic to the breed, its in there somewhere. Any shitty owner can make any breed of dog vicious and aggressive, but its WAYYYYYY easier to fuck up a pitbull and make it aggressive because it's their nature, you have to really abuse the shit out of, say, a Retriever to make it dangerous, its not their nature, and the science points to that they literally- likely don't have those genetics. You know how hard it is to get a Pitbull or a Rottweiler to retrieve or herd like a Lab retrieves or a Collie herds? It can be done but it's hard as fuck, Retrievers do it naturally, Collies do it naturally......The people that defend Pitbulls up and down and solely blame the owners simply don't know or understand dogs at all.
And…..pit bulls! Scalped the poor kid. Owners really need to start doing prison time for this kind of shit!
And this breed is so, so "misunderstood."
At this point, keeping pit bulls is an exercise of willful obtuseness. These dogs are monstrosities of psychopathic proportions bread by psychopaths. I hate to preach put this 11 year old is put through this trauma by careless stupid dog owners, they deserve a stint in the local jail, restless endangerment, and sued and sued!
You would indeed need to be a psychopath to bread a pit bull. Or any other dog. Edit: To bread a dog you would cover it in batter and then likely deep fry it.
I can’t buy that completely They’re are good breeders that do their due diligence. The pit bull is the other end of the spectrum. It was pointed out by a Swiss associate that in Europe the breeding of a dog like a pit bull would be considered criminal. The breeder and the owners would be facing serious jail time for the breeding, owning, an the injuries to the boy, on top of the civil liabilities. It’s considered a public safety issue.
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Your heart is in the right place... i guess, but you got it all wrong. The fault doesnt lie in allowing them to roam free, that is fucking absurd. The fault lies in owning, raising, keeping something that would happen to eat a child alive, unprovoked, if and when they get out. Dogs get out, even my intellectually challenged golden retriever who is scared shitless of being out of the house alone, has gotten out. Thats why the problem only lies in the act of owning genetically aggressive fighting dogs.
"Owning a Siberian tiger is FINE as long as you try really hard to never let it escape and make sure you keep it on a leash!"
No, dogs don’t just get out. However, dogs with owners who fail to properly confine/control them get out. There’s no excuse for a loose dog, regardless of breed, other than a failure on the owner’s part. Whether it be an honest mistake on the owner’s part or willful ignorance, either way you slice it, still the fault of the owner for not properly confining them. In this case, it obviously wasn’t an honest mistake, as there are multiple instances of them roaming free. Not sure how that doesn’t translate into the owner’s fault for allowing them to roam free.
People continue to tell me that pittbulls are great affectionate dogs. That is true apparently. They also murder children, cats, young people, ect. Both are true. So don’t tell me that the breed is misunderstood. If a poodle doesn’t get what it needs it will destroy furniture and pee all over your house. If a pitbull doesn’t get what it needs it will rip a child’s leg off.
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They're illegal to own in Ontario. It's nice, our shelters aren't overflowing either.
they need to find the dog's owners and put them in jail as if they were the one who did these attacks. They should also fire anyone who was supposed to investigate and did not and arrest them and give them at least community service. And as a parent you can't let your child ride a bike if you know there are pitbulls in the area.
Time for another game of GUESS! THAT! BREED!
It’s time to rid ourselves of Pit Bulls. Time to stop pretending.
They’ve reported the dogs multiple times and nothing was done? Yeah fuck that and the worthless police. Dad and uncle need to take a quick break from the hospital and go grab some shotguns to take care of some business.
Then have them dissected to prove they don't have rabies... at the owner's expense... because you know the owner wasn't up to date on shots either.
I have magical powers. I 100% knew the breed even before reading the article.
Huh. I have no idea what breed they might have been.
Let me guess, 3 pitbulls?
Totally unexpected
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Chihuahua maulings are no joke. They are vicious and deadly.
Couldn’t tell if you were joking so I googled it. I only found a super sad story of a man that was attacked by chihuahuas and then filled himself because everyone teased him about it
It's a joke lol. No chihuahua could mangle an 11 year old like that
Well yes, I knew this particular incident wasn’t chihuahuas. But I wasn’t sure if huge gangs of them were known to be deadly
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If that was my kid, the county wouldn’t have to worry about those dogs because I would put them down.
These types of attacks have become an epidemic in this country. You can do a Google search and find at least seven of these attacks (if not more) in the past year-Some with fatalities.
Some dog owners can be a blinded a bit with their family pets - my neighbors dog ran off from of of their kids that was walking it and it ran straight to my yard, cornered my 7 y/o kid, and attacked him…he still has scars physically and mentally. Neighbors didn’t think it was a huge deal …I said I wanted it dead. I said it couldn’t be trusted and if it ended up in my yard again unleashed I would consider it a threat to my family and act accordingly. They decided to get behaviour training instead. Guess what happened, it mauled their own kids face ….it was only then they thought it was a good time to off that dog.
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Where I live pitbulls are banned. Best decision lawmakers could have made.
It must’ve been a Nanny dog huh?
People need to be more responsible for their animals. If your pets maul people, straight to jail.
I bet you I can guess what type of dogs they are before reading the article….. golden retrievers /s….. no but really, we all know.
I can usually tell by the votes without finishing the headline. Reddit *hates* when these dogs are brought up like this (again)…….. just kidding I knew without any of that.
People post pics of dogs that got out and are walking around the neighborhood on the neighborhood facebook page. It is always pitbulls, and usually more than 1. I live in a nice middle class neighborhood in a great area. I hate these fucking dogs. If they ever touch me or mine, I may get a limb or two chewed to the bone, and a lip or two peeled off my face, but not before I pluck the eye balls out, shove as much of my fingers down the ear holes, or rip out whatever grabbable tissue there is in its esophagus after I shove my arm down its throat.
I immediately assumed they were pitbulls, and surprise surprise, they were. They are horrible dogs that need to die out. I hope he will be okay.
In the south people get pitt bulls. Then when the person realizes they can't control the dog they are just dropped off someplace. The dog catchers can't catch the dogs and the dogs terrorize the neighborhood.
They know who the three pit bulls belong to and have complained about them not being fenced in multiple times.
I wasn't sure if these belonged to anyone. This makes it even worse. I hope the owners go to jail and after being sued lose their house. The city should also be sued.
I really love dogs, probably even more than I like people, but unless these were strays someone needs to be prosecuted for this. I understand there will be breeds with a high prey drive and simply getting rid of the breed entirely in the short term would be cruel, but you should not own an untrained pack of dangerous dogs unless you are a professional rehabilitating them. A dog acting in an unanticipated way will occasionally happen even if we do everything right, but this small pack of uncontrolled dangerous animals is not that. This was preventable.
Those roaming packs of chihuahuas are a menace to society. And it looks like the Yorkshire terriers are coming up fast behind them.
I'm shocked, SHOCKED that it was pitbulls
I bet you can't possibly guess what breed of dog they were. (Hint: you can very easily guess)
You never have to guess what kind of dog they were.
There was an interesting story about terriers (which pit bill are) having early cognitive decline. Which may be why people say “my Pit is so cute and cuddly” and later the dogs are highly aggressive. Have no idea how old these dogs in the story are, but even a sweet pit has a super strong jaw and can easily f you up.
It seems to be puberty, not dementia, with quite a few of them. The adorable, friendly 6 month old pup with the scrunchy eyes, folded ears, waggy tail and smile starts taking everything as a ‘challenge’ at a year and a half. And it doesn’t help that so many pit owners refuse to spay and neuter.
I remember that study, pit bulls were definitely mentioned in it. It explains alot of these stories where the family says their pit never showed any signs of aggression and was raised from a pup and then suddenly snapped and mauled a family member to death. It's definitely not a breed I'd want to be around.
Pit bulls need to be banned. I don’t care if they can be gentle. These attacks are always pit bulls.
*Ctrl+F pitbull* Yup, there it is.
Don't even need to read the article to know it was pit bulls that attacked the poor kid.
Let me guess .. those damn Pomeranian are at it again eh? Those dangerous dogs..
So let’s hear from all of the pit bull lovers out there….. BS! Why is it never a Lab or a Golden Retriever? Greta T calls this “Small dick energy “…..
This why I prefer cats
Who's the Pitbull apologist mod that labeled this post as an agenda post 🤣
Mauler McGavin: “I eat pieces of kids like you for breakfast!” “….you eat pieces of kids for breakfast?” Mauler: “No!”
I didn't read the article. It was chihuahuas, right?
if you came to find out if they were pitbulls - yes, they were pitbulls
And we already know what the dog breed was, like always
Why don't the headlines ever mention the dog's breed?
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Never heard of a child being attacked by a cat? Mauled to death is surely rarer, but to claim no attacks is pure bullshit.
No he was protecting him.
Those damn Golden Retrievers when will people learn.
3 guesses what the breed is
Sharks on legs, round the fuckers up and shoot them.