11-Year-Old Girl Mauled By Pit Bull She Raised From Puppyhood

Barada May 14, 2012 at 03:45 pm

It's time for the pit bull people to start their usual howl: "it's not the dog's fault it's the owner's".

Jesse Lykken May 14, 2012 at 05:01 pm

Pit bulls are not "things", they are dogs. Your Calhoun v. Harriet comment is clearly racial code, intimating that more pit bulls are owned by blacks than by whites. Was the girl in the article black or white? Does it matter? We know nothing about this particular dog other than its breed, maybe. Staffordshire? Bull Terrier? Some sort of mix? Just don't let our fears cause us to over-react. I myself am so scared of deer hunters and cross the street when I see THEM coming along, and I see many more of them walking around Lake Harriet than Lake Calhoun. Interesting ...

Taylor Langerud May 14, 2012 at 05:51 pm

A chocolate lab just bit a little kid up the street from my house. All dogs bite people why is the Pitt the only one to get press? That's all I have to say about that!

Amy Angrimson May 14, 2012 at 05:55 pm

I don't leave children unattended around my CAT for goodness sakes...Animals and kids don't always mix, parents have a responsibility to ensure safety. Hopefully this little girl is ok.

Barada May 14, 2012 at 06:40 pm

Maybe it's because the majority of FATAL attacks are made by Pittbulls and pittbull mixes, and a few other breeds, and not by labs. Certainly, not all labs are trustworthy, but NO pit bull is.

sharon collins May 14, 2012 at 08:12 pm

Read The Lost Dogs - get educated !
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-Dogs-Michael-Redemption/dp/1592405509

Barada May 14, 2012 at 10:41 pm

Write back after one of Vick's dogs goes off on someone or another animal.
Read this: http://www.dogsbite.org/dangerous-dogs-pit-bull-myths.php Get educated!

Rachel May 14, 2012 at 11:19 pm

I ran a 32-pen boarding kennel 60 hours a week for 6 years. I now work as a Veterinary Technician. I have two dogs and have fostered for the last 2.5 years. I currently have my 13th dog with a bully specific rescue. Barada, whats your experience with canines? I'm going out on a limb guessing mine outweighs yours. Would you like to know what breeds of dogs bite? ALL BREEDS! Anxious dogs, fearful dogs, under-socialized dogs, cornered dogs. They are animals. I am not interested in snotty back and forth conversation; I don't need to change your mind Barada, its clearly already made up! I'm just speaking TRUTH.

Barada May 15, 2012 at 12:43 am

I've had plenty of experience with dogs. I favor working dogs, but the best dog I ever had was a German Shepard-Coyote mix. You obviously are part of the "pit bull community". Your ilk gets people killed. It is true that all dogs bite. Pit bulls clamp and crush and shake. You should know that since you are such an expert. Obviously, you don't know squat about genetics or animal husbandry.

Rachel May 15, 2012 at 01:41 am

*Yawn*

Zelda May 15, 2012 at 02:04 am

Barada, I'm sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about. I suppose you believe that their jaws lock (myth) and that their bite is the strongest (myth) and that they suddenly "snap" for no reason (myth). Bravo on liking working dogs, but shame on you for your ignorance and prejudice against pit bull type dogs and for claiming those who like them "get people killed."

Terri May 15, 2012 at 12:15 pm

Sometimes you can't use logic to change people's minds and you can't fix stupid. Barada is gettng his/her info from dogsbite.org which is NOT where one finds credible statistics. That site is actually done by a woman who has a vendetta against pitbull type dogs and pulls her numbers together to best suit her needs. As those of us who have had dogs for a very long time (I am a trainer as well), we know that ANY dog can and will bite if they feel the situation warrants. Most humans don't speak "canine" however and because we either misread or miss a cue altogther, that can lead to disaster. Dogs don't just "snap". There is ALWAYS a sign, we may not see it or understand it, but it's always there. We don't know the particulars of this dog/child interaction and what triggered the incident but something did. The signs were there and nobody was there to read them. First and foremost, you don't leave a child unattended with a dog. All three of my dogs are CGC certified, one is a very large pitbull type, one is a GSD/Rott mix, and one is a pug. I would NEVER think of leaving my dogs alone with small kids or ANYBODY who can't "speak" dog. That's something that comes with training and experience and it's still not an exact science.

Amy Angrimson May 15, 2012 at 12:23 pm

This type of ignorance gets animals killed. A "pitbull community" is an animal community. We are educated advocates who work with all breeds and speak from experience, it's that simple. Please don't try and make a dig towards people that put blood sweat and many tears into educating the public and saving lives.

Barada May 15, 2012 at 01:14 pm

You can write all you want about "speaking dog" but it does not change the facts. You can't refute the information on dogbite.org, can you? There are plenty of other sources that confirm my position.

meredith risch May 15, 2012 at 08:29 pm

im the girl they were talking about... umm we raised her wonerfuly soo in this case thats not true

meredith risch May 15, 2012 at 08:40 pm

amy,im the mother of the girl that was injured by her pittbull,just have to say that me as her mother is upset as well but from my standpoint there should be no blame placed on anyone,yes it is very upsetting and I do agree some children should not be left unattended but in this case there was no reason not to have let her play with her dog in the front yard as she usually would've done on a daily basis,there are so many different ways people may look at this sitution and I do acknowledge where people are coming from but this was the family dog and we as her parents had no reason to believe this would happen....thank you

James Sanna (Editor) May 15, 2012 at 08:53 pm

@All - To your disagreement about dog bite stats, we'll have an article up in the next few days about dog bites and "dangerous dogs" in Minneapolis.

Barada May 16, 2012 at 12:19 am

Great! Looking forward to reading it.

meredith risch May 16, 2012 at 12:41 am

james- im the mother of the girl who was attached,me and her father would greatly like it if you would please remove this artical,my daughter had to find out from school mates that this was on here and asked me and he father to get it off. I think out of respect for my daughter and her father and I we would like this removed as soon as possible,this accident is not something she would like to see plastered everywhere. Thank you......meredith Risch

Coccice Jamal May 16, 2012 at 02:25 am

Ok, I can't believe you pitbull activists are blaming this on the parents. So sad. Most 11 year olds should be able to play in their front yard with their family dog. What happened here is a matter of breeding. The same way I don't have to teach my border collie to herd, you don't have to teach a pitbull to attack. It's what they are bred for. No matter how loving a home and how well treated the dog is, there is always the risk for a pitbull's breeding purpose to rear its ugly head. This is such a sad, sad story. As far as I'm concerned, the blood is on the hands of the pitbull activists like you all who spread the lies that these pitbulls can be nice family pets with good owners. That is just not true, as this unfortunate case shows. Leave this poor family alone and stop blaming the parents. Blame the original breeders who purposely created killing machines. It's not the pitbulls fault they were created for this purpose. But, we should NOT be telling families that these animals are safe for their children to play with.

Barada May 16, 2012 at 04:11 am

Meridith, I'm sorry this happened to your family. The pitt bull community always wants to blame the owners of the dog and not the real culprit. This forum is a good example of the "howl" I was referring to in my original post.

James Sanna (Editor) May 16, 2012 at 09:17 pm

@Zelda. Your comment was removed for violating Patch's Terms of Use (http://southwestminneapolis.patch.com/terms), which explicitly ban profanity. If you'd like to repost a clean version of your comment, you're more than welcome to do so.

AlexisTomlinson May 16, 2012 at 10:15 pm

Hello Coccice Jamal,
Im on my mothers account but i am the 11 year old girl that got bit. I would like to thank you for thiknking this wasnt my parents fault. It really wasnt i was playing in the front yard with my pittbull Molly. I did this on a regular basis. This dog and me were best friends , and i never wanted this story to be public. I had to find i was on the internet by friends and teachers at school. some of this story is not true, so unless they interveiwed me, most of this isnt true . i was in the front yard , And i was rushed to abbot northwestern hospital and transferd to chikldrens of minneapolis. i have my stiches out now i got them out around 11:30 am today. And im 11 so my parents were okay with it and my dad was gone for litterally 1:00 minute. there is no one to blame. adn im not little im almost 12. like i said i was the girl that got bit . and im on my moms account, Thank you

Coccice Jamal May 16, 2012 at 11:23 pm

Alexis, I'm so sorry you are going through this right now. You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers. We hope you get better really soon.

Barada May 16, 2012 at 11:54 pm

James, do you have access to the insurance statistics that were released today? I've only seen stories that report numbers of bites and payouts on claims. Have you seen any breed specific breakdowns. I think insurance stats are probably the most reliable as they have the simplest agenda.

James Sanna (Editor) May 17, 2012 at 01:57 am

Which statistics? I can't say I'm familiar with them. We're just focused on the Minneapolis numbers here.

C. M. September 29, 2012 at 06:06 pm

LOL. SO true. What a joke. Those dogs are power hungry preditors. It's in their nature. Good luck to all the dummies that own one.

Kim December 21, 2012 at 08:25 pm

It's been a few months ago that this conversation was in full swing but I stumbled upon it just today while searching for some info on other issues. I had to post up and say I hope the Pit Bull hater out there has found some time to get the facts on dog bites!!!!!!