Who do you blame???

[Logan]

Do you blame the dogs? Or do you blame the mother who left her two year old child, outdoors, unattended???



2-Year-Old Mauled To Death By Neighbor's Dogs


ROEBUCK, S.C., 4:50 p.m. EDT October 2, 2003 - Authorities are investigating the mauling death of a 2-year-old girl near Woodruff Thursday.




Crystal Sinclair told WYFF News 4's Beth Brotherton that her daughter Mikayla was playing on a bike outside their Shaw Road home Thursday morning.
Sinclair said she went inside to get ready for work. When she came back out a few minutes later, Mikayla was gone.

Sinclair and a neighbor searched for the girl and found Mikayla's body in the neighbor's back yard inside a pen with 10 dogs, including nine Great Danes.

Sinclair said she believed that one of the dogs got loose, grabbed Mikayla, and brought her to the other dogs. She said Mikayla was terrified of the dogs and wouldn't have gone near them on her own.

However, Spartanburg County Coroner Jim Burnett said he believes that Mikayla wandered too close to one of the chained Great Danes and was pulled into the pen and attacked by that dog. Burnett confirmed that one dog was loose, but he did not believe that dog was responsible for the attack.

Burnett has ruled the death accidental.

Animal control officers have taken the dogs to the Spartanburg Humane Society as part of the investigation. The dogs' owner, Patricia Hancock, has been issued six tickets for failure to provide verification of rabies innoculation.

Spartanburg County environmental enforcement officers visited Hancock's home in March as a result of complaints of dogs running at large.

[Kfamr]

It is the "mother's" fault. She failed to look after her child. NO two year old should be left unattended, let alone outside. What if someone kidnapped her?

[Cincy'sMom]

Originally posted by Kfamr
It is the "mother's" fault. She failed to look after her child. NO two year old should be left unattended, let alone outside. What if someone kidnapped her?

Agreed.

The dogs most likely did not hurt her intentionally...a child can easily mistaken for a giant squeeky toy.

[mugsy]

Make it 3 for the mother.

[joycenalex]

why on this green earth would any d#$% fool think you can take your eyes off a 2 year old? that woman is WAY too stupid to be a parent. such a shame for the child.

[Soledad]

I don't think the mother of a three year old mauled child needs any more punishment than this situation has already given her.

Was it silly for her to do? Yes. Should she have expected that ten dogs would viciously maul her three year old? No.

She made a mistake, but we all slip up and most of the time nothing this horrendous happens. Ya'll, we know nothing about these dogs or this woman so perhaps we should keep our harsh judgments to ourselves.

[Soledad]

I'll also just reinforce these lines:

Animal control officers have taken the dogs to the Spartanburg Humane Society as part of the investigation. The dogs' owner, Patricia Hancock, has been issued six tickets for failure to provide verification of rabies innoculation.

Spartanburg County environmental enforcement officers visited Hancock's home in March as a result of complaints of dogs running at large.

Where is the owner's responsibility in all of this? She did not provide rabies shots and allowed her dogs to run loose.

Perhaps everyone should look a bit further than mother vs. dogs.

[Kfamr]

I see where you're coming from Soledad BUT -- You do NOT leave a two year old unattended!

She does not deserve punishment, no one does in this case. If she was to watch her child, it would not have happened. As it sounds, the dogs, with an exception of one, were in their yard.

Yes, the owner seems very irresponsible but, it could have all been avoided if they "MOTHER" was watching HER child. As I said, NO two year old should be unattended.

[Cincy'sMom]

Originally posted by Soledad
I'll also just reinforce these lines:




Where is the owner's responsibility in all of this? She did not provide rabies shots and allowed her dogs to run loose.

Perhaps everyone should look a bit further than mother vs. dogs.

True...but I still think the HUMANS are at fault (be it mother or dog owner), not the dogs themselves.

However, I still think that

NO two year old should be left unattended, let alone outside.

[Soledad]

I personally would not leave a two-three year old unattended. However, we have no idea what this town is like and just for how long the mother went inside.

Without that information I think it is rude, ignorant and hateful to be making accusations. We are all people who make mistakes. This mother has to live with this for the rest of her life, which is hard enough. Does she need the hatred of strangers? I highly doubt it.

Sometimes things happen that a horrible and cruel, but we need to remain human and look at things from all angles. Too often on PetTalk, I see people IMMEDIATELY siding with the animals and chastizing parents. It really pisses me off how quick we are to judge our fellow man. And ultimately, it's just really sad.

I think this world would work a lot better if we tried to apply the same amount of understanding and compassion towards each other as we do our pets.

[popcornbird]

In my opinion, its somewhat the mother's fault, but more of the neighbor's fault. A 2 year old should NEVER be left unattended even if its just outside her house, but then again, TEN dogs should NEVER be left unattended either, wherever they are. Unless they are secure in a fenced area and CANNOT get out or go anywhere, they should NOT be left alone. I blame the neighbor more than the mother. The mother made a mistake, but the neighbor, knowing he/she had 10 dogs, and BIG ones at that, should have been MUCH more responsible.

If this was a typical neighborhood with homes close together, I don't like the idea of anyone having as many as 10 dogs to begin with. An animal like a dog is a HUGE responsibility, and if not raised properly, there is a possibility for them to become dangerous. Personally, if my neighbor had 10 dogs, 9 of them danes, I would move out. I wouldn't bother the neighbor or anything, but *I* would move out. Our next door neighbors have 3 dogs but they are a small/medium sized breed and VERY quiet and calm, so I'm not afraid of them at all, nor do they bother us, however, if they had 10 danes.............I would be scared enough of one dog that big! Either way, I think the neighbor should be held responsible. The poor mother got enough punishment that she would never forget. What a horrible thing to happen. The neighbor deserves to be punished for letting his/her dogs to get away with this.

[Kfamr]

I don't think anything i've said was rude. hateful or ignorant, If you're talking aobut me anyways.

It IS her fault nonetheless, rude or not.

It could have been RATS that mauled her to death ( i'm not saying this is possible, just using it as an example.) and i'd still think it's the mother's fault. Like I said, What if the child was kidnapped? Who would I blame there? THE MOTHER. Having a child means you look after it at all times, you take care of it. Just like a dog, thus, it's not ALL of the mother's fault. The owner of the dogs should have looked after her animals as well. Still, the dogs were in their yard.

[Kfamr]

PCB -- Great danes are big gentle giants. There's no reason to be afraid of them. Unless of course, they are mistreated.

[Soledad]

If a child was kidnapped, I guess I'd blame the kidnapper. Funny logic, eh??

The government should lock up all mothers who let bad things happen to their children. Oh, and no one mention a word about bad fathers or anything....

[joycenalex]

soledad, i stand by my opinion, and i can respect your opinion. the woman has suffered a grevious loss. does she have my "hatred"? no, i do feel for her loss. did she show by her (in)action that she was a fool-yes i think so. your child is your most precious jewel in all the world, you just simply don't let your near infant child alone, period. if the child had fallen in a puddle outside and drowned, i'd still feel the mother wasn't a fit parent. if the child had wandered into the road, and was hit by a car, i'd still feel she wasn't a fit parent. anyone can breed, parenting is a skill and an art that involves 24/7/365 attention and this woman has shown her skills in this area are seriously lacking. again, why why the child outside without adult supervision, it's just plain deadly to remove your eyes from a small child. the mother has learned a very very hard lesson, and i'd like to hope other people learn by it.