Sam was attacked by a dog

[kuhio98]

I'm so glad that Sam is going to heal. And I'm glad the other owner has contributed.

But, I've got to ask -- why isn't anyone filling out a police report?
When I was 12, I was mauled by a St. Bernard. He grabbed me by the head (I had been down on my knees playing with my dog) and shook me like a rag doll. He put my entire head in his mouth and drug me around. He left. I played dead. He came back and mauled me some more. Almost 400 stitches later, they had my lip and ear sewed back on. Luckily, most of the scars are under my hair line.

My folks filled out a police report. When the police came to investigate, they told us that this same St. Bernard had already killed 2 dogs and I was the THIRD child he had bitten!

Fill out a police report! Get it on the record. As awful as it is -- imagine how bad you'd feel if the next time he kills a dog -- or a child!

[dab_20]

I'm so glad that Sam is going to heal. And I'm glad the other owner has contributed.

But, I've got to ask -- why isn't anyone filling out a police report?
When I was 12, I was mauled by a St. Bernard. He grabbed me by the head (I had been down on my knees playing with my dog) and shook me like a rag doll. He put my entire head in his mouth and drug me around. He left. I played dead. He came back and mauled me some more. Almost 400 stitches later, they had my lip and ear sewed back on. Luckily, most of the scars are under my hair line.

My folks filled out a police report. When the police came to investigate, they told us that this same St. Bernard had already killed 2 dogs and I was the THIRD child he had bitten!

Fill out a police report! Get it on the record. As awful as it is -- imagine how bad you'd feel if the next time he kills a dog -- or a child!

How horrible!! I can't imagine how that must've affected you. This could be true- a good reason to contact the authorities. I'll let you all know what we end up doing.

[pomtzu]

I'm not posting this to make you feel bad or guilty about what you decide to do, but this is my take on the situation. After this - I'll just shut up!

I'm sure you're caught between a rock and a hard place. This dog's owner might be one of the nicest people imaginable, but it's his dog that is the issue here. What's to say another incident like happened to you and Sam, won't happen again. Perhaps if there is a next time, the animal (or person) that is attacked could be very seriously injured - or even worse. This guy could be sued for all he is worth, and then some, and would probably carry the guilt with him for the rest of his life. I don't know about you, but if this had happened to me and one of my dogs and I didn't report it and the dog attacked again - then I wouldn't be able to live with myself, knowing that I kept quiet about it. If I had reported it, perhaps another incident could have been avoided.

You said yourself the attack wasn't out of play, but was a full on mauling. The thought of that scares the hell out of me! I know it's a tough choice for you to make - to report or not - but consider the possible future effects, and not just the here and now. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Okay - I'll step down off my soapbox now. Not trying to preach, but just hoping that perhaps you'll see beyond yesterday's unfortunate happenings.

Please deliver another kiss to Sam for me - and a big {{{hug}}} to you.

[luvofallhorses]

First of all I am really sorry Sam got attacked and hope he will be OK.

The American Pit Bull Terrier was not to bred to kill rats, they were originally bred to bait bulls but in later years bred to fight other dogs. The APBT is naturally dog aggressive as they were bred to fight other dogs. Just like Labs were bred to retrieive and Border Collies were bred to herd sheep. You cannot train or love it out of them, it's what they are supposed to do.

I don't agree that they are more "inherently" likely to be aggressive. They certainly may have dominant behavior, because they are terrriers! It does not make them automatically aggressive. Heck I have met Jack Russells that are more pushy than an APBT. An APBT just wants to love you and please you.

These dogs should never be human aggressive, period. They should welcome all people who are strangers with licks and tail wags. Other dogs, not so much as they were bred to fight. They pass temperament tests a lot more than today's popular breeds according to the ATTS.org. Every APBT and mix I have met has been wonderful with people, but not so great with other dogs and other animals which is common.

I am not trying to ruin your thread as I feel for you and Sam, I really do; but I don't think it's fair to say they are more likely to be aggressive when they never should be with people.

From atts.org
American Pit Bull Terrier - 86.0% in passing temperament tests.

I sincerely hope Sam will be OK.

[dab_20]

First of all I am really sorry Sam got attacked and hope he will be OK.

The American Pit Bull Terrier was not to bred to kill rats, they were originally bred to bait bulls but in later years bred to fight other dogs. The APBT is naturally dog aggressive as they were bred to fight other dogs. Just like Labs were bred to retrieive and Border Collies were bred to herd sheep. You cannot train or love it out of them, it's what they are supposed to do.

I don't agree that they are more "inherently" likely to be aggressive. They certainly may have dominant behavior, because they are terrriers! It does not make them automatically aggressive. Heck I have met Jack Russells that are more pushy than an APBT. An APBT just wants to love you and please you.

These dogs should never be human aggressive, period. They should welcome all people who are strangers with licks and tail wags. Other dogs, not so much as they were bred to fight. They pass temperament tests a lot more than today's popular breeds according to the ATTS.org. Every APBT and mix I have met has been wonderful with people, but not so great with other dogs and other animals which is common.

I am not trying to ruin your thread as I feel for you and Sam, I really do; but I don't think it's fair to say they are more likely to be aggressive when they never should be with people.

From atts.org
American Pit Bull Terrier - 86.0% in passing temperament tests.

I sincerely hope Sam will be OK.

I didn't mean that they are inherently aggressive with everyone, I specifically meant to say with other animals. I know Pit Bulls can get along very well with other animals, but often they just don't.
I know they are supposed to get along with people, I have never personally met one that was aggressive with a human. They are sweet dogs.

[dab_20]

Just thought it was time to update you all, I very much appreciated the well wishes for Sammy and the advice.

Sammy is doing well, his large wound looks great. However, there was a smaller stitched wound on the other side of his neck with a wound (that wasn't stitched) just above it. He WON'T leave it alone. He keeps scratching and scratching it. I have his bandages on still, however throughout the day the bandages slip down on his neck and this wound is exposed and keeps bleeding. He gets his stitches out around Tuesday-Thursday, so if it's not better by then I'll ask the vet for ideas to keep him away from it.
He was playing with his ball for the first time today, I was worried for awhile cause his ball is his absolute FAVORITE! He goes everywhere with it and sometimes I have to take it away cause it's such an obsession. So, he's doing better. The antibiotics have given him a lot of diarrhea. Poor boy.

I went to the front office to see what happened about the guy and his dogs. They told me they talked to him about keeping his dogs on leashes. They also told me his dogs are not pit bulls so they will allow him to stay here (anyone who knows anything about dog breeds know they are pitbulls), but I suppose that doesn't really matter since I'm against BSL anyways... but I am surprised they allow plainly aggressive dogs to stay here. Doesn't matter the breed, if I was an apartment owner I just wouldn't tolerate it. There are TONS of other dogs here, and if that dog truly wanted to, no leash would keep it away from another dog. It could've been a fluke thing like I said before, and I think it was, but maybe it's not. It's a different situation if the dogs are kept on this guy's own property, but this is shared by many other people and animals.
I DID end up filing a complaint. I told them I just want it on record, since the guy has cooperated with us completely and has shown such remorse for what happened. They told me they would look into it, talk to the guy, and get back to me.

[Vette]

Thank you for the update

could try something like this for Sams neck if you got a t-shirt you can part with

I cut an old t-shirt about 4 inches long and made sure it went on so that it was not too tight to bother the dog but not too loose to fall off. You can also try an ace bandage wrapped loose enough and closed with tape. Ask your vet if they have or if you can use liquid bandage on it.

source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...3090927AAyfbUV post by The-Mom


i was wondering about what would happen with the guy an his dog. like you thought,, im surprised the dog is still allowed. they should of at least made it mandatory for the dog to be muzzled an be leashed at all times when outside since a lotta people have animals about in the immediate area.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm not posting this to make you feel bad or guilty about what you decide to do, but this is my take on the situation. After this - I'll just shut up!

I'm sure you're caught between a rock and a hard place. This dog's owner might be one of the nicest people imaginable, but it's his dog that is the issue here. What's to say another incident like happened to you and Sam, won't happen again. Perhaps if there is a next time, the animal (or person) that is attacked could be very seriously injured - or even worse. This guy could be sued for all he is worth, and then some, and would probably carry the guilt with him for the rest of his life. I don't know about you, but if this had happened to me and one of my dogs and I didn't report it and the dog attacked again - then I wouldn't be able to live with myself, knowing that I kept quiet about it. If I had reported it, perhaps another incident could have been avoided.

You said yourself the attack wasn't out of play, but was a full on mauling. The thought of that scares the hell out of me! I know it's a tough choice for you to make - to report or not - but consider the possible future effects, and not just the here and now. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Okay - I'll step down off my soapbox now. Not trying to preach, but just hoping that perhaps you'll see beyond yesterday's unfortunate happenings.

Please deliver another kiss to Sam for me - and a big {{{hug}}} to you.

I totally agree with you on this one Ellie.