Pit Bull Attacks and Pit Bull Maulings Cause Death, Injury and Terror
Should Stronger Laws Aim to Control Pit Bull Attacks and Pit Bull Maulings?
-- "Guilty plea in pit bull maulings" -- Arlington Heights Daily Herald. Three pit bulls ran loose in Cary, Ill., and the pit bull attacks hospitalized six people, including two children who were critically injured. The owner received three $50 fines, one apiece for failing to leash the three pit bulls.
-- "Bloody maulings back pit bull ban" -- The Windsor Star. Victims in a string of pit bull attacks in Toronto included a 2-year-old toddler in diapers, and a postal carrier who fell victim when two pit bulls mauled her after jumping through a screen door. Still, the Canadian Kennel Club was protesting proposed Ontario laws for harsher punishment of pit bull owners.
Similar stories of pit bull maulings are all over the web. If you live in a community of any size and you follow your local news, you've probably encountered at least one pit bull attack story in your own hometown.
Seattle-based DogsBite.org has recorded 88 United States deaths from dog bites from 2006 through 2008, with 59 percent involving pit bull attacks. Injury numbers are more difficult to calculate, but thousands of Americans are hospitalized annually. Preschoolers and senior citizens are most at risk
Duane Vanlanham, Pit Bull Attack Hero and Victim
Here in Saginaw, Michigan, 48-year-old Duane Vanlanham remained hospitalized in mid-November 2009, eight full months after rescuing a 42-year-old neighbor lady from a pit bull mauling in her front yard. The three pit bulls came from across the street. Duane Vanlanham said, "It was unreal. My legs were meat to them. They just snatched out hunks of meat." Dr. Tom Veverka of St. Mary's of Michigan hospital said, "It was like a shark attack. His legs were like hamburger."
Duana Vanlanham's main problem in the wake of the pit bull mauling isn't the shredded muscles, however, but infections caused when skin grafts did not adhere as hoped. He's already lost all the fingers on his left hand and all the toes on his right foot. He has won the community's heart not only with his heroism but with his optimism.
The man and woman who owned the three pit bulls face local trials in December 2009 on charges of possessing dangerous animals causing serious injuries. Maximum sentences are four years in prison, but based on precedent, the couple will face little jail time, if any.
Challenges for Pit Bull Attack Legislation
Local and state elected officials have aimed to adopt leglislation that would stem the tide of pit bull attacks and pit bulll maulings. However, they often find themselves stymied by legal opinions that protect the rights of dog owners. Therefore, provisions amount to little more than requiring pit bull owners to muzzle their dogs in public, or to keep them in cages at other times. One simple approach is to mandate that pit bull owners post warning signs on their property; however, many pit bull maulings happen to victims who are on their own property.
Meanwhile, pit bull owners vigorously defend their perceived rights. They insist that stories compiled by groups such as DogsBite.org focus unfairly on a small minority of irresponsible pit bull owners. Three months after the pit bull attack on Duane Vanlanham, a Saginaw man was roundly criticized in some circles for shooting and killing an escaped pit bull in his neighbor's front yard.
Are stricter laws needed to reduce the tragic number of pit bull attacks and pit bull maulings? What's your opinion?
SOURCES
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/24/MNG3JDEED81.DTL
http://dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/_in%20progress/faibish.htm
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5307848/Guilty-plea-in-pit-bull.html
http://www.canada.com/cityguides/toronto/story.html?id=ea113b08-b4ca-4fdc-9d3d-8995b75e5296&k=55205
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18030968/Duane-Vanlanham-Pit-Bull-Attack-Victim
http://www.foplodge4.org/news.php?id=6727
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1239030922321190.xml&coll=4&thispage=2
http://www.dogsbite.org/newsroom-release-dog-bite-fatality-study-042209.htm
Published by Michael Thompson
Michael Thompson is a retired newspaper reporter who lives in Saginaw, Michigan. Main topics are political and social justice issues, with occasional escapism into sports and so forth. View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentTo be perfectly honest, I have heard of Chihuahuas mauling people. Granted they mauled a baby, because any adult being attacked by one can pick it up and do whatever with it. I've grown up around dogs my whole life, I've worked in shelters and pet stores and with breeders; I've learned from person experience to be more afraid of Chihuahuas and the like than Pit Bulls. Big dogs have always been better behaved to me than smaller breeds. People just dont think about smaller breeds attacking because they don't have as much power behind their bite. But if you go look at atts.org, even they have the tests showing how "vicious" these dogs are compared to our "beloved" little dogs. Bah.
Pete, I suppose a German Sheppard, a Mastiff or any other breed wouldn't do the same if trained to attack. They would. The problem is the bad training and not the breed. Any large, fast dog can chase and kill other aninmals as well. Your problem is your neighbor not a specific breed of dog. First I can't believe Animal Control will do nothing. My Daughter is an animal control officer and would have these dogs in custody immediatelly if you made a complaint. Second you can sue your neighbor for the value of your loss. This doesn't sound fair but if you keep on sueing them they might just get the message that they better control their animal.
continued.....Until Owners of dogs capable of killing young children; dogs that are bred to rip out necks to please there owners, until those owners have a special permit and severe liability if there dog does harm, the inconsiderate additude of these owners gave me the burden to always worry and carry a gun. Mr Whatever - be unmoved about all these losses and google Socialpath. Unless you really need this type of dog for a specific reason, don't be fooled. There are to many other good breeds out there also needing homes.So I hope you are Pro gun too.
continue....
Again, Its not cute when your loved pet is being eaten alive, listening to her terror and cries as she suffercates in her own blood. I was fool enough trying to save my pet, now learning the danger I also could had met.
So now I have to carry a gun and every American now needs to carry guns because of chance and not chance of this new bad guys bad dog fad epidemic. Now the burden is on me instead of the owner of these dogs, I am in constant fear, not just from bad people but there dogs too. When Animal control told them to keep there dog contained after the second death, the dogs were back on my property looking for the third goat and still Nothing has been done so i dont own goats anymore. I cant have my grandchildren play in the yard and now I get to be the irrisponsible owner of a gun and hope I don't accidently shoot someone trying to shoot their dogs on my property.
Until Owners of dogs capable of killing young unaware children; dogs that are bred to rip out necks t
Chance? its not chance when- I had to learn about social pathic mentality, that some people get the dogs they have as a identifyer. Like my neighbors have all the bad toys, home grown pot which I heard they made big profit off of and the bad dogs for that bad image. When I complained to the neighbor about there dogs were trying to attack my miniature horse for 1/2 hour until I realized the dogs were on my property she was unconcerned. I had to remind her when their first pit dog killed my exspensive pet goat and another neighbors lost livestock, she was unconcerned. She also wouldn't conclude when she went on vacation for a week and left her dogs runing free and unsupervised why did her own horse end up with a 1 foot long "l" shape rip on its neck. Don't know what happened to that dog but she demeanored my trauma and lost to "Its only a goat".
Now they have 2 more dogs.
Again, Its not cute when your loved pet is being eaten alive, listening to her terror and cries as she suffercates i
"Meanwhile, pit bull owners vigorously defend their *perceived* rights." (emphasis mine) What a load of bias crap. It *is* their right.
And people going "why take a chance," are arguing to the probability logical fallacy. You may die in a car crash, why take a chance. You may be attacked by a shark when in the ocean, why take a chance. It's more likely you will be killed by your spouse than a stranger, why take a chance. Your computer may be infected by a virus and your identity stole, WHY ARE YOU TAKING A CHANCE BY BEING ON THE INTERNET!
Stronger laws should be enforced about allowing stupid people to own any dog, these attacks are usually not the dog's fault.
You can attribute it to the idiot owners, they should be forced to screen new owners before they can buy a pitbill.
I have owned one for thirteen years now, and I have never had her do any of these things, although any dog will bite when put in the right position to do so.
It's the people that are the idiots, not the dogs, my dog is a loyal friend, and a great companion.
All this crap is ridiculous.
Animals specifically bred to violence ... whether people or dogs ... well, change is easy to hope for but hard to come by.
Great one!
Great story. I cannot fathom why someone would want a vicious dog. I am aware that not all pit bulls are vicious, but why take the chance?