Pit Bull Bites student on school Bus

[Bobsk8]

Pit bull bites Mableton student, 11; owner cited

By YOLANDA RODRÍGUEZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/24/07

An 11-year-old Mableton girl was bitten by a pit bull Tuesday morning as she boarded her school bus.

The girl, a student at Riverside Intermediate School, was bitten on her knee and ankle, said Jay Dillon, a spokesman for the Cobb School District. She was taken to WellStar Cobb Hospital for treatment.

Dillon said Elaine Martin, the school bus driver, was able to pull the dog off the girl. The dog belonged to another student, who was also boarding the school bus.

Cpl. Dana Pierce, a Cobb police spokesman, said animal control officers cited the owner, Pier Par of Mableton, for having a vicious animal and for failing to control it.

Other children on the bus were shaken up at first, Dillon said. But by the time they arrived at school, just a short distance away, they had calmed down.

The girl "was very strong and brave and handled it with grace," Dillon said. "She was able to tell the paramedics who her parents were and how to contact her parents."

Dillon said Martin "grabbed the dog and pulled him off."

The dog will be held at the county animal shelter to determine whether it has rabies.

[Maxy24]

Why was there a dog on the school bus in the first place?

[Amstaffer]

Yep, thats almost as bad as this story I found....
On Jan. 15, a suburban St. Louis woman, 69-year-old Linda Mittino of Affton, was found dead at her home. An autopsy confirmed she died from several dog bites from the family's 115-pound German shepherd. The dog was euthanized.

or this story
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/metroeast/story/61123DD3E49CDDC2862572660015E2C9?OpenDocument

[Sweet72947]

115lb German Shepherd? :yikes: that's WAY out of standard, isn't it? I wonder if it was a King Shepherd or something.

[makka619]

Why was there a dog on the school bus in the first place?

As the girl was boarding the bus, my guess is, the dog was not on the bus but waiting by the bus stop, and grabbed her as she was trying to get on.

[bubbatd]

Glad it wasn't worse .....again , stupid owners !

[Bobsk8]

The dog ran onto the bus as the kids were getting on.

[Kayla]

It says the dog belonged to another student who was waiting to board the bus, my question is why did his parents let him bring his dog to school? Assuming the young owner was the same age of the victem who was 11 he was deffiently way to little to be able to control any dog. What were the parents thinking?

[adoptashelterpettoday]

.....

[casablanca1]

A plastic surgeon spent three hours sewing up Linda Mittino's face after her son's dog first attacked her in November. But she insisted the 7-year-old German shepherd, called Bear, deserved a second chance.... Several years later, Joseph Mittino suffered a serious stroke, leaving him unable to care for himself. He lived in a skilled nursing home for a year, then Linda Mittino brought her husband home to look after him herself. The dog came to live with Linda Mittino when her son moved into his parents' home four years ago.
Bear, whose registered name is Baron von Valentine, was the seventh German shepherd the family had kept as a pet over the years. Joe Mittino said Bear was always aggressive about protecting his owner and territory.
In November, Joe Mittino was disciplining Bear after the animal ran into the front yard when the door opened. Linda Mittino attempted to help her son grab the dog to pull him back inside. She reached for its collar, and the dog leaped on her, family said. It injured her arms, back and face. Linda Mittino was hospitalized for days after the attack. "The dog needed to be put down after the first attack" Lisa Boenzle said. "But my mom didn't want to take the dog away from my brother." Officials were holding the dog Tuesday. Delores Gunn, director of the St. Louis County Health Department, will determine whether the dog should be euthanized after a hearing if the family does not request it.

What a piece of work the son must be, keeping a dog that sent his mom to the hospital and is obviously a danger to his father, who's in a wheelchair. The mother was an idiot, but I can see her wanting to be 'nice' and good to her son. Interesting that the dog always showed aggression to the mother; you can't tell me that the dog wasn't picking up cues from his owner, the son.