4 Year Old Hospitalized After Being Bitten By a Pit Bull

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#1
This happened about half an hour away from me in Nova Scotia... I've included two articles. Both links have videos attached. Here is the original story:

http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/girl-4-hospitalized-after-being-bitten-by-pit-bull-1.1073959

A four-year-old girl is recovering in hospital after being bitten by a pit bull, but the fate of the dog is still unclear.

Cole Harbour RCMP responded to the call at a home on Arklow Drive shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday.

“Basically what I was told was she bent down to pet it a little and the dog snapped and bit her,†says Martin Geertsema, the girl’s father.

The little girl is now recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery.

“She has some nerve damage to the eyebrow,†says Geertsema. “They don’t know if that nerve will come back. It was basically severed in two locations.â€

Geertsema says his daughter was with a family friend while visiting the home in Cole Harbour. The dog was supposed to be locked in a room but it got out.

“It’s not just the dog, it’s also the dog owner who is responsible,†says Geertsema. “Not to say this particular owner was negligent, but this particular breed requires an owner who is knowledgeable about that dog.â€

The dog was seized by animal services officers today.

It will be quarantined, observed, and assessed for ten days to determine its risk to the public.

“The family can volunteer their statements and help us with the investigation, but ultimately, it’s the officer that has discretion if charges are going to be laid or not,†says Andrea MacDonald of HRM Animal Services.

Dog owner Natasha Parker was asleep when the incident occurred.

“She sensed fear and it all went downhill from there,†she says. “She nipped her and I feel really horrible about what happened to the little girl. I’m shocked. She would never do that.â€

Parker has two American Staffordshire Terrier pit bull crosses and wants her dog, Sausha, back.

“It is really out of the ordinary. My dog has never showed signs of aggression at all. I’m shocked. I feel bad for the little girl. I’m hoping she is doing all right.â€

Geertsema wants to see the dog destroyed.

“If you don’t ban the dog itself, there should at least be some mandatory training for the dog owner to be a responsible owner with this particular breed,†he says.

He believes there should be mandatory training for pit bull owners and hopes his daughter’s injuries are taking seriously.

As for Sausha, animal control officers will determine what happens to her.

Parker could be issued a fine for not having the animal licensed with the city, her dog could be deemed dangerous and be placed under a number of conditions, or it could be destroyed.

But those cases are rare, according to animal services.
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After that was published, CTV shamelessly tries to stir of some controversy and debate on whether or not a ban is now appropriate. There is a poll on this page:

http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/debate-o...r-girl-attacked-1.1075390#commentsForm-352092

The debate over pit bulls has been reignited after a four-year-old girl was attacked in Cole Harbour, N.S. on the weekend.

The girl’s father wants to see the dog destroyed, but some dog owners worry the attack is painting pit bulls with the same brush.

Janet Chernin owns a dog daycare. She says the incident should be looked at as a dog issue, and not a breed issue.

A little girl is recovering after being bitten by a pit bull mix on the weekend.

“People forget that Helen Keller’s dog was a pit bull terrier,†says Chernin, who owns an American Bulldog - pit bull mix.

The little girl is recovering in hospital after being bitten by the American Staffordshire Terrier - pit bull mix, but the fate of the dog is still unclear.

Cole Harbour RCMP responded to the call at a home on Arklow Drive shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday.

“Basically what I was told was she bent down to pet it a little and the dog snapped and bit her,†says Martin Geertsema, the girl’s father.

The little girl is now recovering after undergoing surgery.

“She has some nerve damage to the eyebrow,†says Geertsema. “They don’t know if that nerve will come back. It was basically severed in two locations.â€

Geertsema says his daughter was with a family friend while visiting the home in Cole Harbour. The dog was supposed to be locked in a room but it got out.

Owner Natasha Parker says it was the first time her dog, Sausha, had bitten anyone.

“I’m shocked. I feel bad for the little girl,†says Parker. “I hope she’s doing alright.â€

Today, the girl received a rabies shot as a precaution.

Geertsema says the dog should be destroyed and believes stricter regulations are needed.

“It’s not just the dog, it’s also the dog owner who is responsible,†says Geertsema. “Not to say this particular owner was negligent, but this particular breed requires an owner who is knowledgeable about that dog.â€

Coun. Gloria McCluskey isn’t calling for a ban on the breed, but she agrees that mandatory training is needed for pit bull owners.

“It’s a serious situation and it’s time we looked into this,†says McCluskey.

“Some of them are probably lovely dogs, but there’s a history of pit bulls attacking humans and other dogs.â€

Animal trainer Susan Jordan says children and dogs can mix, with the right supervision.

“All dogs can bite. Certainly, the bigger the dog, the bigger the mouth, so potentially the greater amount of possible damage that their jaws can do,†says Jordan.

“But it is more about socialization and training than it is about really getting caught in what breed it was.â€

Chernin agrees, and believes training should be mandatory for all dog owners – not just owners of pit bulls.

“Children can move very, very quickly and make inappropriate motions to a dog, and a dog can also react very quickly if they feel threatened,†says Chernin.

The dog was seized by animal services officers Monday.

It will be quarantined, observed, and assessed for ten days to determine its risk to the public.

Animal control officers will then decide what happens to Sausha.
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In all honesty, I would love to see mandatory training or a license required to own these dogs (preferably ALL dogs, but pit bulls are a good start), not because I think it's needed for the dogs' sake, but because it would keep a good chunk of idiots out of the breed. If you had to spend time and money doing homework and learning about dogs when you really just wanted a leash ornament to impress your friends or scare the neighbours, you'd probably think twice about getting one. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be possible to enforce a law like that, and if it was, it would only make the irresponsible people migrate to another breed.

MAYBE, just MAYBE, one day John Q. Public will realize this is not a breed issue, but a dog issue. Kids move and act differently than adults, and that can make a dog nervous. No four year old in the world should be expected to pick up on a nervous dog's signals and know it's not ok to pet. This is an issue of leaving a kid unsupervised with a dog. Everyone needs to smarten up and realize that's a recipe for disaster, regardless of breed.
 
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#2
Making Pitbull owners follow different set of rules, no matter how good the intention, enforces the idea that these dogs are different than any other breed. They aren't. What's different is the wording a journalist uses when a "Pitbull" (and I use the term lightly) is involved. If this had been another breed, media coverage wouldn't have been nearly so widespread and the breed wouldn't have been mentioned on the article, let alone the headline.

If it bleeds, it leads.

I'm not even tired of crappy fellow bully owners at this point. I'm tired of the public, including people who claim to be on "our" side pretending like these are anything more than dogs.

As someone who fosters BSL fugitives here in Onscario, I'll be following this case closely. All of my illegal dogs have gone to NS.
 

kady05

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#3
In all honesty, I would love to see mandatory training or a license required to own these dogs (preferably ALL dogs, but pit bulls are a good start), not because I think it's needed for the dogs' sake, but because it would keep a good chunk of idiots out of the breed. If you had to spend time and money doing homework and learning about dogs when you really just wanted a leash ornament to impress your friends or scare the neighbours, you'd probably think twice about getting one. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be possible to enforce a law like that, and if it was, it would only make the irresponsible people migrate to another breed.
You're right, it'd be just about impossible to enforce that. You really think the bad owners are going to abide by some law like that? Nope.. they'll just move their dogs even further underground, which only hurts the dogs in the end.
 

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It seems like a relatively insignificant bite when you consider how small the girl probably was in relation to the size of the dog. It HARDLY seems news worthy!

I like how the owner was 'shocked', the dog has NEVER acted aggressively before! She just keeps him locked in a room just because.

I feel bad for everyone involved, especially the girl, but I'll bet the owner should have known better. Usually there are signs long before the dog ever bites anyone.
 

Tazwell

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It seems like a relatively insignificant bite when you consider how small the girl probably was in relation to the size of the dog. Not insignificant for the girl, though!

I like how the owner was 'shocked', the dog has NEVER acted aggressively before! She just keeps him locked in a room just because.

I feel bad for everyone involved, especially the girl, but I'll bet the owner should have known better. Usually there are signs long before the dog ever bites anyone.
 
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You're right, it'd be just about impossible to enforce that. You really think the bad owners are going to abide by some law like that? Nope.. they'll just move their dogs even further underground, which only hurts the dogs in the end.
Exactly. My 13 year old toothless SS mutt is required to follow the law because I'm a responsible owner. That means being muzzled in public. When she dies, I would love to own another but that would mean adopting a dog who is 8 years or older.

All the while, people who either know the law and don't care, or who are so ignorant that they really have no idea that BSL even exists here, continue to breed and buy illegal mutts, touting them online as "blue nose gotti lines" and selling them for a small fortune. The people breeding the dogs don't care about legislation and the people buying the dogs don't care about legislation and no one who is that irresponsible is helping us get the law changed. What would their motivation be?

It's like assuming gun control laws are going to stop gangsters from killing each other. It's not.
 

JessLough

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What good would making a law requiring classes do? He dog was already in her house illegally by not being registered. I mean, we have BSL here and yet I see a new bully puppy in my neighbourhood every day.
 
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#10
The problem with trying to 'regulate' a breed is that you only punish the well intended law abiding folks. It just doesn't work. Criminals will continue to be, well.....criminals.
 

Flyinsbt

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Yes, BSL doesn't work, even if it's only special "regulations" for owning a certain breed. And this really doesn't sound like a very severe bite, I doubt it would be news if the dog in question were a Lab. I am not interested in owning child-biting dogs, but I don't think I'd be wanting to euthanize one of mine after an incident like that. The dog obviously used bite inhibition, it could have been much worse. Most likely, she wasn't socialized to children, and shouldn't have been put in that situation.
 

JacksonsMom

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I cannot stand the 'the dog has NEVER done anything like that before!' people. It gives Pits even worse stereotypes in the general public. Because so many times I have heard people 'oh it's *always* "they would never do that/have never done that before!' when in actuality, there was most likely lots of signals and signs that stupid owners were too dumb to pick up on.

Sad though all around. I can't say I blame the dad for wanting the dog put down.
 

Sweet72947

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#13
I echo what everyone else has said about regulating a breed of dog. Look at the the UK, for example. The UK has had a pit bull ban for a while. Ok, so there are less bites there by "pit bulls". But I've seen plenty of articles about Akitas and mastiffs mauling/killing people over there. Last I checked, being mauled/killed is still being mauled/killed, regardless of the breed that does it.
 

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It seems like a relatively insignificant bite when you consider how small the girl probably was in relation to the size of the dog. It HARDLY seems news worthy!

I like how the owner was 'shocked', the dog has NEVER acted aggressively before! She just keeps him locked in a room just because.

I feel bad for everyone involved, especially the girl, but I'll bet the owner should have known better. Usually there are signs long before the dog ever bites anyone.
I disagree with this... the best dog i ever had (Izze) was a kid HATER & i mean H-A-T-E-R. if a child under the age of 7 would have "bent down" (which i thin there is more to the story then the media is leading on, since of course they want to demonize the dog, weather its a PB or not) she would have taken their face off in a second.

another reason i dont agree with this is the child was a GUEST. it was the OWNER'S house IMHO.... & i dont know about anyone else ... but in MY house its MY rules, why should my dogs have to be locked up? WATCH YOUR KID!
 

JessLough

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another reason i dont agree with this is the child was a GUEST. it was the OWNER'S house IMHO.... & i dont know about anyone else ... but in MY house its MY rules, why should my dogs have to be locked up? WATCH YOUR KID!
Nah... I think they were just being responsible dog owners and trying to keep their dog out of harms way.
 

Dogdragoness

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yeah but its a two way street... i can do everything possible & if the parent or guardian doesnt do their 50%, then the dog will still be blamed ... in public places yes I will agree with you, but in my own house, if you dont like what the dog is doing, then you know where the gate is.
 

JessLough

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yeah but its a two way street... i can do everything possible & if the parent or guardian doesnt do their 50%, then the dog will still be blamed ... in public places yes I will agree with you, but in my own house, if you dont like what the dog is doing, then you know where the gate is.
Then don't invite people over...? I get the impression that this is somebody that was INVITED over, ie "come on over, I'll do whatever's possible to keep you and my dog safe"
 
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Yea I just don't want anyone getting bitten by my dogs... ahead of time I don't much care who puts "more" effort in or whether the division of labor is fair or not, nor would I take any comfort from it being the parents' "fault" after the fact if a bite happened.
 

Dizzy

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I echo what everyone else has said about regulating a breed of dog. Look at the the UK, for example. The UK has had a pit bull ban for a while. Ok, so there are less bites there by "pit bulls". But I've seen plenty of articles about Akitas and mastiffs mauling/killing people over there. Last I checked, being mauled/killed is still being mauled/killed, regardless of the breed that does it.
This. Even the RSPCA and other organisations think it is a stupid knee jerk law. The bad owners just moved onto different breeds... Or carried on owning pits and calling them staffies.


Dogs bite, not breeds... And bad owners allow their dogs to bite.


If I have people in my home, I am SUPER vigilant. Bodhi is uber people orientated, but toddlers freak her out. There is no way I'd let her get anywhere near one unsupervised in an enclosed space. No way. And I like having my friends over... If they don't like my dogs, then ill try and accommodate them too, it's only a few hours out of their life. I'm lucky that my friends like my dogs though!
 
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yeah but its a two way street... i can do everything possible & if the parent or guardian doesnt do their 50%, then the dog will still be blamed ... in public places yes I will agree with you, but in my own house, if you dont like what the dog is doing, then you know where the gate is.
This is exactly WHY you need to have 110% control and management of these types of situations. Luckily, my dogs ate good with kids but they are really big and boisterous. My husbands cousin is dating a girl who has a toddler. When they come over, the mom completely neglects to watch her kids. So my dogs are locked upstairs in the bedroom. It won't kill them to be up there away from the stress of an annoying toddler, but biting that toddler in reaction to something he did to them while his parents aren't watching might. It's not worth the risk.

The fact is, you CAN'T control what other people do in any situation so the only option is to ensure that you do everything in your power to manage our dogs from your end. The owner in this story neglected to do so.
 

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