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I think that pit bulls are sweet puppies (my son had one once and she was a dumpling little puppy) and I loved her, but when she got older I started to see the potential for disaster. We lived in a regular neighborhood with lots of children and even though we were with her (the pit bull) all the time and never left her out I started fearing that if she did get out and attacked somone that I could never live with myself. They are SO strong and have incredible jaw strength. We found her a home in a neighboring state where she lived on a ranch (she loved it) where there were no children. She lived there all her days and never harmed anyone, but I know she could have if the circumstances were right. I have to say that our family has had a near-tragedy involving a dog that we raised from a puppy, cared for him, loved him, and when he was one year old he suddenly, without provocation of any kind, attacked a child (our grandchild) in our yard. He had been around this same child every day for his whole life and his relationship with the child was very good. This was witnessed by several adults and it is only by the grace of God that my husband was able to save his life. The dog jumped on him from behind and took him down on the ground and proceeded to bite and rip at his face and head. He was in surgery for hours and fortunately he has healed and his scars are few. Amazingly, he still loves dogs. My husband said it took everything he had to force this dog off the child and that he had never seen anything like it in his life. This dog was a German shepard, not a pit bull, but still very strong and powerful. I think the point is that all dogs have the potential to harm humans, but some dogs are capable of killing if the circumstances are just right. We don't know why ours did this, but we were humbled and frightened by this experience. We had believed that we "knew" the dog and that he was "safe." I believe that those powerful dogs are best kept away from busy neighborhoods, homes and buildings where there are children and never, ever will I believe that any baby or small child should be allowed to be in close proximity to one of them. Any dog at any time could "turn" and become vicious if the circumstances are right. We still have dogs, but we changed to border collies and Shih-Tzus. I hope that the child that was attacked is doing well. Your post brought back memories and I had to reply. It was therapeutic for me (sometimes I still dream about our dog attacking our grandchild) and a good ad for Shih-Tzus and border collies! |
DOG ATTACKS - nana
