Hundreds pray for dog that killed a child

[Banjo]

A toy Poodle, a Chihuahua, a Pomeranian - not so much. Who is going to bother to report those bites? No one, except in the very rare case that serious damage was done.

Actually, an aggressive little dog is perfectly capable of killing an infant. It has happened in the past. The point is, don't leave infants alone with dogs.

 

[DeafCaroline]

Polar, the dog who bit the baby, came from an abusive background before being adopted by the baby's parents. It's already psychologically traumatized and they left the baby alone with it. That's reckless parenting and the dog has to die?

 

[naisho]

Dogs are considered personal properties. Therefore, you are liable for their actions. If you hit someone with your car, are you going to blame the car?

People can make as many excuses they want to, they are still liable for their dog's actions.

I see where you're getting, as you are interested in the liability. That's not the point I was trying to make.
Point to me is, the bearing to this is if you're going to get a car, prior to hitting someone you might consider the consequences involved with getting a porsche or lamborghini, or ask yourself if you can be handling one.

Lots of people make pet purchases without ever the thought of if it poses a risk to them. It's pretty much ignorance. Let's face the truth, few if any people will be thinking about it. Because of impulse buys, gifts or uneducated purchases, people get any dog. The risk is really meager, if using those stats, people have a 99.x% of not getting into a situation.

You have to acknowledge that .x%, between pits and other dogs, the risk is admittedly higher that something serious could happen.

 

[Speedy Hawk]

Parents should never leave dogs alone with infants no matter what size, breed, behaviour, etc.

Most dogs will try to pick up infants and bring it to family cos dogs groups puppies together and trying to do the same with infants.

It not the dog's fault. It all down to parent making very bad choice leaving infant alone with any dog.

Also dog behaves however they are trained or lack of training.

 

[warpedpink]

All they need to do is put the dog on trial and use the same jury in the Casey Anthony trial.

:jaw: oh my god.. why did i laugh?

 

[whatdidyousay!]

Parents should never leave dogs alone with infants no matter what size, breed, behaviour, etc.

Most dogs will try to pick up infants and bring it to family cos dogs groups puppies together and trying to do the same with infants.

It not the dog's fault. It all down to parent making very bad choice leaving infant alone with any dog.

Also dog behaves however they are trained or lack of training.

I never heard of a dogs trying to pick up babies and bring it to the parents . I know a herding dog will try to herd people. I agree a baby should never be left alone with any pet. I was watching my sister's baby while she took a shower. I had my niece on a bed and my sister's cat came out of no where and tried to attack my niece! I was able to stop the cat! The cat had kittens and we think the cat thought the baby was a threat to her kitten! If I had not been watching the baby she would had her face and eyes clawed !

 

[Beach girl]

Polar, the dog who bit the baby, came from an abusive background before being adopted by the baby's parents. It's already psychologically traumatized and they left the baby alone with it. That's reckless parenting and the dog has to die?

What bothers me a lot about this, assuming that the dog was fairly recently adopted (which is what it sounds like), a) what kind of parents-to-be or new parents would think "Hey, we've got a baby on the way, what a great time to adopt an abused dog from one of the "bully breeds." Sure, we'll have all sorts of time to train him, no problem!"

And b) what sort of foster organization approved that??

When I adopted Pippin, my 12" miniature poodle, from a foster organization, they were specific that they would NOT adopt him out to a family with young children. That was more to protect him that to protect the children, as young kids can often treat small, cute dogs as if they were stuffed animals, and hurt them without meaning to.

Still, the point is, most shelters and foster organizations have rules and guidelines about not adopting out certain dogs, for various reasons, to families with young children. This placement was just not a good idea in the first place (assuming the mom was either pregnant or newly-delivered when they got the dog), and for that, the foster organization is responsible.

 

[Dixie]

Sadly, because the dog is from an abusive background, and has killed a child, the police will likely rule that the dog be put down as he is considered a dangerous animal now.

However, it really goes back to the parents not taking responsibility. Among both sides - they will agree that the child should have never been left alone with the dog. You should never leave a young child alone with ANY pet, cat or dog.

Also, the reason many pit bulls are reported for biting is because of the fear that the dog is used for dogfighting and is aggressive. Also, many people who get bit and file a report will say it was 'a large black dog' or 'a large white dog with spots'. The officer filing the report will then suggest 'was it a pit bull?' then the victim will respond 'yes' automatically because it's the first breed to come to mind.

Other breeds don't get reported because they don't cause the damage a pit bull can (remember these dogs were bred specifically for bull fighting in Spain, they are able to take down a BULL), and the other breeds are not notorious for being used in dogfighting.

I have been around pit bulls - if bred and raised properly - they are a playful breed with a lot of energy. But they are extremely loyal to their owners and protective of their family, especially children.

Sadly, people who dog fight will breed specifically for aggressiveness and some of these make it into the mainstream where the unsuspecting owners have a badly bred American Pit Bull Terrier that has been bred for aggressiveness, but was 'culled' for not being aggressive enough as a pup. Or as in Polar's case, he came from an abusive situation. He reacts to only what he knows to protect himself. But I don't see this as an act of aggression. If it were, there would have been an incident within the first week of the child coming home from the hospital. I have a feeling the dog may have been trying to pick the child up by the 'scruff' and instead caused it's death. If the parents had been more careful such as NEVER putting the child on the floor with the dog around, and having a 'safe' area where the dog would be confined to during the child's playtime such as crating the dog or placing the dog into a confined kennel in the backyard while the family played outside or indoors. The dog would still get to be a part of the family, but they would have to understand that the child has more standing over the dog.

I feel bad for the family and I feel bad for the dog. Seriously, because of this event, the dog is unadoptable, will be declared 'vicious' and ordered to be put down. It's just a sad situation for everyone involved, including Polar.

 

[Beach girl]

I feel bad clicking "like," because I don't "like" it at all, but I think you are absolutely correct in your analysis.

Ah, I just Googled and read more about this story. Apparently the baby was a visiting baby, not the child of the new owners of Polar. So I take back my comments about the foster organization giving the dog to a family with a new baby. Looks like that was not the case.

So, just careless parenting and careless dog-owning, on the part of the various adults involved here. No excuse for it, really. Watch your kid, watch your dog, period. Neither set of adults was as alert to watching the baby and the dog as they should have been.

 

[dogmom]

sadly, this kind of thing happens often - younger child and dog left unattended and guess what - a tragedy children - especially very young children - are much more likely to be seriously injured or killed by ANY dog since children are physically close to dog's face and more likely to get right up IN their face <rude canine body language!>, make erratic movements and loud, spontaneous noises.

I don't know about the dog picking-up-the-infant-thing but another common factor in many of these situations is that the dog was probably giving all kinds of warning that there were things he was uncomfortable with in terms of anything in his environment or that he was exposed to - children playing across the street, loud noises, just anything in general - and his signs of discomfort and/or actual warnings <say a family friend came over with a child way before this happened> were MISSED. Or, the "big signs" of warning such show teeth, etc., were punished OUT of the dog, therefore teaching him to go from "zero to 100 " with nothing in between.
Things like brain tumors aside that cause neurological problems - usually dogs do NOT do "snap out of the blue" - people don't know how to read them.

 

[Audiofuzzy]

Kind of reminds me of what happened to the woman who had that face transplant. She lose some of her face because her dog scratched it off trying to wake her up.

Where did you 'heard' that??? can I have a source, please?

Fuzzy