Man kills Pit-bull to save child....opinions?

thebullkf

For some background information: I am a ret. special operations veteran from the U.S. Army, and have been trained against attack dogs, although this was my first encounter in a windbreaker and shorts instead of a padded suit.
So, in the middle of my run today through a park, I heard barking and looked to see an obese woman fighting to hold back her pit bull as it barked and tried to give chase to a child riding his bicycle on the path ahead of me.
In quite possibly the most pathetic fashion I've seen, the woman drops the leash and falls, and the dog tears across the field towards the child. The kid sees the dog coming, gets off the bike and starts to run away. I begin running towards the child to pick him up, but the dog is much closer. It jumps onto the child and viciously bites his thigh, taking him down to the ground. The child throws his arms up, and I'm there just as the dog bites the child a second time, on his forearm by his elbow. I gave the dog a hard kick to the ribs and booted it off the ground, but the little **** kept his jaws clamped to the child's arm and started to twist its head back and forth. I dived on top of the dog, got one arm under his neck and tried to gouge the dog's eyes with my other hand. It let go of the kid to try to bite me, and tore a ****ing piece out of my windbreaker sleeve. I squeezed his head close to my shoulder with one arm like I was trying to hold a football, braced myself against his body with my knees, and then held it tightly and twisted his head, hard.
The child's parents called 911 while I wrapped his father's sweater around the kid's arm. His leg wasn't bleeding much, but skin had been torn from the child's arm. The stupid bitch who owned the dog was screaming and crying and telling us it wasn't her fault, the dog had been her brother's, and other nonsense.
Police and an ambulance showed up, and the child went to the hospital with his parents. I went to the police station with the woman, and got a ride home from an officer after I was done. I was on the phone with the kid's father half an hour ago, and he's going to be fine -- the child is still in the hospital now, they're making sure his arm doesn't get infected. They said they've spoken to the woman and plan to settle out of court.
So, that's that. As for how I feel, I don't regret my actions at all, but as an owner of three dogs (two ex-police dogs and a black lab my wife saved), I am disgusted that a dog had to die because of his stupid owner's negligence.
I'm curious what others think about this. My wife gave me a good scolding for being "crazy" but agreed that if I hadn't acted, the child may have been mauled.
As for whether I could have done the same thing without killing the animal, I don't know. I suppose I could have tried to control it without breaking its neck, but it was awfully close to biting my arm and in the moment it seemed like the only option.
I'm curious to know what others think of this situation. I will check back as often as I can to reply to any questions.

just wondering what people think of this?
what would you do if you were A:the woman
B:the Man.

i think its ultimately the correct decision as the dog would probably have mauled/killed the child-and be put down anyway. i appreciate its only oneside of the story.

Thoughts anyone?...

mikemac

Give that man a medal, what he did was justified.

Of course if he could get rid of the dog without killing it, it would be better still but he shouldn't lose sleep over it.
Maybe I've phrased that badly, anyway he was on the scene and took control. Ex military I see, I suppose he doesn't freeze and become a bystander when many would

The dog owner is going to have to settle a claim, she is lucky she is not going to court

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

MarkR

Would be killer dog killed. Sad. Avoidable. Would I second guessing myself if it was me? Not a chance.

liah

Guess this means there'll be a new wave of pitbull hate.

He did what he had to do and I respect him for it. I just feel bad that this kind of thing will give justification to the anti-pitbull argument that ignorant people constantly put forth.

The owner is seriously, seriously lucky they're not being taken to court. Idiot. :mad:

I-Shot-Jr

Not the dog's "fault" per se but if a Child's life is at risk then the man in question was left with little choice. The woman should not have taken the dog outside if she wasn't able to keep it under control. I feel sorry for the dog it is only an animal after all but killing it seemed to be a necessary evil.

Graces7

Where was this? Not muzzled?

The child could so easily have been killed.

dvet

Totally agree with what the man did. That child could have been killed if that man hadn't been there to step in, and as much of an animal lover as I am, that dog needed to be stopped immediately. Obviously it should never have been walked in a public place with no muzzle and especially by someone who was Incapable of controlling it, but unfortunately for everyone involved, it was. They are all lucky that the dog was the only one that was killed by that stupidity.

Bill2673

liah wrote: »

Guess this means there'll be a new wave of pitbull hate.

He did what he had to do and I respect him for it. I just feel bad that this kind of thing will give justification to the anti-pitbull argument that ignorant people constantly put forth.

The owner is seriously, seriously lucky they're not being taken to court. Idiot. :mad:

In what way ignorant? Its quite clear to everybody that the dogs aren't the problem, the owners are. Thats why legislation is needed for muzzling and leads. If all owners were responsible then this wouldn't be necessary. But all owners are not responsible.

liah

Bill2673 wrote: »

In what way ignorant? Its quite clear to everybody that the dogs aren't the problem, the owners are. Thats why legislation is needed for muzzling and leads. If all owners were responsible then this wouldn't be necessary. But all owners are not responsible.

It isn't nearly as clear as you think. The majority will be scared of a pitbull no matter how good an owner they know you to be. It's actually only a minority who realize it's the fault of the owner.

Lots of ignorant people think it's bred into the dog to attack humans-- it clearly isn't, hell, in the States it was the most popular family dog for years-- and not just dogs. I've heard many people say it in real life, far more than I've heard anyone argue that it's the owner's fault.

Also, the lockjaw myth doesn't help the case.

PandyAndy

Fairplay to the man. Agree completely with what he had to do.

Zapperzy

If he hadn't killed the dog, it would more than likely have been pts'd anyways for biting a child, and if the owner didn't sign the dog over to be pts'd then there could have been a long drawn out battle with the authorities where the dog would probably have been kept in kennels with no walks/stimulation, this way the dog died quickly without anyone else getting bitten.

It would be interesting to know if the man would have done the same thing if the dog was of a different breed but similar size/strength?

Once again a case of owner negligence where the dog loses out.

ArtSmart

Not sure what the point of this thread is. - as in there is no 'what do people think'

ie option 1/ dead kid
potion 2/ dead dog

unless the question is 'should the woman be prosecuted despite the settlement'

seamus

Bill2673 wrote: »

If all owners were responsible then this wouldn't be necessary. But all owners are not responsible.

The problem here is that responsible owners are the only ones who are going to comply with the law. Irresponsible owners won't.

Muzzling is the equivalent of making loitering illegal in order to deter drug dealers. The only people who obey the law are the ones who weren't doing anything wrong.

In the above article, it's unfortunate that the dog has died but I can understand why he would have thought it was necessary, and I wouldn't condemn him for it - I would commend his bravery for jumping in. An angry dog is surprisingly hard to detain and immobilise so obviously he felt that he wasn't going to be able to do so.

Whispered

Good thing he was there to help the child. Fair play to him.

Mr. Presentable

liah wrote: »

It isn't nearly as clear as you think. The majority will be scared of a pitbull no matter how good an owner they know you to be. It's actually only a minority who realize it's the fault of the owner.

Lots of ignorant people think it's bred into the dog to attack humans-- it clearly isn't, hell, in the States it was the most popular family dog for years-- and not just dogs. I've heard many people say it in real life, far more than I've heard anyone argue that it's the owner's fault.

Also, the lockjaw myth doesn't help the case.

It's worth bearing in mind the dog held onto the child even after being kicked hard enough to lift it off the ground. The "lockjaw" may be a myth but the singlemindedness of the attack is not

Mr. Presentable

seamus wrote: »

The problem here is that responsible owners are the only ones who are going to comply with the law. Irresponsible owners won't.

Muzzling is the equivalent of making loitering illegal in order to deter drug dealers. The only people who obey the law are the ones who weren't doing anything wrong.
.

This is absolutely true.

In my experience, the irresponsible owners far outnumber the responsible ones. Or maybe the responsible ones stay home... There are about eight bull terrier type dogs around my estate and only one of them ever has a muzzle - the one walked by the middle aged "respectable" woman. And that dog's muzzle is always hanging about it's neck. Only two of those are ever leashed.

thebullkf

Graces7 wrote: »

Where was this? Not muzzled?

The child could so easily have been killed.

states , i have 2 dog meself...neither are PB's but i wouldn't fancy me chances against one.
i'd like to think i'd do the same in a similar situation but i dunno...

interesting reply's to the guys predicment... usual anti-PB shite but mainly dog owners being criticised,interesting stat about PB's bite % versus popualtion %..

There are several studies that have examined patterns of dog bites; in the medical literature, all of the studies reported in the main medical database find that pit bulls account for a very large proportion of dog bites in the US. Although they make up about 1% of all dogs, they account for between 25% and 40% of dog bites. Some of these studies are from the CDC.
Here are some refs.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10484090
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8657532
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1919485
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2769900

btw...this ain't a PB bashing thread,just looking for people's opinions.;)

liah

I'd wager the stat is due to pitbulls typically being bought by irresponsible people for the flash/power image, especially in the States. They pick the breed for the image and rep and train it to be aggressive. This doesn't really happen with most other kinds of dogs. I'd wager the stat is high for other breeds with the rep-- rotts, sheps, dobes, etc. due to the reasons why people buy them, not so much the dogs themselves.

Again, keep in mind American pitbulls were bred for ages to be the perfect family dog and were bred specifically to be good with kids.

nagero

Original source:
IAmA: Man who killed a pit bull to save a child today. AMA from reddit

3DataModem

Summary of story; plucky guy saves childs life, stupid ignorant dog owner and walker cause death of dog, general public has another reason to be scared of pitbulls, genuine thoughtful pitbull owners have another reason to hate the 'average' pitbull owner. Tragic all round.

Holybejaysus

She should definitely have been muzzled. (The obese owner, that is )

I can't see any problem with the actions of the SF vet. He should have snapped fatties neck too while he was at it.

dvet

Interesting stats! Once worked in a vet clinic in a fairly rough area and it was amazing howmany of the dogs were pit bull/staffy types, basically tough looking dogs, a lot of them bought for the sole purpose of making their owners look like tough men. Not to say that they were all bad owners - some were great - but some of them would definitely have fallen into the 'irresponsible owner' type category. So as liah said, it could be a lot to do with the type of owner that is drawn to these breeds. Then again, that may not account for all the attacks. The facts that a lot of attacks are on sleeping children that the dogs know well would be a bit worrying for me if I was a parent.

Max Power1

No brainer. In the situation the dog had to be killed.

The fault must lie with the owner (the fat woman) as the dog should have been muzzled.

lrushe

Do we know if it was definately a Pit Bull? Misidentification is well known when reporting a dog attack. Either way the breed, imo, is irrelevant, yes the man was right to do what he did and I wouldn't criticise his descision.

1c1a

I think someone deserves a medal for bravery.As a complete animal lover, if its the life of a dog over a child being disfigured (at best) or worse even dying it would have to be the dog every time. Not an easy dog to take on. I think it was an amazing thing to do!! Glad to hear it all turned out the best way possible given the circumstances

thebullkf

3DataModem wrote: »

Summary of story; plucky guy saves childs life, stupid ignorant dog owner and walker cause death of dog, general public has another reason to be scared of pitbulls, genuine thoughtful pitbull owners have another reason to hate the 'average' pitbull owner. Tragic all round.

+1

easyeason3

lrushe wrote: »

Do we know if it was definately a Pit Bull? Misidentification is well known when reporting a dog attack. Either way the breed, imo, is irrelevant, yes the man was right to do what he did and I wouldn't criticise his descision.

To be honest I don't think the breed of the dog should come into it. Yes Pit Bulls have a bad reputation, but look at the responsible owners who are able to keep, mind & properly train restricted breeds. Not all of them turn out vicious.

The owner of the dog should be banned from ever keeping another animal ever again. And heavily fined & jailed if possible.

The man who killed the dog should be given an award for his quick thinking. Another person could easily have jogged on thinking that the dog was going over to play with the child, or not have seen it at all. And it must have been a horrific thing for him to experience.

Cork24

who do we blame? the Dog, the Woman the man?

for one, if i had a child and a dog attacked my child with out a Second though i would kill it, if my house pet attack my child i would have it put down.. their is no way a dog shoud bite another person,

who can i blame for this i would blame the owner i have 6 dogs and each one of them are well under control. they work behind me when i am walking etc.

people are buying pit bulls not knowing their state of mind or what they can do. and alot of Children are walking pitbull their is no way a child should be walking a powerful dog they could easy break away from the child and attack another dog or child,

its sad to see the dog die, but the Owner should be fined at min 4000 Plus Damages of up to 10000 this way people will come more dog safe and start putting Muzzle on them.. By Irish law, the dogs should not be more the 5meters forward from Owner, or with out muzzle on him. 10,000 does seem much but if it stops people from buying those kind of dogs then so be it. I dont want to walk my dogs in fair of poor owners and having to pull my dogs apart from others.. My dogs are well trained to just walk past other people and Dogs..

adser53

Fair play to your man but its a sad story that a child was hurt and a dog killed because if the actions to 2 gob****es.

Cork24 wrote:

people are buying pit bulls not knowing their state of mind or what they can do. and alot of Children are walking pitbull their is no way a child should be walking a powerful dog they could easy break away from the child and attack another dog or child,

If you replace "Pitbull" in this sentiment with "Any dog they can't control" I'd agree with you. Breed is irrelevant. A big lab could pull them out on front of a car. A collie could bite them. A great dane could sit on them etc.

cork24 wrote:

its sad to see the dog die, but the Owner should be fined at min 4000 Plus Damages of up to 10000 this way people will come more dog safe and start putting Muzzle on them.. By Irish law, the dogs should not be more the 5meters forward from Owner, or with out muzzle on him. 10,000 does seem much but if it stops people from buying those kind of dogs then so be it.

The law states they have to be on a leash no longer than 2m, muzzled and be walked by someone over 16 years of age. Responsible owners do this. You yourself have seen the bad ones that don't and they're the problem. As it is, the law is nothing more than a nuisance to the good owners as they respect it and have well behaved dogs unlike the bad ones who cause all the problems. People have the right to own whatever breed they want without being confined to a baseless law aimed at the very people who ignore it

Jinxi

Holybejaysus wrote: »

She should definitely have been muzzled. (The obese owner, that is )

I can't see any problem with the actions of the SF vet. He should have snapped fatties neck too while he was at it.

Nice
I wonder if that had said black woman you would have felt the need to comment?
Or would 4 other people commented afterwards without objecting

Just another story about a bad owner who casts shadows on a whole breed. Sad for everyone in the story