Horses Mauled By Pit Bull

[CAH]

I recently received a call from an adopter who had adopted a wonderful OTTB from me back in 1999. They were quite a team, winning lots of ribbons at shows around their home in NJ. The horse had recently been attacked by their new neighbors 2 Pit Bulls and had to be destroyed. The dogs later broke through the window of their house and came after them! They have been confiscated and the whole mess is in the courts now.

TBlvr - I know the horse and owner you are speaking of - as a matter of fact I wondered if this thread was about her situation. I spoke her a few weeks ago and was absolutely shocked and angered about the situation. At the time, she shared that it appeared the one dog that was impounded was going to be returned home. The second dog was never impounded. I do not want to say much as this case will have its day in court, but it appears the owner of the dogs is as crazy as the two dogs that attacked her horse.

[3fatponies]

I am not prejudiced against a pit bull, but once these dogs learn this they can be very dangerous. My Boxer got attacked by a pit bull female once while we were walking by a house. We could not get the dog off of her. Finally we threw water on the dog, and it released, but it was locked on there so tight.

Pit bulls were bred to fight other dogs, therefore Dog Aggression is common among certain bloodlines, as it is for other fighting breeds. She didn't "learn" this behavior--it was bred into her by stupid humans, so there is no dangerous "learning curve" in which she would refine her DA skills--she was born with them, and her owners have the responsibility to understand and contain that componant of her personality. And any responsible pit owner with a brain knows that a breaking stick (or something similar) or choking off the dog will get them off another dog. If the owner of this dog didn't know that, he/she shouldn't own the dog.

[msrobin]

I agree most dogs said to be pits are not pits at all but other types of bulldogs or mixes.

I run a large dog rescue site and see dogs called pits or pit mixes all the time when they are in fact other breeds.

I do agree however that the bulldog breeds can and will be aggresive if given the opportunity. The owners of these dogs are fully aware of this, however some turn away and think their dog will never do that. WAKE UP no matter what the breed all dogs are capible of mauling and biting. Always take care and keep your dogs up or on a lease.

I am so sorry to hear about all of the terrible incidences. I was actually attacked by a Rottweiler, so now I have a full blown fear of them, even though I know not all of them are like that.

Bless the foal

[DKL]

Sorry but a pit bull or pit bull "cross" is more likely than a Golden Retriever to attack someone or something and do serious injury. Period. Maybe someone knows a dangerous Golden but the numbers don't lie. I've met some nice pits. But I would never own one as I don't want the liability. Saying that is not pit bashing at all IMHO.

What appeared to be a pit cross savagely attacked 2 of my dogs on 2 different occassions in my yard. He would have killed my Golden Retriever if it hadn't been for my husband's employees seeing it and beating the dog off. The dog is now buried.

Poor mini...

BelladonnaLily where did you get this info? Please post your source as I have NEVER heard of the "numbers" proving Pitts are more prone to attack.

The MOST aggressive dog I met was a full bred Golden Retriever. Did you know that labs and goldens are the breeds that most frequent adoption shelters? Hmmmm....

Lets do our homework folks and present this discussion with facts please.

[3fatponies]

Sorry but a pit bull or pit bull "cross" is more likely than a Golden Retriever to attack someone or something and do serious injury. Period. Maybe someone knows a dangerous Golden but the numbers don't lie. I've met some nice pits. But I would never own one as I don't want the liability. Saying that is not pit bashing at all IMHO.

Could you produce those numbers? I, and many pit bull advocates, have never been able to find verifiable numbers to substantiate that claim, so if you have them, I would love to know.

[3fatponies]

It's from the CDC study...trust me, I have had this conversation before and know those numbers well.
I don't mind if people don't want to own a breed, but demonizing it and trying to exterminate it are inexcusable. While the species are different, it is the same mentality that says "the highest number of convicted criminals are of African-American decent. Therefore, anyone African-American is likely to be a criminal."

It's sloppy thinking--illogical, ignorant and lazy, and proves nothing but that the speaker is too biased to even want to know if their opinion has legitimate merit by being supported with fact. If you want to restrict my right to own a breed of dog, at least be bothered to be able to justify it with scientific fact, or shut up.

Not being unkind to anyone in particular--this topic just sets me off.

[3fatponies]

I replied, but now my reply is ahead of yours....

[curlykarot]

Update

Foal at death's door after dog mauling
Published on October 11, 2006
By Katy Brandenburg
News-Post Staff
FREDERICK -- A 5-month-old miniature horse foal was one of three horses mauled by a pit bull and at least one other dog early Tuesday morning, according to Frederick County Division of Animal Control.
Animal Control Officer Robert Uttermohlen went to a farm in the 11000 block of Old Annapolis Road on Tuesday and found a Welsh pony and a large gray horse with bite wounds on their legs and a foal that was severely injured, according to Harold Domer, animal control director. He said the attacks took place late Monday night.
She was ripped from head to toe," said owner Karin Walden of the foal. "One of the dogs actually jumped on (the Welsh pony's) back and bit her rump."
The foal, named Dot, had bite marks and puncture wounds on three of its legs and a deep cut on its head that went all the way to the bone, Ms. Walden said. A veterinarian stitched up the leg and head wounds, but was not able to suture a deep gash on the foal's belly due to swelling and the possibility of bacteria, she said.
Animal Control officers captured a brown and white pit bull that was running loose in the area, Mr. Domer said. Officers set traps to try to catch another dog described as a collie mix that might have been involved.
Ms. Walden knew something was wrong Monday night when she looked at her television monitor and saw another of her miniature horses doing frantic circles in its stall. The horse is pregnant and about to foal, so Ms. Walden keeps an eye on it by video camera, she said.
I ran outside in my nightgown and slippers ... There were horses everywhere!" she said.
The panicked animals had broken the fence and gate to the paddock and were running loose in their field. Ms. Walden went to shut the gate and saw the pit bull and the back end of the other dog as it ran away, she said. It took her 40 minutes to bring the frightened foal back up to the barn.
It was at the very bottom of the pasture. I had to half-carry, half-push it back, uphill all the way," she said. "It was in shock. Then I saw how badly it was injured."
The next two days will determine whether the foal will survive, Ms. Walden said. The other two horses did not require veterinary care other than antibiotics.
By county law, the pit bull must remain at the Animal Control shelter on Rosemont Avenue for at least five days to give an owner a chance to come forward, Mr. Domer said. After five days it becomes county property and could be deemed potentially dangerous, he said. Right now the investigation is still open.
Ms. Walden said she hopes an owner does come forward to claim responsibility for the dog. Whoever it is will pay the foal's medical bills, either willingly or by legal order, she said.

[Little_Brown_Horse]

The only dog that has every attacked my dog was a Golden. Poor Rosco was playing on Boston Common with his doggy friends and this big mother Golden jumped him and had him by the throat on the ground. The Golden's owner was horrified and got her dog quickly. (Thank God!)

Poor Rosco sat there dazed and confused for a minute. Then he went back to playing with his friends and the Golden had to go home.

By the way Rosco is a 50 lb. pit bull.

[curlykarot]

Didn't mean to start a trainwreck or start a negative thread against pit bulls!

Understandably, all dogs are hunters and that is how they found food. Please don't judge all dogs by one incident. My nieghbors golden retriver was a great dog until he bit a lady walking her small dog (bit the dog too). The dog had to be put down.

Jingles for the Dot the foal - lets hope she makes it thru the next 2 days!

[Tess' Mom]

Having owned horses and various breeds of dogs for basically all my life, it's been my observation that any unsupervised dog can potentially be a problem to livestock and children. Especially when they are with a buddy or 2, it's amazing how that pack and chase/hunt/kill instinct can kick-in.
That's why all our mares and babies are in pastures that are totally fenced-in with wire mesh fencing, even the gates. and our rifle has a really good scope too.

Mega jingles for the injured foal, we truly hope the little one pulls thru!!

[TBLvr]

Some statistics:

THE STATISTICS - FATAL DOG ATTACKS IN THE U.S. FROM 1965 - 2001 *
The study covers 431 documented human fatalities from a dog attack.

Location of Attack
25% of all fatal attacks were inflicted by chained dogs
25% resulted from dogs loose in their yard
23% occurred inside the home
17% resulted from attacks by dogs roaming off their property
10% involved leashed dogs or miscellaneous circumstances

Number of Dogs
68% of all fatal attacks were inflicted by a single dog
32% was the result of a multiple dog attack

Victim Profile
79% of all fatal attacks were on children under the age of 12
12% of the victims were the elderly, aged 65 - 94
9% of the victims were 13 - 64 years old

The age group with the highest number of fatalities were children under the age of 1 year old; accounting for 19% of the deaths due to dog attack. Over 95% of these fatalities occurred when an infant was left unsupervised with a dog(s).

The age group with the second-highest number of fatalities were 2-year-olds; accounting for 11% of the fatalities due to dog attack. Over 87% of these fatalities occurred when the 2-year-old child was left unsupervised with a dog(s) or the child wandered off to the location of the dog(s).

Boys aged 1 - 12 years old were 2.5 times more likely to be the victim of a fatal dog attack than girls of the same age.

Breeds Involved
Pit Bull and Pit-bull-type dogs (21%), Mixed breed dogs (16%),
Rottweilers (13%), German Shepherd Dogs (9%), Wolf Dogs (5%),
Siberian Huskies (5%), Malamutes (4%), Great Danes (3%),
St. Bernards (3%), Chow Chows (3%), Doberman Pinschers (3%),
other breeds & non-specified breeds (15%).

Reproductive Status of Dogs
Overwhelmingly, the dogs involved in fatal dog attacks were unaltered males.
From 2000-2001 there were 41 fatal dog attacks. Of these, 28 were attacks by a single dog and 13 fatalities were caused by multiple dogs.

Of the 28 single dogs responsible for a fatal attack between 2000-2001;
26 were males and 2 were females. Of the 26 males, 21 were found to be intact (the reproductive status of the remaining 5 males dogs could not be determined).

States with the Most Fatalities - 1965-2001
California, 47; Texas, 32; Alaska, 26; Florida, 22; New York, 19; Michigan, 18; Illinois, 18; North Carolina, 17; Georgia, 16.

While at times informative, statistics on fatal dog attacks can also be misleading. For example, a number of cases were a Pit Bull, Rottweiler or GSD were counted as causing a human fatality were in reality the direct result of gross human negligence or criminal intent (i.e. discarding a newborn in the yard where the dogs were kept, or cases of extremely emaciated animals, or cases were the dog was ordered or encouraged to attack the victim).

This study was conducted not to determine which breeds of dogs caused fatalities, but rather to examine the circumstances and events that precipitated an attack. Knowing how many Pit Bulls or Rottweilers caused a human fatality has little applicable value, only when examining each case individually can we hope to gain insight into the HUMAN and CANINE behaviors that contributed to these tragic events.

The preceding information and statistics are excerpts from the book:

* "FATAL DOG ATTACKS: The Stories Behind the Statistics", by Karen Delise

And:

The breeds most likely to kill
In recent years, the dogs responsible for the bulk of the homicides are pit bulls and Rottweilers:

"Studies indicate that pit bull-type dogs were involved in approximately a third of human DBRF (i.e., dog bite related fatalities) reported during the 12-year period from 1981 through1992, and Rottweilers were responsible for about half of human DBRF reported during the 4 years from 1993 through 1996....[T]he data indicate that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human DBRF in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities." (Sacks JJ, Sinclair L, Gilchrist J, Golab GC, Lockwood R. Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998. JAVMA 2000;217:836-840.)

Other breeds were also responsible for homicides, but to a much lesser extent. A 1997 study of dog bite fatalities in the years 1979 through 1996 revealed that the following breeds had killed one or more persons: pit bulls, Rottweilers, German shepherds, huskies, Alaskan malamutes, Doberman pinschers, chows, Great Danes, St. Bernards and Akitas. (Dog Bite Related Fatalities," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, May 30, 1997, Vol. 46, No. 21, pp. 463 et. seq.) Since 1975, fatal attacks have been attributed to dogs from at least 30 breeds.

The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictability is the October 2000 death of a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family's Pomeranian dog. The average weight of a Pomeranian is about 4 pounds, and they are not thought of as a dangerous breed. Note, however, that they were bred to be watchdogs! The baby's uncle left the infant and the dog on a bed while the uncle prepared her bottle in the kitchen. Upon his return, the dog was mauling the baby, who died shortly afterwards. ("Baby Girl Killed by Family Dog," Los Angeles Times, Monday, October 9, 2000, Home Edition, Metro Section, Page B-5.)

In Canine homicides and the dog bite epidemic: do not confuse them, it has been pointed out that the dog bite epidemic as a whole involves all dogs and all dog owners, not just the breeds most likely to kill.

In all fairness, therefore, it must be noted that:

Any dog, treated harshly or trained to attack, may bite a person. Any dog can be turned into a dangerous dog. The owner or handler most often is responsible for making a dog into something dangerous.
An irresponsible owner or dog handler might create a situation that places another person in danger by a dog, without the dog itself being dangerous, as in the case of the Pomeranian that killed the infant (see above).
Any individual dog may be a good, loving pet, even though its breed is considered to be potentially dangerous. A responsible owner can win the love and respect of a dog, no matter its breed. One cannot look at an individual dog, recognize its breed, and then state whether or not it is going to attack.
Pit bulls and Rottweilers also are the dogs most likely to be involved in a serial attack (an instance of a dog injuring someone after having injured a person or an animal on a previous occasion) or rampage attack (an instance of a dog attacking multiple people or animals during a single incident). See Serial attacks and rampage attacks on Dangerous and Vicious Dogs.

To learn more about dog attacks, see Why Do Dogs Bite People? To learn about how to take some of the bite out of the dog bite epidemic, see Attorney Kenneth Phillips' 10-point plan for Preventing Dog Bites.

[carolprudm]

The neighbor who owned the dogs is well known by the pound folks here. The neighbor said they're pit bulls and the pound said they're pit bulls. That was good enough corroboration for me .

My neighbor says his dog is a pit/JRT cross. We have had numerous attacks, including one where he was driving with the dog in his open jeep and she jumped out the window to attack my dogs.

[Chester's Mom]

Jingles for the foal!

One other note on the statistics....we need to know WHO identified the animal. We have a neighbor who "reported" to our Animal control a pair of pit bulls killing cats (they were a lab/hound mix and a mixed who knows what) and a rottie who terrorized her in her front yard (it was a malamute). Her statements to me? "Well, everyone knows pit bulls kill cats" and "I thought it was so-and-so's dog and isn't it a Rottweiler?"

To add a personal note, my cairn was attacked by a full blooded Shar Pei, and my vet says they and Chows are the worst for attacking... FWIW.

[MeredithTX]

When I worked in an ER for almost 2 years, I saw many, many dog bite/attack victims. The worst one I saw was from a Lab - the family dog who suddenly attacked their 10 year old son's face. It was terrible. But in all that time, I only saw 1 pit bull bite, and it came from a man who owned several of them and tried to break up a play fight that got a little too rowdy by grabbing collars. Please don't generalize simply because a particular breed is demonized in the media. When these breeds are glorified as being tough and "mean," it's the irresponsible people who are looking for this kind of dog who buy and breed them. On the flip side, when you watch the Animal Cops shows, how many of those abused and neglected dogs are also pits and "dangerous" breeds?

*still jingling for the poor pony*

[3fatponies]

That's from the CDC study? If it is, please note they themselves determined it was NOT ACCURATE.

Here are some quotes from the CDC and Doctors involved in the studies explaining how the report is INACCURATE:
Procedure: We collected data from The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and media accounts related to dog bite attacks and fatalities, using methods from previous studies (CDC Special Report on breeds involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998, September 2000). Ideally, breed-specific bite rates would be calculated to compare breeds and quantify the relative dangerousness of each breed. For example, 10 fatal attacks by Breed X relative to a population of 10,000 X’s (1/1,000) implies a greater risk than 100 attacks by Breed Y relative to a population of 1,000,000 Y’s (0.1/1,000). Without consideration of the population sizes, Breed Y would be perceived to be the more dangerous breed on the basis of the number of fatalities. (CDC Special Report on breeds involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998, September 2000). NOTE: The CDC study does NOT use population as a factor.

* Considering only bites that resulted in fatalities, because they are more easily ascertained than nonfatal bites, the numerator of a dog breed-specific human DBRF rate requires a complete accounting of human DBRF as well as an accurate determination of the breeds involved.

* Numerator data may be biased for 4 reasons: 1. the human DBRF reported here are likely underestimated; prior work suggests the approach we used identifies only 74% of actual cases. 2. to the extent that attacks by 1 breed are more newsworthy than those by other breeds, our methods may have resulted in differential ascertainment of fatalities by breed. 3. because identification of a dog’s breed may be subjective (even experts may disagree on the breed of a particular dog), DBRF may be differentially ascribed to breeds with a reputation for aggression. 4. it is not clear how to count attacks by crossbred dogs. Ignoring these data underestimates breed involvement (29% of attacking dogs were crossbred dogs), whereas including them permits a single dog to be counted more than once. (CDC Special Report on breeds involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998, September 2000

* Finally, it is imperative to keep in mind that even if breed-specific bite rates could be accurately calculated, they do not factor in owner related issues. For example, less responsible owners or owners who want to foster aggression in their dogs may be drawn differentially to certain breeds. (CDC Special Report on breeds involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998, September 2000

* After 1998, the CDC stopped tracking which breeds of dogs are involved in fatal attacks; according to a CDC spokesperson, that information is no longer considered to be of discernable value

* "There are enormous difficulties in collecting dog bite data," Dr. Gilchrist said. She explained that no centralized reporting system for dog bites exists, and incidents are typically relayed to a number of entities, such as the police, veterinarians, animal control, and emergency rooms, making meaningful analysis nearly impossible. (CDC releases epidemiologic survey of dog bites in 2001, September 2003)

* When multiple dogs of the same breed were involved in the same fatal episode, that breed was counted only once (eg, if 10 Akitas attacked and killed a person, that breed was counted once rather than 10 times). When crossbred dogs were involved in a fatality, each suspected breed in the dog’s lineage was counted once for that episode. Second, we tallied data by dog. When multiple dogs of the same breed were involved in a single incident, each dog was counted individually. We allocated crossbred dogs into separate breeds and counted them similarly (eg, if 3 Great Dane-Rottweiler crossbreeds attacked a person, Great Dane was counted 3 times under crossbred, and Rottweiler was counted 3 times under crossbred). Data are presented separately for dogs identified as pure- and crossbred. (CDC Special Report on breeds involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998, September 2000)

[DKL]

I am sure there are alot less reported bites from 'family' owned dogs vs the pits and other breeds collected from these type of studies.

I was bit last year by a full bred Akita; I let is sniff my hand (as I always do with all dogs) and then went to pet it's head and then is when it bit me. I never reported it as it was my friend's dog. I should have as I recently found out the dog had bitten a total of 6 other people.

[TBLvr]

I didn't see a reference to a CDC study. But I'm sure the results are all wrong anyway.

[BelladonnaLily]

Could you produce those numbers? I, and many pit bull advocates, have never been able to find verifiable numbers to substantiate that claim, so if you have them, I would love to know.

You just don't want to admit to the numbers. They are out there.

This is from the Dog Bite Legal Center:

“Rottweilers and Pit Bulls were involved in 60 percent of the 27 dog bite fatalities that occurred in 1997 and 1998. Rottweilers were involved in 10 deaths, and Pit Bulls were involved in 6.
1. From 1979 through 1998, at least 25 breeds of dogs have been involved in 238 human dog bite related deaths. Pit Bulls and Rottweilers were involved in more than 50 percent of these deaths. “

Golden Retrievers weren’t mentioned.


From the Dog Bite Law website:

"Studies indicate that pit bull-type dogs were involved in approximately a third of human DBRF (i.e., dog bite related fatalities) reported during the 12-year period from 1981 through1992, and Rottweilers were responsible for about half of human DBRF reported during the 4 years from 1993 through 1996....[T]he data indicate that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human DBRF in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities." (Sacks JJ, Sinclair L, Gilchrist J, Golab GC, Lockwood R
1.


Also, here is a website pdf file: http://www.dogbitelaw.com/breeds-causing-DBRFs.pdf

Now, this took about 3 minutes. I’m sure I could do more in-depth research if I had the time or inclination. I’m not sure why pit bull owners are so sensitive. Just be responsible for your dogs and you wouldn’t have to worry about it! (Not pointing at anyone here...just pit bull owners in general).

You can talk around it all you want...but pit bulls rank up there (among rotties, GSDs..which I happen to adore...I grew up with a wonderful GSD, etc., etc.) with dangerous breeds. My next dog will be a GSD but I won't try to tell anyone that the breed isn't among the most dangerous. You make yourself look silly, IMHO, to do otherwise when it is so blatantly obvious to most reasonable persons.

And this BS about Goldens...yes, I have met a neurotic, hateful Golden. They exist. But I'd wager (no, I don't have statistics) that a vast majority of people would be safer leaving their child alone with a strange Golden than a strange Pit Bull. C'mon people

[BelladonnaLily]

I don't mind if people don't want to own a breed, but demonizing it and trying to exterminate it are inexcusable.

I didn't demonize it or express the desire to exterminate the breed. If you're going to get your panties in a wad, don't read into my statements what ISN'T there. I've liked most pits (granted, not many) I've known...except for the one my husband shot (btw, if someone's poodle had done that to my dog he still would have shot it...no breed bias there).

Stereotypes are out there for a reason. Irresponsible owners and bad breeding have caused the trouble for the breed...NOT public opinion. I'm sure all of the statistics I quoted are wrong because no one but people like you can identify a pit bull, right?