[maxcat]

I feel so sorry for the pain that poor boy must be in. We have a friend (fellow Rotti owner) who was attacked once by a Rotti and a pit bull and I know how badly it messed him up even as a very large, strong man.

I do, however, think that no one should be climbing into another person's yard. I don't care if the yard belongs to your best friend. I say this because we live behind a park and sometimes stray balls, etc get into our yard. Once or twice we have seen signs of someone hopping the fence to retrieve a ball and there are so many reasons (other than dogs) not to do it. What if there is a nervous owner who happens to have a gun or what if they get hurt just hopping over and break a limb.

I know that a 10 year old child does not have the maturity to understand these reasons, but the same goes for a dog. We have one of the most people-loving dogs I have ever met but I cannot say that he wouldn't get defensive if someone jumped into our yard and I wasn't around to control the situation. That being said, I understand not leaving your dogs unattended in your yard (we don't either) but it should be the owner's choice. If you are on your own property, you should be able to leave your dogs unattended.

Whatever your beliefs I think all of use feel sorry for the future of the child and the dogs. It seems like a horrible accident that none of them should have been involved in.