ALERT: Charlotte, NC)

[samanthac]

Here is a section from an article in this mornings paper. Not us, but let one in and we could quickly follow. The pittie people have always helped us, lets give them a hand.

"In response to Roddie's death, city officials are studying whether pit bulls should be banned in Charlotte. At least a dozen other cities around the country, primarily smaller towns and suburban communities, have banned pit bulls. Dozens of other cities have restrictions on the breed, including regulations on the height of fences, warning signs and requirements for liability insurance.

Police statistics show there were 904 dog bites in Charlotte-Mecklenburg last year, including contacts that didn't break the skin.

Of those, 130 or about 14 percent were attributed to pit bulls. So far this year, 26 of the 250 dog bites -- about 10 percent -- were blamed on pit
bulls. A breakdown on all breeds was not immediately available.

About 12 people die in dog attacks each year, according to the American
Veterinary Medical Association.

Nationwide, pit bulls are the breed most frequently involved in fatal dog attacks. Experts are divided on whether the dogs are naturally aggressive or have to be trained that way."

The story can be found at:
<http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/>http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/ search on dog and the title is Blood Samples gathered.


Charlotte City Council contacts:
patmumford@bellsouth.net>patmumford@bellsouth.net
djloch@earthlink.net>djloch@earthlink.net
TryCannon@aol.com>TryCannon@aol.com
mayor@ci.charlotte.nc.us>mayor@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Lassiter@bellsouth.net>Lassiter@bellsouth.net
JamesDistrict2@aol.com>JamesDistrict2@aol.com
71170.3036@compuserve.com>71170.3036@compuserve.co m
malcolmdist4@aol.com>malcolmdist4@aol.com
pbk2@mindspring.com>pbk2@mindspring.com
john@tabor2000.com>john@tabor2000.com
sburg346@aol.com>sburg346@aol.com

[pbach]

Thanks for posting this Samathac. Charlotte is right in our backyard and I'd hate to see something like this happen.

Patty

[mmgy]

Here's some info from the past few days.....
http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/showthread.php?t=34955

Today's news is that *dad* is being tested because they believe he was on drugs while this was going on. He's in jail under $200,000+ bond (about 7 charges), and didn't even ask to go to his son's funeral today.

He will likely be charged with murder.

Excellent commentary from a local columnist this morning.......I'm going to stay on him to keep it up!
************************************************
Posted on Wed, Apr. 21, 2004

WHAT WAS GOING ON IN DAD'S HEAD?

TOMMY TOMLINSON

Tell me that Roddie Dumas Sr. was high.

Tell me he was coked-up or strung out or lost in a marijuana fog.

But please don't tell me he was clean and sober, sitting inside his house, while his four pit bulls were in the back yard killing his son.

I need to know that the stereo was loud, or the vacuum cleaner was running, or Dumas and his girlfriend were yelling at each other.

Anything to explain why they didn't hear his son's screams -- so loud that the neighbors and the mailman ran to help.

I want to hear that Dumas was out of his mind with grief when he found out what the dogs had done to Roddie Jr., his 8-year-old son.

Something to make sense of what police say happened next -- that after the mailman finally ran off the dogs with a fence post, Dumas came outside and threatened the mailman.

I am trying to remember innocent until proven guilty. But the more I read about this one, the harder it is.

Police found cocaine and pot inside the house, as well as an AK-47 rifle and a couple of shotguns. Dumas Sr. has a crown tattoo on his right arm. Police think that means he's part of a gang called the Kings.

For now he's charged with drug and firearm offenses. He hasn't been charged in his son's death. Not yet.

But if stupidity and recklessness were crimes, Dumas would already be convicted.

There's no other way to describe it when you have an 8-year-old in a house with drugs and an AK-47 and a bunch of pit bulls lying around. (Roddie Jr. didn't live there full-time; he was staying with his father for spring break.)

In a case like this you look for anything that might keep it from happening again. So the city is going to do some research into banning pit bulls, which a few towns have already done.

Pit bulls have been bred as fighters. But they can be trained to lay at your feet and lick your hand, the same way a gentle dog can be whipped and starved until it's a beast.

It's not about the dog. It's about the owner.

This was the first fatal dog attack in Charlotte in almost 20 years. But children die at the hands of neglectful parents all the time.

Toddlers wander into unguarded swimming pools. Babies are left behind in hot cars. Infants are shaken in the crib.

Sometimes it is a tragic mistake and sometimes it is something worse.

Now the system will deal with the elder Roddie Dumas. Remember again: innocent until proven guilty. But my guess is that prosecutors will stack up every charge possible. If he ever jaywalked they'll try to nail him for it.

The funeral for Roddie Jr. is today. The dogs will be put to sleep when the investigation ends.

In the meantime, Dumas sits in a jail cell. It can be surprisingly quiet in there.

It's the kind of place where a man has time to sit with a clear head and think about what he has done.

Tommy Tomlinson
ttomlinson@charlotteobserver.com