3-year-old mauled by neighbor's dog

[Tara]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...01-10-22-57-15

Very sad. I hope the little boy is alright. But why was he in his neighbors back yard?

3-year-old mauled by neighbor's dog

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. (AP) -- A 3-year-old boy was in critical condition Tuesday night after being mauled by a neighbor's dog.

Deputies found the boy about 3:45 p.m. in his neighbor's back yard with a 2-year-old female Rottweiler. The boy's father had called the sheriff's office when he noticed the child was missing, Sheriff Howard Smith said.

The child had bite marks on his face, neck, top of the head and lower body. His clothes had been completely torn off, Smith said.

The boy was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital. Animal control officers seized the dog.

No one has been charged and the investigation is continuing.

The attack comes less than a year after 82-year-old Dorothy Sullivan and her small dog were killed by three roaming pit bulls at her Spotsylvania County home. The dogs' owner, Deanna Large, was convicted last month of manslaughter and the jury recommended she serve three years in prison.

[BuckshotSableMolly]

I heard this today on the news It really breaks my heart.

Several questions lie here though:
1 - How did the child 'go missing'
2 - Where were the parents and owners
3 - Is this animal always outside
4 - What is the animal's history (training/socialization)
5 - I could go on as most of us here could, but for now, I will choose to wait!

There is no reason for any of this. I am thinking that in order to own a rottweiler, extensive knowledge of the breed and requirements of the breed is a must. Ownership is not a game! People like these fustrate me! For they are the reason people would like to ban them!

[debbiej]

sigh. what a tragedy.
One example of why leaving a dog in a fence outside while not home isn't the best idea. Again, any dog could have been involved, but we hate it that it is said it is a rottie.

Of course, many things would have contributed to the accident, but ultimately the strike is against the breed.

[onthedl74]

3 year old roaming around? Not that I am justifying the bite, but c'mon!

[kyahsdad]

truly, what a shame! i have to agree a rott is not something to decide on having overnight. and discipline and socialisation is key. i have met many "idiots" that should be the poster people for "those who should never-ever be permitted to own a rott!" or any other dog of such caliber and force. it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up to read about maulings such as this one. rule one with our kyah is she comes first and her whereabouts are always known. she is never just let out to run. although she listens to a "t" and stays in her yard, unsupervised, terrible things can happen. if not like this story then running into traffic, etc.

[Cordelia]

Parents fault. The Rottweiler should have behaved better but all this could of been avoided if the parent actually watched their child. The parent should be convicted.

[aseemom]

Originally Posted by Cordelia

Parents fault. The Rottweiler should have behaved better but all this could of been avoided if the parent actually watched their child. The parent should be convicted.

Judgement without facts can be dangerous!!!!! My daughter at 2 learned how to unlock deadbolts, and let herself outside. I was washing dishes and THOUGHT I could hear her well enough, but obviously it was not enough. I checked on her and found her on the front porch. She was out for less than 2 minutes. (alot can happen in 2 minutes!) The only time this has ever happened. I was not negligence, I supervise my children, but they are CHILDREN.

We do not know the awnsers to BuckshotSableMolly's questions. It may or may not be a tragic momentary lapse in supervision by the parents or much worse, I don't know.

The only thing I can tell from what I read is the OWNER of the dog did NOT have his dog adequetly (sp?) restrained. A three year old should NOT be able to get near ANY dog that is unsupervised by its owner. That is the OWNER's responsiblity.

[RottieGirl86]

My almost 3 year old nephew has developed a new habit of kicking dogs and stepping on their tails. I only heard about it 3rd person, I did not see it. It happened over Christmas holidays when I was ill. But, why his parents don't have a come to Jesus moment with him, I don't understand it.

Thankfully, my StepMom's GSD mix rescue has not bitten him. I, myself would not allow the child back until he has manners.

Fault is on both sides:

-Dogs should not be left unattended, too much can happen imo.

-Parents should know where their kid is at all times. The world is not expected to raise your kid.

Dogs and kid(s) left alone is like watching a lit fuse on dynamite and not expecting something to happen!

[ElsasFamily]

This is so tragic. I have a three year old; I hope in this case it was just a momentary lapse of supervision.

And again it's happening not too far from me. It's just adding fuel to the fire. Pretty soon someone's going to try to take our rights away. It's only a matter of time before it happens. I wish there was a way to prevent that from happening and prevent some of these less than desirable owners from buying a Rottweiler or Pitt Bull.

[BuckshotSableMolly]

I wish there was a way to prevent that from happening and prevent some of these less than desirable owners from buying a Rottweiler or Pitt Bull.

Amen to that! Who's ready to begin writing the technicalities!!!

[Bruce Lanthier]

Who gets to determine who should own these dogs? There are members here that I don't think should own Rottweilers.

[ElsasFamily]

There really isn’t a way to determine who should own a dog, same thing goes w/who decides to have kids. But maybe a class or something needs to be required before you can have a legally registered dog. Kind of like the classes that you have to take before you can carry a concealed weapon.

[Tara]

Here's the latest. I'm sure we will never know for sure how this little boy got over the fence.

I know that my dogs are never outside unattended. When I'm at my parents they try to leave the dogs out, but I say no, they need to have supervision at all times. I have a privacy fence at my house, but I know kids can still stick things through it.

This is just a sad situation all around.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...011101334.html



Rottweiler Leaves Va. Boy in Critical Condition

By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 11, 2006; 1:42 PM

A 3-year-old Spotsylvania County boy is in critical condition after he was mauled yesterday afternoon by a neighbor's 70-pound Rottweiler that tore off his clothing and bit his face, neck, and lower body, according to law enforcement authorities.

Sheriff Howard Smith said today that investigators don't know how Dakota Murphy, who lives on Timberland Drive in Spotsylvania, ended up in a next-door neighbor's fenced-in yard with the large dog shortly before 4 p.m. The boy was discovered bleeding and lying face-down on the ground by police after his father called 911 to report that his child, who had been napping, was missing.


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Dakota was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he has responded well to eight hours of surgery, Smith said. "The bite marks punctured the boy's windpipe," he said. "But he's holding his own now [in the hospital]. It's real good news."

No charges have been filed. Unlike a dog-mauling case last year in Spotsylvania -- in which an 82-year-old woman was killed by three wandering pit bulls and the owner was convicted of manslaughter -- this case does not appear to involve a crime, Smith said. The 2-year-old dog was confined in its own yard and had all of its rabies shots.

"The dog was on his own property in a fenced-in yard. At this point, there doesn't appear to be any violations of the law," Smith said.

Authorities are still investigating how the boy, who weighs about 25 pounds, entered the neighbor's yard where the dog was. The boy's father told police he had put his son down for a nap, but when he went back to check on him 15 minutes later, the child was gone.

The father called 911 at 3:41 p.m. and deputies arrived five minutes later. They searched the house for several minutes but could not locate Dakota. When they went outside, they heard a barking dog and peeked over the 4-foot chain-link fence dividing the properties and saw Dakota on the ground.

The deputies entered the neighbor's yard, with the dog barking and threatening to attack, Smith said. One deputy drew his weapon, pointing it at the dog, which then withdrew into a corner of the yard.

"Obviously, the first priority was to get to that child and protect him and render first-aid," Smith said. "If that meant that the deputies had to destroy the dog to get to the child, they certainly would have been justified in doing that."

With the dog retreating, the deputies rolled the boy over and began performing CPR before he was flown to the hospital.

Authorities believe the boy could have gotten onto the neighbor's property through a gate, or by climbing over the fence, which is low at one point because of the sloping ground. He also could have been pulled over by the dog, Smith said.

[BuckshotSableMolly]

Who gets to determine who should own these dogs? There are members here that I don't think should own Rottweilers.

Great question! I also couldn't agree more.

No one will ever be able to completely decide on what grounds, just as owning a gun, deems you competent to own an animal, however, there has to be something. They can decide who can drive, buy alcohol, buy guns and smoke. Why is an animal so much different?

[Bruce Lanthier]

Simple, make the owners responsible for their dog's actions. As in the above case the dog was confined on its property, so no law broken. This is certainly not good but the dog and the dog's owner didn't do anything wrong. Now, if the dog(s) are out terrorizing the community, put the dogs down and put the owner in jail and fine him. Make owning a dangerous dog dangerous for the owner.