Another sad day - 2 year old mauled by rottweiler

[GypsysMom]

Originally Posted by SaranBear

No he should not. He is in no way legally responsible. He had every right to have his dog tied on his property. Now do I think dogs should be tied? NO, but this guy doesn't deserve to be prosecuted for this either. It's not his fault that a kid wandered into his yard.

No its not his fault per say, but everyone knows and he should especially with the work he has done that leaving a tied-dog leads to territorial aggression therefore he should not have done it, even the nicest dog can get aggressive when his territory is invaded by an animal or a person, nobody will ever know excattly what happend what a shame a life has been lost

[winniecnm]

He may not be legally responsible according to the laws in his town, but I could not sleep at night knowing that I had a hand in what happened.

If I were the lawyer for those parents, I would see just how other people in a court of law viewed the dog owner's level of responsibility. The girl could have wandered into traffic and been killed, or gotten killed in some other way. Or she could have LIVED! Kids her age do go missing and return alive. But she didn't, she was killed by the LAST thing that should have done the deed- a domestic dog.

[JudyP]

It is evident that the babysitter was negligent... no way should a child of that age, have the opportunity to be missing for any amount of time. That person should KNOW where that baby is at ALL times!!

Unfortunately, the dog owner did not think "it" would happen to him... this baby might be alive today if the dog had been properly secured...

[gore]

I dont think the dog owner is responsible, im sure many ppl have some potentialy dangerous things around, but they dont have to wary if they dont have small kids. Could have been a very deep hole on his property, or so many other things that can be dangerous for a kid that age.

[hcelsa]

How truly sad...SHAME on the baby-sitter for not keeping track of the child, SHAME on the parents for not choosing someone more responsible, and SHAME on the dogs owner for leaving his dog in a compromised position.

For what it's worth one of the things that was discussed at a dog law seminar I went to a couple of years ago was the doctrine of "attractive nuisance" (which this dog could be considered I'd bet) Attractive nuisance doctrine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basically something that might attract children, but could also be considered dangrerous without supervision (common items are pools, and trampolines, but in at least a few incidences horses and dogs qualified according to the lawyers doing the seminar I went to) is considered the home-owners responsibility to prevent access and/or make look less "attractive". After that seminar my yard is not only fenced (6 foot wood), but the side that has small children living on the other side of the fence also has plywood up so there are NO spaces at all for the little ones to see the dogs through.

[winniecnm]

For those of you who think the rottweiler owner is not responsible for the tragedy that happened, I hope you will just sit down and give this some real serious thought.

If you own ANY dog, it is your moral obligation to your community to safeguard people from being harmed by your animal. Wether tresspassers belong in your yard OR not. If I left an unlocked loaded gun in my house - which was legal in NM where we lived, and your child was killed by that firearm by another child playing around- who is responsible? Even though I was "legal" in how I kept that firearm, was I not responsible?? A dog carries the same capabilities as that gun does my friends. Don't you ever forget that.

Yes, the babysitter indeed played a big part in this tragedy - no disputing that. But as a rottweiler owner of 7 years now, I have learned that I have a great obligation to the people around me to prevent an incident like this from ever happening..

Hcelsa, you took the words out of my mouth! There is a great lesson to be learned here. I would not be surprised if the child's parents file a civil wrongful death suit against the babysitter and the rottweiler owner. Legal liability goes a long ways beyond the basic ordinances most people are aware of on the books, such as the one you mentioned.

[jakesfostermom]

I too have had a really hard time believing that the owner of this dog is without fault..........and the swimming pool analogy is perfect - when you have a pool - you have a fence - WHY? because of the liability/possibility of someone falling in that cannot swim..........SO - if you have a dog, that is large enough to cause severe physical injury to another animal or person, should they wander into the length of the dogs chain, then you have a responsibility/liability that needs addressing! It doesn't matter the breed of dog........or animal actually - same theory applies to a horse, or a cow, or a goat.........tying an animal, unsupervised, in an unfenced area, regardless of the reason, is simply STUPID - my 2 cents - and if you even remotely pay attention to the world around you, AND you own a rottweiler - you would be a moron to think it couldn't happen to you (emphasis on chained unsupervised & unfenced)...........this child died as a result of HUMAN error - the human part of the caregiver, and the human part of the dog owner..........and to me - neither is more/less responsible. God be with the family of that little girl...........

[neonfxp]

all i have to say is STUPID CARETAKER not doing her job more then likly the girl went to pet the dog the dog then started to play rough and then the girl got freaked out and then from there started hiting the dog and therefore the dog attacked back but i guess we will never know but all in all its just stupid that the dog was shot and that the girl was out of the caretakers eye sight

[SaranBear]

Well I have to say that there is a big difference between criminally liable/responsible and civilly responsible. I don;t think this guy should be fined cited or otherwise handled criminally. Even civilly I think it would be a long shot. I did NOT say he wasn't morally responsible. I really feel he IS morally responsible for what happened. But I didn't agree with Gypsy's Mom that he should be prosecuted. We do all have a moral responsibility to do the right thing legal or not. I have a feeling this guy will "feel" responsible for this forever. I know I would, and it DOES serve as a great reason to NOT tie your dog up and leave them alone.

[jakesfostermom]

I believe the poor moral decisions we make, will evenutally affect the legal decisions we are forced to make/accept because of tragedies like this.......and believing that it is 'okay' to tie a large dog in an unsecure area, unsupervised, even when the law currently supports it, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. We can hope we don't see this community overreact here and ban rottweiler ownership as a result of this, but it's almost certainly a discussion that is being had by some in that area, I'm sure....... The whole is judged by the actions of a few.........

[manymtz]

This is a tragedy! I live in El Paso, I work on Tv News , I drive to see this place: First of all this was not a puere breed Rottweiler this was a mix maybe with lab. This dog 80pounds was chained with a long and big heavy chain. Living in wood box just under the sun...for me this is dog abuse.!The people here lives in a place with few money...

[mom26]

Would the story been made, that public, if the dog was a ..........German Shepard or Doberman or any other breed, than what stupidity(public) is trying to put down or outlaw?Where was the babysitter?He had his dog contained to his yard by means of tying him down(which I disagree with,but is "legal" containment here in Montana).Sorry for the loss to the family,but like I said.............Where was the babysitter????????????I think she is by far...more at fault!

[Dugganmom]

Originally Posted by mom26

Would the story been made, that public, if the dog was a ..........German Shepard or Doberman or any other breed, than what stupidity(public) is trying to put down or outlaw?Where was the babysitter?He had his dog contained to his yard by means of tying him down(which I disagree with,but is "legal" containment here in Montana).Sorry for the loss to the family,but like I said.............Where was the babysitter????????????I think she is by far...more at fault!

No i personally do not think so...it makes me so mad....

[winniecnm]

Lets all remember that a young child lost her life here. There is no reason NOT to have this story make headlines.

Here is another link to the story. Turns out the neighbors were leery of the dog too:

Copyright 2006 by KFOXTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

This man helped create a tragedy in his severe ineptness in handling his dogs. Even if this little girl had not been mauled, someone else most likely WOULD have been at a later time.

Anyone who creates a dangerous situation for his family and community should NOT be granted protection by fellow rottweiler owners.
While we all want so badly to protect our breed, there comes a point when the kiddie gloves need to come off and people need to be dealt with a little more harshly than a slap on the wrist. In turn, that will help solve some of the problems we are dealing with BSL and bad press. People will realize that they cannot just own ANY dog and cry ignorance when their dog ruins someone else's life!

Saran Bear, my friend was badly bitten by a pit bull as a child while in the dog's home. She recieved 100K in damages (15 years ago) for the injury to her leg. When you own a dog, you take responsibility for the animal's actions - Period. It would not be a far stretch to see a lawsuit similar to the presa canario case in CA crop up from an instance like this. Plenty of witnesses to the dog's character being agressive.

[mom26]

saw the link to the story..........looked like a pretty far walk for a two year girl.Yes,I'm sure you know..rotties are territorial.What a terrible story,but whose to blame?The man that had his dog tied up or the babysitter that didnt know where the 2 year old girl was,for half an hour?My children(all 5 of them,were raised around rotties,but were also taught NOT to approach strange dogs of any sort.They were also taught to talk to the ownwer og any dog and ask if it is okay.