Who would favor dog over child? (Michigan City, IN)

[Rene Allegrini]

Article and link provided by fightBSL group:

Michigan City News Dispatch Online

Rick A. Richards

The vicious dog that attacked little 9-year-old David Ginther Jr. is dead. It was put down Wednesday, as promised by Michigan City Animal Control.

On Thursday, Bruce Wren, who works for animal control, confirmed the dog's death. “That dog was mean,” he said. “We don't need dogs like that in Michigan City. Getting near that dog made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.”

The dog, a Rottweiler, smashed through a wooden fence and ran down the block after Ginther and his friends, who were enjoying an unseasonably warm Sunday by playing ball in a yard. Not one of the children was anywhere near the dog and none of them was teasing the animal.

No one knows why the dog went after the children, but it did. David tried to hide behind a bush when he saw the dog coming, but the Rottweiler grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him out.

When Michigan City police arrived, Ginther was inside a neighbor's house, where his wounds - which took 21 stitches to close - were being treated. Outside, La'Chell Williams, 12, was standing on top of a parked car, trying to stay away from the snarling Rottweiler.

Add this incident to a litany of other dog attacks in the city and it makes you wonder why anyone would want to live in a neighborhood where there are dogs.

Two years ago, I wrote about 7-year-old Chris Bentley, who was playing in her baby sitter's backyard when a pit bull from a neighboring yard broke its chain and tore through a fence and attacked her. She was lucky. She needed only six stitches in her leg.

A few months earlier, Arthur Lingus was walking his dog near International Friendship Gardens when two marauding pit bulls attacked him and his dog.

And there have been others: A man bitten by a pit bull on his way to K&M Supermarket in 2000, two brothers who were attacked in 2001 in their back yard by a dog that had jumped their fence, and a mail carrier in 2003.

In 2000, City Councilman Willie Milsap, in response to an attack in his 5th Ward neighborhood, introduced an ordinance to tighten the screws on people who owned pit bulls and Rottweilers, two breeds most responsible for attacks. But because there was a howl of outrage over the ordinance naming specific breeds, Milsap watered down his ordinance just to get something passed.

He said he wanted something on the books to get “at those pet owners who are irresponsible.”

It was a noble effort, but six years on, pit bulls and Rottweilers are still attacking people.

During debate on Milsap's ordinance in 2000, Councilman Paul Przybylinski took exception to the proposal, suggesting that tougher language be inserted to deal with people who antagonize dogs.

“We're citing the dog, but not the people who can cause the attack,” Przybylinski said.

That attitude still persists and it misses the point in each of the cases I've cited. Not one of the people attacked in any of these incidents did anything to torment a dog. They were going about their business when the animal turned on them without provocation.

On the same day that little David Ginther was severely bitten, The News-Dispatch had a story about a dog abandoned by its owner. Neighbors had fed the dog, which was left inside a fenced yard after the owner moved away. After Animal Control got involved, the owner suddenly appeared and claimed the dog. But since that story, calls have continued to come in about how appalling it was for a dog to be abandoned.

But no one has called about how appalling - and terrifying - it was for David Ginther Jr. to be mauled by a vicious Rottweiler. In Michigan City, it appears that dogs matter more than children.

Rick A. Richards is city editor of The News-Dispatch. He can be reached at rrichards@thenewsdispatch.com or at 874-7211, Ext. 441.

[Bucky's Mom]

Originally Posted by Rene Allegrini

But no one has called about how appalling - and terrifying - it was for David Ginther Jr. to be mauled by a vicious Rottweiler. In Michigan City, it appears that dogs matter more than children.

Rick A. Richards is city editor of The News-Dispatch. He can be reached at rrichards@thenewsdispatch.com or at 874-7211, Ext. 441.

Ok- I will write to Mr Richards and tell him in no uncertain terms that responsible Rottweiler owners are NOT the problem.

Blame the DEED not the BREED

[LavenderRott]

Since all of the statistics that I have seen (not that they are anywhere near accurate) pit bulls and rottweilers make up less then 50% of the dogs involved in attacks.

So, does that mean it would be less appalling if the child was attacked by a loose labrador? Or any other breed of dog, for that matter?

That is what I have a hard time wrapping my head around. That it is somehow more upsetting for someone to be bitten, mauled or killed by any one breed of dog than any other. Yes, being bitten by a large dog probably hurts more and does more damage then being bitten by a toy breed. But a child killed by a pom mix is no less dead then a child killed by a mastiff.

[Bucky's Mom]

I want to thank Rene for posting these stories - if we DON't reply we are part of the problem - a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.