Pitbull attack

[BecxyRex]

Hi everyone, 

On Monday, right after dropping our daughter off at school, my husband and I drove back and found a Pitbull just hanging out in the middle of the road. It’s a road in our neighborhood, so no heavy traffic fortunately. My husband got out and was able to coerce the dog off the road onto the sidewalk. It seemed very friendly and submissive. I took the car up the street to park in front of our house and walked back down to my husband and said dog. We were going to figure out what to do next.

As I walked down I noticed another Pitbull running around on the road and heard a voice shouting from one of the houses: “Buttercup, get the f*** back in here!” Ok, we thought, problem solved. At least we knew where the dogs were living. I noticed both of them seemed afraid of their owner and wouldn’t listen.

All of a sudden, this old man walking his chihuahua mix entered the scene. He just came around the corner, presumably on his regular morning dog walk. Within seconds, and I mean, it happened so fast, my jaw I think actually dropped to the floor, the Pitbulls charged at this tiny dog and started tearing into it. Threw it into the air like an orca whale might do to a seal. The old man was screaming, I was standing there frozen in shock and could only mumble “nooo nooo” over and over… Fortunately, my husband had his wits about him and instantly ran to separate the dogs. He was able to, but the little dog was badly hurt. He had broken bones and deep puncture wounds on his side. The owner did not do a thing aside from half heartedly calling his dog’s names. At that point more neighbors had gathered.

I ran up to the car, grabbed our phones and drove back down to the scene. The old man cradling his dog hopped in and gave me directions to his home. The smell of blood in the car is something I won’t forget for a while. 

The old man took his dog to the emergency vet right away and we’ve been in touch ever since. The little dog has had surgery so far and seems better at least. The old man also filed a police report and contacted animal control.
 

I learned that there was another attack on a family dog that same morning around 6. By the same pair of Pitbulls. Apparently an elderly couple walking their little dog. I don’t know their names and don’t know if a report was filed. I know in Texas law states that once there are two attacks on animals done by Pitbulls, the dogs will be removed. We’re currently trying to find this couple, because I honestly don’t even feel safe walking with my little daughter. 

[LootieTootie]

Wow this is just so sad. Is there a go fund me account for his pet bill? 

This is truly the owner's fault especially when you said the Pitbulls seemed scared of the owner. This is a big tell tale sign. I've seen abused dogs as the most loyal dogs because they are scared of their owners. 

My dog was bit by a pitbull while both dogs were on a leash, so the city did nothing about the pitbull. My dog didn't provoke the pitbull - in fact he was wagging his tail and prancing because he was excited about going to the dog park and the pitbull turned around and chomped his butt.

I remembered waiting at the ER thinking 'crap now my dog is really going to hate all Pitbulls from now on.' Surprisingly getting bit never fazed him nor made him hate Pitbulls. One of his bffs is a pitbull.  I really believe it's because we socialized him a lot.

I remembered a lot of people telling me that Pitbulls are dangerous and using my dog's example as proof that they are just an aggressive breed. But dogs are just like humans. They have personality, quirks, and sometimes you just don't know what will set them off or freak them out. My dog doesn't like a neighbor of mine, and it's just odd (I'm starting to think it might be a smell associated to her?) This is the only thing/person he growls at. Other then that, he's on best behavior wanting people to pet him. 

Just to add another example of dog's unpredictability, regardless of their breed. An old friend of mine adopted a bully. She actually found him on the street and took him in. Kept him because he was "so calm and lazy." They had the bully for 4 months and one day, felt comfortable enough to leave the bully home with their yorkie. They came home to the lifeless body of whatever was left of the yorkie. She told me to never adopt a rescue because you don't know the dog's background. There some truth to what she said but I've been around dogs long enough to know sometimes you just don't know them even if you've known them your whole life. We like to train our dogs to be predictable or think they are predictable but dogs are very much entitled to have a mind of their own.

 

[BecxyRex]

Hi Lootie, thanks for your response. The owner of the little dog has a gofundme page for his vet bill. I was just informed that I can’t post it to enotalone. That’s ok, I thought I’d try to cast my net wider, but so far a decent amount of people have donated to help him out. I’m kind of invested now, since I drove them home and saw it all happen. I hope he’ll be ok. 
 

Theres definitely something strange going on with the owner. I think animal control is supposed to do a check visit soon. As much as it hurt to see the little dog get attacked, I don’t wish abuse on the Pitbulls or some horrible home life. 
 

I do think they tend to be more aggressive than other breeds and supposedly are more prone to turn on their owners. It makes me pretty uncomfortable knowing they could escape again any time. Sadly, Pitbulls seem to be some aggression status symbol with many people and I’m sure that goes hand in hand with bad raising. But the damage they can do is also just much worse than an aggressive chihuahua. 

Anyway, fingers crossed the little one pulls through!
 

 

[Jibralta]

What a sad story! That poor man, and that poor dog!! I hope the dog is ok.

Something like that happened to my boyfriend once. He had a Pomeranian at the time and was walking it in his neighborhood. He stopped to chat with two of his neighbors. Directly in front of him, but up the street, two other neighbors decided it was a good idea to let their four-year-old daughter walk their bulldog. The bulldog saw my boyfriend's little dog and decided it was mealtime. The bulldog charged, dragging the little girl down the street with him. This all happened in my boyfriend's line of sight, so he had a chance to scoop up his Pomeranian. My boyfriend then barked in the bulldog's face, causing it to stop dead mid-charge and backpedal lol.

Any dog can be aggressive with other dogs. I had a darling little Cavapoo who loved people, loved cats, and hated dogs. I couldn't take her to the dog park because she was miserable there. It was a big surprise, given her happy-go-lucky, gregarious personality in other circumstances. But I had to honor it, even with my little lap dog. Obviously when you have a dog with weight and power behind it, it's even more important to take precautions!

9 hours ago, BecxyRex said:

Sadly, Pitbulls seem to be some aggression status symbol with many people and I’m sure that goes hand in hand with bad raising.

I think a lot of people get pitbulls just so that they can complain on facebook & the like that people are judging them for their pitbulls and/or they can portray themselves as some kind of social justice pitbull warrior. And while they're at it, they complain about being judged for their tattoos as well. Good grief. No one gives a sht about your pitbulls or your tattoos except for you. Quit being so obsessed with yourself and shut up already!

Every time I see someone walking a pitbull, I think this^ of them. I know it's not fair but I've just seen it too many times. LOL!!! 

Anyway, as Lootie Tootie says, pittbulls have all different personalities. There are also several different breeds that comprise the "pitbull" category--although I think they're most commonly associated with Staffordshire Terriers. I've seen two very aggressive pitbulls, and interestingly, both of them had the same build and coloring: they were tall, and they were white with tan spots. Both of them had that kind of aggression even as puppies. Interestingly, one of these dogs is literally the only dog my Cavapoo ever became friends with... but my friend had to give him up because he became aggressive with her little girl.

I babysat two pitbulls in someone's home once. They lived in a duplex and shared a yard with their neighbors. One of their pitbulls mauled the neighbor's dog. This happened before I babysat for them. As a result, I had to walk both dogs on a leash in the yard. I made sure to have their leashes wrapped around my arms and keep myself braced so that the dogs couldn't break free if the neighbor dog came out (I'm used to handling horses--dogs can't pull me down).

[Jibralta]

I just wanted to add...

I went to a dude ranch in Arizona about 17 years ago and spent a week at two working cattle ranches. They had the typical herding dogs there (Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, etc.). But they also had Border Collie - Pitbull crosses. They used these dogs when they worked with the bulls. The Border Collie - Pitbull crosses had the perfect personality for the job, but they were harder to train and to control. As a result, they often wore shock collars. So, I guess there's definitely a trait in the pitbull family that lends itself to that kind of work.

[boltnrun]

I'm so, so sorry this happened. The poor little doggy and the poor owner. I feel for you and your husband too for having to witness that. Bless you for driving the man and his dog to the vet ER.

I always blame the owners (fair or not) because these dogs tend to do what they're trained to do or else they suffer abuse at the hands of their owners. Or their owners have no clue how to train them. One of the best dogs I ever knew was a pitty. His owner gave him a lot of love and only trained him to defend his family if they were under threat. Interestingly, this dog defended me against his owner by barking loudly and standing between me and him, even though I wasn't his owner! He would also always walk me from my car to inside the house to protect me. Wonderful dog.

I hope the little doggy recovers. And I hope the owner recovers from his trauma. And I hope the owners are held accountable.

[Jibralta]

My cousin's pitbull used to protect the sparring dummy BOB, that he kept in his house. It was endearing and also funny how the dog perceived the dummy as a person. 

[Rose Mosse]

That's very sad. I hope the smaller dog recovers fully and this doesn't have any lasting effects. 

[Wiseman2]

20 hours ago, BecxyRex said:

The old man also filed a police report and contacted animal control.

Sorry you witnessed this. It sounds heart retching. Good the man contacted authorities. Hopefully he sues this man to recover damages.

[BecxyRex]

3 hours ago, Wiseman2 said:

Sorry you witnessed this. It sounds heart retching. Good the man contacted authorities. Hopefully he sues this man to recover damages.

Thank you, Wiseman! 

[BecxyRex]

8 hours ago, boltnrun said:

I'm so, so sorry this happened. The poor little doggy and the poor owner. I feel for you and your husband too for having to witness that. Bless you for driving the man and his dog to the vet ER.

I always blame the owners (fair or not) because these dogs tend to do what they're trained to do or else they suffer abuse at the hands of their owners. Or their owners have no clue how to train them. One of the best dogs I ever knew was a pitty. His owner gave him a lot of love and only trained him to defend his family if they were under threat. Interestingly, this dog defended me against his owner by barking loudly and standing between me and him, even though I wasn't his owner! He would also always walk me from my car to inside the house to protect me. Wonderful dog.

I hope the little doggy recovers. And I hope the owner recovers from his trauma. And I hope the owners are held accountable.

Thank you! The Pitbull owner definitely wasn’t fit to own these dogs. They were afraid of him, when he called them. Animal control actually took them away as far as I know. Little dog is recovering also. Things are looking good 🙂 

[BecxyRex]

9 hours ago, Jibralta said:

What a sad story! That poor man, and that poor dog!! I hope the dog is ok.

Something like that happened to my boyfriend once. He had a Pomeranian at the time and was walking it in his neighborhood. He stopped to chat with two of his neighbors. Directly in front of him, but up the street, two other neighbors decided it was a good idea to let their four-year-old daughter walk their bulldog. The bulldog saw my boyfriend's little dog and decided it was mealtime. The bulldog charged, dragging the little girl down the street with him. This all happened in my boyfriend's line of sight, so he had a chance to scoop up his Pomeranian. My boyfriend then barked in the bulldog's face, causing it to stop dead mid-charge and backpedal lol.

Any dog can be aggressive with other dogs. I had a darling little Cavapoo who loved people, loved cats, and hated dogs. I couldn't take her to the dog park because she was miserable there. It was a big surprise, given her happy-go-lucky, gregarious personality in other circumstances. But I had to honor it, even with my little lap dog. Obviously when you have a dog with weight and power behind it, it's even more important to take precautions!

I think a lot of people get pitbulls just so that they can complain on facebook & the like that people are judging them for their pitbulls and/or they can portray themselves as some kind of social justice pitbull warrior. And while they're at it, they complain about being judged for their tattoos as well. Good grief. No one gives a sht about your pitbulls or your tattoos except for you. Quit being so obsessed with yourself and shut up already!

Every time I see someone walking a pitbull, I think this^ of them. I know it's not fair but I've just seen it too many times. LOL!!! 

Anyway, as Lootie Tootie says, pittbulls have all different personalities. There are also several different breeds that comprise the "pitbull" category--although I think they're most commonly associated with Staffordshire Terriers. I've seen two very aggressive pitbulls, and interestingly, both of them had the same build and coloring: they were tall, and they were white with tan spots. Both of them had that kind of aggression even as puppies. Interestingly, one of these dogs is literally the only dog my Cavapoo ever became friends with... but my friend had to give him up because he became aggressive with her little girl.

I babysat two pitbulls in someone's home once. They lived in a duplex and shared a yard with their neighbors. One of their pitbulls mauled the neighbor's dog. This happened before I babysat for them. As a result, I had to walk both dogs on a leash in the yard. I made sure to have their leashes wrapped around my arms and keep myself braced so that the dogs couldn't break free if the neighbor dog came out (I'm used to handling horses--dogs can't pull me down).

Hi Jibralta, I agree, if you have a powerful dog like a Pitbull you really need to be equipped to handle it. I would imagine lots of professional training involved. One mistake can just be devastating. 
 

Haha, I got a good chuckle from your description of Pit owners. It’s so true! Lots of them get super defensive. You can’t even mention Pitbull attacks in certain circumstances, because it brings the Pitbull Justice warriors out of the weeds. I love animals in general, but I have a healthy respect for these breeds. 
 

Wow, handling horses! I sometimes think Living on a horse farm would be my dream life but I have zero experience with them aside from brushing them and riding sometimes when I was 12 and in pony camp lol 

[LootieTootie]

19 hours ago, BecxyRex said:

Hi Lootie, thanks for your response. The owner of the little dog has a gofundme page for his vet bill. I was just informed that I can’t post it to enotalone. That’s ok, I thought I’d try to cast my net wider, but so far a decent amount of people have donated to help him out. I’m kind of invested now, since I drove them home and saw it all happen. I hope he’ll be ok. 
 

Theres definitely something strange going on with the owner. I think animal control is supposed to do a check visit soon. As much as it hurt to see the little dog get attacked, I don’t wish abuse on the Pitbulls or some horrible home life. 
 

I do think they tend to be more aggressive than other breeds and supposedly are more prone to turn on their owners. It makes me pretty uncomfortable knowing they could escape again any time. Sadly, Pitbulls seem to be some aggression status symbol with many people and I’m sure that goes hand in hand with bad raising. But the damage they can do is also just much worse than an aggressive chihuahua. 

Anyway, fingers crossed the little one pulls through!
 

 

Good to hear that folks are helping this poor man with the vet bills. His precious dog is lucky to have him. & the man is so lucky you and your husband was there to help.

yes Pitbulls tend to be more aggressive and that's why owners need to do research when they're going to get a dog - know what the dog was bred for, know the breed temperament & other traits associated to the breed. 

 

[mylolita]

Becxy!

 

Oh my goodness! This is shocking! 
 

I completely understand your concern regarding your daughter. You hear of dogs, yes actually disproportionately pit bulls, attacking children. It’s not an out there thing to be concerned about! 
 

I’m glad everything worked out in the end. It’s such a good job you and your husband were there to help. The owner sounds very abusive and dodgy. 
 

x

[BecxyRex]

18 hours ago, mylolita said:

Becxy!

 

Oh my goodness! This is shocking! 
 

I completely understand your concern regarding your daughter. You hear of dogs, yes actually disproportionately pit bulls, attacking children. It’s not an out there thing to be concerned about! 
 

I’m glad everything worked out in the end. It’s such a good job you and your husband were there to help. The owner sounds very abusive and dodgy. 
 

x

Thanks Lolita, it was really terrifying. The dogs are gone now thankfully and I feel like I can let my daughter play outside again! 

[mylolita]

3 hours ago, BecxyRex said:

Thanks Lolita, it was really terrifying. The dogs are gone now thankfully and I feel like I can let my daughter play outside again! 

Glad to hear it chuck!

 

I guess they aren’t named Pit Bull for nothing! Yikes.

 

x