If a dog kills your child- it`s your fault.
New York Post,
26 Jan 2006,
Link No longer availableA Long Island girl who just celebrated her 6th birthday last weekend was strangled by her playful pet pooch, who dragged the child by her scarf in a fatal tug-of-war, police said yesterday.
Kaitlyn Hassard of Manorville came home from kindergarten at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to be greeted by the family's golden retriever, Jesse. The dog playfully yanked on the scarf looped around her neck, said Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, commander of the Suffolk County Homicide Squad.
Her mom, Korey, ordered the 18-month-old pup be put in the back yard while she made a phone call. But, unknown to her, Kaitlyn followed Jesse out the door, Fitzpatrick said.
About 10 minutes later, Mrs. Hassard asked her 11-year-old son, Kevin, to get Kaitlyn for a trip to the post office, Fitzpatrick said. The boy found the 70-pound dog "running around the back yard." His 40-pound sister was lying on the ground. "There were indications she was dragged," said Fitzpatrick. "The dog was probably pulling on the scarf and it tightened when it was pulled."T
How stupid can parents be? If your family dog weighs more than any child in your family get rid of the dog. If you want a big dog around to protect your home think about this: The chances that the victim of a fatal dog attack will be a burglar are one in 177; the odds that it will be a child are 7 out of 10.
Even though this was not a biting incident, it certainly could have been. There are more than 5 million dog bites a year and rising. The majority of victims are children.
Emergency room stats show:
The median age of patients bitten was 15 years, with children, especially boys aged 5 to 9 years, having the highest incidence rate
The odds that a bite victim will be a child are 3.2 to 1. (CDC.)
Children seen in emergency departments were more likely than older persons to be bitten on the face, neck, and head. 77% of injuries to children under 10 years old are facial.
Severe injuries occur almost exclusively in children less than 10 years of age.
The majority of dog attacks (61%) happen at home or in a familiar place.
The vast majority of biting dogs (77%) belong to the victim's family or a friend.
When a child less than 4 years old is the victim, the family dog was the attacker half the time (47%), and the attack almost always happened in the family home (90%). More Here.
With all the fuss that we make when a parent kills a child, you would think that we would be outraged when a dog does it, yet we do not limit the size of dogs in families with children. Oddly there are ordinances prohibiting felons from owning large dogs:
sfgate - Limits on felons owning dogs get OK, Excerpt:
The Contra Costa County board of supervisors unanimously supported on Tuesday prohibiting convicted felons from owning any dog that is aggressive or weighs more than 20 pounds, making it all but certain the proposal will become law when it formally comes before the board for approval Nov. 15. The proposal would also for the first time require people with dogs deemed potentially dangerous to apply for a permit to keep their dog and to abide by certain rules. Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier said his desire to do something about dangerous dogs was galvanized by the March 29 mauling of 11-year-old JaQuan Rice Jr., as the boy walked near his home in Concord.
I would support any law limiting the size of a dog in any family with children to a size smaller than the smallest child in the family.
If you do not have a dog but you want to protect your children, teach them how to avoid being bitten:
Do not go near strange dogs.
Never bother a dog that is eating, sleeping, looking at something else, playing with another dog, playing with a toy, or taking care of puppies.
Do not move quickly or make loud noises.
Never pet a dog that is behind a fence or in a car, even if the owner tells you it is ok. Dogs are naturally protective of those spaces. Teach your child that most dog owners are unfamiliar with the risks of dog ownership and that even if they say their dog doesn't bite, it does bite, 5 million times a year.
Tell an adult about any strange dog near your house.
Always, always, always, always have an adult with you when you play with a dog.
Never tease a dog.
Let a dog smell you before you try to pet it.
Despite all of the above, if the dog is bigger than you, do not play with it, pet it, look at it.
If a dog growls at you, stand still, fold your arms slowly around you, look down, say and do nothing until an adult arrives.
If attacked, lie on the ground with your hands protecting your neck and head, or kneel with your hands around your ears, try not to move around even if it starts chewing on you. Eventually if it feels you are not a threat it will go away. Lie there until an adult comes by.
Never try to outrun a dog. Can't be done.
To make it easy for children to learn all this stuff, you can get the B.A.R.K. (Be Aware, Responsible, and Kind)™ Dog Bite Prevention Program, a video and activity book of lessons, worksheets, and coloring pages proven effective in teaching elementary school-aged children how to behave safely around dogs. Go here.
Find other bloggers discussing these technorati tags: attack, biting, certain, child, contra costa county, dangerous dogs, dog, dog bites, dragged, family dog, fatal dog attack, golden retriever, images, jesse, kaitlyn hassard, kills, long island girl, manorville, photo, scarf
Comments from Old Comment System
- Virtually the ONLY problems with dogs are dog owners. Our children's first dog, a German Shepherd, was actually our first dog before our first child was born. Never an issue of safety with our children--as babies and younger children--because a.) The children were NEVER alone with the dog b.) The dog was well-trained. Hand signals, voice or whistles: immediate response, even when in "protector" mode (I easily called her off a kid who pulled a gun on me once, for example, without even raising my voice). c.) The children were the dog's "puppies" as far as she was concerned. Safe? Ultra safe when she was watching them (which was any time they were in her yard). Unfortunately, most dog owners aren't as intelligent as the dogs they own, and are considerably less responsible. *sigh* My son's current dogs, whom I care for while he's in college, are a slightly diffenet matter. One is nearly as intelligent as our first dog, the children's high water mark with dogs, and easily trained and controlled. The other is more problematic. Less intelligent, MUCH bigger (the largest dog I have ever owned--nearly 2/3 my own weight) and growing touchy (physically--from obvious aches and pains--and yes, he gets supplements for them, pretty much the same I take for the same aches and pains, though my aches and pains aren't the reason I'm a touchy curmudgeon; that's just personal choice) as he grows older. Still no problem with visiting children because neither dog is allowed ANYWHERE near a child without an adult nearby, and only the smaller, well-tempered and easily-controlled dog is allowed to directly interact with anyone outside the family. "Big boy" is always sequestered, behind a fenced enclosure anytime outsiders are visiting, and only the smaller (though still classed as "large") dog is allowed in the house, where he is very well-mannered. Owners who do not know and control their dogs are the ones who ought to be put down. Parents who allow their children to interact with large (larger than the child, as you put it, though you ought to remember that pound for pound, a dog will be stronger, with faster reactions than any given child) dogs without CLOSE adult supervision should be introduced to Dr. Tarr and Mr. Fether, if not given a hemp necktie party of their very own... And parents who do not teach both their dogs and their children how to behave around each other ought to spend a harrowing half hour attempting to survive in a cage of starved Rotties who've been trained to kill for their food... Dogs roaming loose are target practice. (Around here, a handy excuse is, "Sorry. Thought it was a coyote." Usually works with the sheriff's department.) Still, given that 92% of Americans are morons, annual licensing of dog OWNERS (with incompetent morons being put down for the good of the community) might be the way to go. BTW, even moronic Americans would be able to teach BOTH their dogs and their children well using this lil book: http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/ebooks/TYD.html I've had a lifetime of living with, teaching and training well-behaved dogs (and children *heh*), and that lil book makes more sense, is more accessible and usable than any other single resource I've found for either dog or child training. :-) It's not the end-all, be-all of dog (or child) raising, but if a person's able to read and understand the directions on a prescription bottle (sadly, something 69% of recent college graduates cannot do), that lil book will virtually assure they'll have a well-behaved, well-controlled animal (dog or child :-)). Of course, since a majority of people are too subliterate (or plain stupid) to be able to read and understand such a simple book, they probably ought not to have a dog OR a child. Most simply ruin children and dogs with their own stupidity. Loooong comment... about to get longer. TPT neighbors (new ones with no civilization anywhere in their bones) were letting their dog run loose in an unfenced yard, no leash, nothing. I'd mentioned it to both the local cop and the sheriff's department without much success. I told one of the town gossips I was going to feed it some Trident Sugarless gum (dogs can't metabolize the Xylitol) the next time it came in our yard. Yes, I would have killed it. Without firing a shot. That afternoon? The dog was at least staked out on a chain. (Sad, really. NOT the way to treat/train a dog. It'd be better off dead.)
Comment by: David on September 26, 2006 11:17 AM
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