I felt like my son didn't matter. That, that dog is more important.
Gerald Eaves, in Pit bull attacks 7 year old
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Revised 10pm March 21
Region 1: Mary Ann Higgins
Region 2: Joyce Thomas
Region 3: David Lett
Region 4: Carlis Williams
Region 5: Kent Wilcox
Region 6: Leon R McCowan
Region 7: Patricia Brown
Region 8: Thomas Sullivan
Region 9: Sharon Fujii
Region 10: Steve Henigson
Child Welfare League of America, American Humane Association, and dozens of state Child Protective Services officials, and others
One week ago SRUV reported on the pit bull attack on the three-year old daughter of Jonathan Diaz, and his subsequent efforts to protect the dog. We also noted that the Diaz case is far from unique. The attacks listed below, all of which occurred during the week since the previous post, represent only a sampling of the attacks on children. In several of the attacks over the past week, the attacking dog had a known aggressive history.
- March 13; 4 y.o. attacked; St Cloud, FL
- March 15: 2nd grader attacked; Ashboro NC
- March 16; 6 y.o. attacked; Crafton Heights, PA
- March 19; 9 y.o. attacked; San Antonio, TX
- March 19; 4 y.o. child attacked; Euclid, OH
- March 20; 10 m.o. attacked by family pit bull; Newark, DE
- March 21; 7 y.o. attacked; Catoosa, TN
The roll call of pit bull attacks on children is exploding exponentially. According to statistics gathered over the last 30 years, 61% of the pit bull attacks on children have occurred in the past 10 years; 37% in the past four years; 24% in the past two years.*
SRUV has struggled to understand why pit bull advocacy groups continue to insist that fighting breeds are like any other dog. And why they continue to place fighting dogs in homes as family pets.
Fortunately, all of the victims of the attacks listed on this page survived. Many of these pit bull attacks are disfiguring attacks, with economic costs ranging to the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars; the human cost is incalculable.
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Related Post: Child Protective Services, Pt 1
Google News: Today's pit bull attacks
* Statistics are from Dog Attack Deaths & Maimings (Mar 8, 2012), published by Animal People.
