Toddler dies in pit bull attack
Published: September 29, 2009
Updated: September 29, 2009
ORANGE — A pit bull fatally attacked a 23-month-old girl in the Mountain Track Road area Sunday night, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Mark Amos said deputies were called to the house around 6:40 p.m. Sunday to find the girl with severe wounds all over her body.
The child had wandered outside the house, Amos said, and adults at the residence found her body near where the family pet was chained.
Amos said Sgt. Jason Smith immediately began CPR and continued to try to resuscitate the girl, who was pronounced dead shortly after 9 p.m. at the University of Virginia Medical Center.
Amos declined to identify the victim, family or the home’s address. A source close to the family, however, identified the girl as Jasmine Deane, whose parents are John Deane and Kristie Fincham of Culpeper.
The source said John Deane had recently moved in to the house where the attack occurred; the house is owned by his sister, Stephanie Deane.
The family could not be reached for comment.
“Prior to the call,” Amos said in a press release, “the mother was preoccupied for a short period of time when she noticed that her child was not in the house and started to look for her. A family member then found the child outside where the dog attacked her.”
The dog, which the family had owned for 10 years, was voluntarily surrendered to animal control officers and euthanized.
Amos said it had no prior history of biting or dangerous behavior.
The investigation is ongoing.
The sheriff declined to release additional details or say whether charges would be filed.
Dog-bite statistics
Virginia Department of Health officials were not able to confirm Monday if this was the first dog mauling death in Virginia this year, but spokeswoman Maribeth Brewster said health officials were not familiar with any other recent case.
Jim Parrish, a Virginia lawyer who handles civil cases of dog attacks, said children are the most likely victims of such incidents.
He said his research has shown that many attacks are by dogs the victim knows.
“Most of the time it’s the first time the dog has ever attacked a person or other animal,” Parrish said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dogs bite 4.5 million Americans each year, and one in five dog bites need medical attention.
A report released by the Virginia Department of Health in August 2008 said 4,346 dog bite-related injuries were seen in emergency rooms and urgent care centers across the state in 2007.
Statistics for 2008 have not been released.
DogsBite.org, a public education Web site on dangerous dogs, reported 23 people in the U.S. were killed in 2008 in dog attacks. Of those, 16 were children.
In those 23 cases, 15 child and adult victims were killed by pit bulls, the DogsBite.org study showed.
In Orange County, two dogs are listed on the Virginia Dangerous Dog Registry, a state database that tracks dogs deemed dangerous by the local court. Neither of those dogs was involved in the attack on the child Sunday, and neither is a pit bull.
There are 266 dogs on the statewide dangerous dog registry, said Elaine Lidholm, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the office that oversees the registry.
If a dog kills a human being or a domesticated animal, then it is deemed vicious and is immediately euthanized, Lidholm said.
Sharon C. Fitzgerald of Media General News Service contributed to this report.
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Reader Reactions
jessns - So you did all your research and decided on a pit? Does it stay in the house or is it tied to a tree behind your house? Do you and the dog have a rapport or do you just feed it and ignore it? Do you play with the dog? Walk it? Tell us about the results of your “research”.
Please disregard the previous post. I did not go to the funeral but it does not appear the chain killed the child. The information that had been passed on to me was false and had not verified it until just now.
All the same not all pitbulls are bad
Stop bashing the breed for the owners mistake. It is my understanding that the chain the dog was attached to is actually the cause of death.
This information came second hand so to all of you that are bashing the breed maybe you should get all of the facts if you want to stick your nose into something you really don’t know anything about.
Not all of them are bad. Some are and some aren’t sounds alot like many of the citizens that call this area home. Most of them are good but there is always a few bad apples in the bunch.
you Pitt owners—-a broken record.
I feel so bad for this poor little baby who died. Do you all think about what she went through while being killed ? Being bit over and over and over while she screamed in terror ? Her skin being ripped off her ? Probably shook like a rag doll until she died ? All for a simple pleasure of this dog ? Do you all have a heart at all ?
I swear to God I would kill every one of them if I could. And the owners need to be tortured too for being so ignorant !!!!!! You people are absolutely disgusting !!!! I feel so bad for your children. Poor helpless kids who WILL BE ATTACKED one day ! IDIOTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SCUM !!!!!!!!!!! You are worse than the dogs—-at least they have pea brains—you all act like you have pea brains !!!!!!!!
LOL.. people that dont own pitts are jokes. Just because you have one does not mean we are fighting them, or selling drugs. How bias is that. What if i was to say because of your color you are poor or live in poverty. Hmm, how bias is that? How racist is that? Ohh an my child was asleep in her bed because it was 10 at night. Hows that not responsible? Any animal is capable of attacking. The only difference in the severity of these bites is that they dont chomp and chomp they bite and hold (not lock, do some research) I did my research before I bought my dog, and no im not a drug dealer, a thug, trash or adrenaline junkie. Im educated unlike you, terra. So after you do your research then come talk to me. Dont blame the breed or the dog for the ignorance of the owner, they give the dog bad reps.
rogersk - you have to bare in mind what “certain” people do for money and why they think they need a pitbull. A cocker spaniel just wouldn’t do the job.
And to the rest, you will never convince me the owners of pitbulls only buy that breed because they like their looks. There is a reason behind the purchase and anytime a pit bites or kills it is the owner’s negligence that has caused the dog to turn mean. Total blame lies with the owner, not the dog.
These Pitt owners that accuse these grieving parents and not this creature have a screw loose and will feel different when it is their dumb dog that turns on them and they become the center of scorn. And the lady that says she has a child with a Pitt and you have alot of nerve to accuse these parents of bad parenting, what a joke you are. Children can easily slip away when a busy mom gets preoccupied. I am sure you are sitting their with your child now while typing your 2 cents on the computer about a worthless piece of crap dog that murdered a child. Pitt owners will do anything to take up for these time bombs even drive their nails in deeper to the already heartbroken parents of this child. The only mistake they made was having one of these things around a child in the first place. Anyone that owns a Pitt and has children are idiots. I am glad you feel so confident about your dog that you are willing to risk your child’s life for the sake of argument. The web sites they give are done by Pitt Lover’s so the information is irrelevant because it is only propaganda from other Nuts that take up for these dogs. Look at the un-bias information out their about this breed. Look in our own community what has happened over the past year. Pitt’s try to kill their victim period!! You screwballs can say what you want I know from my sons scars and terrifying experience what these things are capable of and that is all the knowledge I need. Pitt owners are the most uncaring ruthless people out their when it comes to defending these things. But I guess you can only be so upset when you know everything they do and say is pure ignorance. All they are concerned about is proving they will be the one person to tame the beast. It is an ego thing to even own one of these dogs. And yes most people now that own them are drug dealers,thugs, trash,or the adrenaline junkie that needs some kind of challenge. They are everywhere you look on the streets running free and in our neighbors backyard. I have someone on my street that breeds them in his backyard and fights them…and yes rumor has it he’s a drug dealer too. And of course I reported this. Animal control is a joke. Most breed by idiots trying to make a quick buck off of the new trend. Creating weapons on a leash to break free and roam the neighborhoods and endanger you and your children. Laws need to be made and that is only accomplished by YOUR voice. DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS NOW TO CHANGE LAWS ON PITT BULLS!!
jess, I did check the website that you mentioned..thanks you for your research..Just so you understand the number ten dog was the least dangerous of the ten and the number one the most dangerous. Maybe you should go back and look at it again..Let me say here that I do not disagree that ownership of these dogs carries a lot of responsiblility and time that it takes to train them. At the same time, I think the the animals are bred for a purpose and it is not to be a family pet. I believe that many people think it is “macho” to own one of these dogs and after they have established that in the minds of their friends and peers the dog is neglected as far as socializing goes. This does not mean that I trust them or want one of them around my family or dog. I certainly do not and I think it is foolish to have one around small children. I believe there should be strict laws concerning their ownership and if they are not adhered to then the dog should be removed from the custody of that person just as a child would be. I still don’t want one around my space.
Hmmmmm,,, and what’s Number One, jesse?
This attack should not be blamed on the dog. The owner/parents of the child and dog should be the one that is blamed. What mother leaves their 23 month child alone unattended, what mother doesnt hear her child scream if she is getting attacked? You say blame the dog and the bread, no blame the owner who has the bread and is teaching the dog to fight. I have a pit bull and a child, he has never attacked her and has never showed aggression towards any of us. He is not visicous and i did not purchase him to have “job security” as you say. People that dont like the bread are afraid and bias, own one and then tell me how dangerous they are. Maybe you should check out this websit: http://www.petsdo.com/blog/top-ten-10-most-dangerous-dog-breeds
your beloved dalmation that is the poster dog for firehouses is number 10 most dangerous dogs, hmm go figure..
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