Two injured in dog attack
Photo by Greg VanNostrand
PIT BULL ATTACK: Rescue crews prepare to airlift a 3-year-old boy injured by two pit bulls Wednesday morning on Mount Pony Road. According to witnesses, the boy’s grandmother, who was also injured, is credited with saving his life.
Published: May 14, 2009
Updated: May 14, 2009
A Culpeper woman is credited with saving the life of her 3-year-old grandson after two pit bulls attacked them Wednesday morning.
http://media.gatewayva.com/cse/slideshow/pitbullattack/index.htm
According to county officials and neighbors, the attack happened southeast of town in the 21000 block of Mount Pony Road around 10:30 a.m.
Animal Control Director Jamie Bennett said the boy and the woman were walking near their home when the dogs attacked.
According to Star-Exponent correspondent Greg VanNostrand, the child received severe wounds to his head and scalp, forcing workers on the scene to apply a large white bandage. The woman suffered bite wounds below the waist.
Separate helicopters transported both to the hospital.
VanNostrand also reported that an emergency worker on the scene told the grandmother that her actions “saved the 3-year-old’s life.”
Authorities identified the woman only as Mrs. Keith Powers; the boy’s name was not known.
Neither the victims nor family members could be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, and authorities did not have further information on their identities.
Although it is not clear to which hospital the victims were taken, neighbor Patty Hennage, who lives nearby on Blackjack Road, said the helicopters appeared to be headed south toward U.Va Medical Center in Charlottesville.
Hennage, a 16-year resident of the area, said the presence of helicopters alerted her that something bad had probably happened. Like many others nearby, she decided to investigate.
“I watched them load one person on the yellow helicopter, and it took off in the direction of (Charlottesville),” she said. “Then they loaded a second person onto the red helicopter.”
Hennage said she saw sheriff’s deputies at another nearby residence, but isn’t sure if any pit bulls live there.
Another neighbor, Amanda Kreitz, said she had recently contacted animal control with complaints about roaming pit bulls, but was unsure if animal control officers had investigated or if the dogs were directly linked to Wednesday’s attack.
“We called (animal control) Monday and Tuesday, and we were here the last three or four days,” she said, adding that she doesn’t think she would have missed their presence.
Kreitz’s mother, Elaine Dodson, also lives nearby. She said Powers lives about 3½ miles from U.S. 522 and that she believes the victims were about a mile away from their home.
“Her and her grandson, they walk every morning,” Dodson said.
Major Russell Lane of the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office said the county’s animal control officers are in charge of the investigation and that deputies were on scene to offer assistance.
Sheriff Jim Branch added that since the incident falls within the scope of animal control’s duties, his agency is not heading the investigation. Branch added that the Sheriff’s Office is ready to assist if necessary.
Bennett said an animal control officer was the first person on the scene after emergency personnel were summoned. When he arrived, Bennett said, the officer reported that he was able to catch the dogs and place them in his vehicle without incident.
Animal control officers carry handguns, but typically use less lethal tools like batons and catch poles — essentially a long stick with a noose at one end — for routine contact with animals.
Other than lacking identification, Bennett said the dogs, which are unneutered males that appear to be between two and three years old, appear healthy.
In accordance with the law, Bennett said the dogs will be quarantined for 10 days. Then, they’ll be held for 12 days. If the dogs remain unclaimed, they will be euthanized.
If someone attempts to claim the dogs, Bennett said, the county will take the matter to court.
A less severe category for problem animals — a dangerous dog — also exists. In that case, Bennett said, owners are required to register the animal with officials and they must also take out an insurance policy and ensure the dog wears special identification.
The county employs about a dozen animal-control employees. They are responsible for responding to and investigating animal-related complaints and operating the county shelter.
Other incidents
In February, Culpeper police officers shot and killed a seven-year-old male pit bull after the dog behaved aggressively and tried to attack neighbors and officers near a residence on Hill Street.
Following an investigation, the officers were cleared of any wrongdoing, with Chief Scott Barlow saying they acted “within policy and within the scope of their authority.”
In that instance, Barlow said it appeared the animal got loose after someone accidentally left a door ajar. The dog’s owner was not charged, and no serious injuries were reported in that case.
In April, Rappahannock County authorities reported that an 11-year-old girl was hospitalized with bites to her face, neck, arms and legs after a pit bull attacked her at a friend’s house. After being removed from the scene, that dog was later put to sleep.
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Reader Reactions
angels are looking over this family
My prayers go out to the family who was injured. I think it was an honorable thing for the owners to come forward. Anyone who owns a dog of any kind is responsible for them, but lets remember they are dogs. No one can predict or prevent their behavior. If they were leashed and by the owners side, the same thing could have occurred.
The owner has come forward and signed the dogs over to the county. There is a new article up.
ALL DOGS are capable of biting. Some tend not to. I had one who never bit anyone or anything for 12 years until one day, she went up to a lady who came to my door and bit her in the rear end. It’s not so much that Pits bite, but HOW they bite when they take a notion to that causes the problem. The way they bite can’t be bread out of them. I’ve met some really sweet pit bulls, but still think the whole breed should be inialated.
Here we have yet another attack leaving a small child with grave injuries and a relative forced to risk her life to save him. The news is full of these stories on a near daily basis, not just in the US, but worldwide. Pit bull apologists would have us believe it’s a media conspiracy instead of journalists doing their jobs, reporting the news.
They have had ample opportunity to fix the problem, to breed less aggressive dogs, to self regulate. They have utterly failed. They say the doberman was the dangerous dog of the 1980’s. Pits were already a problem even then, and doberman breeders got their acts together. They cleaned up their breed. The dobermans of today are not the inbred, aggressive creatures they had become. The same cannot be said of the collection of breeds that are commonly called pit bulls.
Animal control is full of pit apologists. You see their ignorant, deliberately misleading comments about the breed every time there is an attack of this magnitude. Hold them financially responsible. They failed to protect this community from problem dogs of which they were aware. Take their jobs and make it clear to their replacements that the same fate awaits them if they don’t start enforcing the laws already on the books. Hold the sheriff department accountable, too. Since when is it ok for a law enforcement agency to pick and choose which laws it will enforce? Since when did public safety take a back burner to law enforcement “turf”?
Gun ownership and car ownership are strictly regulated. If certain conditions are not met, it is illegal to own a gun or to drive a car. Pit owners and breeders have had over 30 years of a growing problem to clean up their acts. They have not done so, so it is time to hold them accountable. Force breeders to be licensed by the state and microchip every dog that comes from their facility. Include them in criminal and civil liability when one of their dogs attacks or kills another human being or someone’s pet. Hold rescues and shelters accountable for placing unsound dogs with unsuspecting families and for the lies they tell about the safety of their dogs with small children. They are implying a warranty when they make such a claim. Make them pay when they’re wrong.
Innocent blood hasn’t moved them. Hit them where it hurts, in their wallets. Only then will we see a reduction in these attacks. Pit apologists accuse the media of being motivated by greed in reporting these attacks when newspapers around the country are bleeding at the seams in the red and losing customers in droves. Meanwhile, pit breeders can command thousands of dollars for puppies from a fighting line, pit fight organizers make tens of thousands of dollars, pit lobbyists make tens of thousands of dollars, pit rescues like Best Friends get MILLIONS to take dogs like the Vick dogs. You want to follow the money trail and talk about greed? There it is, and the people paying the most are our friends and neighbors, their children and their pets. Prevent the deed. Regulate the breed. Don’t let this happen to another human being.
Take a look at http://www.dogsbite.org
The mauling and killing by pit bull is getting worse, and pit bulls are already NUMBER ONE on the list for killing and mauling people.
How long are we going to let pit bull breeders, dog fighters, the AKC, pit bull “rescue” profiteers continue to bully and manipulate our legislators into avoiding regulation? It is time that our legislators started to worry about honest citizens that are getting tortured by the problem pit bulls, instead of protecting the tax cheat breeders that make money from these dogs from laws. PIT BULLS ARE DIFFERENT from other dogs. There need to be controls and regulations or the bloodletting will only get worse.
You know, rattle snakes, cobras, box-jelly fish and fifteen foot crocodiles make great pets in the right hands. There are snake handlers in India who charm cobras and handle them without fear….so, no one minds if I keep one in my yard or bring it down to Yowell meadow for a slither. You will assume that I have trained it properly and let your kids go near it, right? We shouldn’t punish all the responsible cobra owners just because there are some bad apples. There is no such thing as a bad cobra, just bad owners.
Noname1 ~ I have to disagree with your comment about finding it hilarious. As I said previously I have owned a staffordshire terrier for 7 years and he’s a wonderful dog, but I in no way shape or form did I want this dog when my husband and I went to look at him. It’s a natural instinct to be scared of this type of dog because of what we see in the media and also for it’s appearance. Unfortunately a lot of what we see in the media is true about them. The reality is they have attacked people and due to the mistreatment of this type of dog they do have an aggressive nature depending on the blood line, the owner, how it is trained, and who you purchase the dog from. My husband and I did a lot of research before we bought this dog, we made sure we knew information about the breeder as well as the family history of the dog before we ever purchased him.
As for your comment about finding it hilarious that people are afraid of the breed… this little boy and his family would not find it hilarious at all. If I was a three year old and got attacked this way I would be traumatized and never want to be near that type of dog again ever as well. This family has every right to feel the way they do.
I am sorry I find it hilarious when people become scared of a dog b/c of it’s breed type. I was attacked by a rotty when I was a child but hold no grudges and actually like the dogs. No matter the breed if it shows aggression fine, be cautious around it but if it is in the hands of a good owner and it has a good temperment then dont judge the dog on its looks. Society does that all to often on everything and majority of the time we are wrong. As far as the decoration goes http://www.bulldogbreeds.com/americanpitbullterrier.html here is some info
http://www.animalfarmfoundation.org/item.php?item=68
Another tidbit “The top drug-sniffing dog in the United States, Popsicle, is a “pit bull. Look it up its true.
A Pit bull has a tempermant pass rating of 85%. So NO a NORMAL UN ABUSED pit is not likely to attack anyone
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