Terrible tragedy-dog kills baby

"Dog accidentally kills baby?" Are you kidding me? That's like saying "Cat accidentally kills mouse" or "Lion accidentally kills zebra". No. A dog is a predator. It will easily experience the predatory drift and kill a rabbit, a kitty cat, or a baby ON PURPOSE.  He does it to chew it, taste the blood, and eat it.

 Dog may be man's best friend. But he is NOT a baby or toddler's best friend. No!

Summer Rain

"Dog accidentally kills baby?" Are you kidding me? That's like saying "Cat accidentally kills mouse" or "Lion accidentally kills zebra". No. A dog is a predator. It will easily experience the predatory drift and kill a rabbit, a kitty cat, or a baby ON PURPOSE.  He does it to chew it, taste the blood, and eat it.

 Dog may be man's best friend. But he is NOT a baby or toddler's best friend. No!

First of all, you are completely ignorant of the Pit Bull's breed standard, which states that aggression toward humans is unacceptable.  These are dogs that rarely protect anyone - in fact, they make lousy watchdogs, because they usually welcome any human with their butts wiggling and wanting to play.  They are, however, working type dogs with drive, and susceptible to the same "dogness" as any other dog.  The main reason that they get in trouble so often is that they are often dog aggressive.  So, if baby acts like a puppy, perhaps he would get disciplined or threatened as if he were another dog.  Knowledgeable Pit owners (this is a breed that is wonderful, but not for everyone) socialize and manage their dogs properly to avoid mishaps, just as I manage my predatory Aussie to avoid mishaps.  Dogs do not single out humans "ON PURPOSE".  Predatory drift is instinctual, but not vindictive.  And, you will often find that dogs that are affected by it, and accidentally grab a familiar person, are actually shocked when they realize that Johnny wasn't a squalling rabbit.  Those instances go unreported because Johnny didn't end up dead, just scared. 
Your irrational fear, and breed prejudice are showing, but they are not helpful to any logical discussion of the problems that can occur between dogs and humans. 

Summer Rain

He does it to chew it, taste the blood, and eat it.

Um..no not really.  If that were the whole story there would not be reports of where a dog grabs a baby and then when it breaks the skin, lets go b/c it realizes it's gone to far.  If the dog wanted to eat the baby it wouldn't stop. 

And back off Pit Bulls please.  Any dog can bite/attack so there is no reason to name a breed, esp. one that *isn't* suppose to be human agressive. 

Thats pretty harsh Summer Rain. 

First I do believe that a dog DOES complete the family in many ways.  It doesn't mean that a family can have a dog with a baby, or child and not watch very carefully though.  Having a dog is a responsibility...have a child is also.   We can AND do have both and live happyily. But not without regard.

And just for the heck of it...this story was not about a Pit Bull..so there wan't really any sense in bringing them up...

I certainly didn't say I would get a pit bull puppy for protection. I was giving the example of what people have said about getting a pit bull to protect the family. I have read that before.

 You seem very educated in your love for pit bulls. So be it and good luck.

Isn't "supposed to be" human aggressive. Tell that to the parents of all the children attacked by pit bulls.

Sorry Dyan, you're right. It wasn't about a pit bull. I guess I am still reeling from my friend's six year old son's ears and scalp being torn off by a pit bull. The story should be aired on Montel Williams soon.

Summer Rain

Isn't "supposed to be" human aggressive. Tell that to the parents of all the children attacked by pit bulls.

We would tell them the same thing about Akitas, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, and, well - Golden Retrievers.  That's the point.  Many children are bitten by Golden Retrievers each year, and with serious injury, but it doesn't seem to catch the media's attention in the same way.  You almost never hear that a Golden "attacked", you just hear that the child was "bitten by the family dog". 

Instead of badmouthing a breed, we choose to focus on the lack of responsibility of owners in socializing, training, managing and supervising their dogs properly.  This is a very sad thing, but can happen with a variety of breeds, and to ban one does little to solve the problem, which is, to be honest, a human problem.  Adding to the hysteria is not very constructive - instead, we focus on those things that we can do to insure that owners act responsibly - legislation that is not breed specific, but does penalize dangerousness, and education.