I realize I am new to the community, and maybe this is wrong, and if it is I leave it up to the moderators to delete this post, but please read this

http://totalphysiqueonline.com/2007/01/02/woman-mauled-by-dogs/

I live in Charlottesville. This is a close friend of my brothers. Please RSS my site guys, that is if you want to eventually lend some support. If not, that is cool, but I want to do what I can to help. The girl has no insurance. My brother visted her the other day and the poor girl was just a mess. She is lucky to be alive, but she is facing countless surgeries in her leg from what my brother tells me. And maybe worse. We won't know until a few days from now.

This is terrible. Some people just know no responsibility...
I feel that their should be an application process to have a child (after reading numerous articles like this), so maybe their should be an application process to own an animal too...

What about a lawsuit against the owner of the animal? If I am correct, she is criminally liable for all of the actions of her animals, which at this point seems to be attempted murder.

The owner is a guy. he is a convicted felon out on parole

he has no assets. No insurance. Nothing.

mdizzle:

Unfortunately, there are so many orphaned dogs that having an extensive (read: useful) application process would slow down adoptions and force many shelters (even no-kill ones) to take drastic measures, since they can only accommodate so many dogs.

(<-- dog parent)

To own a pitbull is illegal here as well, and they shot mine. My dog was a sweet heart, I haven't owned a dog sense. It's all about how your raise your dog, not the breed themselves, and obviouslly this is a piece of sh** dog owner, who should definetlly be held liable. I just feel bad for animals who are brought up to act this way. It really isn't there fault.

On CNN there was report of yet another PitBull death in the UK after a family Pitbull mauled to death their small 5 year old child. There was no warning. The dog just snapped. Pit Bulls are a strange breed of animal. They are not like other dogs. Denial, I am truly sorry for your loss. I would be interested in knowing more about what happened. But here is the thing....

My mom ran the animal shelter in Lynchburg, VA for 14 years and she always said that in her experience PitBulls and Rotties were natural killers. One Rottie they had, a sweet dog by all accounts, just snapped one day without warning, and mauled a workers arm beyond recognition. Blood and body fat tissue littered the floor of the causeway at the shelter. Pits are just as bad and in fact are worse in my view. Bare in mind that dogs are dangerous anyway, but add to the mix a genetic killer instinct and no longer have a pet. You have a weapon. Why do you think Police departments use German Shephards, and not PitBulls, for example? And Shephards are MEAN! There must be a reason.

PitBulls are unpredictable in my view. I do not think that there is anything you can do to domesticate the killer instinct out of them, any more than you can train a thoroughbred horse to only walk and never run. Running is simply in their blood, and you might be able to train a horse to walk most of the time, but eventually that horse will break into a full gallop at some point.

This type of story is becoming more and more common, but the reason it keeps happening is not because PitBull owners are training their dogs poorly. It is because we refuse to learn the lessons tragedies like this are trying to teach us: namely, that some forces in nature cannot be changed or altered. At least not permanently. A dog is a dog. Dogs bite. A dog with a genetic predisposition for fighting will eventually attack. Count on it.

Just my two cents.

Denial, just to make sure I drive the point home...I really am deeply sorry for what you went through. But there are lots of good, gentle dogs out there that need homes. Find one. Bring it home and let it enrich your life, when you are ready of course. I know how it is to loose a loved one and not want to "replace" them. It is very hard.

i hope she's gonna be OK.

Posted By: mdizzleI feel that their should be an application process to have a child (after reading numerous articles likethis), so maybe their should be an application process to own an animal too...

so true. i've been saying this for years: you need a license to drive a stupid car but you dont need one to raise a human being! what the hell is up with that?

i guess what makes me mad is we shouldn't be to the point where we have to consider a license to do things that should be Common Sense. its the old CS problem: there's not enough CS in the world.

stories like the one mdizzle linked to make my blood boil and i have a hard time reading Newsvine and such. i dont believe in the death penalty but cases like that certainly make me think twice...

I agree with you.

But it's really terrible. I hope she's fine.

I'm not sure you can blame the dog entirely.

Yes they are/can be a dangerous dog, but they are bred for fighting by humans. It is humans who have selectively bred these things to be the killers they are.

I also think that if they are trained and handled properly they can be kept safely but it needs a good owner and unfortunately they often seem to attract the wrong sort of owner.

@4evrblu: Let me know if you have a collection and I'll make a donation. It won't be huge but every little helps.

My brother tells me that there are efforts underway to hold a benefit concert. I will keep everyone posted. I promise!