Pit bull and Rottweiler cross attacks 16-day-old baby in Victoria suburb of Saanich

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      The daily paper in Victoria, the Times Colonist, has reported that a pit bull and Rottweiler cross-bred dog has been destroyed after it mauled an infant in the family's home.

      A 16-day-old baby girl is in Victoria General Hospital, where she's expected to recover from non-life-threatening injuries to her face.

      According to the Times Colonist, the early-morning incident occurred in the Glanford area of Saanich, which is a suburb of Victoria.

      Police told reporters that they're investigating whether the dog attack amounts to criminal negligence. The family allowed their pet to be euthanized.

      According to the dogsbite.org website, pit bulls killed 176 Americans between 2005 and 2013, amounting to 62 percent of all canine-related deaths of human beings.

      Together, pit bulls and Rottweilers were responsible for 74 percent of the deaths over that nine-year period.

      The percentage rose to 81 percent in 2013, with 26 of the 32 dog-bite-related U.S. deaths attributed to those breeds.

      In 2013, the City of Burnaby imposed significantly higher licensing fees on so-called vicious dogs. This came after pit bulls were deemed responsible for 24.7 percent of bites on other animals and humans, even though this breed accounted for just two percent of all licensed dogs in the city.

      Pit bulls have been linked to more human deaths than other breeds.
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      Comments

      53 Comments

      Louise Gilfoy

      Dec 28, 2014 at 10:16pm

      Love your fact checking. You say it was a pitbull and a rottweiler, but it was one geriatric dog that was a rottweiler/pitbull cross. It's a very sad situation, but I think it's sick the media is focusing on the the breed rather than the real subject at hand: babies and dogs. My border collie became incredibly jealous of my new baby. He has no pitbull in him.

      Martin Dunphy

      Dec 28, 2014 at 10:28pm

      Louise: The article clearly states that the dog is a cross, both in the headline and the lead sentence.
      The fact that you own a jealous border collie though? Now there is something that has absolutely nothing to do with the article.

      Fuckin' dogs!!

      Dec 28, 2014 at 10:54pm

      I hate dogs to begin with, but their owners are worse. And any dog owner who willingly chooses to take on a vicious, horrific breed of killer dog is the type of screws-loose individual who should never actually be allowed to own one. This story made me so angry, I am finding it difficult to refrain from simply writing one curse word after the next.

      Kara

      Dec 28, 2014 at 11:15pm

      Um, the breed actually is the problem. Louise.

      Marisa Nordstrom

      Dec 28, 2014 at 11:24pm

      Louise, what's your implied accusation the reporter is falsely claiming the mauler is a pit/rottie. What's your point, anyway. Gotta problem with specifying the breed. Why'd you specify the breed in your so-called counter-story. Fact is, pits and rotties are maulers, that's why they are sought after… it's about worrying people and their pets through fear and intimidation. That's what fighting breed dogs were bred to do: Kill.

      Bruce

      Dec 29, 2014 at 8:21am

      Louise, you're right. It was a pitbull/rottweiler cross. So that's the number 1 child eating breed, crossed with the #2 child eating breed. Totally not a problem.

      Louise

      Dec 29, 2014 at 9:40am

      My point is that ANY dog can do this. NOT just pitbulls or rottweilers. The focus should be more on not trusting any dog with a baby. Like my dogs. I don't leave my son along with my dogs and they're not pitbulls. I used to have a wonderful dog that was a rottweiler/pitbull/lab. I wouldn't have trusted her with a child either. This is a very sad situation all around. For the baby. For the parents. For the dog. I feel awful for all involved. I can't imagine how crappy and guilty the parents feel.

      Louise

      Dec 29, 2014 at 9:43am

      And the other night I was at a Christmas dinner where there was a dog. The dog came up to my son and tried to snap at him, unprovoked. The dog was a black lab. NOT a pitbull. ANY DOG CAN DO THIS.

      Bruce

      Dec 29, 2014 at 10:34am

      @Louise

      Sure, any dog can bite. But they don't all bite equally often, and most of them only bite, they don't clamp on and tear the kid apart. The fact remains that Pit bulls are 25x over-represented in attacks on children. The bread should no more legal to own than a handgun.

      What kind of person even wants a breed like this? What does that say about you? Heck if it really is the "owner not the dog", then in the case of "pitties", that's all the more reason to do everything possible to discourage the sort of person who would want to own a pit bull from owning a dog at all. A ban on their preferred breed is a good place to start.

      @Louise

      Dec 29, 2014 at 10:53am

      I get the impression that no animals like your children.