AR-News: (US MI) Pets or predators: Pit bulls under fire

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Two children attacked last week
 
(ABC12 Image)
By Dawn Jones, abc12 producer
Mid-Michigan — (04/05/04)-- Concern continues to grow over the ownership of 
dogs with aggressive personalities. This, after two separate attacks on 
children last week alone. 
 Watch the video

Even though pit bulls and rottweilers are not considered to be family dogs, 
many are being raised as pets, around young children and sometimes with deadly 
consequences. 
ABC12's Dawn Jones has tips on ways to protect your family. 
They're notorious for dog fights, attacks and violence. But some say behavior 
with pit bulls and other dogs dictated by how they're treated and what 
they're taught. "It all depends on their training, if you raise them from a puppy, 
and you don't teach it to attack people," said animal cruelty investigator Ron 
Ignash. 
A Detroit grandmother kept her pit bull as part of the family. The dog was 
not known to be violent or to attack. But Saturday morning something set him off 
and the dog went into a rage, killing the woman's 16-month-old grandson. 
"Once she realized the dog was attacking the child, the grandmother attempted 
to stop the attack. She was able to wrestle the child from the dog's 
clutches, but not before losing two fingers," said Detroit police investigator Barbara 
Simon. 
Incidents like this help perpetuate the notion that these types of dogs are 
bad news. However, owners argue that they can be loving and devoted pets. 




full story:

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/news/040504_NW_r2_pit_bulls.html 
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