Completely the parents fault of the child. She should have known not to walk out of her yard. I do not believe the owners of the dog or the dog should be at fault in any sense. And no point in arguing about animal abuse in the sense is was chained up. I put my dogs on a chain everytime I let them out to go to the bathroom. He may not be a chained animal at all times. And if someone was throwing rocks at you, wouldn't you get pissed off, deballed or not. Wouldn't have really mattered in this case. The only ones at fault in this incident would be the childs parents do to lack of parenting.

this is for annonymous...first of all why are you annonymous? second of all lets put a bullet in your head n test it cuz you are obviously not all there

This is sad - a tragic accident that could so easily have been avoided. My heart goes out to the child who was injured, and to the dog who has no idea why it's now being held in a shelter, away from everything familiar.

But I'm sorry, this could so easily have been avoided! 5 years old is old enough to understand simple rules and boundaries, like you never go outside without an adult to supervise. When you are outside, you stay in your own yard unless you have been given permission to go over there. This is an age where children spend a full day in school, ride the school bus, and are expected to start helping out with simple chores. So yes, no question was this irresponsible parenting. You didn't know that your child was outside? Your child thinks it's ok to wander out of her own yard? Your child thinks it's ok to go throw rocks at the neighbor's dog? Does your child also think it's OK to run out into the street without checking to see if traffic is coming? Does your child think it's OK to get in the car with a stranger? It's all one and the same.

This was also irresponsible dog ownership. Dogs don't belong outside on chains, especially in an unfenced yard. And there is NO reason for this dog not to be neutered. Any strong dog that really wants to could break a chain, or slip out of it's collar. An unaltered male dog is even more likely to break free in search of females, OR to protect his territory more fiercely. Plus, chaining is a horrible life for the dog - they are poorly socialized with people and other animals, and they're a sitting duck for anybody to steal, hurt, or, in this case, throw rocks at. (I don't care what the force of the rock hitting the dog is. The fact is, a child throwing rocks repeatedly at the dog is going to cause the dog to retaliate. Especially if it's on a chain and can't run away!) Dogs are NOT people. They don't think like people. They aren't going to look at a 5 year old and say "Hmm, that's just a little kid. He/she doesn't know any better." NO! They are going to think they are being threatened, and defend themselves. The dog acted like a dog here! The breed has NOTHING to do with it, except with any bigger or stronger dog, you're going to have more damage from a bite than a little fluffy lap dog.

It's a horrible situation that could have been avoided by a mother being aware of whether or not her child is IN THE HOUSE, and by dog owners who need to take a lesson in responsible pet ownership.

Oh, and all you "pit bull haters" out there who think you know what you're talking about - there is a lot of misinformation on the internet. Just because it's on a website does NOT make it true. Check the sources and check that the research was properly done before you start spouting your "facts" and "statistics." The truth is, pit bulls actually test better than almost all other breed of dogs on temperament tests. They were bred for aggression toward other DOGS. Human aggression was actually bred OUT of them for generations because the handlers had to be able to stop the fight without being hurt. Dog-on-dog aggression is what pit bull type dogs are known for, NOT dog-on-human aggression. Chihuahuas are more aggressive toward people than bully breeds. Ask a vet, they'll tell you the same thing.

Well i think that we all need to pray for the little girl. I know that pitbull and he is very calm and sweet but i dont know what would of happened to him. But all i know is that there is no need to judge I feel bad for both familes the one who owned the dog and the one with the daughter. I think that we should all stop judging and pray for these people.

I was so saddened at this terrible accident and the convalescence that is ahead for this little girl. I have a product called Skincerity that would be a great boon to her once the healing starts to take place, as this is a remarkable roll-on that does wonderful things to eliminate scars. Please go to the website: www.mynucerity.com/2smiths and see the before and after pictures of many who have experienced bad scars, acne, eczems and other skin problems. If you have any questions call me at 1-208-522-4717. May God speed the healing and rehabilitation of little Saleena.

WOW! Some ugliness going on....on all sides of the issue. Here are some more points on both sides:

1. Any dog can bite...They all have teeth.

2. And a mother sleeping next to her week old baby while the family dog is loose is not responsible parenting. You are sleeping...not watching. Just because you are physically close to something does not mean you are aware of everything.

3. The mother does not seem to be blaming the pit bull or the owners, so why are we?

4. Accidents happen. Why are we not trying to ban swimming pools? Hundreds of children drown in "household" swimming pools!

5. Yes. Pit Bulls are often owned by fools. And the more you make this breed a "bad ass" breed by posting lies and half truths...the more fools you will attract.

6. Education is the best way to prevent. I agree, not enough is known about canine behavior and people have to start realizing that we have abused canines for long enough, expecting them to know how to treat our human babies without them being taught. DIFFERENT SPECIES PEOPLE, DIFFERENT LANGUAGE!!!

7. If you want to chain a dog...get a potted plant instead.

8. If you are going to own a dog, spay or neuter it.

9. Parents...keep an eye on your children. Accidents happen everyday, hit by car, drown in pool, abused by babysitter, and attacked by dog. These are all environmental factors that need to be realized and addressed.

and 10. I don't EVER EVER EVER want to hear a parent say "My dog would never bite"...the only thing you can count on a dog to do is to be a dog...a different species with it's own set of rules. Do not ever trust even your own dog unsupervised with your toddler or infant. Learn the signs...a still dog is an uncomforable dog...dilated pupils...hair standing up, ears back...these are all signs of a dog that could react at any moment...oh...and a tail wag does not mean that only good things will happen.....that's a myth...tail wagging just means willingness to engage...bad or good...so take the time time when you are expecting to learn just as much about your dog's behavior as your childs...it can save your babies life.

I am praying for this precious little girl and her family. NO dog, regardless of breed or size, deserves to live their life chained. Dogs deserve better than life on a chain or in a pen. They are pack animals and want to be with their "pack", their human family. If your dog won't be living inside with you, and you can't afford to fence in your backyard, then don't get a dog.

www.dogsdeservebetter.org

www.mothersagainstdogchaining.org

This attack did NOT happen because the dog is a "pit bull".

This horrible attack happened because there was an unaltered male dog kept confined on a chain, and an unsupervised child entered into his territory. There are 2 parties at fault here: the owner for keeping his dog in cruel confunement proven to cause aggression, and the parents for not supervising their 5 year old at all times and also apparently not teaching the child to respect boundaries or respect animals.

Any breed of dog, in the same situation, could and would have done the same thing. Banning pit bulls will not solve the problem, instead we need to focus on responsible ownership (and proper parenting).

Oh, by the way, please pray for the mother and child.

As I understand it, the owner of the pit bull stated the the child was throwing rocks at the dog? Did anyone else witness this? I also heard that the owner is an attorney. Maybe through his training he is trying to place the blame on the child, not the dog. Anyhow, put a bullet in the dog and test it's brain for rabies....

Did people expect the dog to ask the child or the child`s mother to stop throwing rocks at it?

Could the dog leave the situation?

Let`s see...

1)unsupervised child

2)Child never taught NOT to throw rocks at dog

3)Dog chained.Resident dog or did this dog actually reside in house?

4)Intact dog

Was this the 1st time this child had hurled rocks at this dog?

And the dog is being blamed?

For what?

Reacting to having rocks thrown at it?

not sure if this has been pointed out yet but the dog was both chained & un-altered. The two most common factors in dog aggression. Life at the end of a chain is abusive and a recipe for disaster!

PitsR4Fools,

No, I don't disagree that pits are not the dogs for everyone. Quite the contrary in fact. There is not one breed that is the dog for everyone. Different breeds require different care. That is my point. All breeds have their individual traits and instincts. All owners should be knowledgeable about their particular breeds. A dogs temperament depends entirely upon an individual dog though, not upon a generalized group. In this case, just because a group of breeds is known to have a genetic predisposition that contributes to aggression doesn't mean a thing in regards to how that individual animal will act when influenced by environmental variables. Of course an owner should be made aware that the predisposition may be there, but they should also be made aware what to do in order to teach their pet to be a good member of society. That's where you always leave off. Pit bulls can be dangerous. There's no question about that. They can maim and kill. I don't think anyone will disagree there. A 4 lb Pomeranian killed an infant in 2000. If a 4 lb dog can kill, well of course a 50-60 lb dog that may have a genetic predisposition towards aggression can. They have big blocky heads, and they bite, hold, and shake. Most have a high dominant property, fearlessness, and tenaciousness. Those are the traits that make them good fighters. There's no underlying reason. They don't thirst for blood or go around attacking and killing for no reason. If an individual dog in question is properly cared for, kept out of trouble, and shown right from wrong then that makes all the difference in the world. Puppies depend on their mothers, litter-mates, and owners to learn. Dogs aren't snakes or birds. They don't just come out one day, go off on their own and instinctively know how to survive. Dogs continue learning their entire lives just like us. They learn from everything around them. That's where your genetic argument goes completely astray. Do you really think that genetics is a bigger factor than socialization, training, and being in a pack leader role? These are domestic animals, not wild animals. I'm not knocking you for trying to make the public aware of problem areas or problem dogs, but why are you limiting yourself to a group of breeds? Is it because they are on the top of the list? If you put as much effort into public safety as you do in singling out a group of breeds, then maybe some things would change. Other dogs are biting and killing too. Everyone needs education on canine behavior and good ownership. An aggressive chihuahua and an aggressive pit bull is exactly the same behaviorally. What is worse is that there's those of you out there not spreading education, but spreading fear. You are worried about some of the pro-pit folks trying to make the public think that all of these dogs are nanny dogs. Me too. What worries me more is when someone is on the fence regarding pit bulls and all they really have to go by is hearsay or listen to people that spread www.pitattacksbystate.blogspot.com or dogsbite.org and nothing more. Some people live most of their lives scared of those dogs because of generalized misconceptions. One day, they read an article or see something on TV that advocates pit bulls, happen to see one at a shelter that they play with, and adopt them. When they bring that dog home and see how sweet it is then; you, dogsbite.org, www.pitattacksbystate.blogspot.com, it all goes out the window. You see, there's a black and a white area. You are on one side and the pro-pit nanny dog people are on the other. By only giving negative publicity and not recognizing the good, you are actually not helping those who need it most. Dog owners, you, me, we all need to be in the grey area in order to make some progress to better public safety.

I own three pit bull type dogs.. all adopted from a shelter. Also for the last 3 years I have gone to this very same shelter to walk and train pit bull type dogs.

Maybe you can answer this pitbulls4fools if these dogs are such vicious killers what am I doing writing this. I mean I have handled almost 100 different pit bulls yet never have I had my skin broken by one of these dogs.

Pit4fools enjoys spreading supposedley information that comes from a site that is run by a web developer her name is Collen Lynn who claims to have been bitten by a pit bull type dog. Instead of educating people on how not to get bite she and her associates have decided to spread mis information about the dog. If you look at the website you will see "Fatality" in big red words.. then it is a newpaper article about a cat being killed by possibly a pit bull. Well I have news dogs have killed cats for hundreds of years.

Also adotpion agencies have about a 25% success rate in identifying what a true American Pit Bull Terrier is.. do you think a newpaper reporter is any better ?

You know you guys don't know all of the facts. You all are so quick to judge, its so sad what this world has come to. A 5 year old beautiful and intelligent little girl is fighting for her life and all you can say are negative words, when what she really needs are prayer's. Also you should know that her mother is a wonderful mother, she is kind, caring, compassionate, dedicated, and very hard working. She supports four kids, as a single mother, and she took her eyes off her for only a moment. You wouldn't understand that unless you your self are a parent. Kids sneek out it happen's, but does that mean that she deserved to get attacked by a pit bull? All she wanted was to find a caterpillar. There is no fence that defines there yards, all she knew is that there was grass over there. Maybe the next time you guys decide to judge before you know all the facts maybe you should look at your self and think about what you would do if this was you, and you saw your baby girl after her face had been ripped apart by a pit bull.

So Nate, you disagree with trying to educate the public that the pits are not dogs for anyone and everyone? The difference with your argument is that pits are still being bred to kill, bred in backyards with no thoughts for temperaments or genetics. The argument that pits do what they do because of the abuse, do you think that other breeds aren't abused in the same way? In fact, the AKC and pit breeders fight tethering laws and chaining pits is an acceptable way to contain them according to the AKC and other pit groups. Denial of the genetics of pits means denial of other breeding. So why do we bother to keep purebreds if genetics make no difference? You would see chihuahuas out herding if genetics don't make a difference and it is only a matter of training. One argument is that pits have to be trained to fight and kill. Training only makes them better at what they have an instinct for. Denial will only contribute to bringing about bans and regulations on pits. It won't be the pit "haters" that bring this about, it will be the pit "lovers". Instead of policing themselves, they chose instead to deny there is a problem. www.pitattacksbystate.blogspot.com

Do you have a listing of attacks by other breeds as extensive as this one?

Look under most pit bull comments on the web. PitsR4Fools will be there trying to spread fear. I have been watching PitsR4Fools and others out there post the same thing on every site and never once mention public safety. They want these dogs annihilated. They choose to ignore the facts surrounding all dog bites and what can be done to lesson them. They take the stance that all pits are dangerous vicious animals and are unprovoked killers. How they come up with that is unknown to me. There's nothing to support that stance. One thing they like to try to point out is that pits were bred to kill a hundred years ago. Well let me point this out, a hundred years ago or so these breeds had these purposes:

The Chinese Shar Pei: Guarding, protecting, dog fighting

English Bulldogs: Bull baiting, dog fighting

Boxers: Dog fighting, holding down large game like wild boars and bison

Dachshunds: Crawl into badger holes and fight and kill badgers

Poodles: Water retrievers

Miniature Poodles: Truffle hunting

Rhodesian Ridgebacks: Hunting lions

Weimaraner: Hunting wolves, deer, and bear

When is the last time you saw a "pet" quality dachshund kill a badger? Have you seen a Weimaraner hunting deer and bear at Petsmart or Petco lately? I haven't.

In some new research that is being done -- in part by Scientist Dee Denver - - many scientists now believe that genetic mutation occurs at a rate of 10x what scientists previously thought. In "nature", even though many mutations can improve an organism's chance for survival, most mutations are detrimental to to long-term survival -- thus, within a few generations, the mutation would be eliminated due to natural selection. In nature, if a dog's genes mutated in a way that would make them lesser of fighters, or hunters, they would likely die off because they would be unable to survive.

But our dogs don't live in nature. They live in homes. And as such, these changes can happen and not have a negative impact on the well-being of a dog because our dogs don't have to fight to survive. In pet quality dogs, there is little "natural selection". Behaviors are able to change very quickly.

Earlier it was mentioned about chaining a dog. That is exactly why you don't leave a dog chained or tethered outside for more than a few hours at a time. A dog without adequate socialization and training reverts to a natural defense mentality. I of course don't know all the circumstances behind this attack just as you don't. I simply want to let people understand more about canine behavior. Dogs that are chained 24/7 aren't even considered family dogs, they are resident dogs. Resident dogs are an accident waiting to happen. There is a second component to a bite behavior that may be more telling than even socialization: bite inhibition. While socialization is important to determine whether or not your dog is likely to bite in a given situation, bite inhibition is important in determining how severe a bite will be if and when it happens. Legendary dog trainer Ian Dunbar says this about bite inhibition:

"Without a doubt, teaching bite inhibition is the single most important item on the educational agenda of any pup....It is as unrealistic to expect dogs never to be frightened or annoyed by people as it is to expect people never to frighten or annoy each other. However, just as it is reasonable to expect people to resolve their disagreements without physical violence, it is both realistic and perfectly feasible to teach dogs never to physically harm a person when scared or provoked."

Following simple parenting and ownership guidelines would have lessened the likelihood of this attack. It's not rocket science. You have to look at all the factors before deciding what can be done to provide a safer community.

Pit bulls have shown agression time and time again ..

and MzTx no wants you animal rights spewing., your intelligence has already been shown with your choice of word usage (Lol,Str8)what are you thirteen? also your claim that chaining it should be illegal? oh yes we better let the snakes out of the cage, the hippos on the yard, and the pirhannas into the swimming hole.

What should be illegal is owning dangerous animals.

learn to spell please.

also 99.9 % you would say? reliable source huh.

and your fact about parents is a logical Falacy,

Now, the real question is why were the parents of this child allowing her to wander into a neighbor's yard? This child is 5 years old for goodness sake.

There are 16 registered sex offenders within a 2 mile radius of the Hurricane, UT police station!

When are parents going to learn that you cannot leave children unattended?

This is not a pit bull issue. This is a poor parenting issue, again.

Then you want to bring up that 7 day old baby - Let's go there !!!!!!

1st off she says SHE WAS SLEEPING NEXT TO THE BABY when the dog attacked - never even heard it

Have you ever heard a dog " Pit Bull " or not being quite DURING AN ATTACK ???

Why do you think there is a further investigation and why they drug tested everybody there ?? Now let me tell you more ....

There are 8 people living in a 884sq ft TRAILER-

as well as 3 other dogs ..... w/ no YARD .

but NO you don't care about that - you don't care about that child being 15 yr old when concived by a 19 yr old ......

all you care is that it involves a " PIT BULL "

because you are so small minded you think

KILL ALL PIT BULLS = NO ATTACKS !!!

Well let me tell you something - that Criminal / Child Molestor / Animal Abuser / Druggy is still FREE - to walk the streets because in your theory - OWNERS AREN'T RESPONSIBLE - just KILL THE DOGS. Instead of preventing that Criminal to EVER OWN A DOG AGAIN - you just PROVOKED HIM TO CREATE A BIGGER & STRONGER PIT BULL THAT WILL MAKE YOU PISS YOUR PANTS.

Guess you haven't heard of the " Kanga " of course you haven't .... you think " pit bulls " are our biggest threats ....

LoL @ You !