[jesse--james]

An Omaha woman remained hospitalized Tuesday after being attacked by her own dogs in her own home. She suffered injuries to her arms and legs.

Fifty-year-old Victoria Stewart was attacked by her pit bulls on Sunday.

She says the dogs had never been aggressive before but she told police that over the past week the dogs had been acting strange.

No one can be sure why the dogs attacked their owner but some believe the fireworks shows may have played a role. Many dogs have a difficult time coping with the explosives.

According to police reports, Ms. Stewart was on a living room chair watching TV when her dogs, Thunder and Lightning, attacked.

Mark Langan, vice president of field operations for the Nebraska Humane Society says this is one of the worst bite situations he's seen.

Langan is reluctant to put the blame on fireworks but he says, "The dogs had been very skittish ever since the Fourth of July with all the fireworks around her, the Rosenblatt fireworks, which were less than a mile away from her address."

Both Thunder and Lightning have been euthanized.

The Humane Society normally waits for 10 days to euthanize an aggressive dog but officials say these two animals were in a state of hyper-aggression and they were affecting the rest of the kennels so they were put down quickly.

Pitbull owners are always the strongest deniers that this is a dangerous breed. Should we wake up and put restrictions on pit-bull ownership for the sake of the innocent victims who just happen to be near them when they SNAP !!! ??

[kosnebbear]

MAybe Michael Vick could have used these two Pitbulls.

[PitBullMommie1206]

Wow! First of all "pit bull" isn't a breed! It's a term used to group three breeds.. American Pit Bull Terriers (APBT), American Staffordshire Terriers (AmStaff) and Staffordshire Bull Terriers (Staffie). Now, "pit bull" do not just turn on people or "snap". In fact, no breed does! Dog aggression is nearly always preceded by some kind of warning, and there is always a reason behind the attack. However, many inexperienced owners do not recognize the dog's behavior as aggression, or refuse to acknowledge it as a warning sign. The only exception I can think of is Springer Rage, a rare and controversial neurological condition that manifests itself as a spontaneous attack, followed by confusion, and then a return to normal behavior. "Pit bulls" are NOT prone to this condition. There are individual dogs of any breed that may be more aggressive to others. "Pit bulls" are no more inherently dangerous to people than other dog breeds. People often assume that "pit bulls" are human aggressive because they were bred to fight animals. This is simply not true! If that were the case then Irish Wolfhounds, Anatolian Shepard's, Great Pyrenees, etc should be considered dangerous to humans as well. My husband and I own three wonderful American Pit Bull Terriers and they are the sweetest, most amazing dogs in the world! Here are some facts for ya... American Pit Bull Terriers are one of the most stable people-friendly breeds in existence. For hundreds of years "pit bulls" have been bred to have a human friendly disposition and an overwhelming sense of need to please their owners. The National Canine Temperament Testing Association tested 122 breeds, and APBTs placed the 4th highest with a 95% passing rate! They always test better than many popular family breeds such as Goldens and Beagles. APBTs are one of the best breeds to have around children, they are the perfect breed to deal with the rough and tumble play a child can dish out. They are even known as nanny dogs for their love and dependability with children! They are amazingly people-friendly dogs, and because of this they don't normally make very good watch/ guard dogs.They do however, have an uncanny ability to know when someone or something is a threat or not! "Pit Bulls" are currently used and suitable for all types of service work including drug detection, emergency rescue, service and therapy work, military service, and much more.The American Pit Bull Terrier is additionally one of the most intelligent and easy to train breed of dogs. The trainer of the show dog Lassie has even remarked on how the APBT is his choice of breed for training. They are unique, smart, easy to train, sweet, loyal, loving, gentle, obedient, devoted, tolerant and funny! They are almost human like in their emotions and expressions! These days alot of people choose to believe all of the crazy myths they have heard about "pit bulls" over the facts! Like any breed of dog, a healthy "pit bull" that is properly raised will remain loving and friendly. In the past 20 years, we have seen some sad examples of poorly bred and badly treated dogs that are by products of irresponsible "backyard breeders" and cruel and abusive homes. These improperly raised, unsocialized creatures can show temperaments far removed from the traditional authentic "pit bulls." Do not confuse these unfortunate misbreds with the HUGE majority of well-loved "pit bulls" in this country that remain solid in temperament, affectionate, trustworthy and friendly to their dying day.

It makes me sick to hear all of these ill informed, easily influenced people that know absolutely nothing truthful about these wonderful dogs say they should be banned! It's not good to believe all of the crazy, over dramatic, twisted around crap that you hear in the media! There are a few things that contribute to the negative stories on the news. As often the case, negative stories always seem to get National coverage, where the positive stories only make the local news. The Media is not always very responsible with their stories! They say what they need to say to get their ratings! I have seen news reports of a dog attack by another breed and, yet the media had a picture of a "pit bull" on the TV while reporting this story. I’ve read many stories where the reporter obviously hadn’t done any research, when I asked about their statistics they choose not to reply.

The statistical data on dog bites and attacks are inaccurate. Many dog bites are never reported. There is nothing in place to track dog bites in the US accurately. There are 25+ breeds that are commonly wrongly identified as "pit bulls", Those of us who have been involved with the breed for years have trouble identifying them 100% of the time, so, we certainly can’t expect inexperienced people to be able to properly ID a dog. That said, it leads us to believe that many of the bites that claim to be from "pit bulls" are in fact, inflicted by other breeds. Every 10 years or so a new breed of dog is victimized by irresponsible owners, breeders, bad media coverage, and now it’s the "pit bull’s" turn. In the 70’s it was the German Shepherd, the 80’s was the Doberman’s turn, the 90’s Rottweilers and "pit bulls" had all the bad press, and now it’s the "pit bull’s" time to suffer again. And, unfortunately, in a few years it will be another breed that will be in the spotlight. Oh, and by the way, "Pit bull" is three breeds and any mixes that resemble the three "pit bull" breeds in any way so, it would only make sense for "pit bulls" to have attacked or bit more people than any other one breed.. right??

Anyway, to answer you question.. No, we should not ban "pit bulls", it won't fix anything! It will just cause a false sense of security and break countless responsible owners and childrens hearts! Not to mention it would mean we would have to kill many, many, many police dogs, service dogs, therapy dogs, search and rescue dogs, drug detection dogs, etc! Banning breeds is so ignorant and heartless, it literally makes me sick! People should wake up and educate themselves before passing judgment! Banning breeds is not an answer for anything!

Tell me that my babies look like monsters?!?!

[kosnebbear]

PitBullMommie1206,

Thank you for this information on the Pit Bull breed of dogs. It always bad when the Pit Bull breed gets all of the bad press.

[mattpoulsen]

Pitbullmommie,

Good post. "Pittbulls" or any dog or animal develop their disposition because of the learned behavior caused by the training and/or treatment of their owners (or torturers). Thus, instead of "banning pittbulls", why don't we ban the owners who train them.

[PitBullMommie1206]

Originally Posted by kosnebbear

PitBullMommie1206,

Thank you for this information on the Pit Bull breed of dogs. It always bad when the Pit Bull breed gets all of the bad press.

I agree! I can't watch the crazy "pit bull" attack stories when they come on TV. It just makes me sooo mad!

Originally Posted by mattpoulsen

Pitbullmommie,

Good post. "Pittbulls" or any dog or animal develop their disposition because of the learned behavior caused by the training and/or treatment of their owners (or torturers). Thus, instead of "banning pittbulls", why don't we ban the owners who train them.

Again, I agree! People say that it's not always the owner, sometimes it really is the dog! Well, that's crap! It is always, in one way or another, the owners fault! First of all, if the owner buys their dog from an irresponsible breeder they are asking for trouble! Now, in some cases it can't really be help, like if someone adopts or saves a dog that happened to come from an irresponsible breeder. Next it's the owners job to know about the breed and properly raise, train and socialize their dog. And last, but not least, it's the owners job to be responsible and respectful! That means, don't let your dog outside without being on a leash, on a run or in a fence, don't leave your dog unattended with another animal, a child or an adult that doesn't live in the house hold, don't do anything that would make your dog mean or aggressive such as, abusing your dog, neglecting your dog or training your dog to be mean and aggressive and know your dog! Know if your dog doesn't like other animals, people or children and if that's the case don't have your dog around other animals, people or children! If the owner does all of that, even if the dog is aggressive, it won't be able to attack people. There are always some situations that cannot be avoid, but all of this will lessen the chance of anything ever happening!

[PitBullMommie1206]

Instead of banning breeds we need to...

-Put a stop to leash law violations...Higher penalties for owners who violate the leash law will dissuade more people from slacking on their duties to contain their dog
-Strengthen and enforce penalties for dangerous owners (and their dangerous dogs)
-Crack down on dog fighting
-Strengthen animal abuse laws
-Prevent criminals from owning dogs...The following people should not be allowed to own dogs: drug dealers, human or animal abusers, and anyone convicted of a violent offense (assault, rape, robbery, etc.)
-Regulate breeders
-Fund public spay/neuter initiatives...These programs are important, especially low-cost ones. Unneutered dogs, particularly males, are far more likely to attack a human than either neutered males or spayed females.
-Educate about dog behavior (Stay Dog Bite Free! | The Humane Society of the United States (http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/dog_care/stay_dog_bite_free/ - broken link))
-Encourage responsible dog ownership
-Provide low-cost obedience training classes and behavior help hotlines for dog owners
*You don't need to enact breed-specific legislation to make your city a safer place to live*

[Jammie]

PitBullMommie, you sound like you're an animal lover just like I am. It just breaks my heart when pets are put to death because they bit someone who was tormenting them to begin with. Some day our descendants will look back on our actions and even our own era will be considered barbaric.

[jesse--james]

Only a PITBULL would go into such a blind rage against a porcupine. The ability to snap is inherent to the breed. This is why dog-fighters pride them, and this is why these dogs are so dangerous.

[jesse--james]