A seven-year-old Louisiana girl was mauled to death by a free-roaming pit bull while playing outside a relative’s home.
Sadie Davila, of East Baton Rouge, was rushed to the hospital after the dog attacked her on Friday night, and later passed away from her grave injuries, WAFB reports.
The dog’s owner, Erick Chinchilla Lopez, 20, a neighbor of Sadie’s relative, was arrested and charged with negligent homicide for failing to confine or restrain the dog.
According to the arrest report, Lopez’s home didn’t even have a fence or other barrier to keep the dog from roaming the streets.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said Sadie’s relative tried to rescue her from the dog, but was not able to stop the vicious attack.
A pitt bull allowed to roam free killed a child.
That was inevitable, to be honest.
I keep telling you, I see a loose pitt bull, I’m going to shoot it.
This is why.
I have posted my comments on the Pitbull breed several times here over the years. And I do agree with you J.Kb. as to the nature of this very dangerous breed. With that said, I’ve recently had a violent experience with five Pitbull mixed breeds attacking a friend’s small poodle in his yard while I was there. It was a five-year old female momma and her four male, one-year old pups, rushing the poodle at the same time. None of the dogs responded to verbal warnings. and the dog’s owner also could not control his dogs with verbal commands.
I warned the owner as the attack started, to control the dogs or I would use extreme violence. In the heat of the moment, he gave me permission, so I lunged into the pack with a defensive Winkler Pick in hand (Had a 9mm in my holster). I punched the oldest dog in the head with it, it turned on me and I responded with another punch with the pick, which caused it to abandon the attack. The four pups were still actively attempting to attack so I slammed the pick into the sides of two pups while the owner physically grabbed the remaining two pups—both pups allowed the owner to restrain them. The poodle remarkedly fought hard during this attack which resulted in only minor damage to one front leg, which he got over in a few days.
The owner had to put down two of the dogs due to injury from the pick, and the third one survived. The poodle’s owner called 911. The responding officer explained to me that there would be no charges against me because I didn’t use my sidearm but instead used what he considered to be a non-lethal weapon. He informed me that a dog is not highly defensible property and unless the Pitbulls attacked me, I could not use lethal force. And to substantiate a valid attack, there would have to be physical damage to my person.
State laws different regarding this situation. Here in central Florida if a human is not being physically attacked, lethal force can not be used. And if the dog they attacked did not have damage as diagnosed by a licensed vet, that no charges could be filed against the dog’s owner. You should know your state’s laws on dog attacks and how your particular local law enforcement and legal system interprets the law.
I’ve seen Pitbull attacks before, some warranted but most unwarranted. This was my first up close and personal encounter. Once this breed gets excited, there is no stopping them without violence. The genetics of this breed is equal to that of a psychotic killer that can’t reason nor abandon the act of killing. And using a firearm to protect your dog from being killed will go against you…unless your local laws allow for it. It’s a fine line…too fine as far as I’m concerned.
The logic there, that dog don’t hunt. They’re saying you can’t use lethal force to protect your dog, because you’re shooting a…dog. The attacking dog has more rights than your dog? What the hell is that?
A shot fired into a dog, most dogs, would continue through the animal and keep on going. The possibility of collateral damage is a real concern and if it occurred, I would be held liable, which would be a serious setback in my life. That is why I chose not to use my 9mm loaded with Lehigh Maximum Expansion rounds. It would have been the best round for the event at hand, but still, with such a smaller breed, the round would have travelled straight through and into a very populated neighborhood.
As far as the law is concerned, it’s a ‘dog eat dog’ world out there and dog owners should bring OC spray, a heavy-duty club, or a Winkler Pick, which is what I had around my neck. A dog is not highly defensible property, even if it is a $15,000.00 animal. Now, if I had a chance to pick the poodle up in my arms and the dogs attacked me to get to the dog, then the use of deadly force is permitted due to my life being under threat of serious bodily harm or grave harm. Again, it’s a fine line but never-the-less a line that is real and one to be respected by learning exactly how your local legal community handles such cases. Since I work with dogs regularly, I am ready for each step of escalation should that occur, which it often does.
Unless you’re at range, or you’re a garden gnome, you’re shooting at a highly depressed angle to hit a dog. I wouldn’t be concerned with a through shot or a miss. All of this is just ammo for my dislike of dogs in general. I prefer cats. Never heard of a house cat killing someone, and they shit in a box…
Well Birdog, I’ve seen rounds fired toward coyotes which have missed and hit small rocks not visible in the grasses and continued on downrange into tree-belts. In my particular case, there was nothing but homes in all directions. A dog’s life is nowhere as valuable as a human, so I opted for a different solution.