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Thursday, May 21, 2009

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6-Year Old May Need Skin Grafts After Pit Bull Attack in La Vista


From left: Aliyah Balquier, pit bull wound, fence corner, Mark Langan (NHS).

Aliyah's Story Unfolds
UPDATE 05/22/09: The Omaha World-Herald reports, "The dog, named Stix, pushed against the fence, which leaned with his weight. He stuck his head over and latched onto Aliyah's arm. The neighbor had to punch Stix repeatedly to get him to let go." WOWT has a slightly different story, and a video that depicts Aliyah, her injuries, the fenced area and a brief message by Mark Langan, the vice president of field operations for the Nebraska Humane Society (NHS).

Last year, after a pit bull "suddenly" latched on to 11-month old Charlotte Blevins' scalp, ripping part of it off, her mother Wendy Blevins played a key role in the City of Omaha adopting a proactive dog ordinance that combined anti-tethering for all dogs and mandatory muzzling and liability insurance for pit bulls. Langan and the NHS strongly opposed the pit bull aspects of the law. On May 29, Langan will lead a seminar at the National Animal Control Association conference titled:
"Preventing a Pit Bull Ban -- Omaha's Story -- Mark Langan"
In many cities, the animal control agency (which is often the local or county humane society) is the number #1 impediment to passing a pit bull law. We've tracked extensive instances of this at DogsBite.org, as well as directors of these agencies voicing deliberate distortions about pit bulls to "protect" the breed (See: pit bull apologist, Carol Jones). After the fatal attack of Iokepa Liptak, the Hawaiian Humane Society went as far as hiding the breed of the offending dog.

05/21/09: Pit Bull Owner Owner Cited
La Vista, NE - A 6-year old girl suffered a brutal bite to her arm from a red nosed pit bull Wednesday night. The injury will reportedly require the services of a plastic surgeon, and may require skin grafts. Just before the attack, three little girls had been tossing a ball in their backyard. The ball got away and landed next to the neighbor's fence. When 6-year old Aliyah reached for the ball, the dog named Stix hopped up, leaned on the fence and bit her.

The owner of the dog, 36-year old Michael Rodriguez, was cited for harboring a dangerous animal and for not having his dog vaccinated. La Vista has a dangerous dog ordinance; but its penalties only apply if the attack was "unprovoked." This may be difficult to prove in this instance. A similar attack occurred in Louisville in February 2007. A pit bull leaped above the fence, tore a boy's ear off, and landed back on its own side (never leaving its own property).

Who wants to live next door to a pit bull?

NOTE: The 1987 Sports Illustrated cover article, "The Pit Bull, Friend or Killer?" immortalized the image of a pit bull jumping a fence (page 7). The same image is seen as a sketch (page 11) in the "Dos and Don'ts Concerning Vicious Dogs," created by the AVMA Professional Liability Insurance Trust.



Related articles:
05/12/09: Survey Conducted: The Preference of Living Next Door to a Pit Bull
05/11/09: Animal Agency, PSPCA, Distorts History of 25-Year Old Pit Bull Problem
08/18/08: The Art of a Pit Bull Scaling a 6-Foot Fence
06/28/08: Coverage of the Omaha Pit Bull Attack - DogsBite.org
05/15/08: Screenshots: Pit Bull Scales Fence, Terrorizes Neighbor
10/21/08: Flashback: Pit Bull Rips off Boy's Ear in Louisville

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12 comments:

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/21/2009 8:54 PM  |  Flag  
The La Vista Volunteer Fire Department had to help the Nebraska Humane Society (NHS) capture the aggressive pit bull. Who can forget the NHS and Mark Langan? The NHS strongly opposed the proactive pit bull laws that Omaha enacted after the "sudden," violent attack on Charlotte. Just next week, guess who will be leading the following seminar at the National Animal Control Association Conference?

"Preventing a Pit Bull Ban -- Omaha’s Story -- Mark Langan"

May 29-30, 2009
Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel
St Louis, MO
-----
http://tinyurl.com/o42dfu

Silly me, I thought ELECTED officials shaped public policy!

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/21/2009 11:03 PM  |  Flag  
Mark Langan and Judy Varner and the board members registered with the NE Sec. of State ought to be ashamed of themselves.

He is speaking at the National Animal Control Association annual convention in St. Louis titled, "How to Prevent a Pit Bull Ban (Omaha's story)"

Gimme a break. Will he include the story of the little boy who has no genitalia, no scrotum, no penis? Will he talk about the little girl who's got permanent head injuries which prevent or may prevent her hair from growing, a nearly fatal attack in 2008?

Shame on them.

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/22/2009 5:22 AM  |  Flag  
Seems to me if they want to avoid a breed ban, all they have to do is breed safer dogs. Until the Pit Bull community does that...Effem!

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/22/2009 9:21 AM  |  Flag  
More information:

"The children were playing with a plastic ball when it landed on the other side of the neighbor's chainlink fence. Aliyah went to get it. When she leaned across the limp fence, the dog bit her. The family says the dog's owners were grilling when it happened and they had to repeatedly punch the dog just to get him to let go of Aliyah. The dog took a chunk the size of a quarter from her arm. Even after doctor's stiched up the wound, you could see the teeth marks around it"

"...Because Sticks showed violent and aggressive behavior to the girl -- his owner has been ticketed for harboring a dangerous animal."
-----
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/45821667.html

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/22/2009 12:24 PM  |  Flag  
It is not OK for a public servant (which is what animal control is) to be opposing public interest, or opposing laws, or lobbying on behalf of business groups advancing their interests.

If this Langan is lobbying for breeders, which is what anti-bsl propaganda and efforts are, that is a conflict of interest.

It is not animal control's job to make laws. It is merely their job to enforce laws.

Animal control as a subsidiary of the breeding market is not acceptable, and dangerous

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/22/2009 12:53 PM  |  Flag  
According to the news story, the pit bull owner refused to answer the door to talk with the reporter.

Typical...another coward, another loser, another pit bull owner. These guys pretend to be real tough guys, wanting a dangerous dog to intimidate the neighbors. But when it comes down to brass tacks, guys who own pit bulls are gutless, impotent, losers. When their junk breed dog mauls a child, they scream like a little girl, and can't control their own dogs.

They like the gansta look of owning a pit bull, but when the dog mauls a kid they won't man up and answer their door to make a public apology. I hope the little girls parents find a good attorney and sue this guy for everything he's worth.....make this guy homeless.

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/22/2009 2:46 PM  |  Flag  
The article says the pit bull owner intervened to stop the attack, and goes on to say that he went over to the victim’s home and apologized.

That's gotta be a first! I have a hard time believing this is the actual owner of the pit bull!

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/22/2009 2:51 PM  |  Flag  
Mark Langan should be fired and kicked to the curb. It's not his job to advocate for dangerous breeds anymore than a cop should be a gang member. Get this dope a paper hat; let him flip burgers.

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/22/2009 3:30 PM  |  Flag  
Yeah, it's funny how they're NEVER available for a comment after the fact. The idiot pit owner who recently had her dog shot to death for mauling a lab complained that the media never talked to her. Why should they bother? Pit owners are never willing to own up to their own responsibility or make comments to the media. They probably know anything they say will positively sink them in a lawsuit.

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/23/2009 1:52 AM  |  Flag  
I hope the victim's family is SUING SUING SUING

And if animal control is covering for and lying for the pit bull owner then formal complaints need to be filed

This was entirely the dog owner's fault. It is not ok for a dog to attack period.

Anonymous Anonymous  |  5/24/2009 5:09 AM  |  Flag  
4 ft chain link fence...Any "reputable" pit bull website tells owners that this is inadequate containment. Clearly this owner needed regulation!

Anonymous Trigger  |  10/12/2009 1:19 AM  |  Flag  
Another "over the fence" attacker:

"October 11, 2009, AUGUSTA,Ga---4 year old Emerson is now sporting bandages after her father says the neighbor's pit bull went on the attack. "You never want to see your child hurt," said Hudson. "But coming and running to me saying the dog bit me...it was hellish." ...Emerson had been playing in the yard near the neighbor's fence. "She never left her yard and the dog never left it's yard," said Hudson. "But it came over the fence at her."
---
http://www.wrdw.com/crimeteam12/headlines/63981412.html

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