Layla is on the mend after surviving a violent pit bull attack on May 9, 2024.
DogsBite.org - On May 9, we received a request to help a family whose German shorthaired pointer, Layla, was attacked by an off-leash pit bull. The dog grabbed Layla by the chest and shook. She also sustained multiple injuries on her right back side, requiring stitches and draining tubes. She now wears an extra-large recovery cone. Layla turned 5-years old in April. The family set up a "comfy corner for her," and they all slept together on an air mattress to keep her from trying to jump on and off furniture.
Hi Colleen,Our German Shorthaired Pointer was just attacked by a pit bull today. So many stitches, sutures, and three tubes draining her chest. My wife survived the attack because of her and managed to escape with a minor puncture wound and scratches on her hand.
All she was doing was walking at the front of our neighborhood, when she heard a woman scream, and to my wife's horror, she saw a pit bull charging at her as fast as it possibly could go.
There were several people that saw the entire thing and tried to help break the grip, but it wasn't until a much larger man came and forced his hands into the jaws to pry the mouth off our dog. If you're familiar with this pointer breed, they have very narrow chests. This pit bull grabbed my poor dog by its chest and shook it. My wife said that she won't ever be able to unhear the screams coming from my dog.
The owner, a woman living in a house by herself, unable to properly care for the animal, let her small-framed daughter walk this dog and risk the lives of the members in our community.
I know you've heard these stories before, but I just wanted to get ours out there. Not that our story is particularly unique, but I will say that it is alarming that we have been unable to get law enforcement or animal control to appear at our home to file a report. This happened at 1:00 pm Eastern time today, and it's likely that this dog will have to go on another walk. We're a little shocked that there isn't more urgency, considering the immediate risk that the animal poses to our neighborhood.
We noticed the email thread was much longer than just the recent attack. When we scrolled to the bottom, we saw that our last exchange was 11 years ago. That correspondence was about a Cesar Millan episode, where he helped "rehabilitate" problem pit bulls owned by reformed gang members. One was a "blue-nosed pit bull named Monster" that lived up to his name by jumping on guests and stealing food off the dinner table, according to the description of the show, "Homeboys and Hounds."
At that time, the father shared concerns about Millan advocating "complacency around pit bulls" to his followers, many of whom practiced his dog training advice like a religion. The father owned a pug then, who would not have survived the attack that Layla did. A pit bull shaking a small dog by its chest is nearly always fatal. We reminded the father then, "Cesar says whatever Cesar wants to say," and that he has also been honest about bull breeds in the past, as he was during a 2006 episode.
“Yeah, but this is a different breed … the power that comes behind the bulldog, pit bull, presa canario, the fighting breed. They have an extra boost. They can go into a zone, they don’t feel the pain anymore ... So if you are trying to create submission in a fighting breed, it’s not going to happen. They would rather die than surrender. If you add pain, it only infuriates them ... to them pain is that adrenaline rush, they are looking forward to that, they are addicted to it … That’s why they are such great fighters.” He goes on to say: “Especially with fighting breeds, you’re going to have these explosions over and over because there’s no limits in their brain.” - Season 3, episode 4, The Dog Whisperer
One decade later, he experienced a pit bull attack firsthand, or rather his wife did. "My wife said that she won't ever be able to unhear the screams coming from my dog." Several people witnessed the attack and fortunately, one intervened, "a much larger man came and forced his hands into the jaws to pry the mouth off our dog." One of the witnesses gave them a note: "My husband and I witnessed the off-leash pit bull attack your dog. Please call me if you need anything. I hope your dog is okay." ☹️
Layla is recovering after a violent pit bull attack that occurred on May 9, 2024.
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10/29/23: Ring Camera Video of Pit Bull Attacking Pomeranian in San Francisco Used in Hearing
I keep reiterating this.
If a dog is dangerously dog aggressive, it’s human aggressive, or will be, soon.
Because sooner or later, a human will be forced to intervene between the aggressive dog and its target. This can happen with cats, too.
No neighbourhood is without cats, dogs and children anywhere on this planet. Instead of encouraging “fixing” seriously violent dogs, such as pitbulls, we should be encouraging owners not to live their lives in fear of their own pets but to encourage them to euthanize dangerous dogs and buy dogs that will add positive experiences to their lives.
I’ve talked to dog owners that have been stuck with horror dogs for more than a decade. They live in misery. The dog is in misery. The neighbourhood lives in fear. It’s not worth it.
It’s heart wrenching for dog lovers to know when a perfectly friendly neighbourhood dog is physically and/or psychologically destroyed by a breed that has zero use outside a dogfighting ring.
And dogfighting is illegal.
File a lawsuit! Don’t drop this issue, please. Do not allow Animal Control to ignore you, put pressure on them until you get action. Ask for a copy of their report. In fact, insist on it. One of the problems with these incidents is people are reluctant to follow through for whatever reason. Ask everyone who witnessed the attack to write a statement. Get those in the proper format if possible. For example;
When:
On Thursday 1-14-2023 at noon approximately
Who:
I witnessed the black and white pitbull named Duke, belonging to Jane Doe who lives at 128 E 11th St, attack my neighbors GSP named Layla.
What:
This attack was completely unprovoked. Layla was on a leash when Duke grabbed her by the chest and shook her. Several people intervened and were successful in stopping Duke eventually.
This gives you the ammunition you need to recover your veterinary expenditures and cash for emotional trauma.
Don’t delay. Find a good lawyer and file suit. Immediate action helps all of us put pressure on Pitbull apologists.
This is why when I’m out with my dog I have a weapon IN MY HAND ready to use.
The new norm of dog ownership in the US (and likely elsewhere) is running a daily risk of losing your dog to a massive predator attack. It’s unreal. And unsustainable. The pit bull ownership has only made the gains it’s made because the larger dog community helped. This is to some extent irreversible because the big organizations – the AKC, the AVMA, etc. – are firmly entrenched in pittie advocacy. But the owners? I think there’s a real reckoning coming because the costs of pit bulls have gotten so high. And next time, the dog owners are not going to be on the pit bulls’ side. They never had the numbers to do this themselves, and they’ve made far more enemies than friends.
Sara, that’s been my take on it for ages. Someone can’t love dogs and claim to love pitbulls as pitbulls are the number one breed that maims and kills other dogs.
Dogs are bred for purpose. A pitbull’s purpose is to kill other dogs. It’s not complicated.
As a dog owner, it’s beyond irritating and sometimes scary to go out walking with a friendly pet and spend the entire time dodging pitbulls and pitbull mixes.
Right??? I’ve had to go around trees, almost run out into traffic, duck between cars… all that and more when out with my two smaller dogs to avoid pits/mixes and other bloodsport beasts people were walking in a very loose, casual way that clearly showed they had ZERO control. Am I afraid? No, not for me. I will defend my boys with my life, and my worst fear is something happening to THEM and being unable to save them.
How are all these imbecile pit lovers not terrified to have these things in their homes with everything that’s out there to learn about their most “precious” breed? Can you really still hide from and deny it all at this point and not just look ridiculous? Or even criminally responsible.
And I agree. No true dog lover could ever *love* or would choose to house the type of dog that was created to KILL OTHER DOGS!
I’m so glad that Layla will be fine. The damage from the shake can be as severe or more severe than the bites. Back in 1988 when my dad was cultivating his field with his tractor and Digger, the beagle mix, following, Digger who weighed about 25 pounds was picked up by the back of her neck by the neighbor’s male pitbull puppy and severely flung back and forth. Her neck muscles were destroyed. They looked like cooked meat. Digger could not survive. I called the police. An article on Digger was printed on the front page of the Noblesville Ledger.
The pitbull’s owner shot his dog and paid the veterinary bill.
Carry a break stick and a gun.
As a veterinarian, I’ve seen many dog bites. None could have prepared me for seeing Digger’s injury, and my old farmer dad had gotten the pitbull off Digger. (Farmers don’t give up very easily.). My dad could have been killed.
How about a combination gun/break stick? Kind of make things easier, don’t you think Rachel?
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Everyone walking around with a gun and a break stick.
Kind of makes Chairman Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” plan to smelt steel look tame by comparison.