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43 thoughts on “2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bull-Mix Kills Infant in Lafayette, Indiana

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  1. Pit bulls and pit bull mixes should NEVER be around young children and babies. Seems like common sense, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, this baby will probably not be the only baby/child killed by pit bulls this year. I believe that a human child is always more important than any dog.

    • My next door neighbor has a pit bull mix which is outside all day. When I work in my yard (mowing, raking leaves, etc_)
      he goes crazy barking, snarling, and trying to break the fence. I’m scared that he would attack and kill me if he ever got out.

        • yep that’s what i would suggest and the Ruger SUPER REDHAWK ALASKAN would be a smart choice -seein’ as how sometimes it takes quite a few bullets to bring down some pit bulls (i dont know if it’s because they r using small calibers or slugs or what ) but it would be best to increase ur chances for bringing them down with 1 shot so i would go with a bigger caliber-no messin’ around!

          • I’ve made this comment before and will do so again. Remember that you are responsible for every round that comes out of your handgun. If you shoot at a charging dog and miss, you are responsible for the damage done by that round. That damage, in the worst case scenario, could be the killing of another human. If that happens, you will be in huge trouble with the law. I am not saying do not arm yourself. Me…I do carry a Glock 26 (it’s easy to carry and conceal), but I would only use it if I had a point blank shot with no humans around.

  2. Reading this made me sad. If only the teenager would have grabbed the baby and brought him to safety while the dogs were fighting. I get he was probably concerned about his other dog, he might not have even considered the pit going after the baby, but it’s still so saddening to read.

    • The teenager is a victim, too. I cannot imagine the PTSD he will have over this. It is not fair of you to victim blame. This is not his fault. This is the fault of whichever adult brought that pit into the family circle. He is not the parent and he is not responsible for caring for a young sibling even if the parent told him to watch the baby.

      • Not once did I blame this boy of the child’s death. I stated what I wished he would have done in that situation, that is all. No where did I say it was his fault or responsibility that the baby ended up losing his life and I have no idea where you got that.

        • Bailey, I understood your comment completely. It wasn’t victim blaming at all. It was wistful thinking. I’m sure this young man trusted the dog not to kill the baby. If adults are stupid enough to buy into the “nanny dog” myth, why would we expect more from this teenager. And, yes, we all agree, he will have to live with this horrific tragedy, as will the rest of his family, for life. Apparently, mom was also clueless when it comes to having babies around this kind of dog. Tragic on every level.

  3. No surprises here. I notice that the beagle-mix did not redirect its aggression on the baby. Or maybe the beagle did not have to be removed from the scene because it was not the pit bull that was injured.
    What makes dangerous breeds insidious is that they appear to be ok/fine for a period of time, deceptively lulling people who are in denial into a false sense of always ok/fineness, until suddenly, life on this earth is over.

  4. It’s a shame the boy didn’t choose to remove the pit bull or the baby from the room. However, considering the heat of a dog fight, he likely took the beagle mix to safety and didn’t even think about the baby.

    Not a nanny dog.

      • yep that danged teenager made the wrong decision! every1 knows when u break up a fight between a pit bull mix and another dog inside of a house, the 1st thing u do is remove babies and small children from the area FIRST,

        THEN seperate the dogs…

        (sarcasm)

        exactly-i agree how can u blame that teenager! apparently he called 911 immediately -which is more than i can say for some adults ive read about during a dog attacking a baby!
        the only valid protocol is DONT POSSESS A PIT BULL-and thats the parents’ faults for owning a ticking time bomb-because EVERY pit bull WILL detonate if it lives long enough the only UNpredictability about that is ‘when’

        *and please excuse any typos or spelling errors (im uzually a reel gud spellur)

      • I kinda agree. We don’t know how old this kid is and he is not the parent. The parent is the responsible one for the baby. It’s in no way the kids responsibility to decide what to do in such a situation. The mother most likely directed him. I’m sure they all feel horrific.

  5. this part: “able to separate the beagle away from the pit bull, take it out of the room”… im pretty sure that the beagle mix could be moved by the teenager and led/escorted out of the room -but doing the same with the pit bull mix might not have been possible at all
    also-im sure the door to the room had to be closed behind him when he removed the beagle mix (and im sure it was all done in an extreme rush and happened very fast)
    and another thing-i ASSUME that the parent/s beleived that the pit bull would never attack the baby because pit bulls are only animal aggressive and are actually very protective and loyal especially to women and children …blah blah blah
    so what went wrong? 1 of the dogs was a pit bull mix-thats what went wrong

    • Quote snip: “…so what went wrong? 1 of the dogs was a pit bull mix-thats what went wrong”
      You are correct. There existed a dangerous breed of canine and a human being on the surface of the the earth at the same time, at or about the same place. That is what went wrong.

      • i know right? i stumbled onto this website this past year because i heard a very breif mention of a 16 yr old box in tx being killed by dogs on our local news-then never another mention of it again (not even on any of our 3 local news channels websites-go figure)
        so i googled “16 yr old killed by dogs tx”
        ended up here and ive read every account from 2005 to present and its disturbing to me
        i guess ive had more than my share of 1st witnessing what dogs do-since 1 was 13 ive raised sheep and goats-and i have lots of horror stories and disturbing images burned into my brain from my 1st hand experiences but after reading all the reports of incidences on this site ,i guess i should just consider myself lucky ive never seen or been the human that was mauled and killed… i live in central tx and driving down the streets in waco or the roads in rural mclennan county this area is infested with dogs running loose and usually in groups of 2 or 3 but i never see humans out walking around

  6. I donated a small amout, but honestly, the frequency of these attacks which always result in GoFundMes, I could easily spend my whole SS check in $10.00 donations if I helped them all, there are so many of them everyday. Try to chose ones endorsed by dogsbite. The 14 year old was not at fault at all, but the parents are. .My hope is that both parents go to jail and that a loving home is found for the 14 y/o…with caring parents and no Pit Bulls

      • Agree! Best Friends, Humane Society of America and local legislators that accept their bribes are at the top of the list. In addition every pit bull rescue , every private citizen that drives unadoptable pit bulls across state lines to avoid euthanasia are also responsible. The list is long.

  7. i always try to imagine myself in the victims shoes whenever i learn about a tragedy and putting myself in the place of a person ,especially a kid baby or innocent adult (non owner of the killing dog) its really morbid and disturbing when i think about and try to imagine what that victim’s last concious moments were like-how physically painful it was and how mentally frightening and horrifying-and i dont consider 4-5 times per month a ‘freak’ accident or occurence -in my opinion that is common

  8. As long as we have the media, celebrities and these lobbyists push this vile breed as ” wonderful and safe family pets ” , nothing will change.

    • exactly-i totally agree that the media is the problem -the media brainwashes and manipulates the public and celebrities are irresponsible and ignorant (by choice) -u cant reason with them because they refuse factual information
      theres no excuse for being ignorant about anything in this day and age-the information is out there for every1-u do have to work for it a little because the media tries to deceive and hide certain truths but a person with common sense can figure out what is true by checking the source of the information-therefore ignorance is just laziness-im not saying every1 should know everything it’s just they shouldnt go opening their mouths and and putting themselves in debates unless theyve taken their time to become properly informed (i guess celebs r too busy for all that -thats why they need to just be quiet)

    • My kids enjoy “America’s Top Dog”, which shows off the skills of 4-5 police K9s and their handlers, as well as one “underdog” which is a trained civilian dog. The police K9s are generally what you’d expect – GSDs, Malinois, Dutch Shepherds, etc. For most of the episodes, the “underdog” has been some version of a pit bull. It’s generally a pathetic attempt to garner sympathy and praise for a breed that has no place in civilized society. One hideous landshark was proclaimed to be a “highly trained family protection” dog. A frigging pit bull. Is there anything more counterintuitive on the planet? The breed known for killing more people every year than all other breeds combined, many of them members of the pit bull’s household, and they choose that thing as a “family protection” dog. What a joke, and how irresponsible. We already have 2 dead babies in January, but we can’t get away from the “pibbles are wiggle butts who love everyone” propaganda. It’s everywhere you turn.

  9. I saw where a golden retriever who has a large social media following was attacked by another dog over the weekend, resulting in a mangled leg.

    All of these other people were chiming in, talking about how their own dogs were injured or even killed by aggressive dogs.

    The common thread running through all of them? No one dared disclose the breed of the dog who attacked. The one who attacked the Golden leaped its owner’s fence to maul a dog being walked on a leash–now tell me, how many breeds do that?

    The pit lobby has everyone terrified of even acknowledging when a pit does something bad–even though it happens constantly.

    • yep – ‘leaped its owner’s fence to maul a dog being walked’ enough said
      pro pit bull ppl-they r EXACTLY the same as crooked politicians-they re always right there johnny on the spot to start making excuses ,throwing out red herrons and really scrambling to hide truths and deceive
      its because they KNOW they r wrong-thats why they have to work so hard to get ppl drunk off their kool aid

    • It’s very sad, you read where the same owners whose dogs have just been slaughtered by pits parrot the “well, it could have been ANY breed” line when they’re being interviewed by the media. Except for some reason it isn’t. They just can’t conceive that these dogs do this naturally and that it doesn’t matter how much love they are shown, some of them will still have very strong drives to attack other animals and people.

  10. All you have to do is walk down the street to see the danger so I fail to understand how all these Pitty Nutters can’t see it.

    Pitbulls dragging owners doing whatever they want, lunging, snarling and acting like azzhats while the owners claim, “s/he’s friendly”. I haven’t seen a single well-trained pitbull in *years*.

    We have BSL here, and they’re proliferating and not one of these owners, who could have their dog removed post haste…even bothers to muzzle them. That’s how much these Pit lovers, actually love their dogs.

    It’s only a matter of time before we have dead babies, here, again.

    This teen, the baby and the beagle are all victims. They’re all victims of adults who didn’t have the sense to get a dog they knew how to manage and were too lazy and entitled to train one or even research the basic problems that could occur with the two dogs they *did* have.

    I drop by here maybe once a week and it’s pitbull after pitbull murder when I do drop in.

    This is madness.

    A few people died from Tylenol and there were warning labels, public outcry and now, nobody with less than a +10 dexterity level can get the bottles, open. All to prevent something rare.

    Pitbull murders every week, the problem is solvable, the blame is clearly with the dogs, but here we are–watching the new Star Trek franchise with what, now? A pitbull snarling at people on screen as being the #1 sidekick of the hero.

    Madness.

    Jeezus.

    • my thoughts exactly-ive thought about the whole damn tylenol bullsh*t myself because h e b pulled the liquid tylenol off their shelves for about a year here -yeah its ridiculous and this whole pit bull agenda is going to eventually turn this country (safety wise anyway) into a 3rd world country where no1 is safe ,especially outside their home ,and no laws to protect ppl or prevent certain types of incidents
      my parents think i exagerrate the effects of pit bulls on this society but i dont think i do

  11. Who else is curious to see the “beagle mix”? I’ve been searching the shelters/rescues for 3 years for a dog, and I’ve seen a LOT of smaller pit bull mixes listed as beagle mixes. Two pit bull mixes ‘scrapping’ is a lot more likely a scenario for redirected aggression than the massacre that is a pit bull on a beagle mix.

    • Possibly, but it also very common for the scenario of one dog attacking another to be called a “fight”–even if the victim dog is just trying to get away. This is especially true if a pit is involved, because it makes the non-pit look just as guilty for “fighting.”

    • I do believe it was a beagle mix. Had it been another pit bull it would have been very difficult for a single teenager to separate them (have to pry open 2 sets of jaws at once).

  12. Buy and practice using a battery powered chainsaw.

    Keep it charged and nearby while gardening.

    You could take it along in a stroller while walking your dog.

    If a bully dog attacks, end the attack.

  13. I have a yellow lab and a 3 year old little girl we have a 6 week old stafford terrier even though it’s not a pitbull it’s still a mix and my husband has always wanted one…while I was ok with it it’s just now hitting me that my daughters and lab are in danger…she’s cute and cuddly now but she won’t be this small forever…I honestly don’t know anymore I don’t like this at all.

  14. The fourth paragraph needs a bit of editing: “… when Officer Cain arrived, in order to render aid to the infant, the officer had to fire his handgun one time, killing it.”
    Not to be insensitive to this horrible tragedy, but the writing in that sentence makes it seem like the cop shot the baby.

  15. Thanks for the update.

    In a telling twist of irony, after I read the original story you linked to in the Journal and Courier, I noticed in the “more stories” section below the article that there had been a recall on infant’s ibuprofen drops because the concentration of ibuprofen was ten percent above what it should be per listed dosages. No one had died… it did not even mention that any child had sickened. Yet it was recalled. And I can almost guarantee that there were no comments under the story claiming that the media was biased against this brand of liquid ibuprofen, or pictures showing bottles of the defective medicine being given to a baby with the words, “My bottle of liquid ibuprofen would never hurt my baby.” Instead, the clear danger is acknowledged, the public is warned, and the dangerous medicine is removed from the market. No one cries foul. No one defends the bad medicine.

    With any other “product” besides fighting breeds of dogs manufactured by humans, this is what is done if safety is a concern. The item that is deemed unsafe is recalled. It’s time for people to admit that certain breeds aren’t safe and that this needs to be acknowledged and rectified.

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