With Vicious Dog Attacks Increasing, Marine Corps Bans Pit Bulls, Rottweilers,and Mastiff’s From Camp Pendleton, and other Bases

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As the incedence’s of vicious dog attacks increase across the nation, the Marine Corps is moving to ban dogs with aggressive temperaments from Camp Pendleton and other military bases. The action is in response to a dog mauling of  a 3-year-old boy at Camp Lejeune, N.C.,  who was fatally bitten by a pit bull.

The banned breeds are hybrid wolf’s, pit bulls, bull mastiffs, and Rottweilers, commonly known as devil dogs.

As many owners of the banned breeds know, the dogs reflect the treatment that they have endured from their human owners. If the dog is trained to be aggressive, then the dog will follow through, and if it is taught how to be social around humans and other animals, then they make the best pets in the world.

Unfortunetly, many owners do not have the experience nor the training themselves to be able to raise a non-aggresive animal, and many seek to make their pet aggressive.

A woman was seriously injured by in a California dog bite incident that occurred in National City, on October 10th,2009. She was attacked by 3 pit bulls, who had escaped from their owners fenced in yard.

NBC is reporting this…

Witnesses who watched in horror as a woman was attacked by three dogs say they’re surprised she’s alive.

“It was like they were tearing her apart, they were holding her arm her leg, they were jumping on her,” said 12-year-old Daniel Gomez, who says the attack lasted about a minute.

Sharon Holland was in the hospital over the weekend for serious bite wounds after she was attacked near her home in Lincoln Acres. But family members tell her life may be in jeopardy because those wounds have become infected.

John Avila  thought the three Mastiffs were going to kill his 54-year-old friend…

Animal Control investigators say Holland was knocked unconscious. She also suffered severe bite marks to her left arm.

In another part of town, Ocean Beach, there was another pit bull attack, that ended in the dog being shot to death by a police officer. Here is a report from the local media…

A San Diego police officer shot and killed a dog in Ocean Beach yesterday. Police said that two officers initially responded to a call that a woman was being attacked by a dog. When they arrived at the scene, the dog attacked the officers as well. The incident took place at Ocean Beach Farmers Market.

When the officers arrived at Newport Avenue near Bacon Street around 5 p.m., they encountered a hostile pit bull that had been attacking the woman at the time the call was placed. The woman had been able to run away, but the dog then attacked the officers. One of the officers was injured and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. The dog was shot shortly after the officer sustained the injuries. Police said that a man who was with the dog, but not believed to be the dog’s owner, was taken into custody at the scene…

A lawyer associate of mine had this to say…

While many people own the dogs that have been classified as inherently dangerous and control them without incident, others are not are not able to adequately train and control their animals. Being bitten by a dog can be terrifying and can cause a great deal of harm to the person who has been bitten.

The law recognizes different animals, and even different breeds of dogs, as having different standards of liability for their owners. Some animals are classified as inherently dangerous while others are not. If an animal is inherently dangerous, the owner is liable for all foreseeable harm caused by the animal. Some dog breeds have been classified as inherently dangerous by California law. Rottweilers, bull mastiffs and pit bulls are among the dogs that have been classified as inherently dangerous.

No dogs are allowed in barracks or enlisted or bachelor officer quarters. All dogs — and cats — in family housing must be registered. No family is allowed more than two pets.

I can not say that I agree with demonizing these animals, given that their behavior is a result of how their owners raised them. Providing training as well as certification to own and raise the breeds in question seems like a more reasonable remedy.

My question is, can someone please ban all these wild coyotes I have running around my backyard? My dogs do not want any part of those wolf packs, and neither do I.

For more on dog bite law, click on these links:

http://www.dogbitelaw.com/

http://www.californiainjuryblog.com/2009/10/three-pit-bulls-injure-woman-san-diego-dog-bite-10-13-09.html