HOPKINTON- The mother of a three-year-old killed in a dog attack this weekend said the family doesn’t know how the two Rottweilers got out of a secure kennel.
Rhonda Marty, mother of victim Vanessa Husmann, said the attack happened in a fenced-in back yard at the family’s Hopkinton home Saturday afternoon. The dogs, later destroyed by authorities after the attack, were kept in a separate, locked kennel in the back yard.
Marty said her daughter was “never left unattended with the dogs. Somehow they had gotten out on their own.” Marty speculated that the dogs might have dug underneath the fence surrounding the kennel. But she said no one may know for sure because on Sunday, a day after the death, family members “…destroyed the kennel and removed it.”
She added that her daughter participated in some of the care and feeding of the Rottweilers with her father Vaughn Husmann, so she was familiar with the dogs.
Marty said it was important that people know that Vanessa was not left unattended. She was in the care of her 18-year-old half brother when she apparently went out the back door of her home into her own fenced-in yard. Her mother said “it is her yard. She walked out the door. Her swing set is outside. She came and went a lot. We didn’t know the dogs had gotten out because they were to be locked up.”
Funeral information is not finalized yet and may be released on Tuesday.
While the investigation continues into what happened, the mayor of Hopkinton said the city council there would explore tightening animal control rules that already ban some dogs from the city. Currently, Hopkinton does not allow residents to keep Staffordshire terriers, or any type of pit bull, in the city as a pet. That ban also applies to pit bull mixed breeds.
Cathy Harris, Hopkinton Mayor, said she added an item to the Monday night city council agenda to discuss adding Rottweilers and Rottweiler mixed breeds to that ban. The city clerk was gathering information on Monday about bans in other communities and other large dog breeds that should be added to an expanded list. The nearby community of Monticello also bans pit bulls, but not Rottweilers.
Harris said she thought of expanding the city’s banned dog list immediately after learning of the dog attack. “My first thought was we need to get them (Rottweilers) out of town because they are a dangerous dog,” Harris said.
Harris also said the city knew about the Rottweilers at that address for some time because a member of the city council is a next door neighbor. Bob Porter said when he the Rottweilers move in he wasn’t happy. But Porter admitted the dogs were well cared for and in a secured area and never caused any problems except for occasional barking.
But any attempt to add that breed to the banned list is likely to draw some reaction from pet owners. Jody and Lisa Davis own a Rottweiler/German Shepherd mixed breed named “Zeus.” They would not take kindly to any effort to get their dog out of town.
“It’s not just a breed thing,” Jody Davis said “it’s how the animals are raised and in my 42 years I’ve never seen such a thing (dog attack) happen. “
While the city council may discuss adding Rottweilers to the prohibited list in Hopkinton, the mayor said any vote on the question won’t come up before the next meeting in April.
I don’t care how educated someone is or if they r good pet owners.. I agree w a few things on here… Dogs shouldn’t live n houses animals r dirty!! Also all dogs or animals in general instinctually attack that’s just the way it is.. I think ppl can help it along by teaching their animals to attack ppl.. If ur smart keep ur kids away from big dogs and supervise if they wanna pet then.. Teach ur kids how to protect themselves from stupid dogs…. And for u ppl who think u are invincible watch out these creatures attack when u least expect…..
Never keep an animal and a child in the same house. Always keep your dog on a leash. Animals and humans should never live in the same building. Animals belong in the wild. If 3000 people are being killed by dogs each year why are humans still keeping them? They have flees, worms,cause asthma and breathing problems, shit all the time and you the idiot owner has to clean their poo. You are more likely to die from rabies after a dog bite than from a heart attack.
I was a defending owner of a pit bull, well trained well loved and kept in the privacy of my home and fenced in yard. Then one day some kids were running around out side playing ball and some how were still not sure my pit bull muffie got out a 5 year boy was not as fast as his brothers and died. I tried to help but muffie attacked me also traring up my right arm loosing several fingers I’m positive the only reason I was not killed also was the police showed up and shot muffie. I wish every day I had never bought muffie, that I had never believed it was the owner not the bread, I was a great owner and that poor boy still died and never should have.
Stefani Buzzard,
I advocate breed specific legislation that would require microchipping of all pit bulls and pit bull mixes and spay/neuter of all pit bulls and pit bull mixes except AKC and UKC-PR registered show dogs.
What negative effect would such a law have? Please be specific. Thank you.
jupiter is correct that the majority of pit bulls are probably not bred for anything other than to make their irresponsible breeders a quick, untaxed, buck. But the pit bull gene pool ALL comes from dogs bred for dog fighting, so absent a really intense, concerted, effort by highly responsible pit bull breeders to eliminate aggression in pit bulls (which doesn’t exist, since the irresponsible breeders really don’t care what they breed and virtually no responsible breeders exist) pit bulls will be disproportionately dangerous.
Plus, there are still huge numbers of pit bull breeders who breed FOR dangerousness–whether it it to get a dog who will win a dog fight, guard a junkyard, or protect a crackhouse. Maybe this isn’t the majority, maybe it is only a significant minority, but since NO labrador breeders are breeding for dangerousness (and labs don’t have the further handicap of coming from lines where all the dogs were bred for dangerousness), it isn’t surprising that pit bulls kill people with regularity while labs almost never do.
Sloane,
Sorry, but your claim that labradors “bite” more often than do pit bulls is both unproven and unprovable. Once again, nobody knows which dogs “bite” most often.
As to Denver (Colorado’s largest city, by far) having high bite stats, there are two sides to serious bite stats. They go UP if there are lots of disproportionately dangerous dogs. These include pit bulls (although it may be true that pit bulls are less likely to bite than chihuahuas–this is unproven, but it could be true. What they are MORE Likely to do is kill), rottweilers and guardian breeds and guardian breed mixed breeds. Bite stats go DOWN if there are large numbers of disportionately SAFE dogs, such as labradors and golden retrievers. Affluent cities like Boulder tend to have lots of soccer mom/minivan/labrador owners and far fewer rottweiler mix owners than urban centers like Denver.
I have seen many more labs bite people in my personal experience than i have pits. but like i said that is MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
BSL is stupid in my opinion, punish the deed not the breed. ANY DOG can attack and kill ANYONE. It is the owners fault not the dog. Granted you may say you were a great owner and dont know why the dog did it but hey think about it, what did you or someone else do to the dog while you were gone?
Im sorry i personally love pitbulls they are a great breed. They are just ridiculed now a days because of the idiots who used them for fighting.
The so called “mean dogs” i have owned all have been nicer then the labs and retrievers i have seen. I have never had a pit or rott come at me, but on the other hand i lived with someone who owned a lab, the dog new me and was fine with me, but when i was moving out and getting something out of the back yard it charged at me and bit me for no reason. You wanna say that they are such friendly dogs okay whatever. personal preference i guess.
No, stacy, it isn’t solely about numbers. Yes, there are far, far too many pit bulls being bred (as a visit to the euthanasia room at any urban shelter will show you) by grossly irresponsible pit bull breeders. And nobodyknows how many pit bulls there are, although there are certainly far fewer than labradors. Yet pit bulls killed at least fourteen people last year (again, this is accoring to pit bull promoter’s own figures) and labs killed none. Why is that?
ElaineMartin,
Sorry, but even the KC Dog Blog (which promotes pit bulls) admits that pit bulls killed far more people last year than any other kind of dog. And nobody knows which breed is responsible for the most “bites,” (such stats would be extraordinarily hard to gather accurately. We know, however, that while pit bulls killed AT LEAST fourteen people last year (again, according to the KC Dog Blog, and he spins everything he can in favor of pit bulls), labs didn’t kill a single person. But, hey, prove us wrong and cite to some examples of people killed last year or this year by labradors.
I agree with Doccentric and Practicalone. I totally get that pit owners are going to defend their pits to the end. You love your dog and think it is the owner, not the dog. But really?? So there are many other breeds that bite. We get that. The issue here is the pits (and yes rotties, too) are the ones that are KILLING children. You don’t hear about the dachshund who killed the child, the sheltie who killed the child, the golden retriever that killed the child. Almost every story you hear of a death from a dog, it is a pit or a rot. I’m sorry, again, I know you will defend your pits to the end, but people have to protect their children, thus the reason for banning the dogs. You have no idea how many people I have heard swear that their pit is a big baby, comes from the perfect, loving home, wouldn’t hurt a flea, etc., etc., and then the dog unexpectedly turned and mauled someone. Sorry…in the long run, the pits are never going to win on this issue. I know it is a sad situation, but it just is what it is. You can tell people til your blue in the face that it is the owner, not the dog, but it won’t matter. It is largely a “breed” thing.
Where R U getting your info? Obviously at the seven eleven! Pit Bulls R people friendly & DO NOT KILL PEOPLE! Wake up & smell the coffee! I have 2 Pitties, One 15 yr old & a 7 mon old, NEVER any aggresion shown. IT is NOT a BREED THING, Its a PEOPLE THING! Do your research & U will find, the only reason Pits R responsible for more dog bites is because of their much higher population, LABS R #1, Dog to owner ratioPits R #20 So until U get EDUCATED Don’t even try to sound like U know what U R talking about!
People to educate themselves on the “bully breeds” and other breeds undr attack. The ONLY reason there are more pit bull attacks than other breeds is bc there are more pit bulls in existence. They are the most bred dog in the US. There are no bad dogs….just bad owners. I am an owner of an adopted 11 yr old American Staffordshire Terrier and I would like to see anyone try to tell me I had to get rid of him bc of his breed! I also have owned and rescued 2 rotties. Not bad dogs either. Education of all dogs should be mandatory before you can own one. They are not things that need to be penned or chained up in the back yard. They are loving creatures that need human companionship. If you can’t give that to the animal then don’t own one!!
Well, it sort of IS a “breed thing.” Pit bulls and rottweilers (especially pit bulls) kill FAR more people every year than all other kinds of dog combined. No labradors or goldens killed people last year. Dogs, like all the rest of us, are products of both their upbringing (nurture) and their genes (nature). Pit bulls, especially, are often bred for a propensity to race across a pit, attack another animal with no provocation whatsoever and keep up the attack until the victim is dead. It is bad enough when the victim is another dog. But too often, it is a child.
Dogcentric takes every opportunity to slam “pit bulls,” so it’s no surprise to find him/her here talking about the dangers of pit bulls when a Rottweiler is responsible. He/she also shows up talking about scary evil vicious pit bulls when the attacking dog is some other breed or type altogether. Dogcentric, did you ever stop to think that your constant diatribes against “pit bulls” only feed the vicious cycle that traps those dogs in circumstances of abuse, misuse, and neglect? Doesn’t it bother you that you are helping to push pit bulls into the hands of substandard owners while scaring off everyone else?
For the sake of pit bulls everywhere, it’s worth stating that Dogcentric is incorrect. Pit bulls are not “bred for a propensity” to blah blah blah (cut and paste, I’ve seen that speech before). Nowadays, the vast majority of “pit bulls” (to include every mutt dog that resembles one) are not bred for function or anything else. It would be just as correct to say that your average Dachshund was “bred for” vermin elimination, or your average Dalmatian-mutt was “bred for” running alongside a horse-drawn fire truck, or your average mastiff-type dog was “bred for” attacking people in hand-to-hand combat situations. In our modern world, most dogs, to include most pit bull-looking mutts, weren’t bred with any specific purpose in mind–they are just here to keep us company and look pretty, and what we decide to use them for and how we decide to keep them, raise them, and train them, is entirely our choice.
Nevertheless, because of people like Dogcentric, we tend to get a particular breed based on the stereotypes we have about them (Labs are great family dogs, Border Collies do well in agility, pit bulls belong in junkyards, etc), but the truth is that individual dogs do not always meet those stereotypes, and any particular dog may be terrible at things its breed is “supposed” to be good at, or very good at things that its breed is “supposed” to be terrible at. Those of us who work with a lot of dogs of all shapes and sizes are fully aware of the wide variety of temperaments that can be found within any given shelter population–and no, it’s not usually a “breed thing.” It’s almost always a “people thing”–people fulfilling a prophecy by using particular breeds in the manner dictated by their breed stereotype and others who ridicule or condemn those who try to see past the stereotype.
There ARE breed characteristics. That’s why every breed book says “research the breeds before acquiring a dog.” Although there are dogs who are not “good” at their breed (i.e., a border collie who is a lazy couch potato that never barks), many breed traits are evident.
My two mixed breed dogs fight with each other several times a year. I don’t even have to intervene, because my dogs are not bully types and they are NOT GOOD at fighting. And their instinct is to STOP fighting when the other submits. Bully types have been selectively bred to not quit, even when the victim says “uncle” or stops moving. The old advice to prevent dog bites: “curl into a ball and stop moving” doesn’t work when being mauled by a bully type; many will continue to tear and chew.
Many bully breeds are good at fighting, mauling, killing.
My neighbor’s German Shorthair pointer recently ran thru my yard, bypassing my cat, my dogs, the deer at the edge of the woods and went on happily looking for BIRDS! to point at. A Golden mix “steals” the neighbor’s gardening gloves. Not trained to do this; he came upon the gloves and instinct kicked in and he carried them home. Watch the videos of the bully type hanging from a rope for HOURS; it comes naturally to them. It would take a great effort to train a sheltie to do that. The pit puppy tugging a bumper off the police car? He isn’t angry, he is simply doing what feels good. Unfortunately, if the pit is happily tugging on a child’s face, the result will be fatal to the pit puppy and may be fatal to the child, too.
I have been involved with dogs/cat rescue for over 35 years. A homeless Golden in my state? I can offer that dog an immediate foster home. There is no hope for bully types, especially if the dog is pet aggressive, as to place that dog is a foster home environment puts the other pets in danger.
Because bully types often do not give warning of intent to attack, and because bully types often don’t stop the attack, even when severely injured, police feel justified to shoot to kill. Aren’t you paying attention to all the police shootings? Is that acceptable to you pit-pushers?
And when I read the idiotic comment, “Chihuahuas bite more” , I realize that the pit-pushers have absolutely no understanding of the problem, and therefore no credibility in the dog community.
Why would anyone who cares about dog welfare want the breed traits of DOG-DOG AGGRESSION and the ABILITY TO FIGHT to be continued? Mandatory spay/neuter of bully types is the only kind answer for everyone, including the bully types themselves.
The “pit-pushers” mission isn’t working. Pounds and shelters are full and overflowing with bully types, or turn them away to unknown fates, possibly fates WORSE than death. Pits suffer HORRIBLY in the cold (at least the husky types have fur) and from abuse. The pro bully mission says “it is how they are raised” so families with small children BUY puppies, only adding to the overpopulation. Don’t you care about the bully types? How do you propose to solve the problems that surround them?
Excellent post. I don’t get why the pit pushers don’t seem to care a whit about all the suffering irresponsible pit bull breeders cause to the dogs they claim to love. Wouldn’t you think that they would be screaming for laws to protect pit bulls? Is profit really the only thing that motivates them?
Your statement is untrue.
In Denver, Colorado where pit bulls have been banned since 1989 there are more dog bite hospitilizations each year than any other county in Colorado. These dog bites are not from any banned dog breed or mix and Denver is the only county with BSL. Yet they have the highest dog bite rates in the state. Aggression is not a breed issue it is a dog issue. And in fact labradors have a significantly proven higher bite statistics requiring hospitilization in this area. Much higher than German Shephards and rottweilers.
Breed Specific Legislation gives a false sense of security to the community and it simply does not work.
Another community who desperately needs to be educated. Banning breeds is not the answer…do they not know that chi’s bite more children than bigger dogs? Will they ban that breed to? Obviously the officials don’t believe in doing their homework, instead they take the cowards way out and place blame on an ENTIRE breed. For one to make EDUCATED decisions means to be EDUCATED themselves…and let’s not forget the responsiblity of the owner.
Chihuahuas maybite more but the never kill. The same is true of nearly every breed of dog. Pit Bulls and Rottweilers kill about twice as many Americans each year, than all other dogs combined. Americna Bulldogs, Huskies, Malamutes and Wolf Hybrids account for most of the others. Occasionally a GSD, Dobermann or Boxer will kill, and rare dogs like Presa Canarias kill at a high rate in relation to their population. Other than that, pretty much all other dog breeds have either never killed or go years or decades between killings.
In fairness to Rotties, Pit Bulls typical kill about 5 times as often as Rotties. Strict regulation or bans of Pit Bulls, which are by far the most dangerous dogs, are common sense and essential to protecting public safety. The need for such measures for Rotties is more debatable, but they do kill and maim frequently enough to cause great concern.
ALL dog owners better WATCH OUT! Banning Rotties means anybody with a medium to large black/brown dog is in danger of having their family dog killed if some uneducated animal control officer that is not trained on breed identification decides, on a whim, that your dog appears to be a rottweiller or rottie mix. BSL does not work. “My first thought was we need to get them (Rottweilers) out of town because they are a dangerous dog,” This is an indredibly ignorant comment – the mayor should educated herself before speaking.
“A dangerous dog isn’t dangerous because of the shape of its eyes or the breadth of its chest; a dangerous dog is dangerous because of the way it behaves.”
“What does happen under breed-specific legislation?
■Innocent people continue to be threatened, bitten, traumatized, disfigured, and killed—by non-targeted breeds and types of dogs.
■Innocent dogs are killed because they look a certain way.
■Millions of dollars are wasted and animal control resources stretched thin in order to kill dogs and not save people.
■Abusive and irresponsible owners carry on with “business as usual.”
■Good owners and their families are outcasts (if they keep their targeted dog) or devastated (if they give up their targeted dog).
■Reason, science, and expertise gets ignored or, even worse, scoffed at.
■Nobody learns anything about the real reasons why dogs bite and attack, safety around dogs, or responsible dog ownership.”
http://stopbsl.com/bsloverview/the-failure-to-improve-safety/