Pitbull Fatally Mauls 5 year old Girl

[barrychapman]

Owner of killer dog had been warned
David Byers and agencies

The owner of the dog that mauled a five-year-old girl to death in the early hours of New Year's Day was officially warned about its behaviour by the local council, it has been revealed.

Ellie Lawrenson was killed by the pitbull terrier-type dog called Reuben in the early hours of today despite attempts by her grandmother, in whose house she was staying, to save her.

The dog was owned by Ellie's uncle, named locally as Kiel Simpson. A spokeswoman for St Helens council confirmed that Mr Simpson had been sent a warning letter about his dog's behaviour in June last year after a neighbour complained the animal had attacked his dog.

"Police received a report on May 29, 2006, about the dog's behaviour, which was passed on to us at the council on May 31. A warning was sent out shortly after," she said.

Jackie Simpson, 46, had been baby-sitting her granddaughter while the mother, named locally as Lyndsay, was out celebrating new year. Mrs Simpson also suffered serious injuries in today's deadly assault, which happened in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. She is currently at Wiston Hospital receiving treatment for a badly injured arm and hand.

The incident has once again raised awareness about the threat caused by dangerous dogs that are not under proper control.

Superintendent Jon Ward, of Merseyside Police, confirmed that police were investigating whether any offence had been committed under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

"It is important to stress that this animal was thought to be a pitbull terrier-type dog but it still needs to be examined to assess exactly what breed it was," he said.

"This has implications for the investigation, regarding whether any offences have been committed under the Dangerous Dogs Act."

Police officers were originally called to Mrs Simpson's house, in Knowles House Avenue, at 4.30am today, where they were accompanied by dog handlers and armed response officers. The dog was put down immediately and the house - along with much of the road - was then cordoned off for the afternoon as police launched forensic investigations.

Devastated family members flocked to the Eccleston house throughout today in order to see Ellie's body, which was eventually moved in mid-afternoon. They were seen leaving the house with their faces streaked with tears.

In a statement, Mr Ward said: "This is such a tragic incident. When a child loses her life in such circumstances, it has an affect on the whole community. I would reassure the public that there will be a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding this young child's death.

"Of utmost importance in such incidents is the safety of members of the public and of police officers. With that in mind, we were left with no other option but to have the animal destroyed quickly and humanely.

[justine]

i hate dogs, i got bit by a dog, right in the face. i had 35 sitches. poor poor girl

[MED04]

I heard about this on another site that I frequent. One of the members there lives across the street from where this happened. She said she had noticed the dog showing agressive tendancies and kept her family away from that house and the dog. It is a horrible, tragic thing that has happened and my thoughts and prayers are with that little girl's family.

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[louise]

how horrible. poor little girl

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[NicoleRussell]

how sad!

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[Yungair23]

This is all could have been prevented if the dog was trained and handled the correct way. I have no problems with putting the dog to sleep but i also think the owner should be charged with manslotor as the animal is under his control and he let it do this. Again its not pitbulls its the way they are raised usually in bad homes for bad things. Poor girl thats horrible non the less.

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[DaveA]

Poor little girl, that's horrible

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[MED04]

Originally Posted by yungair23

This is all could have been prevented if the dog was trained and handled the correct way. I have no problems with putting the dog to sleep but i also think the owner should be charged with manslotor as the animal is under his control and he let it do this. Again its not pitbulls its the way they are raised usually in bad homes for bad things. Poor girl thats horrible non the less.

Hindsight is always 20/20. I believe the investigation is still open as law enforcement researches "whether any offences have been committed under the Dangerous Dogs Act."

[mpgt]

Originally Posted by yungair23

This is all could have been prevented if the dog was trained and handled the correct way. I have no problems with putting the dog to sleep but i also think the owner should be charged with manslotor as the animal is under his control and he let it do this. Again its not pitbulls its the way they are raised usually in bad homes for bad things. Poor girl thats horrible non the less.

I agree partly. I don't like any breed being labeled or even viewed as a dangerous breed, unless by that, they mean the breed is physically capable of seriously injuring a person. That would include most dogs.

When a person commits their first murder, do we charge the parents with manslaughter for not raising them correctly? We should realize that like people, dogs have a mind of their own. With the right environment and training, they are not likely (and not expected to attack innocent people), especially small children who post no threat. If the dog had shown agressive tendencies, to the point that the owner, and even the mom or grandparents "should have known" this might happen, they should charge them with something. Hopefully that's what the focus is right now.

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[patch]

I am a strong advocate for pit bulls, they are family dogs. Protectors of the home, first bred to protect mothers and children from thieves and robbers. This is very tragic and the animal should have been put down. The owner should be charged with manslaughter. Remember, blame the deed not the breed.

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[mpgt]

Lots of people have dominant dogs that display agression in various ways. Usually the signs are excused as "just being protective" or something like that. We are not all dog psychology experts like The Dog Whisperer. We all have different levels of experience and understanding in the area, so it would be hard to say someone "should have" predicted and prevented this. If charges are filed, I'll just bet that one of the prosecuters in the case has (and many of those blaming the owner for the incident) have a large dog at home with potential to hurt or kill someone. Many of those dogs have probably displayed agressive tendencies at some point in their life. Any time they leave the dog unsupervised, they are accepting a certain amount of risk; just like when you take the expressway with your kids in the car. If there's an accident, do we say, "the driver should've known this could happen" and it could've been prevented by taking slower side streets?

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[JuliusSqueezer]

That "Blame the Breed, Not the Deed" slogan sounds like a twisted spin off on the old "Don't hate the player. Hate the game" copout from responsibility. You are right though, Don't BLAME the breed but the individuals of that particular breed regardless of how lovable and tame it is, is still a loaded weapon and should be treated as such. They still have triggers that will on occasion set them off and a kid is in the way, this is what happens. There is as much propaganda going around now in support of how lovable they are as there is about how dangerous they are... Maybe even more. You have to be careful when promoting these animals to not downplay what they are capable of. People are buying into this whole...treat them nice and they will be nice thing. While it's absolutely true, it's only true to a point. You never know when a crack of thunder, a bad dream, a slammed door in the dark, a clang of a trashcan lid or any number of things will set one off. As sweet as they may be, all Pits have a fuse.

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[mpgt]

I think dogs, just like people can develop chemical imbalances, psychiatric or emotional disorders or phobias. With or without another causative factor, one of these conditions could lead to an incident like this in your backyard or a neighbor's yard. Sometimes we see signs which later, in hindsight look like pretty clear indicators of what would happen. Other times a dog could develop a problem and not show any sign. The point is, all large animals (horses, cows, llamas, polar bears, etc.) have the potential to kill. We cannot always predict it, with 100% accuracy.

[BWSmith]

The incident has once again raised awareness about the threat caused by dangerous dogs that are not under proper control.

Key phrase there. ALL dogs should be under proper control, particularly those specimens (not breeds) that are physically capable of causing a fatal attack. I have little tolerance for owners who cannot control their dogs. A pair of large, middle aged women were walking 3 DOGS EACH through my neighborhood while my wife and I were walking our two (one for each of us). Her dogs saw ours and went nuts, pulled her to the ground, she fell and dropped the leashes. Her own fault for not being able to control her dogs. Did I help her up, heck no. I scolded her for being an idiot and kicked her dogs away from mine, and told her to get control of her dogs. Have whatever kind of dogs you want, just have control of them.

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[boafiend]

wouldnt it be nice if people were responsible....it would make life so much easier on everyone else, its a nice thought, i think he should be held resonsible for his dogs actions on this one, he knew his dog and its actions and he still let it run around knowing it could hurt somone and it killed a girl, he knowingly let it happen and for that he should be punished, he took that chance

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[mpgt]

BW is right, but it's not easy to say where to draw the line. Some large breeds are obviously capable of killing. Other dogs "might" be capable of killing a small child. Do we know which ones? Jack russels, cockers, pugs, yorkies? Where do we draw the line? Since there is no absolute answer, I think we have to use our best judgement case by case.

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[BWSmith]

Nah, I have an easy rule. If any dog that "I" percieve as a thread is running toward me, I kill it.

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[boafiend]

Originally Posted by BWSmith

Nah, I have an easy rule. If any dog that "I" percieve as a thread is running toward me, I kill it.

lol good one! usually when im in that situation the first thing that runs through my head is "where are my brass knuckles!"

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[BWSmith]

Large calibur handguns work quite well. Brass knuckles don't do crap to a large pitbull. When i was being attacked by one, I managed to smack him on the head with a tire iron. He just looked at me confused.

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[boafiend]

Originally Posted by BWSmith

Large calibur handguns work quite well. Brass knuckles don't do crap to a large pitbull. When i was being attacked by one, I managed to smack him on the head with a tire iron. He just looked at me confused.

lol omg i got a semitruck tire bar :P maybe that would help

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