I was listening to the local news tonight as I was making dinner, and heard this story of a baby bitten quite badly by the family dog. The parents hysterically called 911, and the operator tried to help. She asked the mother what kind of a dog it was, and when she was told it was a pitbull, she said into the phone, "Stupid people"!
The operator was fired I think, and the parents are all in a rage. I know the operator should have though first and then spoke, but THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WOULD HAVE SAID!!!! I feel SO bad for the baby - his face is going to need plastic surgery - and I have sympathy for the parents, to an extent. How many news stories of children injured by pitbulls do we have to hear about before people use their GD brains??!!?? These people need to be examined for competency. Maybe the Webmaster could devise a "Stupid People" forum! It would be filled up quickly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow. She absolutely deserved to be fired, without question. She has no right to pass judgements like that, particularly on people who are in need of emergency aid.
While it is true that different breeds have a propensity for certain types of behavior, a pit bull does not have to be vicious. I know a guy who has had over 6 pit bulls, and all of them were just big mushes. My mother in law's best friend who has one, and it is also a friendly, loveable dog.
I think people buy pit bulls because they expect a particular type of behavior, and encourage that type of behavior. Of course the media just loves to report stories about pit bulls tragedies.
Yes, I agree that the dispatcher should not have said what she said. This family was in dire need and her comments did nothing but sting them worse. I can't help but wonder how many emergency phone calls she has taken regarding a small child maimed by a pitt bull? How about how many kids she's actually SEEN after an attack by a pitt bull? THESE parents, along with many other pitt owners swear that this dog has never EVER been aggressive with anyone. Maybe the boy pulled the dog's ears or tail or just pissed the dog off somehow. What if the dog just had pups and the little boy was unattended and went near them? This little kid will more than likely be scarred for the rest of his life. After all of this, will they dump the dog off at a shelter or have it shot? Is that fair to the DOG?
I LOVE animals, but there is no way in this world that I would have my precious child in the same house with a pitt bull terrier. There are just too many statistics, too many examples. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY. Would you leave an open bottle of aspirin on the corner of a counter, or leave a boiling pot on the stove with the handle facing outward? How about leaving a knife on the kitchen table, or a stairway left open? Once you become a parent part of your job is to protect that kid beyond your own life. These people were careless, plain and simple. The dispatcher was wrong to SAY what she did but not to THINK it.
a dog isn't a household hazzard, it's part of the family. if u teach ur children to be violent, they will, the same is with dogs. ppl get them and teach them to attack to 'protect' the house, but what happens when they can't tell the difference between friend and foe? they do what u teach them to. the problem isn't the dogs, it's the familys.
I am on the dog's side. There is no way on earth that I would have my precious pit bull terrier in the same house with a rug rat Knee biters pull dogs ears, tail and hair. They hit them, they tease them they stupidly jump on small dogs or pups accidentally breaking limbs or tails or ears...pure hell for the poor dog!
I think it's both the fault of the parents and the operator.
The operator what's stupid in themselves to have said that instead of getting help.
The parents are stupid to have kids when they have a pitbull...I mena who on earth has kids with a dog like that...geez....
I was bit by my dalmation, in the 9th grade so I can understand why the parents were upset, don't they train these 911 operaters at all. My mom was hysterical when I was in the 9th grade, running aroung the house not knowing what to do, and I was standing in the livingroom with a towel on my face telling her it was just a little bite, a bite that needed 56 stitches on the inside and on the outside of my mouth, I still have a scar but it's something people don't notice after they've know me for a while. The parents weren't stupid to have a baby and a pitbull, chances are they'd had the pitbull for a few years and had never seen him act violently, there's a lot more productive things a 911 operator could be doing besides critisizing people in need of help, especially since that child could be dying.
its everyones fault.. not one person in that story is blameless. i bet even the baby was flailing its legs in a way that looked like sausages. ( was meant to lighten the thread, please dont think of it as bad taste)...
im a dog lover... and a wolf lover... (not nightwolf.. she still denies our love...) ( yes, i havent slept for a while.)
Pitbulls are banned in Ontario. I'm not saying I agree with it, though. I'm more inclined to argee with GoingNova, in that people raise Pitbulls to be vicious intentionally...I also know a few people with pitbulls that are sweet dogs.
That being said, I don't think young children and dogs should be kept in the same house. Kids just have no natural instinct when it comes to knowing how to treat dogs...it makes me wonder how cavemen lived. My mum has a Lhasa Apso at home. Lhasa's are generally not known to be "vicious," but sure enough, when my 2 year old nephew cornered the dog and then decided to stick his face right close and yell really loud...well, no one was too surprised when he came away bleeding. Probably my mum yelling "...NOOOOOoooooo..." in the background didn't help.
That being said, I'm in full agreement that the 911 operator should lose her job. That's a horrible thing to say to panicking people. Almost every injury I've ever gotten has been due to my own stupidity. I'm willing to admit that, but if anyone had told me "well, you just jumped two stories, what did you expect?" while I was clutching my leg in pain, I would have recovered fast enough to make them regret opening their equally stupid mouth.
its everyones fault.. not one person in that story is blameless. i bet even the baby was flailing its legs in a way that looked like sausages. ( was meant to lighten the thread, please dont think of it as bad taste)...
im a dog lover... and a wolf lover... (not nightwolf.. she still denies our love...) ( yes, i havent slept for a while.)
I feel SO bad for the baby - his face is going to need plastic surgery - and I have sympathy for the parents, to an extent. How many news stories of children injured by pitbulls do we have to hear about before people use their GD brains??!!?? These people need to be examined for competency. Maybe the Webmaster could devise a "Stupid People" forum! It would be filled up quickly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
