This happened in the city where I live today. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this and the wrap that "pitbulls" get. I put it in quotes because any dog that even closely resembles a pitbull is labeled one. My friend was just arguing to me that all pit bulls should be banned... Here is a short version of the story.

Pit bull attacks, kills 4-year-old girl

12 News/Associated Press
Nov. 5, 2007 06:10 PM
Authorities say Tori Whinehurst, who was attacked by a pit bull in north Phoenix , has died from her injuries.

The dog, a family pet, bit the 4-year-old in the arm. A baby sitter went outside and the sheriff says the dog grabbed the girl by the throat. The baby sitter tried, but was unable to break the dog's grip on the child.

The baby sitter went back in the house and called the sheriff's office.

When deputies tried to get to the girl, the dog became aggressive.

“The dog was very aggressive and deputies then shot the dog,” Arpaio said.

The article I read indicated the dog was an American bulldog, not a pitbull.

The risk factors in the article I read were as follows:

1) child left unsupervised in yard with American Bulldog;

2) best case, supervisor was 58 year old nanny of an 80 lb. American bulldog;

3) other new dogs recently introduced into household;

Presumably there were dominance indicators missed.

As a parent of a 4 year old and 20 month old with two dominant dogs, I feel well equipped to find the parents here grossly negligent.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/northvalley/articles/12n-1105dogattack-CP.html

I note that the search I ran to find articles using "pitbull", "Phoenix", and "girl" found pitbull headlines, but within the article the reference was to "family dog" and the correct breed. Other AP articles referred to the dog only as a pitbull. Nevertheless, the media bias is obvious. The presumption was pitbull.

This is another case of the media, the police, not assisting with the real societal lesson to be learned about how we should live with dogs.

Here's a copy of the letter I wrote to the paper covering this story:

Dear Editor:

I read with interest the article concerning the attack of a four year old girl by an American Bulldog. I note your publication is one of the few that got the breed right. Congratulations on having journalistic integrity and a concern for accuracy in reporting.

As a parent of a four year old myself who owns two large dogs, I noted the following risk factors prior to the fatal attack:

1) child temporarily unsupervised with dog: nanny supervisor 58 year old female who was not owner of dog;
2) new dogs recently introduced into household;
3) dog a large guardian breed with dominant tendencies;
4) dog not confined to kennel or crate when unsupervised.

I make these observations after reading a book by Karen Delise on this topic ("Fatal Dog Attacks"), in which she examines 40 years of fatal dog attacks in North America and considers the common risk factors.

I believe if there is follow up reporting on this story, the journalists need to assess whether there was any neglect of the dog, or if it was in fact a house dog, or an "outside" dog. These are relevant factors.

In conclusion, it is important that the true lessons be learned from incidents such as these. It is critical to recognize that such tragedies are preventable. If we are forced to conclude that the owner of the dog and the parents of the child contributed to her death, then we must have the courage to do so, so that society learns from these mistakes.

Yours Truly,

Andrew May

I am closing this thread. I do have an extensive web page on my site about pit bulls - http://www.leerburg.com/pitbull.htm - the fact is almost every single issue with pit bulls is caused by the owners not establishing pack structure; not training them; and not properly controlling their environment.

The issues I post on my pit bull thread are sad. They are sad for the people that are hurt and they are sad because these incidents should not have happened - they could have been prevented.