[RedChariot]

Originally Posted by Beasley

If you ever witness a mauling resulting in death by a Pitbull, you may think differently!

Or been an RN in an ICU unit caring for a 12 year old boy mauled by dog. I was with him for 2 nights as his nurse until he was transferred to a specialty medical center. I doubt he ever got over that experience emotionally.

Aggressive large dogs just don't belong in a retirement community. Too many possibilities for injury or death. The fact we would have to carry pepper spray just to take a walk around the community is absurd.

[Spalumbos62]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Your argument is invalid. You're saying that it's okay for people to live here because you can put them in jail if they hurt other people.

But you can do the exact same thing with a pit bull if a pit bull becomes aggressive. And in fact, typically if a pit bull becomes aggressive and bites someone, that dog is euthanized. We don't typically put people to death when they attack other people.

People hurt and kill other people. We have laws to punish offenders, and we do NOT tell people they're not allowed to live in a particular neighborhood just in case they happen to end up becoming offenders.

If a pit bull has no "record" of attacking anyone, it is no more guilty than any PERSON who has no "record" of attacking anyone.

And to whoever said it was the pit bull and not the owner - no. Pit bulls are not naturally aggressive. They are TRAINED to be aggressive. They are naturally strong. What happens with that strength is up to whoever is training it.

Absolutely not....a bitting pit does not mean a bad owner...its the breed.
(Not to say there are lots of bad,uneducated owners out the...of all breeds) but a bitter does not stem from the owner.

[jelly123]

Originally Posted by Piedmonter

A small (10 lb.) dog was attacked in our neighborhood the other night by an a large pit bull off leash. The small dog was very badly injured and only saved by his owner being willing to wrestle with the pit bull. The covenant restrictions of the Villages clearly do not allow dogs over 40 lbs. I am not necessarily in favor of that since there are many very nice, friendly labs, goldens etc. However, I do think that action should be taken when a larger dog shows itself to be dangerously aggressive. The Villages says that they cannot enforce the covenant. All they can do is send the owner of the pit bull a letter that when the dog passes away not to get another one like it. I am now very nervous when I walk my small dog at night. Perhaps the developer should consider amending the covenants to prohibit specific breeds known to be aggressive. For example, many campgrounds prohibit pit bulls and rotweillers.

Where was this?

[macawlaw]

As many have said, a dog should never be off-leash if not in his/her own fenced yard. There are some good dogs of every breed. However, my response to someone asking why I rescued my dog from out-of-state when so many pit bulls were available locally, my response shut her up: “I’ve never read a headline of ‘Child Mauled by Standard Poodle.’”

[cbmerl]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Yes... but pit bulls if they chose to, can kill. Comparing a big, powerful dog to a small one is like comparing Mohamed Ali to a young child. They can both be friendly.

Excellent comparison!

[justjim]

Originally Posted by lawgolfer

For 40 years I defended hundreds of homeowners/dog owners by appointment of their insurers. Included were three death claims. In every case the dog owners never failed to tell me, at length, how their dog was the most wonderful, gentle pet and that they could not imagine what the victim did to provoke their dog. The next thing I usually heard was how the dog slept with their children and they would never have allowed this had the dog been vicious.

From this, I learned four things:

1. All owners love their dogs and believe their dogs are harmless;

2. All owners are blind to reality and fail to appreciate the danger their dogs pose to others;

3. Any dog can bite at any time or attack another dog at any time;

4. Large dogs bite harder, do more damage, and pose a greater danger than small dogs.

As a final observation, my clients who owned pit bulls were the worst offenders and failed to have any insight into the danger their dogs posed to others. Frankly, most of them were flaming as ....oles who should have been locked in a cage with someone else's pit bull!

I believe you are spot on.

[Taltarzac725]

I have been going to Doggie Doo Run Run since 2006. I started when I was looking for a dog and they had an adoption event.

They have all kinds of dogs there and they remove aggressive dogs fairly quickly especially if they have the large square like head of "pit bull" like dogs. Many of these dogs though are also very gentle and some have been coming to the dog park a long time with no problems.

One of the worst wounds of late I saw on a dog were on a "pit bull" like pooch which was frequently bullied by many other dogs of various breeds. The owner of the dog also got chewed up trying to rescue his "pit bull" from the one of these bullying canines. They did ban the dog that was biting the "pit bull" and his owner.

[Dgodin]

Originally Posted by Piedmonter

A small (10 lb.) dog was attacked in our neighborhood the other night by an a large pit bull off leash. The small dog was very badly injured and only saved by his owner being willing to wrestle with the pit bull. The covenant restrictions of the Villages clearly do not allow dogs over 40 lbs. I am not necessarily in favor of that since there are many very nice, friendly labs, goldens etc. However, I do think that action should be taken when a larger dog shows itself to be dangerously aggressive. The Villages says that they cannot enforce the covenant. All they can do is send the owner of the pit bull a letter that when the dog passes away not to get another one like it. I am now very nervous when I walk my small dog at night. Perhaps the developer should consider amending the covenants to prohibit specific breeds known to be aggressive. For example, many campgrounds prohibit pit bulls and rotweillers.

We had a similar issue. We were walking our 20lb dog on the street. Stopped to talk to a homeowner. Their large dog got out, ran straight to our dog, picked him up and shook him like a rag doll. My wife kicked the large dog in the nuts, which calmed him down considerably. The dog owner was shocked that their dog would attack but paid the vet bill ($150), and bought our dog a toy.
We still called animal control. In Lady Lake the animal can be off leash in a yard but only if it is UNDER CONTROL by the owner and must be leashed outside of the yard. We filed a complaint so that the incident would be on record but asked that there be no fine as the offending dog's owner had paid the bill. It is important to get the incident on record in case of a future problem. We didn't want anyone else to go through the problem.

[Mac81]

Not all pit bulls are aggressive...dogs owner should be fined and dog evaluated.

[The Mountaineer]

As Judge Judy points out repeatedly pit bulls are such a problem that home owners can NOT get insurance to cover their damages. Owning a pit bull is a good way to lose your home. Feel sorry for the smaller dog. Pit bulls repeatedy do this. Even chewing faces of family children. "They are so friendly" becomes a limb-tearing menace in a split second. I've had dogs, so I'm not anti-dog. But it's foolish and risky to have a pit bull. What if that pit bull mauls a kid before it's finally put down? The owner who lets a pit bull out without having it under control on a leash is SO liable financially. Just watch Judy Judy. She has horror stories to tell about pit bulls and their aggression.

[rmd2]

Originally Posted by Charlesp

Check out article on Death of Diane Whipple in San Francisco on Wikipedia.

I remember that young lady. A horrible death.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by rmd2

I remember that young lady. A horrible death.

I recall that as well. Death of Diane Whipple - Wikipedia

Those were mastiff type dogs. Perro de Presa Canario - Wikipedia

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by sallyg

So awful! Please report this to animal control in your county. Perhaps there have been previous attacks and the owner may get fined. You can be sure the Villages won't do anything about it. Whereabouts is the pitbull located so others can avoid. You don't have to give the exact address, the street snd Village would be helpful.

Why is The villages not enforcing the deed restrictions? If it is true, then are the restrictions enforced Willy nilly? I like this one, that one not so much.... then based on no enforcement of one item, any resident can plead that they can break any restriction since this one is not enforced so then none should be. The restrictions are not weighed, ie. this one is more important, this one is less/not important, on my document.

[debb3c]

I agree and always carry pepper spray

[nevjudbaker]

Originally Posted by Chi-Town

Have been there except it was a German Shepherd. Asked the owner to keep the dog off my property where my dog was attacked. Owner said no to that request. Called a lawyer friend who said to go to the police station and file a complaint for criminal destruction of personal property. The officer who issued the summons was bitten by the dog. End of story.

Great ending!