Thread: Girl, 3, mauled to death in bulldog attack

http://www.ocala.com/article/2010022...9970?p=2&tc=pg
A 3-year-old girl was killed Saturday afternoon after she was attacked by a dog that was chained to a tree outside her home, Marion County sheriff's officials said.

The child was unresponsive when emergency personnel arrived at 5:15 p.m., officials said. The attack occurred at 6540 N.E. 25th Ave. in Oak at a property marked "Haaker's Dream Bulldog Ranch." Oak is just outside the Ocala city limits along County Road 200A.

According to Jennifer Fisher, public information officer for the Marion County Sheriff's Office, the child's mother — Lori Haaker, 47 — was cleaning the dog pen, and the 3-year-old was playing in the yard outside the pen. Haaker went inside the home to use the restroom, and the child entered the pen, where she became entangled in a chain restraining one of four dogs, Fisher said. A male dog then attacked the child.

Each of the American bulldogs was chained to a separate tree inside the pen, Fisher said. "It was a bad dog attack," she said.

It wasn't clear whether the door to the pen was unlatched, or how the child managed to get inside the area housing the dogs.

Haaker did not immediately see the child when she returned outside, officials said.

Haaker suffered a minor injury on one of her fingers when she entered the pen and neared the animal.

Marion County Animal Services took possession of all dogs, even though only one is believed to have been involved in the attack.

The dogs, white to beige in color, were taken from the property by Animal Services in two vans, each carrying two dogs in separate holding areas.

If the dog involved in the attack is deemed "vicious" following an investigation, it will be euthanized, said Elaine Deiorio, an Animal Services representative. A fifth animal, a puppy, was inside the home at the time and will not be taken into custody.

Officials are not releasing the child's name.

Another child, in his early teens, was inside the home during the attack, Fisher said. The father and three other children were not home.

The property is buffered by a large yard surrounded by a fence.

The parents breed and show dogs, according to Fisher. The Web site for Haaker's Dream Bulldog Ranch indicates the club raises and shows bulldogs.

Thomas Lamon, a neighbor, said he recalls the Haakers holding dog shows in their yard. He does not know the family personally, he said.

The Haakers' home, Lamon said, was occupied by former County Commissioner Randy Harris nearly a decade ago.

The major crimes unit of the Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation into the child's death. An assistant medical examiner also was at the scene to determine the exact cause of death.

Family members and friends arrived on the property as darkness arrived. They hugged one another and declined to comment.

How sad

they are very territorital and aggressive. they will attack anything , its in their nature, im sorry this happened but the owners should be arrested and held accountable , they are like loaded weapons ready to go off...........

The dogs in the article were bull dogs. Not pitbulls.

Most of the time the dog that attcks is NOT a pit bull but is mistaken for one.

Haaker went inside the home to use the restroom, and the child entered the pen, where she became entangled in a chain restraining one of four dogs, Fisher said. A male dog then attacked the child.

This is why the attack started. there were several dogs chained in the same enclosure and when the girl was tangled in the chains she probably pulled 2 or more dogs in the same direction. Almost any dog would have reacted badly to this. This is NOT an evil pit bull attack but an adult who was ignorant in chaining several dogs up in the same area who also didn't pay attention to a small child. I can see the mom being charged with neglect but not killing the dogs for HER offenses.

A bulldog??It never crossed my mind that this breed would be aggressive and would attack someone.I guess any breed is capable of being mean.

...there were several dogs chained in the same enclosure and when the girl was tangled in the chains she probably pulled 2 or more dogs in the same direction. Almost any dog would have reacted badly to this.

The mom should have made sure the gate was secured before leaving the dogs. Someone should have been watching the 3 year old.

The dogs may not have been "at fault" but they will pay the ultimate price. Once an animal has a taste of "people" and associate "meat" ... then the animal has to be put down.

I don't really care what breed it was. It was a horrible tragedy. My cousin has two dogs that are commonly called vicious... I know that most of them aren't but hers ARE. They fight each other every chance they get and just recently one of them killed a 6lb poodle. Before anyone jumps in and says it was "just playing with it"... NO it wasn't. The poodle barked at it cause it thought it was going after a family member and it got pissed off and picked it up. One of them did kill a cat but he actually thought he was playing w/ it... there was no vicious intent... this incident was different. I am absolutely TERRIFIED of this dog... and even more so terrified now cause it is locked up in a cage for about 23 hours a day. I have absolutely no doubt that it will attack it's owner... out of sheer anger for being locked up and I dread the day.

It's horrible that this child, or any child, has to die this way... but it is true that they should have been secured. One has to wonder if they had a pen seperate from the family yard, why they were tied to trees. I don't know... it seems weird to me.

Originally Posted by stresseater

Most of the time the dog that attcks is NOT a pit bull but is mistaken for one.

I'd like to see something that backs that up, everything I find shows that a pit bull is the most likely to bite http://dogsbite.org/bite-fatalities-2009.htm

There are some really sad stories to read/ and pictures of the children on that site, just horrid.
I thought I would have the freedom of letting my children play out in the yard since I live out in the country, and I myself do not own any dogs, but I have to be observant (obviously not my 2 year old goes outside, talking about my older girls) I have to be observant as all neighbors let there dogs roam out here. The majority are not considered vicious, but one can never know, they could go off at any time!!
One time when my girls were younger they were outside playing and out of the blue a rotweiller showed up, don't know who that belonged to, but I tried to shooo him off, and he wouldn't budge, I wouldn't let the kids play outside for the longest time after that.


I've read a couple articles on bull dogs, they really seem to be, or are suppose to be good temparment nature and all, the little girl must have really set them off by entangling herself in their chains, stupid stupid mother, I don't care what kind of animal you have, especially with a 3 year old, you don't leave them alone with animals, STUPID mother.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulldog
Temperament
Despite their famous "sourpuss" expression, bulldogs are generally docile although can prove to be very fast movers over a short distance. They are friendly and gregarious but occasionally willful. The phrase "stubborn as a bulldog" is loosely rooted in fact. They rank 77th out of 79 in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, being of lowest degree working/obedience intelligence.

Breeders have worked to breed aggression out of the breed, and as such the dog is known to be of generally good temperament. Bulldogs can be so attached to home and family that they will not venture out of the yard without a human companion. Due to their friendly nature bulldogs are known for getting along well with children, other dogs and pets