Reader, son attacked by dogs

Laura LeRoux, Clinton
Letter to the Editor

January 10, 2007 09:52 am

— On Friday night, my 2-year-old son, Davian, and I were walking our 2-year-old boxer and a 3-month-old boxer puppy around the block. Both of our dogs were on leashes.
After turning the corner of Sixth Avenue South and Eighth Street, two dogs (one was a pit bull mix and the other unknown) came running out between two homes and headed straight for us.
Before I could get my son off the ground completely, the pit bull knocked him out of my hands and to the ground. At that point, he went straight for my son’s neck.
My male boxer kept the other dog off of us, and I attempted to get the pit bull off of my son’s throat. In doing so, the pit bull scratched and clawed me — the doctors could not tell me whether or not some of the marks could have been made by the dog’s teeth.
The thing that really disgusts me about this whole ordeal is that several cars drove by, and not even one person stopped to see if we were OK. I would assume that if I saw a woman and her child being attacked by two dogs, I would do something about it.
I appreciate how fast the animal control officers showed up, and how determined they were to capture the animals. The owner decided to put the pit bull mix down ... in Clinton, the law only requires dogs that actually bite be put down.
I find it hard to believe that with all the laws this town has that the animal laws are not stricter. I would assume that any attack on a person or another animal should be enough to constitute finding an animal as dangerous.
There are a lot of dogs running loose in our neighborhood on a weekly basis. People should have tougher fines, especially if their animals are repeat offenders.
I hope that the people who drove by, or watched from their homes, read this letter. And I hope that if the same thing happens to you or your family some day, that I will be there — unlike the people who drove by me and my child, I will stop and help you. That is what a neighborhood is supposed to do — watch out for each other.
As for the people who think that they have to have these animals they cannot control (or don’t have the time for), find a different hobby before more innocent people are injured or killed. My son is now scared to go out the front door.