Is It Time for Pit Bulls to be Banned after Two Children Seriously Mauled in Pennsylvania?- Part 1

photo/Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein

On Monday, June 19th, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a vicious pit bull (as stated by news reports) jumped a fence in his backyard on High Street and inexplicably ran to the inside of a parked minivan in the 700 block of Lafayette Street where two helpless children ages 2 and 5 were mauled.   The 2 year old Ruby had her face mauled inside the van.   The mother, Margot Shuffelbottom Warfel, who was removing  her children from the van at the time of this mauling placed her 5 year old son, Charlie, on the sidewalk when the dog dove into the van after the girl.     After the mother was successful  extracting the dog from Ruby,  the ferocious  canine began mauling Charlie causing the 5 year  extensive damage  to his face. 

700 block of Lafayette Street, Lancaster, PA photo credit/Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein

According to the Margot, in her own words, “I was on top of the dog, trying to pry its mouth open with my hands.   The three of us were screaming and at some point some people came to try to help.  They were yelling commands at me and one of the women had a knife.  I will never forget a man hovering over us with the knife saying to me, “I’m sorry. I just can’t harm an animal,” while watching an animal trying to kill my son as I screamed, “MY BABIES! MY BABIES!”  (Watching a dog who is savagely attacking and attempting to kill someone calls for intervention.   This man had a knife to attack and possibly stop this brutal mauling.   Is this person negligible in the children’s injuries?) 

Ruby was released from Penn State Children’s Hospital on June 22nd and Charlie was released on Tuesday, June 27th.     Both children will require extensive medical surgeries and ongoing medical care which will take years due to the substantial injuries inflicted by this pit bull.   Each child suffered severe facial lacerations, nerve and muscle damage each child.    No one knows if Charlie will have the ability to smile again or if the one side of Ruby’s drooping smile will return to normal as well as her left eye will close.     They will need plastic surgeries and/or laser treatment to improve their appearance and to help minimize their outward scarring.”    A long road of physical  recovery awaits this family along with the emotional scars.

Due to the fact the dog  was not up-to-date on his rabies vaccinations,  the mother and  children are currently receiving a painful series of rabies vaccinations.

The street where the pit bull jumped his fence and ran one street over to attack the Ruby and Charlie Warfel photo credit/Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein

The dog who jumped over his fence is set to be euthanized on Friday, June 30th.   He is currently staying at his owner’s home under strict orders from Animal Control who deemed the kennel appropriate until euthanization.

Upon learning of this mauling,  I was horrified!   I didn’t know if they’d survive and if they did,  I couldn’t imagine the devastating impact it would have on their lives.    A mauling of this magnitude is not a simple bite which will take a few days to get better.   Looking at years of multiple operations combined with the emotional toll on the entire family,  I felt the need to look more in-depth at pit bull bites/maulings/deaths.    I’ve always held the strong belief that pit bulls were good dogs in the right hands.    I’ve been around thousands of pit bulls and have always believed they received an undeserved bad rap.   Am I wrong?

This debate of pit bulls being dangerous vs being the friendliest dog has raged on for decades.   Anti-pit bull advocates want to see BSL -Breed Specific Legislation– a blanket term that can either ban or regulate certain breeds of dogs that are deemed dangerous toward humans and animals.  Some want the pit bull exterminated.    Pro pit bull advocates say these dogs are not mean and statistics claiming they hurt or kill more than any other dog is wrong and biased.    Advocates claim pit bulls are the friendliest dogs and are confused with other breeds with journalists not knowing the difference between a pit bull and a truck.   (Some people literally believe this.)    So therefore the statistics are wrong.

The American Pit Bull Terrier is a breed of dog but is confused with similar breeds- the American Staffordshire Terrier,  the American bulldog, the Presa Canario,  the Cane Corso, the Bull Terrier, the Dogo Argentino,  the Old English Bulldog among others.     The pit bull was originally bred to bait bulls then  farm and companion animals.    Because of their tenacity, they are good at competing in the sports of weight pulling, agility and obedience competition.

Pit bulls are known to be loving and loyal, energetic, working and athletic dogs.    They are known for their strength with their compact muscular frame,  broad head and pronounced cheek bones and short glossy hair.   They have been known to be aggressive  toward other dogs and unwilling to back down from a fight once it has started.   They are capable of fighting for hours because of their endurance.

I’ve always stood up for pit bulls but this attack stopped me in my tracks.   Reading the news of the brutal injuries inflicted upon these two kids, I discerned the dog had to be euthanized.   I rarely want an animal to lose his life.   I think people ignore the legitimate reasons when dogs attack.    Dogs give warning signs before they bite.    Not in this case.     A violent, unprovoked attack on two toddlers is beyond disturbing, frightening, and an atrocity but not unique or uncommon any longer.    There are simply too many reports of pit bulls/pit bull mixes attacking and killing people in the U.S. which can’t be ignored. 

September 2016, a 9 year old Lancaster, PA girl was savagely attacked by a pit bull only a few blocks away from this latest mauling.   The girl was inside her living room with her mother with the front door open when the stray pit bull jumped inside their home.    The dog pounced on the young child mauling her head.    She, too, was hospitalized at Penn State Children’s Hospital.   Thankfully, she  survived.

In 2017,  at least four people lost their lives this year after being mauled by pit bulls as stated by news reports that I’ve personally read.    On June 1st, a 91 year old Virginia Beach woman was mauled by her daughter’s pit bull whom she had adopted hours earlier.   The daughter hit the dog with a hammer while he was attacking the 91 year old but it had no effect.    Blue was previously adopted in April of this year but returned three days later after he bit the previous owner’s nephew.    This information was never stated to the new adoptee.    In fact the rescue said Blue had no aggressive history.    The second case occurred in May when a three week old Michigan baby had her head bitten by one of  three pit bulls in her home when her parents left her alone for five minutes.    The dogs belonged to the family.  She died a day later.

The latest attack happened on June 28th when a 65 year old Montana woman was mauled in her back yard by two unvaccinated dogs.   The first dog to bite was a pit bull.   The breed of the second dog was not listed.   The woman is brain dead.   The hospital is waiting for the reports on the voluntarily euthanized dogs to determine if they were free of rabies so the woman’s organs can be harvested.

A “Beware of Dog” sign found at a residence on Lafayette Street photo credit/Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein

As I drove on the narrow Lafayette Street, Lancaster where this latest sad tragedy took place, I noticed many signs that said, “Beware of Dog.”   A witness to the attack stated all you see are pit bulls and Chihuahuas wandering the streets alone.    I don’t know if this is true, but I believe it’s fair to say there are too many dogs who have been discarded and left to be on their own.   One can also not deny we have a pit bull issue in this country since this breed has the highest number of surrenders/abandonment and found in shelters across the nation.    It also carries the distinction of the breed who bites and attacks people the most.    Any breed of dog has the propensity to bite and we can never forget that.

Pit bulls are the most vilified and euthanized breed despite being a very popular dog with  3-5 million pit bulls in the U.S.   So what is going wrong here?

Dogsbite is a website dedicated to dog bite statistics which pro pit bull advocates don’t like.   They feel their stories and numbers are from misguided media reports written by journalists who attribute every bite associated with a dog as a pit bull.    I do feel there is a bias in the media since they dog maulings/deaths by other breeds is rarely reported.   Other breeds have killed people.

According to Dogsbite.org, at least nine people have died after being mauled by pit bulls or pit bull mixes in 2017 so far.   There are two more cases being investigated to determine if the dogs involved were pit bulls.    If you go to this website,  you can google all of the reports to verify them.   According to the website, 31 people died from dog-related attacks in 2016.    From 2005-2016, 254 people were killed by pit bulls with rottweilers responsible for 43 deaths.

Another PA resident was mauled to death this past April was not listed on this site.     An Upper Macungie, Pennsylvania woman, Lisa Green, was killed  by her own pit bull on the upper balcony of her home.    Neighbors tried to intervene but the pit bull would not stop attacking her neck and shaking her resulting in her death.   She died at the scene.     Another sad statistic.

Lisa Green, 32, was mauled to death by her own pit bull in Upper Macungie, Pennsylvania

A study, Characteristics of 1616 Consecutive Dog Bite Injuries at a Single Institution  has been compiled by three doctors, Michael S. Golinko MD, MA, Brian Arslanian, MD, and Joseph K. Williams, MD, FAAP.   This is the first detailed and one of the largest studies about dog bite injuries at a pediatric trauma center in Georgia.   Patients who were bitten were documented in 118 cities.   The data collected by the doctors confirmed that children and pit bulls do not mix well.   They found pit bulls as the most prevalent breed, and in many cases, inflicted the most extensive injuries.    They also found the most prevalent age group to be bitten was between  5-9 years old.

The Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania also studied dog bites over a 12 year period with 25% of injuries caused by pit bulls and 2/3 required an operation.    The study completed by the 3 doctors found their data was consistent with others that a dog bite injury requiring an operation was more than 3 times likely to be associated with a pit bull injury than with any other breed.

Their data shows 78% of all deaths from dog attacks between 2005 and 2013 were from pit bulls and Rottweilers.

Their data also revealed pit bull breeds were more than 2.5 times as likely as other breeds to bite in multiple anatomical locations.   Pit bulls were also found to inflict more severe injuries than other breeds.

Of particular importance is they found the family dog inflicted injuries 27% and 45% of the time more so than a neighbor’s dog or a stray.    The doctors feel this is an important distinction because they feel the more familiar the family is with the dog, the less vigilant they may become.

These studies didn’t emanate from media reports.   These were factual studies conducted by physicians which clearly shows  pit bulls pose a very real threat particularly with young children.

I know of pit bull advocates who will choose not to believe this information.   Surprisingly,  I’m still not against pit bulls.   However, if we fail to recognize this very real and ongoing threat not only by pit bulls but also other dogs, how will appropriate solutions be found to decrease the number of dog bites and fatalities?    The debate rages on while people are disfigured and killed.     The debate needs to abate while answers are found.

Just ask those who’ve been attacked or families who have lost loved ones after being mauled by pit bulls.

What is the next step in approaching this serious threat against people and animals?  Stay tuned for Part 2!

Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein is a television talk show host, speaker, writer and is an unabashed  animal advocate.   Her love for animals is what drives her to promote awareness of the many issues facing animals.   She hosts the show,  ” A Close-Up Look at Animal Welfare Issues.”    She adores her tripawd, Brody.   If you’d like Tina to talk to your group or have a story, please email her at tevangelistaepp@yahoo.com.   Like https://www.facebook.com/ACloseUpLookAtAnimalWelfareIssues and check out AnimalWelfareIssues.com for all the tv shows, articles,  and podcasts you may have missed!