Fatal Dog Mauling

[Maeve_Mari]

Here's something different. This mother is being charged with child endangerment for leaving her ten year old son home with the family pet dog. The little boy was mauled to death by the dog and the city says that it is her fault.

Additionally a supplemental issue is the preparation of new laws that will prohibit the ownership of certain breed types and other laws that will be written specific to certain breeds (as opposed to dogs in general.) This case and the supplemental findings as the court examine the legitimacy of the proposed legislation should be interesting to watch.

Mother charged with child endangerment in fatal dog mauling case

SAN FRANCISCO – The mother of a young boy fatally mauled by the family's pit bulls was charged with child endangerment by a prosecutor who said the woman knew it was dangerous to leave her son alone with the dogs.
Maureen Faibish, 39, was charged Thursday with felony child endangerment resulting in death. She is being held on a $75,000 bond.

"We are not in the business of vilifying parents, but in this city, we are also not in the business of allowing children to be placed in situations where they are killed when it is completely preventable," District Attorney Kamala D. Harris said at a news conference.

Before she was arrested, Faibish told the San Francisco Chronicle: "I know I didn't do anything wrong."

Nicholas Faibish, 12, was killed June 3 by one or both of the family dogs, Rex and Ella. Each dog weighed about 80 pounds. Ella was shot and killed by a police officer shortly after the attack. Rex remains in animal control custody.

Neither animal was spayed or neutered.

"This is a tragic case and difficult for all those involved," Harris said. "However, there is clear evidence that the defendant knew her child faced serious danger when she left the home."

Harris said the facts did not support a manslaughter charge.

San Francisco has been the site of one other fatal dog mauling in recent years, the death of Diane Whipple in 2001. She was killed by two 100-pound-plus Presa Canarios in the hallway outside her Pacific Heights apartment.

Harris would not say whether the charges were linked in part to statements Faibish made to the media that she shut Nicholas in the family basement to protect him from the dogs. She also refused to comment on specific evidence.

"We have to do this based on a standard of law and look at all the facts," she said.

An arraignment will be scheduled for next week. Faibish faces a maximum 10 years in prison if convicted.

Nicholas' death was one of three pit bull attacks in the Bay Area this month. On Wednesday, an 8-year-old girl and her mother were attacked in Santa Rosa by a pit bull that entered their property through an open gate.

Norma Flores, 37, and her daughter, Annette Rojas, were hospitalized by the attack. Annette was listed in fair condition with deep cuts to the right side of her face. She was expected to be hospitalized for three days.

And last week in Rohnert Park, a pit bull attacked its owner.

A Bay Area legislator introduced a bill this week that would allow cities and counties to enact breed-specific laws affecting dogs.

[Sarah]

*sigh* Morons. The legislation that enacts this 'law' will hear from me. Oh yes, preventable. Car crashes are also preventable, we don't really need cars, now do we? Oh, how about those gang deaths, all preventable. Don't leave your house and you won't get hurt. Oh no! What about the flu? Get that shot filled with mercury and you'll be safe! Wait! What about food? All the meat is poisoned with chemicals! Oh. My. Gosh. What about the vegetables? They're poisoned with other chemicals! Mon Dieu! We should all stop eating, and never leave our plastic bubbles. All deaths are preventable! Goodness, don't forget to hold your breath, oxygen kills you, you know. It's the whole reason we age, just like metal rusts. Oxidation. Good graces, don't do anything at all and you'll be safe. Don't forget, this is a message from your local section of Homeland Security. Trust us, we can help.







-Note the heavy sarcasm.-

[Westley]

What sarcasm? Where? Is it free range?

[ThatReallyHurt]

Not enough evidence for a manslaughter charge? Didn't she try to lock her kid in the basement to protect him? If she knew the dogs were dangerous enough to need her to lock the kids in the basement, why were they in the house at all? Why were they on the property at all? She tried to keep him down in the basement by putting a shovel against the door. This shovel would have been outside the door, where the dogs were. The kid was supposed to be in the basement playing video games - would the sounds from that not have attracted the dogs' attention? Could the dogs then have knocked the shovel away from the door?

What really irks me about this particular case are the quotes:

"I know I didn't do anything wrong", and

"It's Nicky's time to go... When you're born you're destined to go and this was his time."

That last one says volumes to me. I really hope that those quotes were taken out of context (first one was from sfgate.com and the second was from cnn.com), because if they weren't, then it was an absolutely horrid thing to say.

I don't know enough about different breeds of dogs to be able to say whether pitbulls are mean or rottweilers are nasty, but isn't it kind of a general rule that anything that's dangerous shouldn't be left alone with a kid? I mean, you don't put a rubber band on the door to the cupboard that has all the poison in it - you either move the poison or get good locks, right? You don't take the guards off the tablesaw and leave it plugged in all the time, right?

There are so many stupid people in the world, and unfortunately, too many of them get someone else hurt or killed while they walk away unharmed.

[Maeve_Mari]

Some people havent the sense to open a can of dog food. They probably should require classes for people wanting to keep dogs. Perhaps something before they get the dogs so that they can evaluate the best dog for their living circumstances.

[Sarah]

I wonder if this lady bought her dog from the pound. I know that pit bulls can be very dangerous, but if brought up in the proper environment, they're as sweet as can be. Just like dobermens and rotweilers.

[Fencergrl]

I have mixed feelings over pitbulls. I owned a dog that had a lot of pitbull in him and the neighbour’s dog had even more in her. I consider them more “dog-like” than any other breed. They form a pack very easily. That is good and bad.

It makes them incredibly affectionate, protective, loyal animals. They can be stubborn, but they are intelligent and very trainable. They also have a temper and long memories. I could tell when my dog would “see red”, but I knew how to calm him down.

Pits like to fight. They were bred for that purpose. They are very aware of hierarchy. Once they establish who’s the top dog and where everyone falls within the structure they're happy.

Pits prefer to fight other dogs. They will also get each other excited over chasing some small animal and become a pack/team. As a group they will do things they would not normally do on their own.

I would probably never own two pits for this reason. One pitpull is a joy, two… you’re asking for trouble.

Having the neighbour’s dog around mine around each other was bad enough. Once I was lying on the grass in between the two of them when they have decided to fight over who has rights to my petting…. Trust me … I got out of there fast. I doubt either would have mauled me, but I could have got hurt as they went after each other.

There is nothing wrong with pitbulls. People in general, do not properly train their dogs nor do their research on appropriate breeds for their lifestyle. Or even worse believe that if you take a dog like a rottie or a pit and abuse it, you have a "tough" dog.