Three year old Omar Martinez died Saturday afternoon after being attacked by a 'pit bull' in the backyard of his family home in Apple Valley, CA. Apparently the boy and his father were outside in the yard with the dog, but when the father went inside the house, the dog attacked the boy -- killing him.
The attack is the first fatality of the year -- but resembles too many from previous years when a young child was left alone with a dog with no supervision.
This story has already run in over 250 media outlets across the country -- and unfortunately, the AP wire story that most are running doesn't include the important bit of information that the boy was left alone with the dog prior to the attack.
More investigation on the attack is going to be done today -- and I'll post more details as they emerge. My sympathies go out to the Martinez family.
This particular zip code in Apple Valley has a poverty level of 18.7% -- which is 50% higher than the national average of 12%. 10% of the residents in this zip code have an income below 50% of the poverty level -- double the state average in California.
How do we move "leave toddler alone with dog" up to the level of "leave toddler alone in public restroom"? No parent is ever going to be able to watch a kid 24/7 but for the times when they do have to leave them out of eyesight temporarily, unfortunately many are still unaware that leaving a tot with a dog is not one of those ok times.
Posted by: YesBiscuit! | January 11, 2010 at 02:13 PM
it's really sad that this happened. and no, small children should *never* be left alone with any dog. What i would really like to know is the dog's history. 99.99999% of family pets do not attack, let alone kill a family member out of the blue like that. Pit bulls especially are know for their devotion to family members and their fondness for small children. i'm sure that this dog exhibited suspect behaviors before and was obviously not suitable as a pet for small children.
Posted by: Bloggie Stylish | January 11, 2010 at 04:10 PM
Bloggie Stylish,
OR, the child did something to the dog to injure and provoke the dog (pulling an ear, tail, laying on the dog etc) and the dog lashed out and unfortunately hit a young child in an artery or something. You are right, it is rare for a dog of any breed to attack a family member and it almost never happens for no reason at all or without signs of aggression being present first.
Posted by: Brent | January 11, 2010 at 04:17 PM
1. Was this dog a member of the family 'pack'?
2. Who ID'ed the breed of dog? Betcha won't find reliable info on that anywhere, regardless of the owner's opinion.
Posted by: Becky | January 11, 2010 at 09:23 PM
Very unfortunate event. Raising awareness about these tragedies is very important. Unexperienced dog owners have to know about the dangers of letting alone a child with a powerful pet.
Posted by: Rottweiler Puppy | January 12, 2010 at 07:19 AM
brent, you also bring up a good point about that. kids are always pulling tails, ears, legs etc. kids also love to tease animals since it's usually the only thing that they can dominate at that age. and i guess since nobody was there to witness what happened, we'll never know.
Posted by: Bloggie Stylish | January 12, 2010 at 07:37 PM