A few years ago I went through a bad breakup, moved out on my own, and randomly decided I wanted a puppy. I shared that info with some coworkers and one of them told me her pit just had puppies! I was living in a city where a lot of people I knew had pits and I didn’t really think twice about owning one.
I was so excited and picked out my puppy, and waited for her to be old enough for me to take her home.
Well, one day my coworker showed up late to work, with bandages on her face and legs. The father pit had attacked her randomly (she said someone walked by the window while he was eating..) and she ended up having to get stitches in her face and thighs.
At that point I told her I couldn’t take one of her puppies, and a regular at work offered me a rescue Yorkie instead.
This was years ago and I still thank the universe everyday for not allowing me to get a pit

I am a certified dog trainer who goes to pet homes to help with training

I wanted to share this story for quite a while

6 months ago I was visiting owners who mentioned aggressive behavior of their terrier,aggressive to owners if they try to put collar on him,n connect leash

I went to see this home. Dog is actually a pitbull,over 50 lbs,lean,not bully type,but very typical apbt

About3 y old,had him from age 3 months,adopted from bully rescue

When owners trying to put a collar,regular flat one,he grab their wrists n hold it,body is stiff. If other owner succeed to put collar while pittie hold husband's wrist,dog jumps n try grab wife hands. Head slapping n grabbing leash on walk,escalating to growl if owner pull leash back. Look like alligator in a trap.

They tried to distract him with a treat or toy but he dont let go the leash

So they cant really do much,cant walk,cant place him in crate,because" he doesn't allow"

He had very uncomfortable stare all time i was there.

I mentioned that it does look like as very dangerous case n said it can get worse any time

Nothing I can do, im not interested to get mauled. I cant touch this dog without risk being grabbed by him.

Not muzzle trained of course,muzzle only placed by vet every visit

They re 60 y old. I asked why they got this exact dog,they said they had grandkids n want dog breed who is known to be sweet to small kids,so they did research n chose pitbull

I did showed them few news from internet where pits mauled killed kids just recently. Owners get upset with me showing it n husband told me " Only complete moron will think that any dog can be inherently agressive to children"

I told him:' inherited loyalty, nannydog,n love to children in pits isn't the same moronic thing "?

I was yelled n told im wrong n should not be around dogs,since im a hater

They have 2nd dog,fluffy,like husky mix..absolutely normal dog,no aggression can be placed in crate,n no growling when touched by owners or guests .He dont care about grandkids,not playful type of dog,more like Livemealone.

If I would know its pit,I would not go there...

Maybe I should start asking to send pictures of the dog before I agree to visit

A new 906-patient facial dog bite study just dropped — and the authors had every variable they needed to test whether breed predicts severity.

They didn't.

This is a retrospective cohort from Penn State Hershey Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma centre. 906 patients, 2,061 injuries, 11 years of data (2012–2023). It is one of the larger single-centre facial dog bite series in the recent literature, and it is open access.

The dataset is unusually rich. The authors captured:

• Breed (68 unique breeds documented across 686 patients with breed reported)
• Hospital admission (yes/no)
• Management pathway (operative repair / bedside repair / conservative)
• Anatomical location (15 categories, from cheek down to jaw)
• Number of injuries per patient
• Antibiotic class (intravenous vs oral; 24 different drugs)
• Rabies and tetanus prophylaxis requirements
• Provocation circumstance (20 categories, from "playing with dog" to "unprovoked")
• Dog–patient relationship (family / other / not mentioned)

Everything needed to ask a basic question is in the chart review. The question is:

>The paper does not ask it. Not once. Across ten pages of results and discussion, breed is reported only as a raw count in Table 3, and then dropped. There is no cross-tabulation between breed and any severity outcome anywhere in the paper.

What follows is what the data would show if it were stratified and a list of the specific tables that should exist in this paper and don't.

What the paper does report on breed

Table 3 gives the breed counts. The top of the list:

Breed	n	% of reported
Pitbull	154	22.4%
Labrador Retriever	72	10.5%
German Shepherd	48	7.0%
Rottweiler	24	3.5%
Husky	23	3.4%
Golden Retriever	23	3.4%
Bulldog	22	3.2%
Poodle	20	2.9%
Mastiff	19	2.8%
Doberman Pinscher	18	2.6%

Pitbulls are the single largest category by a factor of more than two over the next most common breed. Pitbulls plus Rottweilers plus Mastiffs plus Doberman plus Bulldog plus Cane Corso (1) plus American Staffordshire Terrier (3) plus Akita (9) account for roughly 35% of the breed-identified injuries.

The paper notes this in one sentence in the discussion, then immediately neutralises it by observing that Labradors and German Shepherds are the second and fourth most common breeds in the US per the American Kennel Club, and concludes: "it is intuitive that the most common breeds are most commonly involved in dog bites."

What the paper has, but does not report, is the severity profile that goes with each breed.

The five stratifications that should be in this paper and aren't

1. Operative repair rate by breed

The paper reports that 16.9% of patients overall (153/906) required operative repair under general anaesthetic, 65.9% (597) were managed at bedside, and 17.9% (162) were managed conservatively.

A breed-stratified version of this would be a 3 (management) × 10 (top breeds) table. Every data point exists in the chart review. The authors built it for the aggregate. They did not break it out by breed.

2. Hospital admission rate by breed

The paper reports 17.0% overall admission (154/906). It notes this is higher than the 9.7%–13.2% range reported in prior literature, and lists the established risk factors for admission as: infected wounds, complicated injuries, immunocompromise, prior evaluation for the same injury, and injuries to the head, upper extremity, or multiple anatomic locations.

It does not ask whether admission rate varies by breed. The data is in the same chart review.

3. Number of injuries per patient by breed

The paper has 906 patients and 2,061 recorded injuries, giving a crude average of 2.27 injuries per patient. This is a striking number on its own — most patients have more than one bite wound — but it is reported only as an aggregate.

The same calculation, broken down by breed, is one column in a spreadsheet. Multi-site injury is a recognised marker of severity in the dog bite literature, including in papers Rothka et al. themselves cite. The authors have the per-patient injury count and the per-patient breed. They never cross them.

4. Anatomical distribution by breed

Table 4 gives a beautifully detailed breakdown of 1,535 anatomical injury sites across 15 facial subunits and across 12 years. The cheek, lip, and nose account for 55.7% of injuries.

There is no version of this table broken down by breed.

Whether Pitbull bites cluster in particular facial subunits versus, say, Jack Russell Terrier bites, is exactly the kind of question a facial trauma series should be answering. The "higher cranial mass to body ratio" in young children explains why facial bites predominate in paediatrics — it does not explain which breeds produce which patterns of facial injury. The paper has the data. It does not ask the question.

5. Antibiotic intensity and IV vs oral by breed

Table 5 lists 24 antibiotics. The top three are amoxicillin-clavulanate (62.7%), ampicillin-sulbactam (17.5%), and clindamycin (5.2%). Ampicillin-sulbactam is intravenous; amoxicillin-clavulanate is typically oral. IV antibiotics imply hospital admission, infected wounds, or wounds judged too severe for oral cover alone.

The IV-to-oral ratio by breed is, again, a one-column calculation that does not appear in the paper.

The minimum addendum that would resolve this

A single supplementary table with the following columns:

Breed (top 10)	n	Operative %	Bedside %	Conservative %	Admission %	Injuries per patient	IV antibiotic %

Ten rows. Eight columns. Every figure derivable from the existing chart review. The total computational burden is roughly half a working day for someone with the underlying spreadsheet.

The absence of this table from a paper whose explicit objective is to "evaluate patterns, demographics, and clinical risk factors for facial trauma from dog bites" is the omission worth pointing at.

What they didn't cite and should have

Drawing on your existing omissions inventory, applied specifically to Rothka et al.'s paper:

Tier 1: Direct comparator papers on breed and severity at Level 1 trauma centres

These are the papers a 906-patient facial trauma series at a Level 1 trauma centre should be in direct dialogue with:

Paper	Why its absence matters specifically for Rothka
Bini JK et al. (2011) J Trauma 70(1):69–74. "Mortality, mauling, and maiming by vicious dogs."	15-year Level 1 trauma centre series — the closest methodological mirror to Rothka's own design. Used Injury Severity Score. Found pit bulls and Rottweilers accounted for 71% of injuries with higher ISS and greater charges. Rothka has the same setting, larger n, and could have replicated or contested the finding. They do neither.
Greenhalgh DG et al. (2017) J Pediatr Surg. "Pit bull terrier attacks cause more complex injuries, longer hospital stays and higher hospital charges."	Title alone states the finding. Rothka has admission data, management data, and breed data. Not cited.
Golinko MS, Arslanian B, Williams JK (2017) Clin Pediatr 56(4):316–325. "Characteristics of 1616 consecutive dog bite injuries at a single institution."	1,616 consecutive cases with wound complexity grading by breed. Bull breeds over-represented in severe injuries. Foundational comparator for a single-institution series of this size. Not cited.
O'Brien DC et al. (2015) Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 153(3):448–453. "Dog bites of the head and neck: an evaluation of a common pediatric trauma and associated treatment."	Same journal family as OTO Open. Head and neck focus. Not cited.

Tier 2: Forensic and fatality literature

Rothka acknowledges the CDC fatality data (ref 16) but cites no forensic series:

• Sarenbo S, Svensson PA (2021) Forensic Sci Int — European fatalities 1995–2016 with breed breakdowns
• Patronek GJ et al. (2013) JAVMA — frequently cited against breed identification but with internal data that supports breed disproportionality; Rothka does not cite it at all, which is actually a methodological gap regardless of one's position
• Raghavan M (2008) Can Vet J — Canadian fatalities by breed

Tier 3: Behavioural and aggression literature

What it does not cite:

• Christensen E et al. (2007) Appl Anim Behav Sci — Cornell study finding 40.9% of dogs passing standardised temperament tests subsequently exhibited aggressive behaviour. Directly relevant to whether behaviour-based assessment is a reliable preventive instrument
• Schilder MBH, Vinke CM, van der Borg JAM (2019) J Vet Behav — breed-type differences in severe aggression and intraspecific killing
• Hoffman CL, Harrison N, Wolff L, Westgarth C (2014) "Is that dog a Pit Bull?" — documents directional misclassification, relevant to Rothka's 31.3% unknown-breed rate
• Philpotts I et al. (2024) Animals — RSPCA DogKind campaign evaluation showing limited behaviour change from education campaigns. Directly relevant to Rothka's "targeted education is necessary" conclusion
• Jakeman M et al. (2020) BMJ Paediatrics Open — explicit finding that "education alone is unlikely to prevent dog bites." Rothka's conclusion contradicts this without engaging with it

Tier 4: Surgical reconstruction literature relevant to a facial trauma series

For a paper whose central clinical contribution is management pathway data (operative / bedside / conservative), the surgical reconstruction literature is thinly cited:

• Akhtar N et al. (2010) J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg — paediatric dog bite facial reconstruction outcomes
• Wei LA et al. (2013) Ophthal Plast Reconstr Surg — periorbital dog bites (Hurst 2020 is cited but Wei is the larger comparator)
• Tu YK et al. (2020) — facial subunit reconstruction following dog bite

I'm feeling like such a shit mother right now. The pittie that I brought home at 6 weeks old attacked my son on Sunday. A dog that's lived with him for 2 years with no issues. The dog has never has so much growled at my little boy and our of nowhere, he just snapped. I have treated the dog like a second child. He's my life. I came onto one of the dog advise groups and shared what has happened and everyone directed me here. I wish I had known and not fallen into the nanny dog bullshit. My kid has 17 stitches in his face. I can't believe I allowed this to happen. They need banned. My heart is broken .

Edit: thank you to everyone for the amazing support they have given here. My baby is going to be okay and we have him scheduled for therapy. I am working on finding myself help as well and we are going to get through this. The dog was BE'ed the same day. He'll never hurt anyone again.

Six out of 10 children who required plastic surgery treatment due to dog bites were bitten by a family pet, a new study has found.

The most common breeds reported by parents or guardians to have bitten children were terriers, followed by Jack Russells. American pit bull terriers and German shepherds, both legislated breeds, ranked third and fourth.

Labradors, beagles, huskies and Rottweilers were also among the 18 different breeds of dogs involved in attacks treated by the plastic surgery service at Children’s Health Ireland in Crumlin, Dublin, over a three-year period.

Catherine de Blacam, the consultant paediatric surgeon who headed the study, said she wasn’t surprised by the finding that 59pc of dog bites were from a family pet.

“There are incidents where people are set upon by a dog, but it is most frequently a dog that’s known to the child – a family dog or a grandparents’ dog,” she said. “Certainly, that’s the pattern that we see. It’s often the family labrador.”

The team found the average age of paediatric patients treated by plastic surgeons at Crumlin for dog bites was just over six. The study noted children are three to five times more likely than adults to be bitten by dogs.

Of 89 child patients, 70pc of the dogs involved were non-legislated breeds.

The study, which was published in medical journal The Surgeon, said the most common injuries were to the face, neck and head, with the study noting younger children are particularly vulnerable because they are often at face-level with dogs.

The team have also treated smaller kids who have been badly shaken by dogs.

More than half of children presenting with dog bites needed surgery under general anaesthetic. Ms De Blacam said cases referred to the plastic surgery service tended to be injuries to the face and hands, while injuries to the legs would primarily be treated by orthopaedic surgeons.

>

The incidents can also leave lasting scarring on children: “We still can’t make scars disappear. We can reorientate them, and you can do various sort of reconstructive procedures to put scars in the most cosmetically acceptable alignment,but you definitely can’t ever get rid of them.

The study noted that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children following dog bite injuries has been described.

“At a minimum, discussing all aspects of the dog bite incident with the child and family should be promoted, and healthcare professionals should be aware of signs that extra help may be required,” it added.

The study noted that national Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) data has demonstrated a year-on-year increase in hospitalisations for dog bite injuries, with children under 10 at particular risk

The researchers underscored the severity of such injuries by citing child psychiatrist Larry Schmitt, who compared a child bitten above the shoulders by a dog to “an unarmed adult sustaining a bear bite”.

The study also noted that spending time with dogs can benefit children by encouraging physical activity, reducing stress and helping develop empathy.

A 66-year-old elderly man was seriously injured after being attacked by two pitbull dogs while traveling on a bicycle along the BR-408 highway in Carpina, in the Mata Norte region of Pernambuco, on Monday morning (18). According to the Police, the victim was knocked down by the animals and suffered injuries to various parts of his body, including the loss of part of an ear and his scalp.

According to witnesses who were at the scene of the incident, after falling to the ground, the man began to be attacked by the animals. He tried to break free from the dogs by punching them, but he was unable to get loose and continued to be bitten.

Still according to the accounts, the animals bit the elderly man on various parts of his body, mainly on the legs and arms, in addition to tearing off part of one of his ears and the victim's scalp. The attacks only ceased after bystanders intervened using pieces of wood to remove the dogs from on top of the man.

The Military Fire Department of Pernambuco (CBMPE) was at the scene and provided first aid to the victim. According to the corporation, the elderly man was found conscious and oriented, presenting various injuries across his body.

"The firefighters performed Pre-Hospital Care procedures and then transported the victim, under continuous monitoring, to the Assis Chateaubriand Mixed Unit in Carpina, where he was left under the care of the medical team on duty," the CBMPE highlighted in a note.

Due to the severity of his condition, the victim was transferred to the Hospital da Restauração (HR), in the central area of Recife. According to a medical bulletin, the patient's health status is stable.

The Civil Police of Pernambuco informed that the case was registered as bodily injury (lesão corporal) and is being investigated by the Carpina Police Station.

"The victim was traveling on a bicycle when he was attacked by two pitbull dogs, which were loose on the public road. The investigations remain ongoing," the corporation informed.

Shots fired at service dog while protecting owner from aggressive pit bull, deputies say

Service dog targeted by gunfire while defending owner from pit bull attack, deputies say

HOUSTON – A gun was pulled during a dog attack Tuesday at an apartment complex in northwest Harris County, according to deputies with Constable Mark Herman’s Office.

Deputies responded to a disturbance involving a gun after a caller stated they were being attacked by a pit bull while with their service dog at the Venti Apartments in the 14300 block of Ella Boulevard.

The caller told law enforcement their service dog protected them during the attack. During the incident, the owner of the pit bull reportedly pulled out a gun and fired shots at the service dog.

Deputies said they are actively searching for the suspect, who may still be in the area.

EMS was requested to evaluate the complainant as a precaution.

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — A crossing guard in West Valley City is getting some recognition from a local family who says she stepped in to save their daughter from a pit bull attack.

Ruta Pataialii is known to kids as the person who wears a safety vest and gets them safely to and from school. But for the Fuette family, she's a hero.

Last week, the Fuettes said 11-year-old Alexis was walking to school when a fenced in pit bull jumped onto the fence and bit her arm.

"It was scary, and at the same time, I was shocked," Alexis remembered.

After hearing the attack, Pataialii stepped in to help.

"I ran over and took my sign and hit the dog's head," she said.

Following a brief struggle, Pataialii was able to pry the dog away from the little girl, who suffered only minor injuries.

"There were so many what-ifs that could have happened," said Alexis' mother, Tawnya. "What if it got her face? Her life would've never been the same."

For Pataialii, the decision to step in wasn't hard.

"If that was my granddaughter, I would have done the same thing," she explained. "When your kids come out, we're their parents, and when they come home, they're yours."

Before moving to Utah, Pataialii lived in American Samoa and then California. She moved to Utah to work as a seamstress and remembers the Fuette family having been supportive of her for several years.

"In the cold winter, [Alexis' dad] always buys us hot cocoa from the Maverik," said Pataialii.

Now, more familiar with each other than ever, the Fuette family says they are grateful that Pataialii was there.

"It could've been way worse," said Tawnya, "I'm so grateful she was there."

Proving that heroes don't just wear capes, they wear safety vests too.

• A 59-year-old veteran was killed in a dog mauling on Jacksonville's Westside.
• One of the residents on the property, Melvyn Souffrount, has been charged with manslaughter nearly two years after the incident.
• The victim, Ronald Edward Coffman Sr., suffered multiple dog bites from eight pit bulls on the property.
• The property owner, Souffrount's grandmother, was also charged with tampering with evidence after the victim's belongings were found hidden.
• A 59-year-old veteran was killed in a dog mauling on Jacksonville's Westside.
• One of the residents on the property, Melvyn Souffrount, has been charged with manslaughter nearly two years after the incident.
• The victim, Ronald Edward Coffman Sr., suffered multiple dog bites from eight pit bulls on the property.
• The property owner, Souffrount's grandmother, was also charged with tampering with evidence after the victim's belongings were found hidden.

Closing in on two years later, a 59-year-old veteran has been identified in a grisly dog mauling homicide on Jacksonville’s Westside. 

On Tuesday, May 19, the Sheriff’s Office announced that 62-year-old  Melvyn Souffrount was charged with manslaughter for his role in the Aug. 31, 2024, death of Ronald Edward Coffman Sr. 

Little had been released in the investigation of a property in the 6800 block of Ricker Road other than an adult male was located adjacent to the roadway and the case was pending. But TV news reported that the next night police were back at the same spot seizing numerous dogs from around the property and that neighbors said they saw them with shovels.  

The Sheriff’s Office now has stated the victim suffered multiple dog bites.  

“Following a lengthy investigation, it was determined that Souffrount’s multiple and repeated negligent actions and failure to act, led to the victim’s death," the Sheriff's Office said.

While awaiting for the arrest report, the Times-Union has linked the case to another arrest of Souffrount’s grandmother. On Jan. 21, 2025, 86-year-old Mary Irene Smith, who owns the property, was charged with tampering with evidence. Court records show she pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 and will be sentenced in June.  

Her arrest report states that on the morning of the discovery, “M.S.” (Souffrount) had called 911 saying he discovered the body when coming home attempting enter his driveway. When officers arrived, they noted several dogs going to and from the property and jumping over chain-link fences. 

The victim was in the dirt near the driveway “covered in countless injuries from head to toe.” He was unidentifiable and completely nude. There was a “Veteran” ball cap and one flipflop nearby but nothing to identify him. 

Souffrount said he didn’t know who he was, and Smith told officers she didn’t know anything other than what her grandson told her, according to the report. 

Another woman approached the scene and stated she believed him to be one of her roommates, “R.C.” (Coffman). They lived within walking distance on Macbeth Road. She said the two of them went to a nearby Family Dollar at 8 p.m. and then made several stops to purchase narcotics, according to the report. She then dropped him off at a new subdivision being built so he could “dumpster dive” and never saw him again. Security video at the Family Dollar corroborated the account and also showed Coffman wearing the “Veteran” cap and sandals. 

The Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed his identity and that it was an animal attack but also deemed it accidental at the time. During a follow-up search warrant at the Ricker property, Smith made a redacted statement contrary to what she initially said, according to the document. This led to detectives finding a box with the victim’s wallet and clothes ripped and shredded consistent with an animal attack. His cell phone also was located buried in the dirt where his body was found. 

Eight pit bulls were located on the property, and Smith confirmed they were hers and agreed to surrender them to Animal Control. She said the first was a stray that she fed and then the “mama” showed up and became pregnant and had puppies. She said they were gentle to her and Souffrount but “apparently not to other people.” She also confirmed there had been a couple of complaints about them and revealed she did examine the body with her grandson and panicked.