Boxers in San Diego attacked a woman - put down.?

Question

It wasn't pitbulls this time -- good news for pitbull owners, bad news for boxer owners -- how do you feel about this? Should the dogs have been put down? Should the owner of the dogs be jailed or fined?

SAN DIEGO -- A dog owner may be headed to jail after his animals viciously attacked a North County veterinarian who was out for a walk with her two young sons.

The attack left Nancy Matthews with more than 100 bite wounds over most of her body. According to Matthews, the attack took place while she was on a walk in Valley Center with her two young sons. She said the two boxers suddenly attacked her and mauled her for nearly 15 minutes.

"It went on for so long, I started losing blood and losing consciousness," Matthews told NBC San Diego. "At one point, I knew they were killing me."

Matthews said she was terrified the dogs would turn on her sons -- ages 9 and 11 -- and that she kept screaming for them to run away.

During the attack, Matthews curled up into a ball. She said the dogs were literally tearing her flesh apart.

Photos taken about a week after the attack still show the severity of Matthew's wounds. She said she had hundreds of bites and still has 90 scars.

The dogs were put down by their owner, Pedro Torres, immediately. He is a neighbor of Matthews and said that the animals were not trained to attack. He believes the animals were instinctively protecting his property. He also said he he feels horrible about the attack.

"The dogs were never trained as attack dogs, or as fight dogs," said Torres. "They were pets."

Answer 1

One more reason people need to be forced to learn how to properly own a dog. Dogs need socialization, and trying to protect property is not an OK thing. The only time a dog should ever attack a human is when a human is attacking one of the dogs pack. This is true with people, only fight if you are being attacked. Proper socialization amongst animals and humans is required for people to get a long. When you shut out people, races, animals, ways of life, etc. it will cause a negative reaction. We as a community of dog/animal lovers need to work together to inform people of the proper upbringing of animals, and hopefully it will help society realize the correct upbringing of humans too.

Answer 2

I believe that the dogs probably could have been rehabilitated and could have lived out the rest of their natural lives without every showing aggression again, but if the owner did not want to spend the time/money for the proper rehabilitation, the only other solution is to put them down.

Whether the owner of the dogs should be jailed or fined should be up to a court. There is not enough information here to determine that. Dogs are still wild animals and can never be 100% predictable, so it really depends on the circumstances. I do feel horrible for all parties involved, and the owner should at the minimum pay for the medical bills of the woman that was attacked.

Answer 3

Well considering the severity of the occurrence I believe they probably should be put down. The owner should face some sort of penalty. Although I am sad for the woman who was attacked I cannot feel some what happy too. I am a Pit Bull owner and this is just another incident where a dog attacks someone and it is not a Pit Bull but this time it is big news. This shows that Pit Bulls are not the only dogs who attack people... they are just usually the only ones that make the news. For example I took a web seminar about BSL and one of the things I found interesting was that in 1993 a 10 year old girl was attacked by a Pit Bull. Her wounds(mostly on her legs) were serious and had to have stitches but none life threatening. This incident was reported in 98 different news stations internationally. However in 1995 a young boy (not sure of the age) was attacked on the face by a gold retriever and had to have multiple surgeries to repair nerve damage this story only reached 2 news stations. Both stations were located in the town in which the boy lived.

Nice huh?

Answer 4

Don't put him Down! Consult with a expert trainer. You owe it to your dog to get him the help he needs. You are most likely the cause of this behavior, whether you meant to or not. Get some professional advice before you do anything this drastic. Maybe you aren't the right person for this dog breed. Maybe you can email the "Dog Whisperer" and he may respond with help. He's a very busy person and probablly recieves hundreds of emails a day, but just maybe you'll get a response. It doesn't hurt to try. If you don't have money for a professional trainer, then I would be seaching the internet for any advice that you can learn from. Just put the question in your search bar and it will bring up many internet sights that would have information about dog aggression. Don't give up on him. You can correct this behavior, but it will take time and effort. It's not gonna be easy, so stay strong, and show your dog you are the leader of the pack and this aggression is not acceptable. Good luck.

Answer 5

well i think that it was the owners fault the dogs should not have been loose they should have been inside a fence or house... the owner should have been fined and put in jail for a few days ...i saw on tv that some pitbulls that were trained to fight were trained not to and they were quite nice dogs...but they were young so they didnt do too much fighting ...but in this case i guess the dogs would have to be put down because they practically ate that women alive ....the owner is lucky that the children were not attacked because they would be goners and he would be put in jail and fined big time

Answer 6

firmly belive it's the owners fault I had a rott who was a baby doll till the day she died of old age she never hurt abyone or anything...when is it time to blame the frickin owners of abuse I had a friend who had a pit he never bit anyone sooo let me say some people should haave a lisence to have children and pets..yeah blame the dog when your just an idiot for having a pet get real folks there are questions to everything but look at the owner you should get a real good answer hey put the bastard in jail he raised the dog(s)

Answer 7

I'm really for sorry for the woman and her kids. I do agree that putting the dogs down was a good decision but every one keeps saying "lock the owner up", NO it's not like he sicked the dog on her, yea he should have had them contained (in a fence ,in the house, what ever) but to you dog owners how many times have you dogs bolted out the door? Things happen, it sounded like they guy felt bad, he did the right thing by putting his dogs down. Yes, he should pay her med. bills but I think that a huge fine that will only pad the pockets of some desk jocky or JAIL is stupid.
PS- what are the chances of a vet being bitten like that OFF the clock... weird.

Answer 8

I think it's good that the dogs were put to sleep. This is a horrible event that shouldn't happen to anyone, but I am still all for boxers as a whole. We have a female boxer, 3 years old, and have had her from birth. She has been terrific to my baby brother (who is 6 now) and other strangers, especially small children. She will be very hyper around adults, but as soon as she sees a toddler around, she slows down and slowly walks up to them to be pet. I have heard similar cases from other boxer-owners. There's always and "odd-ball" in any species or breed, and I'm sure that the two in the article you've posted are a few of these.

Answer 9

I find it hard to believe that someones "pet" dogs would just attack randomly like that. They had to have been mistreated by their owner or a previous owner, or were in fact trained to attack.

I love boxers, but sadly yes, they HAD to be put down. They could've killed her or her children. And once an animal attacks like that, there is no saying when it'll happen again. There's no point in taking a chance.

Answer 10

the owner needs to be punished. Its not the dogs fault that they were taught to be mean.
The dogs will have to be put down, Im afraid that once a dog is trained to attack, its hard to make it friendly again. And there are not enough people in the world that want to take time with them.

Thats sad.