THE?ATTACK ON?A SINGLE?PERSON by a pit bull terrier is as a rule savage; the effect on the victim excruciatingly painful and debilitating. An attack by three will be all this, and traumatic to boot – and more.
The story of Deborah Darlington, Kemar Barrow and two-year-old Kamali (in yesterday’s SUNDAY?SUN) and their rendezvous with unbridled viciousness and brutality from the thrust of 12 hairy legs ought to be a wider eye-opener to the nigh uncontrollable danger that these pit bulls present to ordinary folk.
Apart from learning that the police are investigating this canine onrush, and that Jamal, the owner of these obviously unfettered beasts, was so distraught that he could not adequately speak to the matter, we have no assurance yet that this awful mischance will not be experienced by said victims again.
These Kingsland, Christ Church residents need to be guaranteed that they and their offspring can walk their district in peace and safety from this domesticated but vicious breed of dog.
As we reflect on the Saturday pre-six o’clock in the morning terror, a grandmother and her son-in-law are nursing wounds – from ear to toe – in discomfort and apprehension, and a grandson – a tot – tries to come to grips with why daddy “threw him away”, and why there were these noisy bad dogs trying their utmost to drag him off after pinching his diaper.
Monetary compensation may be a factor here, if litigation is pursued. But it will not make up for the agony and indignity suffered by this Christ Church family. The tragic circumstances ought never to be.
Pit bulls ought not to be allowed. Their history is an unpleasant one for us in Barbados. These creatures not only attack other dogs to please their owners, they set upon any moving animal – man or beast – to please themselves and their thirst for blood.
Pit bulls are bred to attack other dogs without provocation; fighting is self-gratifying for them by nature.
And when a pit bull starts a dogfight, death is its mission.
People who take up the pit bull need to understand that even if playful and chummy as a puppy, its danger to others – even to its owner – is a fact of pit bull life.
The authorities need to consider the banning of this breed – and like kind – from all residential areas, if not from the entire island.
We need to hear the advice of the animal people – the RSPCA and the like – on this unsettling state of affairs.
The canine security of home, and the illegal sport of dogfighting, can never take precedence over the safety of Barbadian citizens. Never!
We must relieve our lives of the unnecessary danger.
