5-year-old mailed to death...... by 2 pit bulls;

[Danno 1,228]

5-year-old mailed to death...... by 2 pit bulls;

WAXHAW A kindergartner at home on a day off from school was mauled to death Wednesday by two pit bulls that had prompted calls to police before, authorities said.

Makayla Woodard, a 5-year-old who attended Waxhaw Elementary School, died on the way to the hospital of injuries police officers described as "gruesome."

Her grandmother, 67-year-old Nancy Presson, tried to save Makayla, but the dogs turned on her in an attack that rattled the neighborhood and will probably bring charges against the dogs' owner. Presson had bites and scratches on her shoulder and arm, but was expected to survive.

A police officer who responded and arrived during the attack, pulled the dogs off Makayla and her grandmother and began treating the girl's wounds. The officer then shot one of the dogs as it charged toward the girl again. The second dog got away and was loose for two tense hours before police shot and killed it, too.

It was the second high-profile pit bull attack in the Charlotte area in less than a month. On Dec. 22, a 6-year-old boy was attacked by his cousin's pit bull in Mint Hill. The boy survived but was seriously injured. His grandmother, who rushed to help the boy, was also injured.

The owner of the pit bulls involved in Wednesday's attack, who lives next door to Presson, has not been charged with a crime, though Waxhaw Police Chief Michael Eiss said charges are likely later this week. He would not release the owner's name because no charges have been filed.

Eiss said the attack happened around 11 a.m. in the dog owner's backyard. No one answered the door Wednesday afternoon at the home where the pit bulls lived. A woman who answered the phone at the house said the family had no comment.

Makayla, who lived with her grandmother, was at home because Union County Schools were closed due to icy roads.

Her cousin, Amy Plyler, told Observer news partner WCNC-TV that the girl was on her way to play with her own dogs in her yard when she was attacked.

"She was crossing the yard to get in the pen ... and the dog got her," Plyler said.

"She was a really good kid. She was just a miracle," Plyler said in tears. "She was so smart, and she was loved very much."

Eiss said he wasn't sure whether the dogs - both full-sized pit bulls - were loose or had broken free of their chains.

Neighbors said the dogs had gotten away at least once before. Eiss said his officers had received calls about the dogs roaming the neighborhood and warned their owner just before Christmas to contain them.

"We told him to keep them locked up," Eiss said. "Apparently he did not."

A neighbor who declined to give her name said she had seen the dogs loose in the neighborhood before and worried about the safety of her own children. One time, she said, the pit bulls stopped in front of her yard and growled.

Wednesday's attack was reminiscent of the 2004 mauling of Roddie Dumas Jr. that led Charlotte leaders to strengthen dog ordinances. Roddie, 8, was mauled to death by his father's four pit bulls while his father was inside the house.

Police charged Roddie Dumas Sr. with involuntary manslaughter, but the charge was later dismissed after prosecutors won convictions for several drug and gun crimes discovered during the investigation. Dumas was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

After Roddie's death, some in the community asked the city to ban pit bulls, but leaders refused and made only minor changes to the city's pet ordinances.

Pit bull advocates said the breed is no more vicious than any other. Owner behavior is more often at fault for a vicious dog, says Sara Enos, founder of the Charlotte-based American Pit Bull Foundation.

"It's not the dog. It really is the owner - how responsible they are with their pet," Enos said.

She said Wednesday's attack probably resulted from human irresponsibility.

"If this dog has an issue of getting out to begin with, that's a huge problem."

STAFF RESEARCHER MARIA DAVID CONTRIBUTED.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/01/13/1976311/5-year-old-in-waxhaw-killed-by.html#ixzz1Aynw4aO0

Stories like this prompt me to pursue a Conceal carry license.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

mailed?

[alienlovechild 75]

5-year-old mailed to death...... by 2 pit bulls

I blame the U.S. Postal Service.

[Ban Hammer 13,429]

this is another good reason to have a gun. pit bull on the rampage - put it down.

[james&olya 1,121]

Horrible! I know of other pit bull attacks leading to death that were never picked up by the media.

People who try to claim that this breed is no more dangerous than others are absolutely wrong. These dogs were bred to fight and to kill. Not as guard dogs, not to bark and intimidate, but to quickly and efficiently kill. The proof has been there in statistics from emergency rooms showing how extremely disproportionate are serious attacks resulting in injury from this breed relative to others, based on the relative prevalence of these dogs within the community studied. How many of our children need to be sacrificed before reasonable restrictions on this breed are implemented?

[james&olya 1,121]

this is another good reason to have a gun. pit bull on the rampage - put it down.

You know Charles, if I had a neighbor who insisted on keeping dogs like this where my children and grand children were endangered, I might be tempted to consider a hand-gun to have available for exactly that one purpose!

[TigerTeddyBear 26]

How many more topics will be posted that try to turn tragedies into reasons to promote gun ownership? Really... this is straight propaganda.

[Danno 1,228]

mailed?

Edited January 14, 2011 by Danno

[Danno 1,228]

You know Charles, if I had a neighbor who insisted on keeping dogs like this where my children and grand children were endangered, I might be tempted to consider a hand-gun to have available for exactly that one purpose!

As it turns out, the one of the dogs, the little girl was on the way to feed was also a Pit-bull.

Too many pits in that neighborhood.

[Danno 1,228]

How many more topics will be posted that try to turn tragedies into reasons to promote gun ownership? Really... this is straight propaganda.

It's hard to say -how many more.

Hint: as long as you keep reading them, I will keep posting them.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I like guns and pit bulls. Anything the pit bulls miss, shoot.

[james&olya 1,121]

I like guns and pit bulls. Anything the pit bulls miss, shoot.

Seriously? You think these pit bulls missed some neighborhood kids? Your tasteless comments are out of place. These are real events, real tragedies. There are parents facing unimaginable grief and you joke about finishing off anything they missed!!

[Danno 1,228]

Seriously? You think these pit bulls missed some neighborhood kids? Your tasteless comments are out of place. These are real events, real tragedies. There are parents facing unimaginable grief and you joke about finishing off anything they missed!!

If there's one thing that grates on my nerves, it's a man playing -Mrs. Manners.

And just so you know... this is a message board located nowhere near the scene of the crime.

[rika60607 215]

Good point! No other predator or breed is as dangerous and aggressive as man. Man with a Gun.

Promoting concealed weapons on the pretense of killing off violent pit bulls is as smart as breading cougars in the city to fend off raccoons and stray dogs.

I like guns and pit bulls. Anything the pit bulls miss, shoot.

[james&olya 1,121]

If there's one thing that grates on my nerves, it's a man playing -Mrs. Manners.

And just so you know... this is a message board located nowhere near the scene of the crime.

Real men do not prove their manhood by abusing women, children or animals. Neither do they find humor in crude jokes about same!