Even before the horrific killing this week of a 7-year-old by the family’s pit bull in north Minneapolis, guest blogger Samara Tilkens Postuma wrote to Cribsheet on her own family’s close shave… 

Two years ago we got a neighbor we’d never experienced before. A rottweiler.

Our neighbors are the owners of a now four year old rottweiler. Though both Mr. and Mrs. claim that their dog is mild mannered and would never hurt a soul, I’ve never been sold.

My husband and I have contemplated a fence and talked to our kids about the dangers of all dogs, especially this one.

Our neighbors’ dog is typically inside during the day while Mr. and Mrs are working, and during the evenings and weekends he can either be found chained out front or in the garage.

There have only been a few occasions I’ve seen the dog loose. One time he ripped out the post he was tied to, other times he simply wasn’t chained up.

I’m not exactly sure how he got loose this last time, but in my mind, it had better be the last time it happened.

As my eight year old step son biked by, I watched the rottweiler chase after him. And chase, and chase some more. Though I ran outside and yelled to stop riding, he kept going. Finally he stopped, jumped off his bike and ran. Until he was cornered.

The neighborhood was in an uproar. A grandma babysitting her granddaughter picked up the stroller and ran home screaming. Utility workers yelled out if they needed to call 911.

Mr. walked out and over and took his rott home.

The police came, a report was filed, and all was calm again.

Thankfully, no one was attacked or bitten today. But I can’t help but worrying about the next time. I mean, yes if we had our yard fenced in, it would be one way to help. But how does one prevent something like this when your kids are riding their bikes in the street?

It seems that each year I hear more and more about kids being attacked by dogs. And not just dogs like Rottweilers and Dobermans.

Why do you think this is, Cribsheeters? And what’s your advice for helping prevent children from injuries from other people’s dogs?

Anyone else have any experiences to share?
Samara Tilkens Postuma
http://simplicityinthesuburbs.blogspot.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 5:47 pm and is filed under Guest Bloggers, Main, Related Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.