NEWMAN, Calif. — Newman police were called to a house on Pine Street near Inyo Avenue Thursday just after 2 p.m. A 2-year-old boy had been attacked by a pit bull-mastiff mix.
The toddler would later die at the hospital.
The dog was taken by Newman Animal Control. A spokesman for the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office said it will be put down. The Sheriff's Office is expected to release an official investigation report.
ABC10 reached out to Dr. Liz Stelow, a Veterinary Behaviorist, at the University of California - Davis for more perspective on the incident. Dr. Stelow explained that many people don't even understand that the term pit bull refers to a type of dog rather than a particular breed.
"Most of what we see are some mix of bully breeds," said Dr. Stelow. There are American Staffordshire terriers, pit bull terriers, American bulldogs, all mixed and mixed with other things as well. It's almost impossible to know by looking. They've done studies that actually prove that. So we don't know the genetic makeup of most of the dogs we call pit bulls."
Dr. Stelow also explained that any dog can exhibit aggressive behaviors.
"If somebody told me they were 100 percent sure their dog wouldn't bite anybody, I would question the reality of that," explained Dr. Stelow. "I think all dogs have the propensity to bite under certain circumstances. Those might be extreme but they're there. I have a lovely dog and I'd never promise you he'd never bite."
Dr. Stelow said the group of dogs referred to as pit bulls tend to have strong jaws and muscular builds and so their impact is greater.
"I think it's a really difficult position to be in to say, 'Is this dog, is this type of dog more or less likely to do that?' when small fluffy things bite people all the time," explained Dr. Stelow. "They tend not to inflict quite so much damage when they do."
Instead, Dr. Stelow emphasized it's more about the dog and less about the group of dogs.
"If you speak of different dog breeds and their relationship with aggression," said Dr. Stelow, "I think you'll find that there is a stronger association with the individual dog than there is with breed of dog. So it's really difficult to say 'oh, yes, such an aggressive breed.' Which is what people kind of want to hear because there aren't general answers like that here, unfortunately."
Dr. Stelow also explained how hard it is to assess what happened in the Newman attack until more details are available.
"I think one of the challenges with this case is we know nothing of the circumstances behind the attack, and those are everything," said Dr. Stelow. "The motivation that the dog had to attack this child is based on the circumstances happening at the time. Without knowing that, it makes things very very difficult."
The sheriff’s office issued the following statement regarding this incident:
“On Thursday, June 27th at 2:08 p.m. the Newman Police Department and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were dispatched to the 1900 Block of Pine St. in the city of the Newman for a report of a dog attack. The Newman Police Department and EMS arrived and located a 2-year-old male who had been attacked by the family dog in the backyard. EMS transported the child to Emmanuel Medical Center in Turlock. At the hospital the child was pronounced deceased. The dog involved in the incident was the family dog and was a Pitbull/Mastiff breed. The dog was quarantined and is currently in the custody of Newman Animal Services.
The Stanislaus County Crimes Against Persons Team and Coroner’s office were activated to assist the Newman Police Department in the investigation. At this time this incident is only a death investigation.
Our condolences go out to the family of the child.”
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