First Responders Arrive to Horrific Scene as Pack of Dogs Turn on Woman They've Been with Their Entire Lives
Man’s best friends bring unique joy, but like all God’s creatures, they can also manifest inexplicable behavior.
According to KTSU-TV in Salt Lake City, a pack of pit bulls attacked a 63-year-old woman in the backyard of her home in Taylorsville, Utah, on Tuesday afternoon, resulting in gruesome injuries and a dangerous scene for police and paramedics.
The dogs belonged to the victim’s 38-year-old son, who also lives at the home. Thus, the animals had familiarity with the woman from seeing her every day.
Police used pepper spray to corral the aggressive dogs. After they retrieved the injured woman from the backyard, however, one of the dogs broke free and resumed its aggressive behavior toward animal control officers, according to KTSU. At that point, police shot and killed the dog.
As of Thursday, the woman was in critical condition at the hospital following the amputation of one of her legs.
“This is a tragic situation involving a mother and her son’s dogs in the backyard of their home,” Taylorsville Police Chief Brady Cottam said in a statement. “Our hearts are heavy following this incident, and we are grateful the victim was able to call 911 for help as quickly as she did — even as the attack was happening. It likely did save her life.”
The relationship of the dogs to one another might help account for the sudden violent attack. In her 911 call, the victim explained that the pit bulls shared nature’s most powerful bond.
“The woman also reported that the family of pit bulls, including the mother and father dogs and five puppies, were still in the backyard with her. She was able to call 911 on a mobile phone she had with her,” police said, according to KSL-TV in Salt Lake City.
In the breakaway incident, police killed the 3-year-old mother pit bull. Afterward, the victim’s son turned over his surviving dogs — the 1-year-old father and five 3-month-old puppies — to animal control.
As of Thursday, officials did not know what might have triggered the attack. According to KSL, the woman had simply gone into the backyard to feed the dogs.
If we had to speculate, of course, we might wonder if the woman unintentionally activated the dogs’ protective parental instincts. That would, however, amount to nothing more than a guess.
Perhaps, too, the specific breed caught readers’ attention. Pit bulls, after all, do have aggressive reputations.
Having walked and cared for many different dogs over the years, I have never felt threatened by a pit bull. Quite the contrary. Most have struck me as tending to the gentler side.
In fact, only one dog — a young chow chow — ever made me nervous about its potential aggression toward me.
These, of course, amount to personal anecdotes only.
Still, reports of pit bull attacks often have the same effect as reports of other violent incidents. Ban the breed, some have said.
In truth, those who reflexively demand bans nearly always cause far more trouble than the thing they attempt to ban.
Common sense tells us that we should reserve our absolute prohibitions for anything that qualifies as dangerous by its nature. In other words, if it promises danger when left to act according to that nature, we prohibit it. Thus, we ban pet anacondas, or anthrax.
If, on the other hand, the thing poses a danger only in rare instances or when abused, we do not infringe upon the rights of free people simply to calm the outsized fears of neurotics or satisfy the demands of tyrants.
After all, God never meant for anyone to have that kind of security or control. He meant for us to have freedom.
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