Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Canton Vaud police are investigating an incident in which a dog on a leash attacked a ten-month-old baby in his pram Wednesday 9 December in Préverenges, a suburb of Lausanne. The baby had to be hospitalized with injuries to his head and eye, although police spokesman Denis Pittet told GenevaLunch that the child was out of danger and the injuries did not threaten the child’s eyesight, contrary to a report in the Swiss-German newspaper, Blick 14 December.
The dog, a pitbull, was being walked by a professional walker with four other dogs, when the dog attacked the child, apparently unprovoked. The child’s mother pulled the dog off her baby, and called an ambulance. The animal is currrently being held by the cantonal veterinary service and will be examined Thursday 17 December, according to Pittet.
Police are still investigating why the dog was released and returned to his owner immediately after the incident. There is no muzzle law in canton Vaud, but this dog was of a race that should have been registered with the authorities and given mandatory training, according to Pittet.
This work by genevalunch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
News story, GenevaLunch, 14 December 2009.
Filed under: Society
Tags: cantonal veterinary service, Denis Pittet, pitbull dog, Preverenges Vaud, Vaud cantonal police
December 14th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Geneva has a law limiting the number of dogs that can be walked by one person and it might be time for Vaud to consider doing the same.
December 15th, 2009 at 7:36 am
The “Pit Bull” is a dog that is attractive to certain types of people who are antisocial,ignorant, and many times criminal. It is a fact that the breed mix has brain abnormalities, genetic in this breed mix-that make them apt to attack without warning. They are wild beasts which can be set off by a baby’s cry or a smell, a motion. Just like criminal people. They look fine and normal until they freak-out. And yet, they are called”pets”.
A “Pit Bull” mix dog is nothing but a danger to an innocent victim. The damages which may be sought after a devastating attack will never compensate for the damages done to the victim. The breed is responsible for the most deadly attacks of humans amongst dogs. They are used by their owners to intimidate, and they do. Allowing ownership of “Pit Bulls” is simply empowerment of the most ignorant and dangerous elements of society.Intelligent people avoid these dogs and by doing so must become less free in their daily movements-because an ignorantly criminal person does not know better than to employ a “Pit Bull” as a “pet”.
The “Pit Bull” should be eradicated by humane killings for the public good. The breed was “invented” to attack, and it does.Someone is breeding them like crazy. Without laws to control the population of “Pit Bulls”, the public will be required to carry weapons in order to protect innocents from the vicious attacks.The only way to stop an attack is to shoot them with a gun.The owners do not want a muzzle law because they will be bitten attempting to put the muzzle on the dogs!!!!They should be. This is a worldwide problem.It is the underclass which keeps these dogs and the expense of keeping them is offset by illegal gambling on dog fights .Enough.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:27 am
NJPThompson, maybe you’re ignorant. “The “Pit Bull” is a dog that is attractive to certain types of people who are antisocial, ignorant, and many times criminal.” I own a pit-bull and actually work in law enforcement so that statement is just your opinion. This sucks and its a shame it happened and “that particular dog” should be put down but to stereotype and make assumptions on a breed like that it just plain foolish. “The owners do not want a muzzle law because they will be bitten attempting to put the muzzle on the dogs!!” Ok so let me get this straight, the owners of a dog can’t even get a muzzle on their dog but can put a leash around its neck and walk it. “Intelligent people avoid these dogs and by doing so must become less free in their daily movements-because an ignorantly criminal person does not know better than to employ a “Pit Bull” as a “pet”.” I’m college educated and own a pit-bull. Your opinions are biased.
January 4th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Adam,
I loved my Pit Bull too until he decided, out of the blue, that he didn’t like my daughter and nearly tore her bottom lip off.
Before this happened, I was one of those who thought that criticism of the breed was unfair. The comment above was indeed ignorant and offensive but it doesn’t change that fact that, in my country of Australia, pit bull attacks are totally out of proportion with the amount of dogs we have. In short, their fearsome reputation is well warranted.
Albert was much loved, well trained, and had never been abused – he just took a dislike to my child. When my wife went to restrain him, he attacked her too. If a human did this to my family, I would do to them what I had to do to Albert – shoot them dead.
Australia has now restricted ownership and breeding of PBs and I fully support that measure.