7-Year-Old Killed In Pit Bull Attack

A 7-year-old child in Lowell, Massachusetts was killed in an attack by two pit bulls last Saturday. The boy, Javian Candolario, had his funeral service this Saturday. Attendees wore a t-shirt with the boy’s smiling face.

The attack happened last Saturday when the boy entered a fenced area where the dogs were kept. The first officers that arrived at the scene, couldn’t identify the child. One of the two dogs, which tried to escape was euthanized, where as the other is currently under the custody of the city’s animal control.

According to the City officials, no charges were filed following the attack. They also reported that the dogs weren’t registered to the city, although that is required by the law, Global News reported.

This isn’t an isolated incident involving aggressive pit bulls. Pit bulls were created by breeding bulldogs and terriers together. They were meant to be fighting dogs for blood sport, and as such, were selectively bred to be aggressive and vicious. Today, a few hundred years later, such games are illegal, but the breed lives on and with a bad reputation.

Many people argue that pit bulls are not vicious breeds by birth, and it is the owners of these dogs that lead them into becoming vicious. While it is true with any large/working breed of dogs that an inexperienced owner can lead it to become aggressive and vicious, incidents of aggression from pit bulls are more commonly reported than with other breeds, possibly owing to the bad reputation.

The United Kennel Club, the second oldest Kennel Club in the United States and possibly the world’s largest performance dog registry, describes the characteristics of the American pit bull terrier as strong, confident, and having a zest for life. They are also said to make good family dogs and are good with children.

While many pit bulls are gentle and happy family dogs, incidents such as these have led several countries around the world and some states in the U.S. to impose restrictions and in some cases outright bans on the ownership of the breed.

[Featured Image by Audrey Lohkamp/Shutterstock]