Layla is on the mend after surviving a violent pit bull attack on May 9, 2024.

DogsBite.org - On May 9, we received a request to help a family whose German shorthaired pointer, Layla, was attacked by an off-leash Pit Bull. The dog grabbed Layla by the chest and shook. She also sustained multiple injuries on her right back side, requiring stitches and draining tubes. She now wears an extra-large recovery cone. Layla turned 5-years old in April. The family set up a "comfy corner for her," and they all slept together on an air mattress to keep her from trying to jump on and off furniture.

Hi Colleen,

Our German Shorthaired Pointer was just attacked by a pit Bull today. So many stitches, sutures, and three tubes draining her chest. My wife survived the attack because of her and managed to escape with a minor puncture wound and scratches on her hand.

All she was doing was walking at the front of our neighborhood, when she heard a woman scream, and to my wife's horror, she saw a pit bull charging at her as fast as it possibly could go.

There were several people that saw the entire thing and tried to help break the grip, but it wasn't until a much larger man came and forced his hands into the jaws to pry the mouth off our dog. If you're familiar with this pointer breed, they have very narrow chests. This pit bull grabbed my poor dog by its chest and shook it. My wife said that she won't ever be able to unhear the screams coming from my dog.

The owner, a woman living in a house by herself, unable to properly care for the animal, let her small-framed daughter walk this dog and risk the lives of the members in our community.
I know you've heard these stories before, but I just wanted to get ours out there. Not that our story is particularly unique, but I will say that it is alarming that we have been unable to get law enforcement or animal control to appear at our home to file a report. This happened at 1:00 pm Eastern time today, and it's likely that this dog will have to go on another walk. We're a little shocked that there isn't more urgency, considering the immediate risk that the animal poses to our neighborhood.

We noticed the email thread was much longer than just the recent attack. When we scrolled to the bottom, we saw that our last exchange was 11 years ago. That correspondence was about a Cesar Millan episode, where he helped "rehabilitate" problem pit bulls owned by reformed gang members. One was a "blue-nosed pit bull named Monster" that lived up to his name by jumping on guests and stealing food off the dinner table, according to the description of the show, "Homeboys and Hounds."

At that time, the father shared concerns about Millan advocating "complacency around pit bulls" to his followers, many of whom practiced his dog training advice like a religion. The father owned a pug then, who would not have survived the attack that Layla did. A pit bull shaking a small dog by its chest is nearly always fatal. We reminded the father then, "Cesar says whatever Cesar wants to say," and that he has also been honest about bull breeds in the past, as he was during a 2006 episode.

“Yeah, but this is a different breed … the power that comes behind the bulldog, pit bull, presa canario, the fighting breed. They have an extra boost. They can go into a zone, they don’t feel the pain anymore ... So if you are trying to create submission in a fighting breed, it’s not going to happen. They would rather die than surrender. If you add pain, it only infuriates them ... to them pain is that adrenaline rush, they are looking forward to that, they are addicted to it … That’s why they are such great fighters.” He goes on to say: “Especially with fighting breeds, you’re going to have these explosions over and over because there’s no limits in their brain.” - Season 3, episode 4, The Dog Whisperer

One decade later, he experienced a pit bull attack firsthand, or rather his wife did. "My wife said that she won't ever be able to unhear the screams coming from my dog." Several people witnessed the attack and fortunately, one intervened, "a much larger man came and forced his hands into the jaws to pry the mouth off our dog." One of the witnesses gave them a note: "My husband and I witnessed the off-leash pit bull attack your dog. Please call me if you need anything. I hope your dog is okay."

Related articles:
01/15/24: Chilling Video Captures Pit Bull Attacking Man and His Cavapoo in Bensenville, Illinois
10/29/23: Ring Camera Video of Pit Bull Attacking Pomeranian in San Francisco Used in Hearing

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