Posted: 1:03 p.m. Sunday, July 20, 2014
Police: Pit bull attacks, kills baby on Riverside Drive
DAYTON —
Police in Dayton responded this afternoon to a Riverside Drive home where they say a pit bull attacks and kills a 7-month-old baby.
Officers responded at approximately 12:24 p.m. to the scene in the 2200 block of Riverside.
A neighbor called 911 in a desperate effort to get help.
“She just knocked on my door, bangin’ on my door, She had a baby in her hand. The baby’s not breathing. You need to get here now.,” the neighbor told the dispatcher.
The police supervisor on scene said it’s unclear why it happened, but the baby’s step-grandmother was watching the child for the day and her dog, a pit bull according to police, attacked and killed the baby.
Records at the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center show an American Staffordshire Terrier, which resembles a pit bull, is registered at the address.
The baby is from out of state, according to the Montgomery County coroner’s investigator. The child’s name has not been released pending notification to family members.
The dog was removed by an animal control officer. Homicide detectives were called in to investigate.
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The American Staffordshire Terrier is in fact the same dog as an American Pit Bull Terrier, but registered by a different kennel club. At the turn of the 20th century, the pit bull breeders wanted the respectability of AKC recognition, but the AKC was reluctant to register fighting dogs. The AKC finally recognized the American Pit Bull Terrier in 1936 after decades of lobbying by pit bull breeders. John P. Colby’s champion fighter, American Pit Bull Terrier ‘Primo’, formed the basis for the breed standard of the ‘new‘ AKC breed – but the AKC wasn’t willing to have the word ‘pit bull’ in the ‘ new’ breed’s name. The ‘new’ pit bull breed was dubbed ‘the Staffordshire Terrier’ in order to hide its relation to the pit bull and its origins and history in the fighting pit. The breed’s name was changed again to American Staffordshire Terrier in 1972, to distinguish the larger American version from the smaller English version (which kept the name ‘Staffordshire Bull Terrier’)1,2. In 1972, the breed register was also re-opened for a time to allow people to register their UKC registered pit bull as an American Staffordshire Terrier if they regretted not having done so earlier.