Nine Year Old Attacked by Pit Bull

It's happened again. This time to a nine year old girl in Gainesville, Ga. Little Adrinna Adkins was attacked in her family's apartment by a friend's pit bull.

The third grader had just returned home from school. She was cradling her cat in her arms when the pit bull forced open a bedroom door and attacked Adrianna and her cat. The little girl, trying to shield her cat from the vicious dog, became the pit bull's victim. The dog attacked the girl's arms over and over again. Finally, she was able to escape from the dog and run  to safety.

Adrianna, who was airlifted to an Atlanta children's hospital, is in stable condition after several surgeries. Doctors report that once the child's arms heal, she'll have to undergo physical therapy and probably plastic surgery.

Pit bulls are just too unpredictable to be family pets. Take the dog in this attack. According to news reports, Adrianna's mother said she was shocked by the attack "because the dog seemed to be a well-behaved and loving animal, playing with the children and even sleeping in their beds."

Pit bulls are NOT dogs that you allow to sleep with your children. Pit bulls are NOT dogs that should be living in an apartment. And, most importantly, pit bulls are NOT dogs bred to be family pets.

For more complete coverage of this pit bull attack, read the full story in the Gainesville Times.

Pit Bulls - They are NOT your friends

Okay. So pit bulls may not always kill their prey. Instead of going for the kill, they just might chew off arms, grab hunks out of a head, take bites out of a face, or chomp fingers and toes.

Yes, pit bulls are not the kind of dog that you want to own. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not a dog hater. In fact, my family has had a dog since I was an infant (Which by the way was more than a couple of decades ago), and one of our first wedding anniversary presents from our first Scottish Terrier.

But pit bulls are not family pets. They often 'turn' on their owners or attack neighbors, passer-bys, or family visitors. A pit bull can not be trusted, no matter how domesticated or loved.

A recent example is the tragic story in Atlanta of two pit bulls that attacked an 8 year old girl, literally eating her arm. Nothing or no one could stop that dogs during the attack. Nothing that is until a police officer shot one of the dogs.

Last week a jury found the two dogs' owner Twyann Vaughn guilty of six misdemeanors, including reckless conduct and owning a vicious dog. The woman, who often cried during her trial, was sentenced to 16 months in jail and three years on probation. (If you're up to it, watch this chilling testimony from the trial and listen to a recording of the dogs' attack.)

If this isn't enough to convince you that pit bulls are not owner-friendly, check out this list of eye-witness reports.