Sunday, February 2, 2014

Pit bull raised with family mauls baby... and mother feels need to address "negative and incorrect stigmas surrounding pit bulls"

SOUTH AFRICA -- A Richards Bay toddler whose face was ripped by his family’s “gentle” American pit bull, lost two teeth and received more than a 100 stitches after the brutal encounter.

The toddler’s father had to stab the dog with a penknife (pocket knife) before it would loosen its grip. It died of its injuries.

While 14-month-old Sebastian Strecker is on the mend after the attack at his home on Saturday, his parents are still traumatized.



Sebastian was rushed to the Bay Hospital, where he spent two hours in theatre after sustaining serious injuries to his face. The left side of his face had a deep gash from his jawline to his eye socket.

He received 64 stitches on the inside of his face and another 64 on the outside, as well as six in the gum.

Two of Sebastian’s teeth were ripped out in the attack. He was placed in a temperature-controlled room to prevent infection and spent five days in ICU.

“It has been a very traumatic week for all of us, but he is now at home and is the same baby we love. He is walking around and doing the things he loves,” said his mother, Karien Strecker.

“My husband is still struggling to get the picture of Sebastian looking so lifeless out of his mind.”

Dwayne Strecker had been sitting on the porch with his son when he turned away “for a second” to answer his phone.  When he heard the boy’s cries, he turned around and could not believe his eyes.

“My husband answered his phone and within seconds our American pit bull, Max, jumped on to him (Sebastian) and attacked him,” said Karien.


Recalling the harrowing incident, mom Karien says they are still haunted by the abrupt assault.

‘I want to set the record straight, as well as addressing the negative and incorrect stigmas surrounding pit bulls,’ said Karien.

‘Max was never aggressive and Sebastian used to hug him all the time. We have two daughters, aged five and seven, who have also been very close to Max with no previous incidents or signs of aggression shown towards them.

‘Our dog was our other child and we all loved him dearly. Losing him to save Sebastian was not, and is still not, easy for us.’

However, Karien said once Max ‘entered that state of mind’ and grabbed hold of their son, their attempts to remove the injured baby to safety was met by further hostility.

‘The attack happened with my husband standing only two steps away and he had just turned around to answer his phone.

Mas was well-loved by this family yet turned on them

‘Dwayne immediately jumped in to save Sebastian and found him passed out with his head hanging back. We thought Sebastian was dead.

‘Max then came after both Dwayne and me as we tried to get the baby to the car and to hospital. Dwayne tried to kick him off and even punched him in an attempt to snap Max ‘out of it’.

‘But he continued to attack us and that was when my husband eventually grabbed his Leatherman knife from his belt where it is stays attached for his work.’

Karien said only a few minutes had passed between the attack and herself running into the hospital cradling her child.

‘Everything happened so fast and when I arrived at the hospital, the staff immediately jumped into action and stormed off with Sebastian to casualty to stabilize him. It was only then that I looked down and saw I was covered in blood from top to bottom.’


“Max was a part of the family, he was always very gentle with our children – our two daughters – and with Sebastian. He often lay next to Sebastian as if to protect him.

“We had him for three years and not once was he aggressive to any of us. I believe he could have become jealous of my husband’s relationship with Sebastian and saw an opportunity to set the record straight.”

Kathy Clayton, chairwoman of the Animal Behavior Consultants of South Africa, said pit bulls where genetically bred to attack and be vicious.

“I believe that in this case, the dog probably saw the child as another dog and wanted to let him know that he was the boss.

“Pit bulls can be fantastic dogs, but it’s always a question of maybe... Every dog has the potential to attack, but that chance is greater with pit bulls because that’s just how they are. Their behavior can be very good and very caring towards people, but they only become attached to one person and do not like it when any other dog or person moves in on their territory.”

Caroline Smith, marketing manager at the Durban and Coast SPCA, said they did not find new homes for pit bulls left in their care.

“When we get pit bulls we do not re-home them because we consider them risky,” she said.

(Daily News - Jan 31, 2014)

13 comments:

  1. Seriously? Seriously? This psychopath needs jailed and someone give me that kid. She's seriously stupid. Seriously.

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    1. I agree thats child endangerment! Over a fricken animal that destroyed a baby.

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  2. How can people who advocate for this type of dog sleep well at night is beyond me. So many of these horrible stories everywhere. This type of dog cannot be safe to have around people and other pets.

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  3. This is CLASSIC pit bull behavior. It is NOT an anomaly, and the reputation of the breed is WELL deserved and earned through 150+ years of fatalities and horrific life changing maulings. The negative and incorrect stigmas are the ones that led her to keep a know child killer as a pet.

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  4. I have 2 pit bulls and 1 French poodle. My poodle had bitten 3 people, while my pittys have not hurt a fly!! Ignorant people, all animals are dangerous. But if we do decide to house them, we must know how to understand and respect them as well! My dogs would not hurt anyone! My 75lb pit has left my house and wondered the neighborhood many times. Never has any of the people to return her to me have ever had a problem with her! I even had a5 year old girl bring my dog back!!!!

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  5. MM, just how many people have been killed or disfigured by poodles in the last, oh, 100 years or so?

    Now, compare that to the number who have been killed or disfigured by pits.

    It's NOT A BITE WHEN IT TAKES OFF PART OF YOUR BODY OR KILLS YOU, you MORON!!

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    1. Pit bull types kill and maim more than any other breed combined. They are so unpredictable and they do so much damage they should be banned. There are plenty of other dog breeds out there that are far better choices than a ''land shark'' aka pill bull types.

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  6. Hey do you people realize that pit bull is not a breed? Do you know what a self fufilling prophecy is? Do you realize that for a hundred years this dog was nicknamed the nanny dog and used to be commonplace in households? Do you realize how much the media loves fear mongering and only recently has pit bull been a buzz word for fear mongers? If your statistic is true, that pit bulls attack more than any other breed, do you think it's because they are overbred, there's so many displaced ones, and of them, many of them have bwen treated with hate and fear and that breeds aggression? Also, is this story even true? Where's the sources? I feel like there is a strawman here...

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Well the article clearly states the name of the father and mother Dwayne and Karien Strecker. It states they live in Richards Bay South Africa and went to a Richards Bay South African Hospital. Photos are also provided. Is that not proof enough for you? By the way, I love pitbulls, and give them the benefit of the doubt, however the child was clearly smaller than the Pitbull. The father turned his back to answer the phone. When in predatory mode, animals always attack what is smaller than them for a better chance at Victory. The parents feel that the Pitbull, while previously always very gentle, have become jealous of the relationship between the son and the father. Perhaps the Pitbull loved the father the most and believed that the child was taking over its territory. It snapped. Any animal no matter how gentle has an innate ability to snap.

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    3. I deleted an accidental duplicate.

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    4. This is true that they have been called that. It is also true that they were developed from the bull baiting bully-type dogs that had an extremely high prey drive, bite pressure, and determination to hang on and continue the fight against the bull, despite even being dismembered limb by limb. Look it up. This story of a perfect family pet snapping and then not snapping back- continuing to attack the child and parents when they intervened- until the man was FORCED TO KILL THE DOG is EXACTLY what they have been bred and developed to do. People are in denial and are pure idiots to keep these dogs around children.

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