JAMAICA -- A man has been arrested and charged after his dog — a pit bull — allegedly attacked a man who was bitten all over his body.
The police reported that the pit bull scaled a fence and attacked a middle-aged man.
The dog’s owner, Andrew Ventour, 24, was charged on one count each of causing injury by a dangerous dog and failing to have a warning notice of “dangerous dog” affixed to his place of residence.
Ventour, who was also charged with failing to insure and license a dangerous dog, was granted bail in the sum of EC$15,000 when he appeared in court last week.
He is scheduled to reappear in the St George’s Magistrate’s Court on January 10.
His two pit bulls have since been seized by the State.
Following this incident, the police reminded owners of dangerous dogs of their obligation, under the Dangerous Dog Act, to ensure that their animals are kept under control, that their properties are security fenced and that they are in possession of an insurance policy of no less the EC$250,000.
(Jamaica Observer - Nov 17, 2016)
Showing posts with label jamaica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jamaica. Show all posts
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Jamaica: Newspaper editorial "Enough is enough!"
JAMAICA -- The story ‘Vicious dog attack!’ in yesterday’s Sunday Observer is yet more evidence of the deep-rooted tendency in Jamaica to treat serious issues as nine-day wonders.
The story of an attack on a mother and her two young children by pit bulls in St Andrew in early March is horrific. The mother, Ms Aleiya Chin of St Andrew, says her five-year-old son seems to have developed long-term medical issues as a direct result of the attack.
Even more horrifying, a story from the news archives dated March 1, 2016 tells of 56-year-old Mr Jerome Pow who was killed by pit bulls in the vicinity of Hagley Park Road in St Andrew.
Such reports are not new. Each such incident triggers urgent calls for tougher action to protect citizens from vicious dogs and their careless owners. Then, with the passage of time, the issue is forgotten until there is another nightmarish report.
Writing in January 2014 Jamaica Observer columnist Ms Grace Virtue highlighted some of the cases leading up to then:
“In July 2011, 62-year-old Valerie Stephenson, of St Catherine, was killed by a pit bull as she walked in the community.
"Four months earlier, in Westmoreland, eight-month-old Oshawn Obermann was mauled by a pit bull owned by his parents. He survived with major injuries.
"In December 2012, two-year-old Ronica Gregory of St Catherine was killed by a pit bull and her sister seriously injured…
“Also in 2012, a woman and her 14-month-old son were attacked by a pit bull in Spanish Town.
"January 2, 2014, a three-year-old lost an eye after he was mauled by a pit bull in St Ann.
On January 4, 2014, a 59-year-old mechanic was mauled by three pit bulls in St Mary.”
Though apparently hamstrung by legal limitations the police have urged Jamaicans to stop keeping pit bulls and to be vigilant in securing dogs.
In 2014, some opinion leaders, including veterinarian and former Member of Parliament Dr St Aubyn Bartlett, urged registration of dogs and specific legislation.
But then the issue died its usual natural death. Two years later, here we are again.
In the case involving Ms Chin and her two young children, it is alleged that the dogs had free access to the road through an open gate. A lawsuit is apparently the only legal recourse.
A near 150-year-old law, The Dogs (Liability for Injuries by) Act of 1877 is applicable in this instance. Like so many other pieces of Jamaican legislation it needs urgent upgrade.
This should not again be a nine-day wonder. All stakeholders, not least the media, should push with might and main to make sure that this time around concrete action is taken.
We are well aware that Jamaica’s legislative and judicial process is tediously inefficient — we need only listen to Justice Minister Mr Delroy Chuck. But it is full time for action.
For the doubters and naysayers, we think it appropriate to borrow from Ms Virtue in her January 2014 column: “Close your eyes for a minute, honourable ministers, and visualise your child or grandchild being mauled by a dog. Or, imagine yourself, as a two-year old, caught between the jaws of a killer dog.”
(Jamaica Observer - Oct 10, 2016)
Earlier:
The story of an attack on a mother and her two young children by pit bulls in St Andrew in early March is horrific. The mother, Ms Aleiya Chin of St Andrew, says her five-year-old son seems to have developed long-term medical issues as a direct result of the attack.
Even more horrifying, a story from the news archives dated March 1, 2016 tells of 56-year-old Mr Jerome Pow who was killed by pit bulls in the vicinity of Hagley Park Road in St Andrew.
Writing in January 2014 Jamaica Observer columnist Ms Grace Virtue highlighted some of the cases leading up to then:
“In July 2011, 62-year-old Valerie Stephenson, of St Catherine, was killed by a pit bull as she walked in the community.
"Four months earlier, in Westmoreland, eight-month-old Oshawn Obermann was mauled by a pit bull owned by his parents. He survived with major injuries.
“Also in 2012, a woman and her 14-month-old son were attacked by a pit bull in Spanish Town.
"January 2, 2014, a three-year-old lost an eye after he was mauled by a pit bull in St Ann.
On January 4, 2014, a 59-year-old mechanic was mauled by three pit bulls in St Mary.”
Though apparently hamstrung by legal limitations the police have urged Jamaicans to stop keeping pit bulls and to be vigilant in securing dogs.
In 2014, some opinion leaders, including veterinarian and former Member of Parliament Dr St Aubyn Bartlett, urged registration of dogs and specific legislation.
But then the issue died its usual natural death. Two years later, here we are again.
In the case involving Ms Chin and her two young children, it is alleged that the dogs had free access to the road through an open gate. A lawsuit is apparently the only legal recourse.
A near 150-year-old law, The Dogs (Liability for Injuries by) Act of 1877 is applicable in this instance. Like so many other pieces of Jamaican legislation it needs urgent upgrade.
This should not again be a nine-day wonder. All stakeholders, not least the media, should push with might and main to make sure that this time around concrete action is taken.
We are well aware that Jamaica’s legislative and judicial process is tediously inefficient — we need only listen to Justice Minister Mr Delroy Chuck. But it is full time for action.
For the doubters and naysayers, we think it appropriate to borrow from Ms Virtue in her January 2014 column: “Close your eyes for a minute, honourable ministers, and visualise your child or grandchild being mauled by a dog. Or, imagine yourself, as a two-year old, caught between the jaws of a killer dog.”
(Jamaica Observer - Oct 10, 2016)
Earlier:
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Jamaica: Six months after being attacked by two pit bull mixes, five-year-old boy still suffering from devastating injuries
JAMAICA -- When Aleiya Chin left home in Manor Park, St Andrew, with her two children in the early hours of Wednesday, March 2, the furthest thing from her mind was that within moments, her four-year-old Joshua would nearly meet his end — mauled in the street by a neighbour’s blood-thirsty, ferocious dogs.
Aleiya said that she and the children, Joshua Zhang — now five — and his then two-year-old sister Kendra, passed the dogs lying in front of the neighbor’s open gate by the side of the road, then seconds later, the nightmare began to unfold.
“By the time we were stepping off, I just saw the two dogs get up coming towards me. I didn’t run off, I held the two of them and put them behind me. I tried to stay close to the curb wall so that, if anything, they would bite me, and not the kids,” the single mother remembers.
But the Pit bulls had smelled blood and moved in for the kill.
Aleiya said she tried to shield her frightened children, but she was no match for the vicious animals: “I couldn’t shield them. The dog grabbed the child from me by his school bag and started biting him up. I started to cry out…I said, ‘God, is this how I’m going to lose my child?’
"When I looked I saw the lady (the owner) coming out… I was so happy because I thought she was coming out to help me, [but] I heard her say I must take my child and move from in front of her gate. I said are you crazy, and the other dog started to rush me. I took up stones and started to throw stones at them, the more I threw the stones; the more they bite Joshua.”
The mother said she continued to cry out for help, in desperation, as the dogs would not let up from attacking her child. Her attempts to chase off the animals were futile and, at the same time, she had to focus on keeping her other child from being attacked.
Finally, a passerby drove up and tried to get the boy away from the dogs, but he too soon found himself in some amount of trouble, overpowered by the dogs numerous times.
“The dog jumped up on him and just grabbed Joshua in his back and the man fell over on his face over the curb wall,” she told the Jamaica Observer. “The dogs dragged back Joshua in the road and started to eat him up again. The lady went back into her house. I was there crying out and somebody came out, and the dog was fighting back the neighbours. I saw him (Joshua) laying down there in the road…the only thing I could do was cry.”
Finally, more persons came on the scene and the boy was rescued. She remembers that on the way to hospital with the assistance of a friend, Joshua started to gasp for breath.
“I was trying to hold him to look under his neck and my finger went right into the wound. So I had to take off my shirt and apply pressure to the wound. I went into Andrew’s hospital half naked.”
From there she said she was referred to the Bustamante Hospital for Children where Joshua, with serious wounds to almost his entire body, especially a troubling spinal injury, would remain for two weeks.
She said she realised also that when the child spoke, she could barely hear him, but was at the time reassured by the physician caring for Joshua that he was perhaps just hoarse from crying out during the ordeal.
“I realised I could hardly hear him (when he spoke). I told the doctor that something is wrong with him, this is not how he normally speaks. The doctor said he thought this is the way the child speaks. I said no, and he said maybe it’s because you guys were crying out, he is hoarse. He said to give it a few days, but every morning I still reminded him. When it went into the second week, I said something is going on; he couldn’t be hoarse for so long,”
She said that eventually the medical team performed a vocal cord surgery (micro-direct laryngoscopy with excision) on June 15 and removed a sample which was sent off for biopsy. Still, she has not received the results of that test. Aleiya said that not knowing the extent of the damage to her son’s vocal cords is a constant source of worry and anxiety for her, as his voice is now almost inaudible.
She said that the hospital conducted yet another DL on Joshua on August 4, at which time she was still being told that they had not received the result from the previous biopsy. His spinal injury is also weighing heavily on her mind, as she said she was told following various scans, that based on the damage to his spine, “he was almost about to be paralysed”.
After spending what she said amounted to approximately $400,000 on medical bills, Aleiya is now no longer willing to sit and wait on test results while Joshua may be in danger of paralysis or losing his ability to speak altogether.
She is determined to get other medical opinions on Joshua’s situation and to seek treatment that will determine what course of treatment he needs to improve his condition.
Aleiya said that the small child now lives with pain, and cannot walk very far due to his injuries. He is back at school, but is restricted from all extra-curricular activities. “He is upset because he likes football and wants to go back to playing,” she remarked.
Not only does Joshua no longer gets to enjoy many of the activities little boys his age relish, he constantly relives the horror of that fateful morning, often crying out in his sleep, according to Aleiya.
A make-up artist, Aleiya said that her savings have been wiped out, but she is pressing on to get help for little Joshua. She said that she is finalizing arrangements with a hospital in New York to conduct the assessment and then decide on the best route for treatment, but urgently needs financial donations to make that happen.
Aleiya, who is assisted by her own mother with her two children, said that the owner of the dog has not assisted with any of the medical expenses, and that she has been informed by the authorities that the incident is a civil matter that has to be taken up in court.
Donations can be sent to: Joshua Zhang at Bank of Nova Scotia, account #90365, Liguanea branch, Kingston, Jamaica; or via GoFundMe at: https://www.gofundme.com/2r6h5r8. Aleiya may also be contacted by email at:
misschin56@gmail.com.
"Help with Joshua's Medical Expenses"
Hi I'm Aleiya Chin, the blessed single parent of Joshua Zhang, an active, intelligent, vibrant and loving 5 year old boy , that loves life and lives it to its fullest and his beautiful little sister, 3 year old Kendra Zhang, from Kingston Jamaica.
In March of this year my children who were three and four years old at the time, and I, were attacked by two vicious dogs. (One dog was a Pit bull / Rottweiler mix and the other a Pit bull / Labrador mix). Joshua was severely mauled by these two dogs. I was only able to secure my three year old daughter because of how quickly the attack occurred and this is a regret I live with everyday.
I tried everything to get the dogs off my son while at the same time I tried to keep my daughter safe. A motorist who was passing by and heard my screams for help managed to pull Joshua away only to be over powered by the dogs numerous times, pulling Joshua from his hands and pulling the man to the ground. Each time damaging Joshua's frail body further.
In the end the dogs let Joshua go when he stopped moving and was limp on the ground and turned their attention once again to my daughter and myself giving the good civilian who had stopped to help, the opportunity to pick him up and get him into my friends vehicle and to Andrews Memorial Hospital.
He was later transferred to The Bustamantie Hospital for Children where he was kept for two weeks and treated for multiple injuries including a fractured spine and damage to his vocal cords not to mention numerous bruises and stitches.
This incident occurred 6 months ago and Joshua is still on the road to recovery. His voice is raspy due to damages sustained from the dog bites. Joshua needs further treatment from doctors overseas.
This has been a real nerve racking experience for my children and I, which has thrust us into mental , psychological, emotional ,physical and financial disarray. We are seeking your assistance with whichever amount you feel led to give.
The funds donated will help Joshua with various expenses such as medical fees and therapy sessions as well as other surgeries to fix his vocal cord , spine and cuts.
We embrace your generosity and look forward to getting Joshua the medical attention he so desperately needs. Please pray for Joshua and my family.
Warmest regards,
Aleiya
(Jamaica Observer - Oct 9, 2016)
Aleiya said that she and the children, Joshua Zhang — now five — and his then two-year-old sister Kendra, passed the dogs lying in front of the neighbor’s open gate by the side of the road, then seconds later, the nightmare began to unfold.
But the Pit bulls had smelled blood and moved in for the kill.
Aleiya said she tried to shield her frightened children, but she was no match for the vicious animals: “I couldn’t shield them. The dog grabbed the child from me by his school bag and started biting him up. I started to cry out…I said, ‘God, is this how I’m going to lose my child?’
"When I looked I saw the lady (the owner) coming out… I was so happy because I thought she was coming out to help me, [but] I heard her say I must take my child and move from in front of her gate. I said are you crazy, and the other dog started to rush me. I took up stones and started to throw stones at them, the more I threw the stones; the more they bite Joshua.”
Finally, a passerby drove up and tried to get the boy away from the dogs, but he too soon found himself in some amount of trouble, overpowered by the dogs numerous times.
“The dog jumped up on him and just grabbed Joshua in his back and the man fell over on his face over the curb wall,” she told the Jamaica Observer. “The dogs dragged back Joshua in the road and started to eat him up again. The lady went back into her house. I was there crying out and somebody came out, and the dog was fighting back the neighbours. I saw him (Joshua) laying down there in the road…the only thing I could do was cry.”
Finally, more persons came on the scene and the boy was rescued. She remembers that on the way to hospital with the assistance of a friend, Joshua started to gasp for breath.
“I was trying to hold him to look under his neck and my finger went right into the wound. So I had to take off my shirt and apply pressure to the wound. I went into Andrew’s hospital half naked.”
She said she realised also that when the child spoke, she could barely hear him, but was at the time reassured by the physician caring for Joshua that he was perhaps just hoarse from crying out during the ordeal.
“I realised I could hardly hear him (when he spoke). I told the doctor that something is wrong with him, this is not how he normally speaks. The doctor said he thought this is the way the child speaks. I said no, and he said maybe it’s because you guys were crying out, he is hoarse. He said to give it a few days, but every morning I still reminded him. When it went into the second week, I said something is going on; he couldn’t be hoarse for so long,”
She said that eventually the medical team performed a vocal cord surgery (micro-direct laryngoscopy with excision) on June 15 and removed a sample which was sent off for biopsy. Still, she has not received the results of that test. Aleiya said that not knowing the extent of the damage to her son’s vocal cords is a constant source of worry and anxiety for her, as his voice is now almost inaudible.
She said that the hospital conducted yet another DL on Joshua on August 4, at which time she was still being told that they had not received the result from the previous biopsy. His spinal injury is also weighing heavily on her mind, as she said she was told following various scans, that based on the damage to his spine, “he was almost about to be paralysed”.
After spending what she said amounted to approximately $400,000 on medical bills, Aleiya is now no longer willing to sit and wait on test results while Joshua may be in danger of paralysis or losing his ability to speak altogether.
She is determined to get other medical opinions on Joshua’s situation and to seek treatment that will determine what course of treatment he needs to improve his condition.
Not only does Joshua no longer gets to enjoy many of the activities little boys his age relish, he constantly relives the horror of that fateful morning, often crying out in his sleep, according to Aleiya.
A make-up artist, Aleiya said that her savings have been wiped out, but she is pressing on to get help for little Joshua. She said that she is finalizing arrangements with a hospital in New York to conduct the assessment and then decide on the best route for treatment, but urgently needs financial donations to make that happen.
Aleiya, who is assisted by her own mother with her two children, said that the owner of the dog has not assisted with any of the medical expenses, and that she has been informed by the authorities that the incident is a civil matter that has to be taken up in court.
Donations can be sent to: Joshua Zhang at Bank of Nova Scotia, account #90365, Liguanea branch, Kingston, Jamaica; or via GoFundMe at: https://www.gofundme.com/2r6h5r8. Aleiya may also be contacted by email at:
misschin56@gmail.com.
Hi I'm Aleiya Chin, the blessed single parent of Joshua Zhang, an active, intelligent, vibrant and loving 5 year old boy , that loves life and lives it to its fullest and his beautiful little sister, 3 year old Kendra Zhang, from Kingston Jamaica.
In March of this year my children who were three and four years old at the time, and I, were attacked by two vicious dogs. (One dog was a Pit bull / Rottweiler mix and the other a Pit bull / Labrador mix). Joshua was severely mauled by these two dogs. I was only able to secure my three year old daughter because of how quickly the attack occurred and this is a regret I live with everyday.
I tried everything to get the dogs off my son while at the same time I tried to keep my daughter safe. A motorist who was passing by and heard my screams for help managed to pull Joshua away only to be over powered by the dogs numerous times, pulling Joshua from his hands and pulling the man to the ground. Each time damaging Joshua's frail body further.
In the end the dogs let Joshua go when he stopped moving and was limp on the ground and turned their attention once again to my daughter and myself giving the good civilian who had stopped to help, the opportunity to pick him up and get him into my friends vehicle and to Andrews Memorial Hospital.
He was later transferred to The Bustamantie Hospital for Children where he was kept for two weeks and treated for multiple injuries including a fractured spine and damage to his vocal cords not to mention numerous bruises and stitches.
This incident occurred 6 months ago and Joshua is still on the road to recovery. His voice is raspy due to damages sustained from the dog bites. Joshua needs further treatment from doctors overseas.
The funds donated will help Joshua with various expenses such as medical fees and therapy sessions as well as other surgeries to fix his vocal cord , spine and cuts.
We embrace your generosity and look forward to getting Joshua the medical attention he so desperately needs. Please pray for Joshua and my family.
Warmest regards,
Aleiya
(Jamaica Observer - Oct 9, 2016)
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Jamaica: Sharon Tomlinson tells of the horror of March 1, 2014 when her four-year -old daughter was mauled by a pit bull
JAMAICA -- I stood and watched my daughter scream 'Mummy, help me' as her eyes rolled over and she went silent, tears flowing from her eyes ... ."
This began Sharon Tomlinson's account of having to witness her five-year-old daughter being mauled mercilessly by a 57-pound pit bull in a friend's backyard.
What started out as a beautiful day ended with tearful eyes and tainted hearts, but thankfully and more importantly, a testimony.
"On March 1, 2014, while my son was participating in the Digicel Grassroots Football programme at Manchester High School, I took my two younger children to visit a past student who was having social issues. My five-year-old daughter, Taj-Lee, who always behaved adventurously, ventured around the back of the house, where 'Sadam', the pit bull, was chained, to play with him while we were indoors. My last child, who was four years old at the time, ran to tell us that the dog was biting Taj-Lee. The owner sprang from her seat and I followed.
When we rounded the side of the house, Sadam had already ripped her scalp off of her skull and had her left leg in his mouth tossing her about like a rag doll."
For a split second, Tomlinson froze as her daughter screamed for help, but then, without giving it any thought, took the 'bull by horn' and sought to rescue her child.
"I lost fear and gathered strength. I ran over to the dog and grabbed him, not knowing that once the dogs bite down, their jaws lock. The owner picked up a truck rim and dropped it on his head, to no avail. I grabbed the dog around his throat shouting 'Let her go!' Nothing. In order to save her, I had to rip her leg from his mouth and the blood was spewing like a broken pipe."
At that very moment, Sharon began praying and speaking life over her child. The possibility that her precious daughter would leave her was not a thought she was willing to welcome.
OVER 70 STITCHES
"On the way to the hospital, she kept saying, 'Mummy, I am sorry'. My heart was breaking. She kept slipping in and out of consciousness, and a voice said sing 'Jesus loves me this I know', and I coaxed her to sing. Also, I kept asking her whose birthday it was, and she said 'Tajaun'. I prayed as we sped along the road with flashing lights to the emergency room."
As five nurses and doctors fought to save her daughter's leg and life, all Tomlinson could do was hope for the best and look to the Master Healer.
"She received a total of over 70 stitches in her head and on the left leg in a four-hour procedure. She was sedated but never slept. She recounted the ordeal and the doctor was amazed and asked if she was autistic. But God is good. The
X-ray she did after, showed no internal damages," Tomlinson recounted.
The principal of the Charagape Elementary School has had her fair share of obstacles - from having three siblings die at a tender age, seeing a breakdown in her family structure, caring for her mentally ill mother, moving from Guyana and settling in Jamaica to even experiencing a student dying in her hands. But she maintains that one should never doubt God and holds Him as the ultimate author of her life.
"Last year, my car was seized for failing to pay my taxes on time. In November 2014, a biopsy showed squamous cells on my cervix, and on June 26, 2015, after completing an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of my neck, it showed that my cervical bones were degenerating, which was causing the numbness in my right side and other parts of my body. Through everything, I am still working and making ends meet because, through all of my trials, and some I have not listed, God has still taken care of me. I never got a chance to doubt Him because those who know me well will testify that I am overly positive, thankful, and always seeking a solution."
She added, "I am happy for my family and friends from Guyana. God has blessed me with four dynamic children for whom I live, and all that I earn is for them."
(The Gleaner - July 18, 2015)
This began Sharon Tomlinson's account of having to witness her five-year-old daughter being mauled mercilessly by a 57-pound pit bull in a friend's backyard.
What started out as a beautiful day ended with tearful eyes and tainted hearts, but thankfully and more importantly, a testimony.
"On March 1, 2014, while my son was participating in the Digicel Grassroots Football programme at Manchester High School, I took my two younger children to visit a past student who was having social issues. My five-year-old daughter, Taj-Lee, who always behaved adventurously, ventured around the back of the house, where 'Sadam', the pit bull, was chained, to play with him while we were indoors. My last child, who was four years old at the time, ran to tell us that the dog was biting Taj-Lee. The owner sprang from her seat and I followed.
When we rounded the side of the house, Sadam had already ripped her scalp off of her skull and had her left leg in his mouth tossing her about like a rag doll."
For a split second, Tomlinson froze as her daughter screamed for help, but then, without giving it any thought, took the 'bull by horn' and sought to rescue her child.
At that very moment, Sharon began praying and speaking life over her child. The possibility that her precious daughter would leave her was not a thought she was willing to welcome.
OVER 70 STITCHES
"On the way to the hospital, she kept saying, 'Mummy, I am sorry'. My heart was breaking. She kept slipping in and out of consciousness, and a voice said sing 'Jesus loves me this I know', and I coaxed her to sing. Also, I kept asking her whose birthday it was, and she said 'Tajaun'. I prayed as we sped along the road with flashing lights to the emergency room."
As five nurses and doctors fought to save her daughter's leg and life, all Tomlinson could do was hope for the best and look to the Master Healer.
"She received a total of over 70 stitches in her head and on the left leg in a four-hour procedure. She was sedated but never slept. She recounted the ordeal and the doctor was amazed and asked if she was autistic. But God is good. The
X-ray she did after, showed no internal damages," Tomlinson recounted.
"Last year, my car was seized for failing to pay my taxes on time. In November 2014, a biopsy showed squamous cells on my cervix, and on June 26, 2015, after completing an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of my neck, it showed that my cervical bones were degenerating, which was causing the numbness in my right side and other parts of my body. Through everything, I am still working and making ends meet because, through all of my trials, and some I have not listed, God has still taken care of me. I never got a chance to doubt Him because those who know me well will testify that I am overly positive, thankful, and always seeking a solution."
She added, "I am happy for my family and friends from Guyana. God has blessed me with four dynamic children for whom I live, and all that I earn is for them."
(The Gleaner - July 18, 2015)
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Two year-old boy dies after Bull Mastiff attack
JAMAICA -- A two-year-old boy died after he was attacked by dogs at his home on Monday evening on Pimento Way in Cardiff Hall, Runaway Bay.
Maximillian Guscott died a few hours after he was taken to the St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital on Monday.
Reports are that the child was home with family members when he opened a door and went into the yard where a Bull Mastiff attacked him. It is believed that smaller dogs then joined in the attack.
He was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
The child's traumatised mother has since been hospitalised, the Jamaica Observer has learnt.
(Jamaica Observer - Jan 7, 2015)
Maximillian Guscott died a few hours after he was taken to the St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital on Monday.
Reports are that the child was home with family members when he opened a door and went into the yard where a Bull Mastiff attacked him. It is believed that smaller dogs then joined in the attack.
He was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
The child's traumatised mother has since been hospitalised, the Jamaica Observer has learnt.
(Jamaica Observer - Jan 7, 2015)
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Jamaica: Pit bull that attacked and killed 2-year-old Ronica Gregory has been euthanized
JAMAICA -- The pit bull who killed 2-year-old Ronica Gregory and injured her sister has been euthanized by the Jamaica Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals (JSPCA).
Managing Director of the JSPCA, Pamela Lawson, confirmed that her charity collected the dog yesterday and he has since been put down.
The dog attacked Ronica and her sister on Tuesday night, as they were walking through a yard in Rose Hall in Linstead St. Catherine.
Ronica was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital and her sister treated for injuries she sustained during the attack.
Today, Lawson again renewed her call for dangerous dogs legislation to be enacted.
However, she said she is not advocating legislation that’s specific to any particular breed of dog.
Lawson said she would like specific measures included in any legislation that governs dangerous dogs, explaining that there has been an increase in the number humans being attacked by dogs.
(go-jamaica.com - Dec 6, 2012)
Managing Director of the JSPCA, Pamela Lawson, confirmed that her charity collected the dog yesterday and he has since been put down.
The dog attacked Ronica and her sister on Tuesday night, as they were walking through a yard in Rose Hall in Linstead St. Catherine.
Ronica was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital and her sister treated for injuries she sustained during the attack.
Today, Lawson again renewed her call for dangerous dogs legislation to be enacted.
However, she said she is not advocating legislation that’s specific to any particular breed of dog.
Lawson said she would like specific measures included in any legislation that governs dangerous dogs, explaining that there has been an increase in the number humans being attacked by dogs.
(go-jamaica.com - Dec 6, 2012)
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Dogs maul baby, woman in St Catherine
JAMAICA -- A woman and a one-year-old child were yesterday admitted in hospital in serious condition when two angry dogs allegedly escaped from a home and attacked them while they took an early morning stroll in Eltham Vista, St Catherine.
[Another article describes the dogs as pit bulls.]
"Suppose you see what happened this morning? The dog had the baby in her mouth for minutes," said one resident, who stood near the house where the incident happened.
Another man, who identified himself only as Alvin, said that several attempts to free the child from the grip of the ferocious dog were unsuccessful.
Other residents claimed that it was a licensed firearm owner who came to the rescue of the victims, killing the two blood-thirsty animals.
The St Catherine North Police have since launched an investigation into the matter which is the second case reported in the parish over the last year. Last July, a 58-year-old woman was mauled to death by a pitbull in the community of March Pen Road in Spanish Town.
"We will definitely have to look into the circumstances as to what led to the incident and to see if it was a case of negligence on the part of the owners," said head of the police division, Superintendent Anthony Castel.
Yesterday, as large group of residents gathered near the yard from where the dogs allegedly escaped, bloodstains were still visible along the sidewalk where the attack happened.
The owners of the animal were not at the dwelling to respond to residents' claims.
The angry residents said the authorities should not only launch an investigation into the incident, but implement stricter measures to ensure that persons control their animals.
(Jamaicaobserver.com - July 26, 2012)
[Another article describes the dogs as pit bulls.]
"Suppose you see what happened this morning? The dog had the baby in her mouth for minutes," said one resident, who stood near the house where the incident happened.
Another man, who identified himself only as Alvin, said that several attempts to free the child from the grip of the ferocious dog were unsuccessful.
Other residents claimed that it was a licensed firearm owner who came to the rescue of the victims, killing the two blood-thirsty animals.
The St Catherine North Police have since launched an investigation into the matter which is the second case reported in the parish over the last year. Last July, a 58-year-old woman was mauled to death by a pitbull in the community of March Pen Road in Spanish Town.
"We will definitely have to look into the circumstances as to what led to the incident and to see if it was a case of negligence on the part of the owners," said head of the police division, Superintendent Anthony Castel.
Yesterday, as large group of residents gathered near the yard from where the dogs allegedly escaped, bloodstains were still visible along the sidewalk where the attack happened.
The owners of the animal were not at the dwelling to respond to residents' claims.
The angry residents said the authorities should not only launch an investigation into the incident, but implement stricter measures to ensure that persons control their animals.
(Jamaicaobserver.com - July 26, 2012)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Pit bull kills old woman in Spanish Town
JAMAICA -- The St Catherine North Police were up to last night still trying to locate the owner of a pit bull that mauled to death a 62-year-old woman in March Pen, Spanish Town, on Monday evening.
The owner of the animal reportedly fled the area following the attack on Valerie Stephenson, fondly called 'Mamma' by her neighbours.
According to the police, the woman was attacked by the animal around 7:00 pm following a visit to a relative's home in the tough Spanish Town community.
Attempts were said to have been made by residents to rescue the elderly woman from the jaws of the animal but all that proved futile. Stephenson eventually succumbed to bites she received to her throat and chest when she was taken to the Spanish Town Hospital.
The Spanish Town police, who are investigating, have described the incident as "death by misadventure".
According to a release from the police, the brown and white pit bull was later found lying on his right side with a gunshot wound to the body. It was not clear, however, who killed the animal.
The police have, in the meantime, warned owners of dogs to ensure the animals are properly secured.
(Jamaica Observer - July 20, 2011)
The owner of the animal reportedly fled the area following the attack on Valerie Stephenson, fondly called 'Mamma' by her neighbours.
According to the police, the woman was attacked by the animal around 7:00 pm following a visit to a relative's home in the tough Spanish Town community.
Attempts were said to have been made by residents to rescue the elderly woman from the jaws of the animal but all that proved futile. Stephenson eventually succumbed to bites she received to her throat and chest when she was taken to the Spanish Town Hospital.
The Spanish Town police, who are investigating, have described the incident as "death by misadventure".
According to a release from the police, the brown and white pit bull was later found lying on his right side with a gunshot wound to the body. It was not clear, however, who killed the animal.
The police have, in the meantime, warned owners of dogs to ensure the animals are properly secured.
(Jamaica Observer - July 20, 2011)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Jamaica: Baby mauled by parents' pit bull recovering
JAMAICA -- Eight-month-old Shawn Obermann Jr is recovering at the Bustamante Hospital for Children where he underwent major surgery for severe head injuries he sustained at his home here on March 23 when he was brutally attacked and mauled by a pit bull, owned by his parents.
According to Shawn Obermann Sr, the toddler's distraught father (who lives in the United States), the ruthless animal rushed inside the house where the baby was on the floor about three feet from his mother and two other persons who were watching television.
The dog is said to have gripped the left leg of the infant in its powerful jaws as the toddler crept towards the settee where his mother was sitting.
The dog dragged the baby along the rough concrete steps leading from the house, causing a portion of his scalp to be ripped off.
This attack came a day after a three-year-old child was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Kingston.
Obermann Sr — a Caucasian residing in Kansas City, Kansas, USA, but who was working in Omaha, Nebraska — praised the heroics of Daney Hughes, also called Fire, saying if it were not for him the infant, his mother and two other persons in the house at the time of the canine onslaught might have been killed.
"I give thanks to Fire for saving my baby's life. It is a devil dog," Obermann told the Observer.
According to Hughes, he was using a jack-hammer to drill rocks under a section of the house where Sonia Samuels, the common-law wife of Obermann Sr, lives with their infant son. The dreadlocked man said he heard an uproar coming from the floor overhead, which overpowered the sound of the jack-hammer.
Initially, he believed that the source of the noise was the occupants enjoying a movie. But he decided to investigate when he heard desperate screams for help.
He arrived in time to see the dog descending the steps, the baby in its mouth.
The gallant Hughes reportedly used a metal spade that was nearby to pound the dog in its head until it dropped the child who was retrieved by his horrified mother.
But the raging animal continued to pursue the injured toddler, forcing Hughes to again hit it with the shovel until it retreated.
"The dog rushed back into the house but this time him stand on him two back feet like a man. I had to beat him to control him and get him to cool out," Hughes declared.
The dog. however, was not subdued for long and was eventually set upon, chased and beaten to death by people who had converged on the premises.
"Is the toughest dog me ever see. After he was beaten with sledge hammer and spade in him head him come een like him can't dead. Like him head a iron," a resident told the Observer.
The year-old male pit bull, which was reportedly acquired by the baby's parents about a month before the attack, was said to have escaped from its kennel as it was being fed by Samuels' brother.
The child was rushed to the Savanna-la-Mar Public Hospital, shortly after which he was airlifted to the Bustamante Hospital in Kingston.
On Friday, the father of the injured child expressed his gratitude to the Jamaican Government and the Bustamante Hospital for their assistance but lamented what he described as the shortage of equipment at the hospital and appealed for international assistance on behalf of the facility.
"The Children's Hospital is doing the best that they can with their limited resources. They lack the proper resources to provide the best care for my son, but they are doing the best that they can," he stated.
"I am appealing to members of our global village to send equipment and supplies to assist the Jamaican children at Bustamante Children's Hospital, similar to efforts by persons such as Shaggy and Friends. For lack of resources the children are needlessly suffering through no fault of the wonderful staff here," said Obermann Sr.
(Jamaica Observer - April 4, 2011)
According to Shawn Obermann Sr, the toddler's distraught father (who lives in the United States), the ruthless animal rushed inside the house where the baby was on the floor about three feet from his mother and two other persons who were watching television.
The dog is said to have gripped the left leg of the infant in its powerful jaws as the toddler crept towards the settee where his mother was sitting.
The dog dragged the baby along the rough concrete steps leading from the house, causing a portion of his scalp to be ripped off.
The traumatized infant is being treated for major lacerations to the scalp, his right eye and face, his left leg, a compound fracture of the skull, among other injuries.
This attack came a day after a three-year-old child was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Kingston.
Obermann Sr — a Caucasian residing in Kansas City, Kansas, USA, but who was working in Omaha, Nebraska — praised the heroics of Daney Hughes, also called Fire, saying if it were not for him the infant, his mother and two other persons in the house at the time of the canine onslaught might have been killed.
"I give thanks to Fire for saving my baby's life. It is a devil dog," Obermann told the Observer.
According to Hughes, he was using a jack-hammer to drill rocks under a section of the house where Sonia Samuels, the common-law wife of Obermann Sr, lives with their infant son. The dreadlocked man said he heard an uproar coming from the floor overhead, which overpowered the sound of the jack-hammer.
Initially, he believed that the source of the noise was the occupants enjoying a movie. But he decided to investigate when he heard desperate screams for help.
He arrived in time to see the dog descending the steps, the baby in its mouth.
The gallant Hughes reportedly used a metal spade that was nearby to pound the dog in its head until it dropped the child who was retrieved by his horrified mother.
But the raging animal continued to pursue the injured toddler, forcing Hughes to again hit it with the shovel until it retreated.
"The dog rushed back into the house but this time him stand on him two back feet like a man. I had to beat him to control him and get him to cool out," Hughes declared.
The dog. however, was not subdued for long and was eventually set upon, chased and beaten to death by people who had converged on the premises.
"Is the toughest dog me ever see. After he was beaten with sledge hammer and spade in him head him come een like him can't dead. Like him head a iron," a resident told the Observer.
The year-old male pit bull, which was reportedly acquired by the baby's parents about a month before the attack, was said to have escaped from its kennel as it was being fed by Samuels' brother.
The child was rushed to the Savanna-la-Mar Public Hospital, shortly after which he was airlifted to the Bustamante Hospital in Kingston.
On Friday, the father of the injured child expressed his gratitude to the Jamaican Government and the Bustamante Hospital for their assistance but lamented what he described as the shortage of equipment at the hospital and appealed for international assistance on behalf of the facility.
"The Children's Hospital is doing the best that they can with their limited resources. They lack the proper resources to provide the best care for my son, but they are doing the best that they can," he stated.
"I am appealing to members of our global village to send equipment and supplies to assist the Jamaican children at Bustamante Children's Hospital, similar to efforts by persons such as Shaggy and Friends. For lack of resources the children are needlessly suffering through no fault of the wonderful staff here," said Obermann Sr.
(Jamaica Observer - April 4, 2011)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)