Loading ...Consider, too, the aftermath of three extremely similar fatal dog attacks.
May 7, 2005, Waterford Township, Michigan—A 2-year-old girl named Samantha is killed by the family’s two female Siberian Huskies after being left unsupervised with them. The dogs had shown no prior signs of aggression. (The Oakland Press, “Family dogs maul toddler,” May 7, 2005)
May 9, 2005, Fruita, Colorado—A 7-year-old girl named Kate-Lynn Logel is killed by the family’s recently acquired male Alaskan Malamute after being left unsupervised with a male-female pair. Neither dog had shown prior signs of aggression (the family had only had them for three weeks but claimed that the previous owner said the dogs had no history of aggression). (Rocky Mountain News, “Fruita girl, 7, dies in dog attack,” May 9, 2005)
June 3, 2005, San Francisco, California—A 12-year-old boy named Nicholas Faibish is killed by the family’s intact breeding pair of pit bulls after being left unsupervised with them. One of the dogs had bitten Nicholas earlier in the day, but his mother nevertheless left him home alone with the dogs. (Extensive coverage of this case; one article can be found at SignOnSanDiego.com, “Mother charged with child endangerment in fatal dog mauling case,” June 23, 2005)
In the cases of both Samantha and Kate-Lynn…
- local papers carried the initial story on the first day, and perhaps a followup story the next day
But when Nicholas Faibish was killed by pit bulls…
- the story hit the front page of most California newspapers, in some cases for days on end;
- the story was picked up by national news channels;
- journalists eagerly followed and reported on every development in the case;
- legal charges were filed against Nicholas’s mother;
- the ensuing legal charges and court case were reported on thoroughly;
- news media churned out related links to other attacks by pit bulls;
- politicians and the public started calling for breed-specific legislation and a ban on pit bulls;
- breed-specific legislation was proposed and passed at a state level
All of these children died. Their deaths were all preventable. Their deaths all occurred similarly. What was it about Nicholas Faibish’s death that made it more tragic; more deserving of attention; and more deserving of social, legal, and political action than the deaths of Kate-Lynn or Samantha?
- Was it because Nicholas was a boy?
- Was it because San Francisco is a big city?
- Or was it because Nicholas was killed by scary, evil pit bulls—not less-than-thrilling Alaskan Malamutes or Siberian Huskies?
Article source http://stopbsl.com/bsloverview/the-injustice-to-victims/