Published: July 09, 2007 11:34 pm            

LOCKPORT: Police investigating pit bull attack on toddler

Family dog reportedly assaulted 2-year-old

Lockport police are investigating an apparent attack by a pit bull on a small boy.

The 2-year-old is recovering at Women and Children’s Hospital in Buffalo after police say he was attacked and sexually assaulted by his family’s pit bull.

Police said the toddler was in his home on Washburn Street about 2 p.m. when the pit bull attacked. According to police, the dog sodomized the boy.

“The dog sexually attacked the kid and caused some pretty significant injuries,” said Lockport Police Detective Capt. Larry Eggert.

Eggert said the boy’s family members and neighbors had to beat the dog to get it off the boy.

The dog has been impounded at the Niagara County SPCA as the investigation continues. Eggert said a veterinarian will be brought in to take DNA samples from the dog.

“(The vet will) compare DNA taken from the boy to kind of verify it happened,” Eggert said, later adding, “I have never, ever heard of an assault quite like that.”

Niagara County SPCA Executive Director Al Chille agreed the case is an unusual one.

“The majority of the calls we receive with regards to pit bulls are bite calls, not calls of this nature,” he said. “We get a considerably large number of those (bite calls) from all over the county.”

The dog was a 2-year-old pit bull that had been with the family since it was a puppy, Eggert said. Sunday’s incident was the first time the family had any problems with the dog being aggressive or biting, he said.

The boy underwent surgery on Sunday night and may need more reconstructive surgery in the future, Eggert said.

Chille said pit bulls are notorious for being aggressive, though that may not be true of all pit bulls. In his 27 years working with the SPCA, he said he’s seen many dog breeds become feared in society — including spaniels, German shepherds and rottweilers.

“Each one of the dogs had its day,” he said.

The problem is not with the breed itself, Chille said, but rather the manner in which the dog is raised. A pit bull raised in a loving atmosphere “could be a fine dog,” he said.

        

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