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Boy recovering from dog attack



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 27th 04, 10:59 PM
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Default Boy recovering from dog attack

Boy recovering from dog attack

By David Zizzo
The Oklahoman

TULSA - Anna Cross can hardly keep from crying when she looks
at her 6-year-old son's face.

Noah Cross' familiar smile has been replaced by swelling from
a broken nose, fractures around his eyes and 1,000 stitches
needed to close gashes in his skin.

"They had to put his face back together," Anna Cross said
Tuesday in a phone interview from Saint Francis Hospital,
where her son was being treated after being mauled Sunday by
a pit bull terrier in Bartlesville. "It's hard to see your child
in pain."

Leon Smith, the boy's father who's divorced from Anna Cross,
said the attack occurred as the boy was spending the day with him.

"I don't even know where to start to explain," said Smith, who
also was at the hospital Tuesday. "I'm hurt. I'm sad. I'm mad.
I'm devastated."

Smith, 35, a lawn care worker, said he and his son were visiting
a cousin at the home of the cousin's girlfriend, Nola Nicholson,
whom police identified as the dog's owner.

Nicholson could not be reached for comment.

Smith said when he decided to return to his house down the street
to show someone a dryer he had for sale, Noah asked if he could
remain at Nicholson's home to play with two boys who are a few years
older. He said he received a call 10 minutes later about Noah being
bitten by a dog.

When he returned to Nicholson's house "there's Noah laying on
the porch," surrounded by emergency workers.

"I didn't know how bad it was until they told me they were
Life-Flighting him to Tulsa," Smith said.

Cross, a nursing home activities director, said she rushed to
Nicholson's home, arriving shortly after an ambulance left with
her son. The ambulance took him to a helicopter, which flew
him to Saint Francis, where he underwent more than four hours
of surgery.

Cross said she was told the dog had escaped a 6-foot chain-link
fence and that Nicholson, who was on the porch, told the boys
to put the dog back in the yard. They were trying to put a
collar on the animal when it attacked, Cross said. The other
two boys apparently were not injured.

Nicholson apparently managed to put the dog inside a car and
went inside to call 911. Cross said her son later told her he
tried to get inside the house, but that Nicholson told him to stay
outside, presumably because he was bleeding. "She wouldn't let
him go in the house," Cross said the boy told her.

While Nicholson was inside, Cross said, "the dog got out and
attacked my baby again."

Cross said that before she left for the hospital, she was
"screaming and cussing" at Nicholson, who Cross said "claimed
she saved my son's life."

"She doesn't have a bite on her, not one," Cross said. "My
son's face was ripped to shreds like hamburger meat."

Some cities have ordinances banning pit bull terriers. Bartlesville
bans only individual animals that have been shown to be vicious,
Police Lt. Mike Richardson said, and Nicholson's dog had not been
reported as a problem.

Lebert Sharpton, who lives next door to Nicholson, said the dog
seemed "just as friendly as everything. He'd come on the porch
and we would love him and pat him."

Sharpton learned of the attack Sunday after returning from church.

"We were shocked to hear about it," he said.

Richardson said the dog was euthanized at the request of Nicholson.

Noah, a first-grader at Oak Park Elementary in Bartlesville,
likes to play video games, ride his bike, run around and "bounce
off the walls," said Dan Gaskill, 27, Anna Cross's husband and
the boy's stepfather. "Pretty much a normal little 6-year-old."

He has a sister and brother, both younger. And the family has a
10-year-old Golden Retriever, who's "on his last legs," said
Gaskill, floor supervisor at a commercial linen company.

Noah was stable and apparently suffered no loss of sight or other
function, family members said. But he faces a series of
reconstructive surgeries. Family members said they have no insurance.

Tuesday, Noah was receiving morphine every three hours for the
pain and was having trouble speaking or even eating or drinking,
but seemed to be holding up, Gaskill said.

"He's being a soldier."
=====================================

I have a photo of this boy's face. If you would like me to
send along a copy, reply to this and change the (*) to
(-) in my return address.

KM
  #2  
Old October 28th 04, 12:23 AM
Robin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


wrote in message
...
Boy recovering from dog attack

By David Zizzo
The Oklahoman

TULSA - Anna Cross can hardly keep from crying when she

looks
at her 6-year-old son's face.

Noah Cross' familiar smile has been replaced by swelling

from
a broken nose, fractures around his eyes and 1,000

stitches
needed to close gashes in his skin.

"They had to put his face back together," Anna Cross said
Tuesday in a phone interview from Saint Francis Hospital,
where her son was being treated after being mauled Sunday

by
a pit bull terrier in Bartlesville. "It's hard to see your

child
in pain."

Leon Smith, the boy's father who's divorced from Anna

Cross,
said the attack occurred as the boy was spending the day

with him.

"I don't even know where to start to explain," said Smith,

who
also was at the hospital Tuesday. "I'm hurt. I'm sad. I'm

mad.
I'm devastated."

Smith, 35, a lawn care worker, said he and his son were

visiting
a cousin at the home of the cousin's girlfriend, Nola

Nicholson,
whom police identified as the dog's owner.

Nicholson could not be reached for comment.

Smith said when he decided to return to his house down the

street
to show someone a dryer he had for sale, Noah asked if he

could
remain at Nicholson's home to play with two boys who are a

few years
older. He said he received a call 10 minutes later about

Noah being
bitten by a dog.

When he returned to Nicholson's house "there's Noah laying

on
the porch," surrounded by emergency workers.

"I didn't know how bad it was until they told me they were
Life-Flighting him to Tulsa," Smith said.

Cross, a nursing home activities director, said she rushed

to
Nicholson's home, arriving shortly after an ambulance left

with
her son. The ambulance took him to a helicopter, which

flew
him to Saint Francis, where he underwent more than four

hours
of surgery.

Cross said she was told the dog had escaped a 6-foot

chain-link
fence and that Nicholson, who was on the porch, told the

boys
to put the dog back in the yard. They were trying to put a
collar on the animal when it attacked, Cross said. The

other
two boys apparently were not injured.

Nicholson apparently managed to put the dog inside a car

and
went inside to call 911. Cross said her son later told her

he
tried to get inside the house, but that Nicholson told him

to stay
outside, presumably because he was bleeding. "She wouldn't

let
him go in the house," Cross said the boy told her.

While Nicholson was inside, Cross said, "the dog got out

and
attacked my baby again."

Cross said that before she left for the hospital, she was
"screaming and cussing" at Nicholson, who Cross said

"claimed
she saved my son's life."

"She doesn't have a bite on her, not one," Cross said. "My
son's face was ripped to shreds like hamburger meat."

Some cities have ordinances banning pit bull terriers.

Bartlesville
bans only individual animals that have been shown to be

vicious,
Police Lt. Mike Richardson said, and Nicholson's dog had

not been
reported as a problem.

Lebert Sharpton, who lives next door to Nicholson, said

the dog
seemed "just as friendly as everything. He'd come on the

porch
and we would love him and pat him."

Sharpton learned of the attack Sunday after returning from

church.

"We were shocked to hear about it," he said.

Richardson said the dog was euthanized at the request of

Nicholson.

Noah, a first-grader at Oak Park Elementary in

Bartlesville,
likes to play video games, ride his bike, run around and

"bounce
off the walls," said Dan Gaskill, 27, Anna Cross's husband

and
the boy's stepfather. "Pretty much a normal little

6-year-old."

He has a sister and brother, both younger. And the family

has a
10-year-old Golden Retriever, who's "on his last legs,"

said
Gaskill, floor supervisor at a commercial linen company.

Noah was stable and apparently suffered no loss of sight

or other
function, family members said. But he faces a series of
reconstructive surgeries. Family members said they have no

insurance.

Tuesday, Noah was receiving morphine every three hours for

the
pain and was having trouble speaking or even eating or

drinking,
but seemed to be holding up, Gaskill said.

"He's being a soldier."
=====================================

I have a photo of this boy's face. If you would like me to
send along a copy, reply to this and change the (*) to
(-) in my return address.

KM


What this story illustrates is how disastrous irresponsible
dog owners can be. The injured boy was six and the other
two were "a few years older" so let's say 9-10. There is no
way that these boys should have been delegated the task of
reigning in a dog that had gotten loose from his normal
boundaries, ESPECIALLY not a very young boy who was
unfamiliar to the dog. Then to have the new young boy
putting on the collar while the dog was already in an
excited state was idiotic. ALL dogs have to be handled
responsibly and supervised around small children. Like the
incident with the six week old baby who was left laying in a
bed unsupervised with a Pomeranian, and then mauled to death
by the Pomeranian; this was a clear case of owner
negligence.

I hope the boy has a speedy recovery, and does not suffer
long term effects. I hope the dog owner is punished for her
negligence.

Robin
http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami


  #3  
Old October 28th 04, 12:23 AM
Robin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


wrote in message
...
Boy recovering from dog attack

By David Zizzo
The Oklahoman

TULSA - Anna Cross can hardly keep from crying when she

looks
at her 6-year-old son's face.

Noah Cross' familiar smile has been replaced by swelling

from
a broken nose, fractures around his eyes and 1,000

stitches
needed to close gashes in his skin.

"They had to put his face back together," Anna Cross said
Tuesday in a phone interview from Saint Francis Hospital,
where her son was being treated after being mauled Sunday

by
a pit bull terrier in Bartlesville. "It's hard to see your

child
in pain."

Leon Smith, the boy's father who's divorced from Anna

Cross,
said the attack occurred as the boy was spending the day

with him.

"I don't even know where to start to explain," said Smith,

who
also was at the hospital Tuesday. "I'm hurt. I'm sad. I'm

mad.
I'm devastated."

Smith, 35, a lawn care worker, said he and his son were

visiting
a cousin at the home of the cousin's girlfriend, Nola

Nicholson,
whom police identified as the dog's owner.

Nicholson could not be reached for comment.

Smith said when he decided to return to his house down the

street
to show someone a dryer he had for sale, Noah asked if he

could
remain at Nicholson's home to play with two boys who are a

few years
older. He said he received a call 10 minutes later about

Noah being
bitten by a dog.

When he returned to Nicholson's house "there's Noah laying

on
the porch," surrounded by emergency workers.

"I didn't know how bad it was until they told me they were
Life-Flighting him to Tulsa," Smith said.

Cross, a nursing home activities director, said she rushed

to
Nicholson's home, arriving shortly after an ambulance left

with
her son. The ambulance took him to a helicopter, which

flew
him to Saint Francis, where he underwent more than four

hours
of surgery.

Cross said she was told the dog had escaped a 6-foot

chain-link
fence and that Nicholson, who was on the porch, told the

boys
to put the dog back in the yard. They were trying to put a
collar on the animal when it attacked, Cross said. The

other
two boys apparently were not injured.

Nicholson apparently managed to put the dog inside a car

and
went inside to call 911. Cross said her son later told her

he
tried to get inside the house, but that Nicholson told him

to stay
outside, presumably because he was bleeding. "She wouldn't

let
him go in the house," Cross said the boy told her.

While Nicholson was inside, Cross said, "the dog got out

and
attacked my baby again."

Cross said that before she left for the hospital, she was
"screaming and cussing" at Nicholson, who Cross said

"claimed
she saved my son's life."

"She doesn't have a bite on her, not one," Cross said. "My
son's face was ripped to shreds like hamburger meat."

Some cities have ordinances banning pit bull terriers.

Bartlesville
bans only individual animals that have been shown to be

vicious,
Police Lt. Mike Richardson said, and Nicholson's dog had

not been
reported as a problem.

Lebert Sharpton, who lives next door to Nicholson, said

the dog
seemed "just as friendly as everything. He'd come on the

porch
and we would love him and pat him."

Sharpton learned of the attack Sunday after returning from

church.

"We were shocked to hear about it," he said.

Richardson said the dog was euthanized at the request of

Nicholson.

Noah, a first-grader at Oak Park Elementary in

Bartlesville,
likes to play video games, ride his bike, run around and

"bounce
off the walls," said Dan Gaskill, 27, Anna Cross's husband

and
the boy's stepfather. "Pretty much a normal little

6-year-old."

He has a sister and brother, both younger. And the family

has a
10-year-old Golden Retriever, who's "on his last legs,"

said
Gaskill, floor supervisor at a commercial linen company.

Noah was stable and apparently suffered no loss of sight

or other
function, family members said. But he faces a series of
reconstructive surgeries. Family members said they have no

insurance.

Tuesday, Noah was receiving morphine every three hours for

the
pain and was having trouble speaking or even eating or

drinking,
but seemed to be holding up, Gaskill said.

"He's being a soldier."
=====================================

I have a photo of this boy's face. If you would like me to
send along a copy, reply to this and change the (*) to
(-) in my return address.

KM


What this story illustrates is how disastrous irresponsible
dog owners can be. The injured boy was six and the other
two were "a few years older" so let's say 9-10. There is no
way that these boys should have been delegated the task of
reigning in a dog that had gotten loose from his normal
boundaries, ESPECIALLY not a very young boy who was
unfamiliar to the dog. Then to have the new young boy
putting on the collar while the dog was already in an
excited state was idiotic. ALL dogs have to be handled
responsibly and supervised around small children. Like the
incident with the six week old baby who was left laying in a
bed unsupervised with a Pomeranian, and then mauled to death
by the Pomeranian; this was a clear case of owner
negligence.

I hope the boy has a speedy recovery, and does not suffer
long term effects. I hope the dog owner is punished for her
negligence.

Robin
http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami


  #4  
Old October 28th 04, 12:56 AM
Robin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"elegy" wrote in message
...
i really really wonder what percentage of the dogs

involved in these
dog attacks are chained dogs or dogs that have escaped

from their
chains.

sad story.



According to the Journal of American Veterinary Medicine,
17% of attacks occur while dogs are ON chains. There is no
way to accurately determine how many are dogs that have
escaped from their chains. Either way, chained dogs are
overly reprsented in attack statistics compared to their
unchained counterparts. This is one of many reasons that
many municipalities are moving to make dog chaining illegal.

Robin
http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami




  #5  
Old October 28th 04, 12:56 AM
Robin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"elegy" wrote in message
...
i really really wonder what percentage of the dogs

involved in these
dog attacks are chained dogs or dogs that have escaped

from their
chains.

sad story.



According to the Journal of American Veterinary Medicine,
17% of attacks occur while dogs are ON chains. There is no
way to accurately determine how many are dogs that have
escaped from their chains. Either way, chained dogs are
overly reprsented in attack statistics compared to their
unchained counterparts. This is one of many reasons that
many municipalities are moving to make dog chaining illegal.

Robin
http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami




  #6  
Old October 28th 04, 01:06 AM
flick
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

elegy wrote:

i really really wonder what percentage of the dogs involved in these
dog attacks are chained dogs or dogs that have escaped from their
chains.


Well, this dog escaped a fence. Maybe it had been kept
on a chain, behind the fence (?).

I wonder if it was an un-neutered male; statistically,
they're likely to bite.

flick 100785


sad story.


---
petey was a pit bull.
http://shattering.org


  #7  
Old October 28th 04, 01:06 AM
flick
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

elegy wrote:

i really really wonder what percentage of the dogs involved in these
dog attacks are chained dogs or dogs that have escaped from their
chains.


Well, this dog escaped a fence. Maybe it had been kept
on a chain, behind the fence (?).

I wonder if it was an un-neutered male; statistically,
they're likely to bite.

flick 100785


sad story.


---
petey was a pit bull.
http://shattering.org


  #8  
Old October 28th 04, 01:13 AM
Tee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"elegy" wrote in message
...
i really really wonder what percentage of the dogs involved in these
dog attacks are chained dogs or dogs that have escaped from their
chains.


Probably not this one since the neighbor cites the dog coming on their porch
for socializing. That would indicate that he either escapes the fence often
or is let out by his owner.

--
Tara


  #9  
Old October 28th 04, 01:13 AM
Tee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"elegy" wrote in message
...
i really really wonder what percentage of the dogs involved in these
dog attacks are chained dogs or dogs that have escaped from their
chains.


Probably not this one since the neighbor cites the dog coming on their porch
for socializing. That would indicate that he either escapes the fence often
or is let out by his owner.

--
Tara


  #10  
Old October 28th 04, 01:25 AM
Tee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"Robin" wrote in message
news:06Wfd.259435$wV.123790@attbi_s54...

What this story illustrates is how disastrous irresponsible
dog owners can be. The injured boy was six and the other
two were "a few years older" so let's say 9-10. There is no
way that these boys should have been delegated the task of
reigning in a dog that had gotten loose from his normal
boundaries,


Well it wasn't just "a" dog but a familiar dog to two of the children, who
presumably, have handled the dog before. The owner was also on the porch
when it happened. There's a possibility this was simply a case of "John &
Michael get Fido before he runs in the street" which really isn't some
horrible act on the part of a parent, not when the dog is known & trusted.

ESPECIALLY not a very young boy who was
unfamiliar to the dog.


To be fair again, the new boy was in the company of the two boys who own the
dog & the owner was right there. Given the dog has no previous history of
assault there was no reason for anyone to think the dog would attack the new
boy.

Then to have the new young boy
putting on the collar while the dog was already in an
excited state was idiotic.


We don't know that the 6yo was involved in physically putting the collar on
the dog, it just says "they."

ALL dogs have to be handled
responsibly and supervised around small children.


The owner was reportedly on the porch supervising, just not physically
helping.

Like the
incident with the six week old baby who was left laying in a
bed unsupervised with a Pomeranian, and then mauled to death
by the Pomeranian; this was a clear case of owner
negligence.


Sure but it was out of ignorance based on a sense of security. If your dog
has never shown an aggravated nature and has always been safe around people
then why would anyone thing the dog would suddenly decide to maul a child?
Most people wouldn't think about that just like most women wouldn't expect
the loving man they married to molest their child. When there's a good
history with an animal (or person) you don't walk around assuming the worst
might happen at any moment because there's been no provocation for such
thought.


I hope the boy has a speedy recovery, and does not suffer
long term effects. I hope the dog owner is punished for her
negligence.


I hope he does too although there's no telling about the long-term effects.
From the description of the wounds & the multiple reconstructive surgeries
needed in the future this kid will be lucky to look relatively untouched in
the face. As for the dog's owner, unless other information comes to light,
I don't think she should be punished for the initial attack, I'm sure she's
already punishing herself. I do think she should be made responsible for
leaving the child on the porch & unattended with the dog not fully secured
elsewhere causing the child a second attack.

On the one hand I can certainly see that in a state of panic & emergency the
owner ran for the phone to call 911. People don't always think clearly in
such situations. However, she did leave him exposed to the second attack,
even though it was likely unintended. From a parental POV I'd want someone
to pay for what happened to my child but from an uninvolved POV I'm sure
this woman, and her two boys, have learned a horrible lesson and one they're
not likely to forget anytime soon.


--
Tara


 




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