Police Want Help In Pitbull Attack

Click here to add your comments on this story!

Updated by: Claudine Ewing, Reporter

Created: 7/10/2007 5:32:14 PM
Updated: 7/18/2007 6:08:06 PM


Lockport Police say any firsthand information from the public will be helpful. They are investigating how a pitbull sodomized a toddler.

Police are getting many phone calls from people, but they want to hear from individuals with first-hand knowledge about the dog. They are looking into calls that the dog may have been trained, but they don't know by whom.

The pitbull that allegedly sodomized a toddler in Lockport has been evaluated. According to officials at the Niagara County SPCA, the dog spent 24 hours with an animal behaviorist. Results of the evaluation will be turned over to police.

Police say DNA has been taken from the pitbull that attacked a toddler by allegedly sodomizing it last weekend. It was a disturbing and violent attack. The two year old child is in Women and Children's Hospital. Neighbors heard a mother screaming that her child was being raped.

Lockport police say taking DNA from the dog is part of the investigation.

Lockport Police received a 911 call from a frantic City of Lockport mother last Sunday afternoon.

The mother told Lockport Police that she left her two year old unattended for a short time and after hearing the baby scream, she ran to see what was wrong.

When she got in the room, she told Lockport Police the dog, named "Bear" had sodomized the toddler. The mother screamed, scaring the dog out of the house, but the dog was still attached to the baby.

One neighbor told 2 On Your Side, she heard the mother screaming "the dog is raping my baby." Neighbors ran to help, but only one man was able to get the dog and child apart.

Anastacio Castillo says "I tried to get the dog away from the baby, the dog was already inside the baby." When the baby was finally free, he was visibly sick. Castillo says the boy was vomiting and bleeding.

The baby was rushed to Women and Children's Hospital where the toddler underwent reconstructive surgery.

The dog is being held at the Niagara County SPCA for evaluation. An animal behavior specialist is scheduled to evaluate the pitbull on Friday.

Since the attack, over 20 people have called the SPCA asking to adopt the pitbull. Hear those calls by clicking Video.

The Niagara County District Attorney's office is assisting Lockport Police with the investigation.

Miranda Workman, behavior specialist at Purrfect Paws in Amherst says, "Most likely this is not a learned behavior. Dogs in tact, not spayed or neutered have a higher hormonal drive."

She urges parents to never, ever leave their children alone with a dog.

Hear more by clicking video to watch Claudine Ewing's report.

You may also check out my comments on the attached link.
link:
http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=49447