Published: July 10, 2007 11:40 am      

LOCKPORT: Pitbull attacks toddler

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 of 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. Sunday when the pill 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, who were reportedly home at the time, and neighbors had to beat the dog to get him off the boy.

The dog has been impounded at the Niagara County SPCA in Wheatfield 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.

Eggert said everyone involved in the case was shocked by the bizarre incident.

“I have never, ever heard of an assault quite like that,” Eggert said.

Niagara County SPCA Executive Director Al Chille said this case is an unusual one.

“I have had reports of adults having (sexual) relationships with animals, but not anything like that,” he said. “The majority of the calls we receive with regards to pit bulls are bite calls, not calls of this nature. 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.

Sunday saw two dog attacks

The attack was one of two that occurred Sunday involving pit bulls.

The owner of a pit bull on Willow Street was charged after her dog reportedly attacked another dog on Sunday.

Bobbie L. Mael, 51, 544 Willow St., was charged Sunday with having a dog at large. Witnesses said Mael’s 7-year-old pit bull, Lana, attacked 7-year-old Bailey, a Labrador mix, in a neighboring yard.

A neighbor told police he saw Lana coming toward his home, growling at him. The pit bull heard Bailey barking nearby and went after it, the report said.

The Labrador’s owner said he had to hit the pit bull with a hockey stick to break the hold it had on his dog’s neck.

Officers arrived on the scene and saw the pit bull standing near the curb with blood visible around its mouth. In the nearby yard, the Labrador was “visually upset,” the report said, with blood drops on its fur.

The pit bull was grabbed and placed in the back of the patrol car. Mael is due today in Lockport City Court.

Chille said pit bulls are notorious for being aggressive, though that may not be true of all pit bulls.

“The majority of calls we get either are aggressive pit bulls or people that perceive the pit bulls are aggressive,” he said. “There’s a natural fear of the breed.”

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 since puppyhood “could be a fine dog,” he said.

He recommends people be wary and avoid leaving small children alone with any breed of dog, not just those notorious for being aggressive, and to make sure dogs are spayed or neutered.

All animals that leave the SPCA for adoption are required to be spayed or neutered.

“If they would neuter them, I think it would take a lot of the fight out of them,” Chille said.

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.