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6.28.2009

a warning.

Yesterday was full of excitement. My brother came home from Maine for his summer visit, we had a family barbecue, and a pretty bad dog bite. Our family sweetheart, Kit pictured above, wanted so badly to give the family dog a biscuit when he returned home from his walk. Apparently, my sister had just run in the house and my dad didn't know that Kit was outside when he came back into the yard returning from the walk. Kit armed with a biscuit tried to give it to the dog and when he took it in his mouth, then dropped it (as he always does), Kit picked it up again and attempted to feed it to him. The large Husky-Chow mix snapped at her face and got her really badly. She was rushed to the emergency room and came home with multiple stitches above and below her lips.

It truly breaks my heart that this little sweetheart had to go through this. Nobody wants to see a little one in pain or possibly permanently scarred. She couldn't eat last night because of the pain and swelling, but she wanted to, which was even more frustrating. I am riddled with frustration and guilt for having not been there when all of this happened. I can only imagine how my sister and dad feel about the incident.

Please let this be a warning to all of you with dogs and children. This could have been prevented by not letting a small child at eye level feed the dog. Children are often the victims of dog bites and apparently, more often than not, the family dog is the biter. I did a little research when I came home last night and found a website, Dogsbite.org which has statistics and information on dangerous breeds of animals and other interesting dog bite stories and prevention tips.

Be safe.

7 comments:

Terriaw said...

Wow, that sounds scary! I have heard stories like this and it always makes me worry, especially with those big husky breeds. I hope Kit mends painlessly and with no bad memories of this.

Curry Made said...

Gosh, I'm so sorry. I hope Kit feels better soon.

Angie from Dear Spring Green said...

Oh my goodness, bless her heart! I will be praying for her quick healing and no memory of this incident! I can just imagine my little 2 year old doing the same thing. Please keep us updated on how she is doing.

Joanne Huffman said...

How scary! I hope all goes well with Kit.

Joanne

Rebekah said...

oh no! I had a similar incident happen to me when I was 5. I hope that she recovers quickly!

V. said...

Poor baby. :(

Cheryl said...

Poor sweetie. This post made me gasp a couple times. One knowing she got bitten, especially in the face and then seeing it was part chow. I was bitten about 10 years ago by a chow/pit bull mix (lovely right?) on my leg and it was terrifying. Thankfully my brother pulled the dog away or honestly I'm not sure what would have happened. I am so sorry this happened to her.

On another note, I am going to be returning to the US and rather than go back into library work (no jobs) am going to stay at home for another year or two and watch a few other kiddos. We have the sweetest dog in the world (a german shepherd tho) and this is a good warning. I am going to make sure he is not with the children and always separate. You can never be too safe. Scary. Glad she is doing better and hope this doesn't scare her off dogs because they are wonderful animals. xx