911 Operator Calls Mother 'Stupid' after dog attack

[DarknessDivine]

http://www.nbc5.com/news/4178043/detail.html

Mother Says Operator Made Her Feel Like 'No-Good Mom'
A 911 operator in Cincinnati is facing suspension for her remark to a caller whose dog attacked a child.

The frantic mother, Samantha Osborne, dialed 911 when the family pit bull attacked her toddler.

Authorities released a tape of the 911 call, in which the operator asks Osborne what kind of dog was responsible for the attack.

911 Operator: What kind of dog attacked him, Samantha?

Osborne: "What kind of dog is J.D.?"

Osborne's Husband: "He's a pit bull."

Osborne: "He's a pit."

911 Operator: "Stupid people."

The mother fought back tears Tuesday as she heard the recorded phone call.

Osborne said the comment made her feel "like I'm to blame; I'm worthless; I'm a no-good mom or something."

"I never want somebody else to have to hear those words," she said.

Osborne's family said the dog likes children, and it bit the boy without warning. The boy was released from a hospital after receiving 17 stitches on his eyes and mouth, according to Cincinnati NBC affiliate WLWT. The dog was put down.

Cincinnati's supervisor of 911 operators said the job is an emotional one, particularly when children are involved. The supervisor said that sometimes, those emotions get the best of those involved.

Thanks Smoosh

[elegy]

Originally Posted by DarknessDivine

Osborne's family said the dog likes children, and it bit the boy without warning.

why do i somehow doubt that?

[sunny98]

What a sad story! I feel for the mother of the child and dog. Sounds strange that the dog would just attack but who knows!

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

I do feel bad for the child no matter wether the bite was provoked or not, no child should have to go through that but, in defense of the 911 operator how on earth do they know that the operator wasn't talking about a half million other things that were going on in their center at the time or the fact that she had no clue what type of dog she even had?

Not that it makes what she said acceptable but in a high stress situation you'd be surprised at what may come out of someone's mouth without even a thought. I've often answered 911 lines while sitting in their office doing paperwork and commented to people in the room on another 911 call about that call rather than the one I'm on. **shrugs** Things happen and it seems to me that even if the comment was directed at her, she should have far greater things to be concerned with and should be thankful the phone was even answered. jmo

[StephanieandTeddy]

No toddler should be left alone around any dog of any breed under any circumstances.As the mother found out the hard way, it only takes a second for a dog to react....now her child is injured and her dog is dead. She might not be stupid....but boy, did she make a huge mistake!!

[DarknessDivine]

True and I have said things before during stressful situations..I was sorry afterwards but I dunno I guess in her line of work she needs to learn better control of her emotions.

[LabLuver22]

Originally Posted by elegy

why do i somehow doubt that?

I agree. There's always a warning (or warnings). You just have to recognize them.

For example, I read once a story about a German Shepherd who suddenly bit a teenage boy after the boy tried to remove the dog from the sofa. The owners said the dog had never done that before (the classic line). After some questioning, the owners admitted that the dog often mouthed their arms and hands. "But he was just playing," they said. Then, later, the author learned that the dog would growl when he got his toenails clipped. "But he doesn't like it," the owners said in the dog's defense. Finally, the author learned that the dog would growl when the owners tried to take his rawhide away. "We stopped giving him rawhide, so it hasn't been a problem," they said.

See? There are always signs. Personally, I would like to know a little more information about the attack.

[PitBullie09]

Yeah.. The boy may have took a toy or something. My Chihuahua could do just as much damage, as any other breeds. See. If it would have been a Lab, we wouldnt have ever heard of this.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Originally Posted by DarknessDivine

True and I have said things before during stressful situations..I was sorry afterwards but I dunno I guess in her line of work she needs to learn better control of her emotions.

Oh I couldn't agree more! Nothing like that should have ever gone across a taped line! THAT is the whole reason for the mute button on the headsets! lol But I can understand how the comment could have happened. The attack I don't

[Rip's Girl]

LOL Pitbullie.. Your Chi could not do as much damage as larger breeds. Sure, she could hurt someone, but I wouldn't exactly label her as having much potential to be 'dangerous'.

I think emotions do get the best of people in some situations. Personally I think I might have said the same thing if I thought someone had left their kid unattended with a dog. (Especially a large, powerful dog)

I feel sorry for the poor kid .. Hopefully he won't grow up fearing dogs.

[gaddylovesdogs]

How rude!! I'm ready to tear that operator apart....and the poor dog. I agree. If he were good with kids, why did he attack the child--one that was in his pack?

[DarknessDivine]

I'm assuming that the dog was 1 either provoked somehow, (toy, food taken) Or 2 the dog was agressive and left alone with the child..In either case even if the dog had something taken from it, it's first reaction shouldn't have been to attck the child. Dogs are dogs but good god, they maybe should have worked with the dog more training wise. I can stick my hands in my dogs food bowls as they eat and even stick my hands in their mouths to remove something they shouldn't have. All dogs are capable of this but yet not all dogs do this, something is wrong with that situation IMHO.

[Kelly]

If it would have been a Lab, we wouldnt have ever heard of this.

Or we would have heard of this, but the dog would have been described as a lab/PITBULL mix! I saw a website once where the media changes the story. This person went and personally interviewed people who had been bitten by dogs and made the news. She asked all of them what type of dog is was, something like 40% of the dogs who were claimed to be pitbulls on the news, were claimed other by the people who were bitten. Many were labs and GSD's as admitted by the owners or bitten people. They would say things like "I don't know why the news said he's a pit, he's not".

[Carrie]

My Chihuahua could do just as much damage, as any other breeds

I'm sorry, but I have Chihuahuas and I have a Lab and a Doberman. You can view my pictures of my Doberman's mouth over my Chihuahua's head. Then maybe you can compare side by side the size difference of their mouths, teeth and jaws. Then come back and look me straight in the eyes and tell my a Chihuahua can cause as much damage. LOL. Just teasin' you. And I dare say a Pitbull has much more massive jaws and strength than a Doberman.

Anyhow....Darkness, I agree with you. A dog shouldn't be so easily provoked into biting. What in God's name could that little child have been doing that was sooooo awful? Yes, maybe something, but the dog could have walked away couldn't it? Something is definitely wrong here and I don't think it has anything to do with the dog being mistreated.

This is what I was talking about in another thread regarding different breeds, what jobs they were selectively bred to do and how genetics play a huge role in their temperaments. Some breeds were bred to be aggressive for one reason or another and some were bred to be companions or hunting along side their master.

A dog who was selectively bred to fight is going to have more tendancy to react in that way to solve it's problems. I am not one to be breed discriminatory, not at all. I have a Doberman. But he too may be more apt to bite someone than my Lab. After all, he's suspicious and skeptical of people he doesn't know, to a degree due to his breeding and design. My Lab, on the other hand was not bred to aggress anyone, person or animal. A Lab tends to be very trusting and loving of most everyone. Now, don't say that "I know lots of Labs who have bitten." Of course. And I realize that there are tons of Pitties out there that are lovely, just as there are Dobermans and a great deal depends on their raising. But, I do hear of a lot of attacks and bites by these dogs, even lately.

My GSD and my Lab put up with all kinds of things my small kids and their friends would do. Of course the dogs weren't being hurt or anything, but they'd do something the dog wouldn't like and the dogs would get up and walk away. There was never ever even a lip curl from these dogs...not even once in all the years we had them.

My son fell off the dining room table and landed on my GSD while he was sound asleep. That dog got the wind knocked out of him. I could hear him grunt as the air was expelled. He stood up and calmly walked to the other side of the room and went back to sleep. If a dog doesn't like something and is able to walk away, then that is what he should do. That is what kind of temperament I want in a dog, nothing less.

I'll tell you another story about a Pit bull that I picked up off the road on a rainy night to save him from being hit by a car. I took him home where my male GSD was and watched the two. They seemed to like eachother very well, ate out of the same dish and played a lot. I put an add in the paper. This dog was very nice and sweet, got along great with everyone, including my dog. One afternoon he was asleep on the floor in the dining room where I was sitting. My little girl, about 7 years old came out from her nap and her walking across the kitchen floor startled that dog into wakefulness. My daughter was probably 14 feet away from the dog. She was not being loud, just speaking. The dog sprang up to it's feet and barked and growled viciously at her. I told her to go to her room while I was yelling at the dog, "NO!!!" The dog continued this savage barking and growling. I again shouted, "NO!" Finally it stopped. (This was years ago) And everything seemed to go back to normal again. But I kept that dog in my fenced back yard away from my kids and finally, the owners saw my add and called, picked the dog up and that was that. I found that behavior very weird. It was like he couldn't recover after being startled. Scary.

I know some of you have Pitties and love them and I bet they'll always be great dogs and that many, many are. It's just freaky that I've been reading so many stories of attacks by them lately. Now this family wasn't into fighting dogs illegally were they? It sounds like a family with kids and a pet.

[Global Paw]

For those of you who think a dog would never attack without warning, I would love for you to explain to my mother why she had to endure a year of nursing her son (me) back to health when the neighbor's dog crossed the yard, and latched onto my head ( I was 2 years old at the time).

I can speak from experience...there was no provocation, the dog was always on the doorstep. I'm sorry, but this is one of my greatest pet peeves...yes, most dog attacks are caused by people doing stupid things, but accept the fact that some dogs are just bad, and can, and have, attacked without warning.

Also, lets not kid ourselves about another fact either, Pit Bulls were bred to fight, its in their genes. Are most Pits loving and wonderful dogs? Yes, without doubt...but some dogs are just plain bad, and a Pit Bull gone bad is a dog I don't want to cross.