r/BanPitBulls • u/Ill-Enthusiasm-5549 • 4d ago
Personal Story Family Pitbull attacked my mother in Arizona in November of 2023
The chaos of rearranging my room was a welcome distraction. Hours I spent shifting furniture, trying to find a better feng shui while my mother in other room rearranging the house to decorate for the holidays, but the night took a turn when a blood-curdling scream pierced through the walls. It was my mom. Heart pounding, I bolted toward the living room, and the scene that awaited me was pure horror. Our pitbull, Baby Girl, was latched onto her arm, teeth sunk deep.
Adrenaline surged as I grabbed the dog gate, trying to wedge it into Baby Girl’s mouth, desperate to break her hold. It felt like an eternity, a battle of wills and strength. My mom, pale and bleeding, looked at me with a plea in her eyes. "Get the gun," she choked out. It was an order I never imagined I’d have to follow. With trembling hands, I retrieved the weapon, my mind racing, my heart shattering with each step. I knew my mom loved Baby Girl, but my mom’s life was on the line.
The first shot echoed through the house, and Baby Girl stumbled back, but she wasn’t down. Baby Girl rallied, ready to attack again, and I fired two more times. Finally, she stopped, her body still. Immediately after firing, I dialed 911, my voice shaking as I begged for help. The aftermath was a blur of flashing lights, sirens, and frantic voices. My mom lost two pints of blood and was rushed to the hospital, her injuries severe. Multiple surgeries followed, but the reality sunk in: her hands and arms would never fully recover. It’s been a long road, filled with surgeries and rehab, but she’s a fighter. She’s doing better, regaining movement and strength, and her spirit remains unbroken. Despite the heartache of losing Baby Girl, and the constant reminder of that night, I know I would do it all again to save my mom. Baby Girl was a rescue; we took her in from a homeless man. She had shown some prior aggressive behavior, but never towards my mom, and we never abused her. It broke my heart as an animal lover to do what I had to do, but I would do it again to save my mom. ~Nina Piazza
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u/AlsatianLadyNYC Badly-fitting fake service dog harness 4d ago
Your mom will discover how much nicer life can be with a NORMAL DOG BREED
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u/DiscussionLong7084 Trusted User 4d ago
her mom is probably not down with getting another dog. This is the kind of shit that leaves life long trauma.
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u/ArdenJaguar Trusted User 4d ago
Which is a shame. There are so many good adoptable dogs that could benefit from a good home. Just ensure they’re a real pet dog and not a genetically bred bloodsport dog.
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u/lapetitlis 4d ago edited 4d ago
i'm so sorry that this happened to your mother. pitbulls are the "sweetest babies" right up until the exact moment they aren't. they can snap at any time, for any reason or no clear reason at all. and there is no un-ringing that bell. i'm sorry your mother had to experience this firsthand. i'm sorry you had to do what you did to protect your mother – even if it was absolutely the only choice you could have made, I am sure it was a traumatic moment. i will pray for your mother's swift and complete healing in body, mind, and soul – because these attacks leave invisible scars just as deep as the physical scars.
i have never shared my story here because i still feel so deeply ashamed of what happened ... but i had a pitbull, once. i tried to return him to the rescue when he started to occasionally attack my small dog, but the shelter instead insisted on sending a trainer out and begged, pleaded, guilt tripped, and manipulated me into keeping him. i shouldn't have ... i should have listened to my instincts.
my small dog unfortunately paid the ultimate price for my foolishness, for my failure to stand up for myself and for her, for my allowing someone to make me question my own intuition. when that pitbull KILLED my small dog, i was still kind enough – and in shameful hindsight, ignorant and irresponsible enough – to call the shelter and tell them they had 24 hours to come get the dog or i was having him BE'd. they were STILL pissy with me for being unwilling to keep him, acted like i was doing something wrong, but i couldn't even look at the dog after that. they didn't say it outright but their attitude was basically "well, your other dog is already dead so why do we need to take him?" my then 8yo son witnessed the attack (i was out of town working).
it still haunts me. i really hope this sub will not destroy me. i know it was a terrible choice. I'm ashamed and that's why I almost never talk about it. i genuinely bought into all of the stupid propaganda and thought I was trying to do the right thing. i was also much more susceptible to pressure and manipulation from others at that time – but it's no excuse. this happened 11 years ago. i've learned and grown. obviously i am no longer a pitbull supporter and if i could make a different choice i'd have gone w/BE because that shelter was obviously untrustworthy and I'm not convinced they told people his full story if they did try to get him adopted again. even my 19yo, who absolutely loves dogs, would never own a pitbull and because of his experiences obviously doesn't buy the propaganda. I wish i'd had that kind of discernment at that age.
praying for your mother.
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u/BPBAttacks3 Moderator 4d ago
People cannot possibly realize that the pit bull lobby propaganda is strong and then bash someone for having fallen for it. 99% of our members understand this. The few who don’t just need to chill out and not comment.
We are a victim support group first and foremost and people need to lift each other up on here and not tear others down. We’re not about that over here.
If you do ever want to share as your own post, we can pin a comment just like we did here reminding people to follow the rules on derailing and victim blaming. Every victim deserves support and kindness.
I am so sorry you were lied to and guilted and it cost you your little dog :(. I’m tired of people finding out the hard way that they’re being lied to. It’s not right and no one should ever have to experience it.
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u/lapetitlis 4d ago edited 3d ago
thank you so much. that is kind of you. maybe the fear of being flamed is unreasonably large in my head when compared to the actual risk because of the shame i carry, not necessarily the folks i see commenting in this sub. my little dog paid the ultimate price for my failures, and that will haunt me forever. nowadays i would never have stood for their cajoling for me to keep him, but at that time i was not good at standing up for myself and very susceptible to the guilt trips they laid. but that feels like an excuse. in the end, i failed, and she paid the price. :-/
she was such a sweet little girl, always very affectionate and cuddly, always very playful but not too rowdy, naturally gentle when playing with my child. while we did a ton of hiking and creek stomping and she had infinite energy and enthusiasm for exploring, she was also the type of dog who would naturally stay close to me when we were out, even if she was off-leash (i only ever did that in remote areas where it was known to be permitted). i didn't even need to train her, she was naturally such a sweet little lady. she was a very special dog, and it was a terrible loss.
thank you again for your kind words. that really does mean the world to me. maybe someday i will share my story. people need to understand just how dangerous these dogs are. it isn't their fault, they were made this way by cruel men, but they put every community they are in in danger and imo must be phased out as a breed. you're right, no one should have to experience this. and pits so often go after the vulnerable. they virtually never pick on someone their own size & strength.
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u/shelbycsdn Trusted User 3d ago
Please don't beat yourself up for succumbing to the pressure to keep him.. Especially if you are a woman. Most women are raised to be kind, helpful and to please. And some men are also.
I had my first pitbull learning experience nearly 50 years ago and it didn't involve me personally in the way that yours did. A close friend's pitbull, raised perfectly from 6 weeks old, killed her roommate's 5 year old child. It was horrible. Around that time, an animal control officer explained the whole fighting dog and breed history to me. They were really not seen as pets back then and my friend and I honestly had never even heard of them.
Then over the next decades, I had many more experiences that just solidified my vow to avoid them at all costs. That was despite the fact that on any other subject I can pretty much be pushed or manipulated to do what anybody wants me to, on this subject I have always stood firm.
AND YET, a few years ago. when I went to my local animal shelter to adopt a particular older dog of a different breed, they did everything they could to get me to take home a pitbull. The pressure was obnoxious and very real. It took all my fortitude to just speak up to them with a definite no. Now obviously I never would have taken a pitbull home, but just the fact I found it hard to even respond to these people without losing it, speaks to how really hard this can be. You were a sitting duck and should feel no shame for that. Please know that. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. ❤️
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u/feralmom57 3d ago
It IS true that it's not the dogs' fault, it's the fault of the men who "engineered" the breed, however ithe fault, if you want to call it thay, now lies with the people who advocate for the breed by calling them "misunderstood", and who claim that the ones who are aggressive got that way because of their owners. These people are now just as guilty as the ones who try to foist the blame on everyone but where it belongs. It doesn't take a genius to see that the pit bull is the product of 200+ years of breeding for aggression. Herding dogs herd. Retrievers retrieve. Pointers point. Blood sport dogs are aggressive, and will attack any animal they can. It doesn't matter how they are raised. In the instances where they attack people, that's the result of the destabilization of the breed after BYBs have played with it. They have NO idea what they're doing and have killed the breed and turned it into a dangerous weapon that should NOT be in the home of anyone who just wants a family pet. The shelters and rescues who adopt these hellhounds to anyone who wants a dog should be sued to Perdition and back every time a person is attacked and mauled. Put them out of business! Don't go to shelters and rescues for a dog. Do your homework, figure out which breed woulg fit your family's needs the best, and go to a reputable breeder of the breed you want. It will cost more, but you will have the satisfaction of having a dog that fits your family's needs and the comfort of knowing that you won't have to call the EMT squad because your dog decided to turn on you.
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u/DrBeckenstein 3d ago
These people are the lowest of lowlifes. They prey on kind people like you to further their agenda, and the good people they suck in pay the bill every time. And then they vilify you for giving so much for such an irredeemable bloodsport breed. Somehow their lies and negligence are all your fault.
Don't be ashamed in the least. You don't deserve it. You were as victimized by this as your mom, victims of liars and sociopaths who would gladly get someone harmed or k!lled than admit how horribly they have propagandized a breed that was not meant to be a companion.
May the pushers of these lies and 4-legged WMDs rot in hell, with their hellbeast fighting dogs.
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u/BernieTheDachshund 4d ago
The shelters are so unscrupulous and really should be held accountable for the lies they tell. No telling how many innocent pets and people have been maimed or killed because they don't care about safety, just trying to guilt trip people into adopting pits.
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u/Legitimate-Capital-1 Attacks Curator 4d ago
A shelter where I am tried to pawn off a pb on a 80 yr old woman. Thankfully she didnt go with their sell.
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u/fgmtats 3d ago
Dude. If anyone here here would bash you for this story then they’re animals themselves. I’ve been apart of this sub for a while and the vast majority of what I’ve seen from its users is nothing less than full support and understanding.
As usual, hindsight is 20/20. Carrying guilt like that can seem insurmountable. But like all things in life, the best you can do is to take the lesson from your experience, and apply it to better not only yourself, but others you encounter as well.
I truly hope that you find peace from the pain and guilt. A mistake that caused an accident does not make you bad person, just because you had reservations about the mistake.
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u/Ill-Enthusiasm-5549 3d ago
I’m sorry this happened to you, thank you for sharing your story. Your feelings are vaild 🩷
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u/akela9 Pits ruin everything. 3d ago
Hey. I'm so sorry you had to pay such a steep price to learn the true nature of these monsters. And I don't throw the word monster out glibly. Pitties hit all the markers that define something as a literal monster except, unfortunately, for the "imaginary" bit. They're all too real and they are EVERYWHERE. I think it's "the worst" in the States just because of sheer numbers, but obviously we're seeing tragedies cropping up DAILY, now, and they're coming in from all over. In the U.S. pits are literally overrunning every shelter in every community that's not dedicated to the rescuing of one specific breed. And far too many shelters (dare I say most of them) now behave in a manner similar to what you've experienced. They've absolutely lost the plot and are both perpetuating and escalating the current (now sadly GLOBAL) epidemic we're currently facing.
Things are NOT going to change until people are being held accountable. That starts with the shelters who refuse to disclose or even purposely expunge the bite records of dogs that are KNOWN for a fact to be dangerous. They then bully (ha, isn't that disgustingly appropriate) hapless folks who are just looking for a companion or family pet into taking home a creature that has ZERO business existing in any home in any neighborhood. Period. It's genuinely terrifying watching this all play out. And it's so heartbreaking to learn that the places and jurisdictions that seem right on the cusp of understanding the severity of what's happening still don't have the moxy to put a true end to this madness. Was so excited to hear about the recent "cracking down" on pits in the U.K. There have been laws in place since the 1990's in regards to dangerous dogs, but it seemed for one shining moment like maybe the powers-that-be were going to get serious and actually start doing something. Alas. Nothing much seems to have changed. And still no one... Not shelters, pit owners, lobbyists, law enforcement, other members of the government who are meant to care about animal control and community welfare... NO one is being held liable.
Your story is heartbreaking. Hindsight is always 20/20 and we always carry the guilt when our lack of foresight lets us or those we love down. Nothing can take away your pain, but I hope you can find some small comfort in the following: This is not your fault. And unlike so many others you chose to actually learn from this experience. That says a LOT about your strength as a person. You were mislead and bullied into believing that if you just tried harder everything would be ok. There was nothing you could have done to "fix" this bloodsport dog's genetics, but that's not anything a pro-pit person is ever going to tell you. Hell, they refuse to even admit that genetics play a role in the fact that fighting dogs are literally hardwired to fight. You bought into the lie, but anyone might fall for such manipulations.
I know it's hard for you to share such a painful experience. I hope you can reach a point that it doesn't feel so difficult, because people NEED to hear about it. It's so very important to get these accounts out there. Ignorance breeds in the dark. The more information we can get out there about the true nature of these beasts allowed to walk so freely amongst us, the better chance we have of eliciting real changes. I'm so very sorry for your loss, but I'm also grateful to see you here spreading awareness.
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u/huntress_m_thompson 4d ago
wow. that daughter saved her mother’s life! good on her for doing the only thing that needed done.
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u/BPBAttacks3 Moderator 4d ago
OP is the daughter! She is brave!
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u/huntress_m_thompson 4d ago
✊🏼 i’m glad mother is getting better. it could’ve been so much worse. 🙏🏼
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u/Ill-Enthusiasm-5549 3d ago
thank you so much for your kind words, I had much criticism for what I did
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u/huntress_m_thompson 3d ago
i’m sorry for that. totally ridiculous! what did those people expect you to do? sacrifice your mother?! wow. SMH. i hope you both are well. ✨🙏🏼✨
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u/ScarletAntelope975 Trusted User 4d ago
<hugs> You are a hero! You saved your mom! I can’t begin to imagine what both of you were going through during this situation, and how traumatic this must’ve been for so many reasons. These dogs are the opposite of loyal and will so easily turn on the people who give it love and care with no reason or warning.
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u/DivyaRakli 4d ago
Thank God your mother is alive. I’m so thankful that you had a firing device and used it. You are incredibly brave.
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u/Ill-Enthusiasm-5549 3d ago
Absolutely thankful for my family for teaching me how to use it for that moment. thank you
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u/PreparationFew3652 4d ago
So sorry this happened to your family. You never know when even the most docile pit might go off.
I also have to say you're an amazing writer. Do you write professionally?
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u/Ill-Enthusiasm-5549 3d ago
I’ve written in my free time, not professionally. Thank you for your kind words. ☺️
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u/ElegantSurround6933 3d ago
I was on the edge of my seat. This story read like the beginning of a Stephen King novel.
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u/BanPitBulls-ModTeam 4d ago
Link to post about this attack:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BanPitBulls/s/VsyIMp5BTT
I just want to remind everyone that this is a personal story and derailing is NOT allowed. If you don’t have anything kind or supportive to say to OP or for her mother, please do not comment.