Youngstown Boy is Home from the Hospital

"Cage Malfunction"
UPDATE 05/29/08: The father of Paul Richardson Jr. has pleaded "not guilty" to charges of failure to confine, insure and license vicious dogs. He blames a faulty cage for his pit bull getting out. He told the court the ties were not metal but aluminum, "so they snapped." He said it was the "malfunction of the cage" that lead to his son's attack.

Richardson was able to bring one of the pit bulls back home, which was reportedly named, "Savage."

Paul Richardson Jr. is now recovering at home with his mom and grandmother in Akron. Lots of cuts, stitches and a sling are the result of an attack from his father's pit bull, while he was visiting his dad over the weekend in Youngstown. The boy said the dog made a hole by the fence, and "he came out and started biting me in my lip." Overall, P.J. is doing well -- his family thanks God.

05/29/08: Father Faces Citations
Youngstown, Ohio bans pit bulls. Paul Richardson Sr. -- whose pit bull attacked his 6-year-old son -- was harboring illegal dogs. He was arraigned in court on two counts each of failure to have insurance for two pit bulls and failure to register vicious dogs. Richardson is hardly a responsible dog owner, unlike Greer suggests. Right about now, the liability insurance Richardson ought to have purchased, would come in handy.

05/28/08: The Rescue Story Unfolds
Youngstown, OH - The 6-year-old Youngstown boy who was attacked by his father’s pit bull dog last week has been released from St. Elizabeth Health Center and is staying with relatives. The men credited with leaping a fence to save the boy’s life, William Greer, 53, and James Rozenblad, 53, recently recounted their struggles with the animal.

The two men bolted outside after Lori Thomas, who was babysitting Paul Richardson Jr., started yelling, "He’s going to kill him. He’s going to kill him," referring to the fact that the pit bull had the boy’s head in its mouth. The two men flew over the fence to help. Rozenblad grabbed a baseball bat and Greer grabbed a steel garden rake and they started beating on the dog.

When they managed to flip the dog over, the animal released the boy’s head, which allowed Wanda Greer, William’s wife, to grab the child for a few seconds. But before she could run to safety, the dog clamped down on the boy’s neck. Greer focused his attention on the dog's neck at this point, hoping to cut off its oxygen. Rozenblad continued to beat the dog across the body.

Greer said the 7-year-old pit bull once again momentarily released the boy, but managed to grab the child’s arm before he could be pulled free. So the two men continued their attack on the dog, again trying to cut off its oxygen supply. Greer seems to know a thing or two about pit bull type dogs, he next tells reporters that, "Pit bulls have a high threshold for pain."

Finally, the dog released the boy, allowing Wanda to pass the child into his babysitter’s arms. When the city’s dog warden arrived, he captured the pit bull and seized a second dog. The dogs belong to Paul Richardson Sr., the boy’s father. Greer said that Paul is a good father and a responsible pet owner. The dog has never attacked or bitten anyone before this happened.

The dog chewed through the aluminum ties at the bottom of the cage and crawled under it to attack the boy.

What happened in Youngstown to a 6-year old boy, is one of hundreds, if not thousands of incidents that indisputably shows the quality of human-aggression embedded in a pit bull. People who have these dogs and children have no business being called a "responsible" dog owner. It's common knowledge to pit bull owners that their dogs can chew through metal.

Related article:
05/26/08: Youngstown Boy, 6, Mauled by Family Pit Bull