4-Year-Old Attacked By Pit Bull At South Carolina Christmas Party

December 20, 2011 9:37 AM

File photo of a pit bull. (credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (CBS Charlotte/AP) — A 4-year-old Tennessee boy is recovering after being attacked by a pit bull dog at a family Christmas party in South Carolina.

Christopher Ranly was attacked at a party near Walterboro on Saturday and is recovering at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Chris lives with his mother, Brandy and his 2-year-old sister in Greeneville, Tenn. His father, Chris Ranly works in South Carolina and sometimes sees his family only every few months.

The family was at an uncle’s home near Walterboro when the child picked up an apple and walked outside to eat it. That is when the pit bull attacked the child.

“All of a sudden people were running in, screaming that one of the babies had been mauled,” Brandy Ranly told the Hilton Head Island Packet. “That’s when I heard someone say ‘Christopher.’”

Brandy’s brother-in-law was able to save Christopher by prying the dog’s jaws open, according to the paper.

Christopher needed about 30 staples in his scalp and a drain for the wound.

Colleton County animal control officials say the dog’s owner did nothing wrong.

4 Year Old Attacked By Pit Bull At South Carolina Christmas Party

Anna Nymous

…other than own a pit bull. Sorry, it’s true.

WRTolkas

I’m in full agreement.

mscott

with what?

David Madewell

The reason they are called “PittBulls” is that they were bred to kill Bulls in a pit. I have a friend whose sweet 11 yr. old pit decided to clamp down on his 18 month old daughters face. Didn’t bark or even growl, wouldn’t let go. His wife wasn’t strong enough to open it’s jaws. The daughter survived. Barely, She is basically a vegetable. That was twenty years ago. My friends weren’t aware they owned a breed of dog that killed instinctively until that day.

DUH

David madewell, stop posting nonsense on the internet. We all know your story is complete BS.
David Madewell

dUH, you are right. Pit bulls have never bit ten anyone.
JesseB

First off, “PittBulls” is not a bread of dog. And “They” were not bred to kill bulls in a pit. The #1 problem here is any dog with features similar to what people like to call a “Pittbull” is automatically lumped into one category, IE Staffordshire Bull Terrier (england), American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, English Bull Terrier.

Now if a dog resembles any of the above but is not, in fact, of that bloodline, do you think a news reporter is up to the task of making that distinction?

No chance, go with the headline that grabs peoples emotions.

Just like all semi-auto rifles are “Assault Weapons” to some people.

Its a game of semantics designed to inflame the situation based on preconceived notions.

Second, if you are going to end with a bombshell statement like “…a breed of dog that killed instinctively” you are going to have to back it up with research and not anecdotal information.

John F Benko

Agreed. Anyone that buys one of those demonic dogs should be horsewhipped

coachditka

idk about these viscous pitbulls but it’s mainly the owners fault…over breeding…my mom has limited abilities due to being hooked up to a dialysis machine most of the day she has a few pitbulls…actually rescues them and fosters them….they also live with a few jack russel terriers..you know those yippy super hyper dogs…when i go home on leave those pitbulls are babies…i get bit by the smaller dogs before they even think about it… i also owned a 90lb blue pitbull and once again it came from a good family…never growled was always happy had to get rid of it because of county laws….but i’m just one person… the media get’s a hard on for pitbull stories and most of you people feed on it like a girl waiting for the money shot…my mom was attacked by a golden retriever when she was young but that’s america’s golden dog they won’t ever put that in the news.

Aaron

I used to have a rottweiler, raised him from an 8 week old puppy. He was always inside, part of the family. He bit me on my face because he didnt like how close I was to him when he was sleeping, bit my wifes foot when she kicked his play toy that had food in it. When we had our first kid we had the dog put down. I have never regretted that decision and my children have never been bitten by a dog.

Mark Christian

“The uncle did nothing wrong?” Owning a Pit Bull should be fu cking illegal, and owners whose dog attacks a child should be charged with reckless endangerment/assault, or even attempted MURDER.

plang

Ignorance!! Why did we not here about these attacks all through the last century…since these dogs have been a staple in the American houshold for over 100 years? Because low life thugs used their undying loyalty and natural determination to breed viciousness into them!! A dog like a child is an extension of the parent or owner! I have 3 pit bulls, the oldest is 14, and have never had an issue…and they’ve been raised around 3 children from infancy! If you prosecute owners with the same venom you use on the innocent animal, then maybe it will stop!!

Katie

Amen. Thank you for having a heart, and a brain as well.
Arnie

plang.According to this story the nephew of the dog owner took a walk outside the house. If the uncle did “breed” viciousness into the dog then surely the uncle would have leashed the dog to prevent such attacks. But the uncle did not breed any visciousness, the dog saw a stranger and attacked. Believe you me if I walked into your house unannounced one or all of your pit bulls would attack me. The fact that you have 3 children means nothing. Your kids are known to your dogs. Poor example plang.
reuben

You were lucky. Not every one attacks a kid, but the breed is prone to it, you make good points that it is in part the owners, but it is also the breeders that have selected dogs for breeding that do not have the pack mentality that is common in other breeds. They were bred by N iggers, for N iggers, to protect drugs, and they have the same values as N iggers. They kill their own, look at the violence in the ebonite culture, either in the ghetto, or, in the great mother land, africa.
pittfan

Any dog would have attacked a stranger to protect it’s family. Not just a pit bull. I routinely have to put my mini schnauzer outside when strangers come over they don’t get barked at and possibly bitten. Oh and I dont ever worry about my pit doing it. Most of the time she doesn’t even bark.
Kilroy

Just because we didn’t hear about the attacks doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. Why would you own a pit bull if you have young children? Is it because you want to be BAD ASS? You dare to be different. You want to take that chance? Good for you. Not me, pal. My gentle black lab is the perfect family dog. I’ll happily be ignorant and enjoy the piece of mind of my children’s safety.
Timothy Frohlick

Dear Plang,

I once owned a pitbull in DC that hated blacks and nipped at them. Dogs can be racists too. The dog was great with white kids though.
Brad

Or maybe you can pick another dog breed and we can protect children from the percentage that do attack.
It would be fun to own a bear of a tiger too.
Mark Christian

Plain obvious truth, moron.
YouMightBeaRedneck

Good for you, a lot of trailer parks wont let you have 3 pit bulls.
educated

plang… the simple fact in all of these pitbull stories is that NO ONE saw it coming. Everyone claims they had the gentlest pitbull ever, until that one day when it bit a child in the face. No pitbull owner sees it coming although they should because the evidence clearly is there to support the notion that pitbulls are unreliable and dangerous animals.
BadPenny

You didn’t hear about them because media wasn’t so accessible, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening! When you are not in the forest to hear a tree fall, does that mean the trees never fall? Just because you haven’t heard of stories prior to the dawn of the internet, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

I will agree that pitbull owners should be held 100% accountable for their pitbull dog’s actions.

Dai Alanye

Why is that dog still alive?
glenp

the “OUR GANG” dog “PETEY” was a pit bull they have been around forever
John F Benko

agreed
coachditka

mark did you take your midol today? have you ever owned or been around pitbulls? or do you believe everything you read in the news? there are a lot of factors to a dog attacking anything what you don’t get with the news is all of the facts… maybe the four year old smacked the dog with a bat… let me look up those dogs more statistically prone to attacking since you seem to get off on labeling a dog breed and the owners.

BadPenny

Statistically, 60% of dog caused fatalities are from pitbulls. The 40% are between several other breeds. Considering pitbulls are not even close to the most popular dogs, the probability of a pitbull mauling someone is far greater than any breed. Sure all dogs bit, most do not MAUL to DEATH!

Concerned for kids everywhere

Another pit bull gone wild. Funny how we never hear about doberman’s attacking little kids. Maybe the pit bull breed needs a special classification like we have for wolves and bears.

plang

Doberman attacks don’t sell news papers!!

BadPenny

Sure it does, and it DOES happens, just not nearly as often as a pitbull.

pittfan

look into it a little. just because the news doesn’t report it doesn’t mean they don’t happen. also most of these dogs aren’t actually pitbulls. that picture above just says that it is a FILE photo of a pitt

Brad

This is true for the most part. Every dog attack is a “pit bull”. Every shooting is with an “AK47″ or “Assault Weapon”. The media uses certain things interchangeably. It sells. It gets ratings.

brendan

There are over 32,000 hits if you type doberman mauls in google…over 25,000 for golden retriever….German Shepherd 23,000….Now keep in mind that if the word pit bull was added, the article would be repeated a number of times to raise the number of hits.

Nom-inous

“works in South Carolina and sometimes sees his family only every few months.”

what? why? Is this a news report or a gossip column?

eveready

that’s all u got out of this article???he had to go where he could make a paycheck to provide for his family…”sees his family every few months” probably because
there are kids in school. he’s taking care of himself and his own…and doesn’t
need to have one of his kid’s head bitten off by a vicious dog that’s around for
really no other reason than to help some character feel macho

Nom-inous

Well, that is my point. It seems like the author wanted to mention this guy by name with a little jab on the side.

“that’s all u got out of this article?” Nope! I also have your charming company to go along with it.

sensationalism

I would bet the dog wasn’t even a pit bull. Articles like this routinely mislabel the dog’s breed because more clicks are coming from “pit bull attacks kid” than “poodle attacks kid”

Pit bulls consistently score very well in human interaction tests and are of no greater likelihood to attack anybody unprovoked than any other breed. There can be “bad” pit bulls just as easily as there can be “bad” labs, retrievers, and terriers.

G scope

the NON dog ppl all chime in and they know -0- about dogs its so as u say in name “sensationalised!”
Responsible Dog Owner

The difference between a Poodle attack and a Pit Bull attack… if a Poodle bites you, you say “bad dog” and get a Band-Aid, when a Pit Bull bites you, you call 911 and head to the hospital.
BadPenny

Really? Perhaps you should check out this website and see for yourself that most MAULING are from Pits or Rotties. You can click on the years and see the details and my guess is, they know what they are talking about when it comes to dog breeds.

http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-fatalities.php

Greg

your link is to a site supporting breed specific law and attorneys… probably completely objective, right?

try this one, where scientific research states that dachsunds and chihuahuas are most likely to snap and attack.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2254479/Sausage-dogs-are-the-most-aggressive-dogs.html
BadPenny

Hey Greg, would you rather get snapped at by a chihuahua or MAULED TO DEATH by a pit or rottie?

Like I’ve said, ALL dogs bit, most do NOT MAUL TO DEATH!
Greg

statistically, you hae a better chance of being bitten by a smaller dog. that being said, lets focus this on the article, regarding children.

are you sayiny a small child could not be mauled to death by a small dog? from personal experience, those small dogs are much harder to take of the fight. we have a retreiver mix and a dachsund chihuahua mix that occasionally squabble. when i break up the fight, 9 times out of 10 that dachsund chihuahua mix is still hanging on the retreiver. in fact, that small dog has been much more aggressive than any of our 4 dogs, including a pit. the pit has never been aggressive to any of our other dogs, or us. she is the most submissive of thr bunch.

so yeah, id take my chances around a (key term here) PROPERLY socialized, well adjusted pit than a dachsund or chihuahua any day of the week.

while i wont talk down on, or ridicule you for your viewpoint, as it is your right to have it, i strongly encourage you to develop some firsthand experience with the breed, rather than relying on sensationalist news stories, half truths, and hearsay.
Greg

additionally, a vet in canada published a study in a journal which stated that only 3.6% of all dog bit related fatalities are the result of a pit bull.
BadPenny

No Greg, I am STATING FACTS! And you? Hardly! Lets take a look at ALL the MAULING DEATHS for this link http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-fatalities.php Please show how many mauling by a little dog then you might have a story but you don’t. All dogs bit, or are capable of bitting, yes but most dogs (especially little dogs) do NOT MAUL TO DEATH.

Lets look at the FATALITIES in 2011 alone:
29 Death by Dog Mauling
18 DEATHS BY PIT BULLS 10 of which were FAMILY OWNED. (I bet they thought they were raising their pit bulls right with lots of love)
62% of MAULING by Pitbulls! You can’t escape that FACT no matter how many times a dachshund bits someone….how many times has a dachshund MAULED someone to death?
the rest of the MAULINGS were:
4 Rotties – 3 of which were family dogs
1 Dobbie family dog
1 Akita family dog
1 bulldog family dog
and 4 others or unknown.

So, is it really worth it? I don’t support killing off a breed or anything and yes there are good pits out there however, people who CHOOSE to own them should be held 100% accountable if their dog kills someone. They KNOWINGLY chose to own a vicious dog. That’s all I am saying.

That and don’t pretend to think they are not vicious by nature! They are not even close to being considered a popular owned breed and yet they account for 60% of fatalities.
BadPenny

Hey Greg, there is an old saying you should familiarize yourself with it’s:

“If a dog is having a bad dog, it might bit you. If a Pitbull or Rottie is having a bad day, they will MAUL YOU TO DEATH”

BTW- you expect me to believe a Canadian vet when the website I posted actually HAS FACTS and you can google each story and look them up. I suspect anyone who read your comment about what the vet said is laughing at you being so gullible. If I tell you I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’ll sell you, would you buy it?
Greg

again, please post credible, objective sources. the owner of that site has a vendetta against the breed, since she was attacked by a pit years ago.

she even states on her site that she wants a total ban of the breed.

credible souces include: research journals, studies, scholarky articles, dog professionals (trainerd, breeders, etc). They do NOT include private web sites, sensationalist news articles, or other non-objective articles.

the official CDC study states that less than 30% of fatal dog bites in the US are caused by pits. It also states that 16 people are killed by dogs yearlu, on average. So only abouy 4 are pit related.

hetr’s something to think about: all owners of pits thag attack claim it was unprovoked, out of the blue. Our current laws provide MUCH stiffer penalties to dog owners who know a dog is becoming agitated to thr point of an attack, yet do nothing to stop it. now tell me, penny, do these owners have any motivation to lie and say they didnt know anything was happening?
BadPenny

Hey Greg, Why don’t you follow your own words and post credible sources? You saying what the CDC says is a joke. Who are you? Show me a credible source that sites facts and sources like the site I posted does or are you not capable of following the “” with each case mentioned? You can’t because you know the greatest percentage of dog MAULING comes from Pit Bulls! Followed by Rotties.
BadPenny

Hey Greg, here is a website that has the CDC study you were referring to and guess what it says Pits and Rotties accounted for 67% of all MAULING FATALITIES.

There is another study of all attacks in US and Canada, the Clifton study, and again, Rotties, Pits and Presa Canarios and their mixes accounted for…82% of the MAULING FATALITIES.

http://dogbitelaw.com/dog-bite-statistics/the-breeds-most-likely-to-kill.html

You can stay in the dark if you want but facts are facts! You have facts to the contrary please post but I’m guessing you don’t!
greg

ask and ye shall receive

nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/2009%20final%20report%20dbrf.pdf
greg

http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dogbites/the-problems-with-dog-bite-studies/
greg

http://blogd.denverpost.com/fetch/2011/09/11/pit-bulls-pets-or-pests-shelter-workers-offer-their-view/4188/
greg

that previous link shpuld be blogs, not blog. browser wont let me copy and paste, have to type links in, not easy on an iphone

http://ncbi/nlm/nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc2387261/?tool=pmcentrez
greg

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/pit_bull_placebo_download.pdf
BadPenny

LOL Greg, I provide facts on stats on dog bit maulings and you provide a shelters workers view….how is an OPINION facts? ROFLMAO! Oh and nice try on the article about how they are treated. So you are saying that ONLY pit bull owners mistreat their dogs? Sorry but there are dog owners of many MANY breeds who mistreat their dogs and yet, they don’t turn around and MAUL YOU TO DEATH.

http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/16/6/408.long
Spain enacted strict regulations on dangerous dogs (Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Rottweiler, Argentine Dogo, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa Inu, Dobermans and Akita Inu) and since then, hospitalization due to dog attacks has been reduced 40%
greg

lastly, the cdc report you reference says that other breeds likely resukt in higher fatalities, immediately after giving the pit/rott numbers. its in the conclusion.

you wanted to know who i am? just a guy that believes in fair, impartial, unbiased reporting, who also believes that in order to form an opinion, one must thoroughly research all availabke viewpoints, instead of juat pickibg a viewpoint and folllowing it with a blind eye towards everythibh else.

by your reasoninh, we shoukdnt trust anyone, as people of every race have been known to kill. have fun living in your bunker, afraid of everything, unable or unwilling to form your own opinions, just blindly relying on the first viewpoint you come across. i sure hope you are more discerning when it comes to politics, but sadly, most people arent. with thag, im done with this debate. opening the eyes of a zealot is impossible.
BadPenny

Here’s a publishing by surgeons who studied dog attacks for 15 years and found attacks by Pit Bulls not only had a higher mortality (that means death in case you didn’t know), they also caused more damage to the victim and higher medical bills. http://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/2011/04000/Mortality,_Mauling,_and_Maiming_by_Vicious_Dogs.23.aspx
BadPenny

Obviously Greg, you are a liberal who basis his decisions on “feelings” rather than facts and reality. I bet you find an excuse as to why people commit crimes too don’t you? When you hear a guy raped a woman I bet your first thought is, “Poor guy, I bet his father was an alcoholic”
greg

liberal? more like libertarian. live and let live. if you notice in thr 2009 report, every fatality covered had 2 things i common: dogs were abused/neglected, and unaupervised children.

personal responsibility: dont train your dog or treat him right, and let your kid alone with it unsupervised, you get whats comin. hows that for liberal?

let me know when you finish the 230 page book concerning political/media bias against certain breeds. its chock full of every rederence you could ever want.

regarding the shelter workers, you trust a news journalist more than someone who works with dogs every day of their lives? those shelter workers are subject matter experts, who’s statements are more factual than anyone who has less experience with dogs.

keep clinging to your blind faith, jesus will be here in about a year.

eveready

a pit bull is a dog that has been bred to b vicious..

http://foundmyhead.wordpress.com Steve H

More realistically, any dog that is vicious is labeled as a Pit Bull by the press, regardless of its breed.

eveready

im sure the article showed a picture of the dog…and it did not look like
a vicious poodle
Brad

another person more concerned with dogs then children.
BadPenny

Nice try but I think the uncle knows what kind of dog breed he owns.

pittfan

read the caption. it says its FILE photo of a pitbull, not the actual dog in this story. File photo means this news agency had a picture of a pitbull

Clay R. Bradley

I don’t think it’s fair to use a file photo of the first pit bull you could find for the story. As far as pit bulls go, the one in the photo looks like a sweet dog. I would never own one, but I know some very nice pit bulls out there. They will never be confused with Golden Retrievers. Just because you don’t have a picture of the offending animal, don’t just throw up a pic of some dog that might look like the attacker.
gd

Blame the owners, not the dog. Stupid people should not own any animals. Morons don’t know how to train them.
Pits are mean

Eliminate ALL Pit Bulls..They are an untrustworthy Breed.

plang

That’s an intelligent response…idiot!

G scope

wow its like talking to racists with level of ignorance ppl displaying = NOT 1 credible comment with a fact about bredd i am sure Rots have many more attacks and r more dangerous i have 2 pits and have -0- issues and have had -0- issues and the ONLY neg issue i have ever had with a dog was a cute “lab”
BradCS

Plang would rather be ignorant towards the health and safety of human beings. That’s an intelligent philosophie …idiot!

Katie

Then lets go ahead and eliminate all humans. Completely untrustworthy breed as well. Goooood one.
Bryan Bendixen

and your opinion is based on how many experiences?

Bill Onesty

I think if a dog attacks like this, it should be put down.
sensationalism

Absolutely and completely wrong
Pat

Yeah, lets just keep killing all our problems that we as humans have created. it seems to be working so far… This is stupid, i have 3 rescue dogs, all with Pit in them, and have had very little issues other than dealing with the mistreatment that they incured from people. So i say people made them this way and now some people are nice enough to deal with the problems and actually have some reverence for life.
Greg B

More Americans are killed in an average year by pit bulls than are killed worldwide by terrorists. Just sayin.

pittfan

get your facts from where? i highly doubt it. plus its OUR media that labels pitbulls and terrorists so who is to say that this was a pitbull. i would like to a see a picture of this specific dog.

glenp

my pit bull terrier has killed less people than TED KENNEDY
buffy helmet

Funny, but you never hear about Terriers attacking and killing people.

Ft Lauderdale Dad

LMAO @ you…………………pits ARE TERRIERS!!!

LMFAO……………brainless……..too funny

roachlight

Goggle “doberman attacks child.” When you get through reading, c’mon back.

astralweeks

goggle?

buffy helmet

Pit Bulls are pure evil. It’s in their brains. The breed should be destroyed.
jorge

Obviously that kid did something to that poor dog to make him defend himself.
the kid should be severely punished for such a blatant disregard for fluffy the dog.
or was the nice dog named ….killer, Lucifer,Iblīs, Prince of Darkness
Satanic Majesty or do they call it good dog???
and by the way no Xmas presents for that kid teach him a lesson
taddeo

These dogs are bullys, you don’t hear about them attacking adults nearly as often as little children!
Adam

Pitt Bulls are also known as the nanny dog. How many attacks on children (by man and animal) have these dogs prevented? I know for one that my dog (Yes a bull terrier) would not a strange around any of my childeren, even if I am in the room with them.
Osamas Pajamas

Outlaw pitbulls, rottweilers, oh — and Democrats.

Rottie Owner

I have two rottweilers that would just love to meet you!

Gun Owner

Yes they could meet my Two friends, Smith and Wesson.
BadPenny

LOL to Osamas and Gun Owner!
I totally agree with Gun Owner, if a Rottie or Pit were heading at me, they’d be meeting Hornady, (personal protect rounds) I wouldn’t sit around and wait for them to bit me first!

Ft Lauderdale Dad

lovely how they use some stock photo of a pit bull type dog jumping in a cage. the dog that bit the boy…is it a registered pit bull? is it a mixed breed? if mixed….what are the other breeds this dog contains?

for the intellectually challenged like Buffy Helmet….michael vicks’s pits were the worst of the worst…abused, enhanced to attack…but all but 1 of those pits (1 was too damaged & had to be killed) have been successfully placed in homes with ZERO attacks on anyone. 1 is even a THERAPY DOG. Please answer this…if the WORST of the breed can be rehabbed…even to the point of being a therapy dog…then how can you say the breed is defective & should be banned?

AND….for you pit bull geniuses who think you know about the breed when you have never been around one….i say it will take you at LEAST 5 guesses before you can even find the pit bull here: http://www.bulladelphia.org/understandabull_findthepitbull.aspx

Greg Pops Climer

Great Article. I have an 11 year old pit that just loves children and other dogs. I have to near drag her from the grandkids, and she loves to play with other dogs.

bytez

pitfan and plang…. do your homework before you speak next time!!! Not all dogs are predatory and aggressive like a pit. Pitbulls are taught to fight other dogs in the ring, not taught to rip people apart. In this case, it was not the owner, but the dog. They are vicous!! I recommend taking a sponge and soaking it with gravy and feeding it to them. That is one way to stop them from attacking!! Watch out if you have one in my neighborhood!!
Your Mom

Let’s remember one thing. The media exists to make a profit not inform the public. They love stories like this that create debate and READERS. Readers = advertising dollars.

I have been bit by 2 labs, one spaniel and one Akita but I’ve spent my life around pit bulls and rottweilers.

There is no black & white answer about dog breeds. All have the ability to attack just like all the people we have spilling out of our prisons.

astralweeks

A bite is very different than a mauling.

Your Mom

Let me be more specific. I had to beat the snot out o the spaniel with a stick because it was chasing me down and biting at my groin. The lab was put down by the owner after biting me & the akita should have been but the owners of that dog were uneducated about pet ownership.