Six-Year-Old Killed By Pit Bull Pup

Sunday, six-year old Sabin went out to feed the family's six-month old Pit Bull puppy. Some fifteen minutes later, the father ended-up finding Sabin unconscious near the pup. He'd been attacked, mauled and Sabin was pronouced dead at the hospital.

Bath, NY - Although it's still early in the investigation, Steuben County Deputy Sheriffs are having a tough time finding answers to the question: what exactly happened? It seems that there is some concern of over ownership...just who's pup was it? "Brooks Baker, an assistant Steuben County district attorney, said he's uncertain about the ownership of the dog." WENY reports that, "Sheriff’s deputies say the animal had 3 owners, and was only 8 months old." (Confused? I am!) Steuben County Sheriff Richard Tweddell told the Star-Gazette,

"Our problem is we haven't got any witnesses," he said. "The investigators are out there canvassing the area and interviewing all the neighbors and taking statements and we're waiting for an autopsy report."

Today, the results are expected to be back from the autopsy of little Sabin, from Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office in Rochester, NY. Executive Director of the Finger Lakes SPCA, Vicki Mosgrov told WENY,

“We're having some trouble in this area maybe with over breeding a little bit and sometimes you get genetically unstable dogs being bred. They do require a sensible owner, they do have a strong prey drive for smaller animals and I think sometimes little children run into a problems with that. Any dog and small children should be supervised closely.”

Is it 'natural instinct' that causes these dogs to snap? Katherine Houpt, animal behaviorist at Cornell University's School of Veterinary Medicine told The Leader that this breed of dog was not meant to be a family pet.

“Their primary function is to kill other dogs and other rapidly fleeing animals, like cats.”

She went on to say that they are most aggressive over food, though. The debate continues...can Pit Bulls be allowed as family pets? Or...are they just a killing machine that can never be completely domesticated?