Attacks are not the bulldog norm

Denise Flaim | Animal House

May 22, 2006

Article tools

E-mail

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Facebook
- Fark
- Google
- Newsvine
- Reddit
- Yahoo

When I first heard about last month's mauling of 4-year-old Matthew Henriques of East Meadow - who received 250 stitches to his face, torso and legs after he encountered two roaming Rottweilers and an English bulldog - I had two gut reactions.

One: The Rotties, which from all accounts inflicted the serious damage, all but severing the boy's ear, should get the needle.

And two: The bulldog was probably an innocent bystander.

On the first point, justice has already been served: The Rottweilers, Jasmine and Bishop, were euthanized on May 9 with the reluctant consent of their owner, Lawrence Kelly, who let them roam to begin with. Jasmine was deemed a dangerous dog two years ago when she killed a neighbor's rabbit. And Matthew's torn ear is a Rottie calling card. "For some reason, that breed tends to go for the ears," says veterinary behaviorist Katherine Houpt, head of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca.

Denise Flaim Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

On the the second point, I realize that having sympathy for any four-leggers involved in this incident is probably not politically correct. And, having three small children of my own, I am sensitive to the feelings of Matthew's parents, who are unequivocal in wanting Duke the bulldog to meet the same fate as the Rotties. Matthew's mother, Carina Henriques, has said that the bulldog was biting at her son's legs while she was trying to extract him from the fracas, but it is not clear if the 1-year-old dog actually bit the boy, or was just excitedly nipping in all the commotion, as puppies do.

At the request of Long Island Bulldog Rescue, the court has stayed Duke's execution more than once. Last week State Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Davis found that the Stony Brook-based rescue group did not have the legal standing to take custody of Duke, but he stayed execution until tomorrow to allow time for an appeal.

For the record, I am not a "breedist." I don't believe in banning certain breeds because of their reputations. But in Duke's case, the fact that he is a bulldog speaks to how unlikely it is that he contributed significantly, if at all, to the April 28 attack.

Unless you're dog-savvy, differentiating "bully" breeds can be confusing. All Staffordshire terriers are pit bulls, for example, but not all pit bulls are Staffies. And there is a world of difference between an American bulldog, which can look like a boxer-ish pit, and an English bulldog like Duke - what in American Kennel Club parlance is simply the bulldog - the pear-shaped clown with the rolling gait.

Bulldogs are so named because they were originally bred in England for the blood sport of bull-baiting, which required them to latch on to a bull's nose in an attempt to suffocate him - unless they were trampled first. (The sport's origins may have been the belief among butchers that the struggle rendered the meat more tender and flavorful.)

When bull-baiting was outlawed in 1835, the lean, long-legged Old English bulldog disappeared as well. Replacing this fierce bullfighter was the roly-poly bulldog we know today. He retained the jutting jaw of his predecessor, but evolved a squatter silhouette and a docile temperament.

Bred for physical extremes like a compact body and smushed muzzle, the modern bulldog has more in common with a bowling ball than he does his bull-baiting forebearer of three centuries ago. His brachycephalic, or pushed-in face restricts air flow and can make breathing difficult, especially in warm weather. Most bulldogs cannot breed without human intervention, nor can they deliver their big-headed puppies without Caesarian sections.

These popular university mascots are the walking definition of "phlegmatic," exaggerated dogs whose affability belies their original purpose. Bred for centuries for companionship, they are the classic canine couch potato.

Are there aggressive bulldogs? Sure, just as there are aggressive Chinese cresteds. But bulldogs are hardly known for inherent aggression, much less the kind predicated on a pack-fueled prey drive. When was the last time you heard of an English bulldog involved in a mauling incident?

Not to mention the physical reality: This is a breed that gets winded just exerting itself after a few minutes. Duke likely had a hard enough time keeping up with his Rottweiler buddies, much less joining them in the assault.

An exuberant puppy, Duke was likely in the wrong place at the wrong time, guilty by association. Yet he could be euthanized as early as tomorrow unless the rescue group appeals, which it plans to.

At the very least, Duke should be evaluated by a certified animal behaviorist. If he shows the least amount of aggression, human directed or otherwise, he should be euthanized. If not, Long Island Bulldog Rescue has 20 homes that would take him tomorrow, one as far afield as Anchorage, Alaska, if only Matthew's family would change their minds.

The first trait that comes to mind at the mention of English bulldogs is their penchant for snoring, not aggression. Before Duke pays the price for the company he kept, a professional should weigh in on whether he is the relatively rare exception to that rule.

WRITE TO Denise Flaim, c/o Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville, NY 11747-4250, or e-mail denise.flaim@newsday.com . For previous columns, www.newsday.com/animalhouse