A heroic pit bull helped save a family from a house fire and carried a baby outside in Stockton, California.
As the fire began to rage on the fourplex, 8-month-old pit bull Sasha banged on the back door.
Chaichanhda noticed the building was on fire and went to the bedroom to get her 7-month-old daughter.
Sasha was with her, she said.
“She had already had my baby by the diaper and was dragging her off the bed,” she told the Fox affiliate. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are you doing?’”
Overall, she said, “Thanks to Sasha we were able to get out safe and call 911.”
Chaichanhda said that while she lost her home, she is thankful for the dog’s heroics. She hopes it will change people’s perceptions about pit bulls.
‘Most Abused Dogs on Earth’
Animal rights group PETA has said that pit bulls are “the most abused dogs on Earth.”“Pit bulls are left at shelters in record numbers—and since they are difficult to adopt out, reputable shelters (that don’t slam the door in the dogs’ faces) are finding that they must euthanize more pit bulls and pit bull mixes than all other dogs combined,” the group said.
Karen Delise, research director for the National Canine Research Council and author of “The Pitbull Placebo,” has investigated hundreds of dog bite incidents.
Dog Bite Statistics
However, website DogsBite.org says that “each day, about 1,000 U.S. citizens require emergency care treatment for serious dog bite injuries. Annually, about 9,500 citizens are hospitalized due to dog bite injuries.”In a 13-year analysis, the website says that of 433 fatal dog attacks in the United States, pit bulls contributed to 66 percent, or 284 deaths.
Rottweilers, the second on the list, inflicted 10 percent of attacks that resulted in human death, the report says.
German shepherds accounted for 4.6 percent of fatal attacks.
Mixed-breed dogs accounted for 3.9 percent and the American bulldog was next at 3.5 percent, the report said.
The Mastiff and Bullmastiff accounted for 3.2 percent of deaths.
Last on the list were huskies, which accounted for 3 percent of fatal attacks.
The report compiled fatal dog attacks between 2005 and 2017, showing that 48 percent of the victims were children aged 9 or younger.