Local vet shares thoughts on pit bull attack

MARTIN, Tenn. –A bizarre pit bull attack has landed the dog’s owner in the hospital.

According to the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department, James Kirk was attacked by one of his pit bulls while having a seizure.

In the incident report, his wife said Kirk and the dog were lying in bed together before the attack.

Dr. Haylee Collins, a Veterinarian at Hooks Pet Clinic, said pit bulls have a bad reputation of being aggressive.

“Quite honestly, there’s not a lot of behavioral issues. They’re not studied very well, especially pit bulls. They are kind of deemed this aggressive type of dog and a lot of people just look at it that way,” Collins said.

After visiting the home, WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News noticed four dogs outside of the home, and according to the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department it’s still unclear which of the many dogs may have attacked Kirk.

The question still remains, why would the pit bull dog attack its owner in the first place?

“In this situation I really don’t think that because it was a pit bull it decided to attack,” Collins said. “I think that a lot of different dog breeds would have decided that, ‘oh, this is a threat.'”

According to the incident report, the victim had severe cuts to the throat, was bleeding heavily and having trouble breathing.

The victim was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with serious injuries.

Collins said in a situation like that, dogs can’t recognize what’s happening. “They don’t know what’s going on. You can’t say, ‘oh, he’s just having a seizure.’ They don’t understand that.”

She also says pits can be sweet and gentle but that when there’s a threat to the family they will react.