May 29, 2011

Machete, the Cane Corso that killed a boy, "had showed no sign of aggression."

Said the mother of the dead 4-year-old. The neighbors tell a different story:
"Those dogs were vicious," said building superintendent Kenny Risher, 50. "They stink and they are nasty. The same dog ate their (pet) rabbit."...

Risher and other neighbors said [the boy's stepfather Damian] Jones would wear a protective arm guard while training the fierce dogs outside the family's Brownsville apartment.

"They looked mean," Risher said. "Nobody would want to go near them. They were trained to fight."

Some recalled the dogs foaming at the mouth as Jones worked the dogs into a street-clearing frenzy.

"It was a violent dog," said neighbor Anthony Brown, 35, of Machete. "Dangerous. A big dog. The whole block is scared of that dog."...

Great-grandfather Jamaal-Uddin said Machete was typically laid-back. "I guess it's just like humans," he said. "It's the quiet ones you have to watch."

61 comments:

Mary Beth said...

Machete is such a sweet sounding name.

Freeman Hunt said...

If your neighbor is training a dog like that to fight and be aggressive, might you be tempted to toss a specially seasoned steak over the fence?

(Yes, I know this was an apartment. I'm not referring to this case specifically.)

Mary Beth said...

What apartment lets you keep dogs of that size?

Freeman Hunt said...

I knew a girl whose older brother kept a pet panther in his apartment. One day someone broke into the apartment and stabbed the panther. He couldn't understand why anyone would do that.

Phil 314 said...

Later, she absolved her fiancé of any blame.

Fiance!?

AllenS said...

Damian Jones also known as "Animal" or "Dread", fiancée Saquina (Honey) Jubeark, great-grandfather, Ameer Jamaal-Uddin, 5-year-old Sincere and a dog named Machete.

CanYouCodeIt said...

What's in a name?

FedkaTheConvict said...

You have to read the companion story for more background: Neighbors' premonitions of doom became reality after 'monster dog' rips apart little boy

The surprise to me is that no one has been charged...yet. There's so much wrong here, if the stories are accurate, and I don't want to get too worked up on a Sunday morning.

chickelit said...

Do 2nd Amendment penumbrae shade dogs like they do guns?

Dog owners could use some metes and bounds here.

On the other hand, it's an ancient societal problem, known to the Romans: Cave Canum.

Wince said...

If you're going to hire Machete to kill the bad guy, you better make damn sure the bad guys isn't you.

Machete. Rated X.

Anonymous said...

Brownsville ... the garden spot of New York. Well not quite.

Peter

Fred4Pres said...

Shit happens!

Fred4Pres said...

Did anyone click on the Daily News story on the sidebar about the model who got in a fight and fell to her death?

ErnieG said...

I didn't know what a Cane Corso is, so I Googled it and looked at the images. Wow. Those things are bigger and uglier pit bulls. The Wikipedia article is instructive. Three excerpts:

"(pronounced /ˈkɑːneɪ ˈkɔrsoʊ/ KAH-nay-KOR-soh in English)"

"Powerful and imposing, a Cane Corso is highly suspicious of strangers, and for this reason aggression should never be encouraged."

"However, like other potentially violent dog breeds, the Cane Corso can be dangerous or deadly. They can emmit [sic] a bite of 1000 psi, three times that of a pit bull."

Fred4Pres said...

Okay, I clicked on it.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, how exactly do models fall out of windows while "play wrestling?"

Peter

Fred4Pres said...

Machete is an appropriate name for a tiny lap dog.

Now if they named this cane corso something like Peaches, I am sure this never would have happened. Well, named the dog that and also not trained him to kill.

AllenS said...

Fred, I did click and here's what I found:

Model Lashawna Threatt wrestled with Ciara Williams, said her pal, Jomarys Castillo and Passionate Chonvill, who is friends with both women.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Damian Jones also known as "Animal" or "Dread", fiancée Saquina (Honey) Jubeark, great-grandfather, Ameer Jamaal-Uddin, 5-year-old Sincere and a dog named Machete.

What could possibly go wrong?

I note that they don't disclose the occupations of these people in the news article.

I'm guessing here, but probably not stock brokers, accountants or plumbers or any occupation AT ALL.

These are people who have no business owning dogs or even raising kids.

Ann Althouse said...

"Did anyone click on the Daily News story on the sidebar about the model who got in a fight and fell to her death?"

I've got an open tag on that. Hang on. Hang on to that ledge for a few more minutes.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Yeah, the other story seems a lot more interesting.

Dog bites man < model fights at high altitude.

Anonymous said...

While we're on the topic of Daily News sidebar articles, the one about the special donicker for catching drug mules is pretty funny too.

Peter

viator said...

"Powerful and imposing, a Cane Corso is highly suspicious of strangers, and for this reason aggression should never be encouraged. Because of their need to keep the status quo, a Corso often dislikes new things, animals, and people, so the owner must be careful when introducing the dog to new places and people. Cane Corso tend to be a quiet breed, though they will bark at anything they are unsure of, but for the most part, they like nothing better than staying next to their owner all the time.

("'My God, they're big, what do you feed them?' " she recalled asking.
"Gunpowder and raw meat," Dread said.
Parkinson thought at the time that he was joking.")


A true Corso should be indifferent when approached and should only react when a real threat is present. Of course, socialization is the key to controlling the dog's natural protective instincts, because a Corso will find anything threatening if not properly socialized as a puppy. If socialized properly as a puppy, a "Cane Corso can get along with other dogs and people. Corso are historically working dogs that need exercise and are at their best when they have a job to do.

("That thing always has white foam from the mouth, even when it's laying down," she remembered. "I told him, 'You're right, you got monster dogs.'"
With size came ferocity that Dread insured with beatings and kicks. He gave Parkinson an unneeded warning.
"He told me, 'I don't like anybody touching my dogs,' she recalled. "You couldn't pay me."
He did not want anybody even trying to show his dogs the slightest kindness.
"He told me, 'No love,' " she remembered. "You don't show his dogs love."
To give his dogs monster practice, Dread hung things on the schoolyard fence for them to tear apart.
"Big stuffed animals, footballs, all kinds of things," Parkinson remembered.
Dread seemed delighted when the dogs killed cats, even a pet rabbit.
"Those dogs would kill anything," Parkinson said. "The whole block was afraid of those dogs.")

However, like other potentially violent dog breeds, the Cane Corso can be dangerous or deadly. They can emmit a bite of 1000 psi, three times that of a pit bull."

"The Cane Corso is a catch dog used with cattle and swine, and also in wild boar hunts."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_dog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_Corso

Wrongful death?

Penny said...

"Later, she absolved her fiancé of any blame."

No blame? A refreshing thought.

Dr Weevil said...

chickenlittle:
"Beware of dog" is cave canem in Latin. Cave canum would mean "beware of the white-haired man" - usually that would be an old man, but I suppose it could mean "beware of Julian Assange".

Anonymous said...

The mother is being charged and not the father?? Insanity. Have the police washed their hands of the ghetto?

YoungHegelian said...

The foaming at the mouth comes from feeding the dog gunpowder with its food. The gunpowder leaves the dog in a perpetual state of nausea, so as to accentuate its disposition to violence.

This, like dog fighting, is another example of black ghetto dysfunction. I've talked to evil-dog guys like this in DC, and they just live on another planet.

Sadly, only the dog will be put to sleep.

Shouting Thomas said...

This is the Brooklyn I knew and loved.

The motto of Ft. Greene Park, at least when I lived there was:

Don't touch my dog!

Shouting Thomas said...

Have the police washed their hands of the ghetto?

Back during the glory days of Mayor David Dinkins, the cops did just that. Dinkins was black.

The deal was that black gangsters weren't to be hindered, because that would be racism. Al Sharpton presided over the carnage.

The epidemic of violence led to the election of that great Republican mayor, Rudi Giuliani.

Sometimes, I hear the kids fresh into New York lamenting that we can't return to the glory and excitement of the Dinkins/Sharpton era.

edutcher said...

It's a thug thing.

And, surprisingly, everybody understands.

PS How many stories have there been like this over the last few years?

And always in the same type of neighborhood.

Titus said...

I didn't even have to read this to know that it was blacks.

Shouting Thomas said...

I didn't even have to read this to know that it was blacks.

True.

Here's something I've often wondered.

Ever notice the difference in the Mexican and black outlook on drugs, whoring and violence?

The black outlook is so grim, dark and malicious as represented in rap. The Mexican outlook, as represented in narco corrido, is wildly optimistic, hilarious and festive.

Martha said...

You have to read the companion story recommended by FedkaTheConvict at 9:56 am for more background:

"It's not the dog," Parkinson (a neighbor) said "It's the owner."


Second Amendment right to a killer dog?

viator said...

"DOG OWNERS FAULTED. Blame it on the owners, not the dogs, says Randall Lockwood, director of higher education for the Humane Society of the United States. Lockwood will speak here later this week on the problem of vicious dogs. He says owners of fighting dogs often make them more aggressive by mixing gunpowder in their food, which gives them constant gastic pain,"

Orlando Sentinel
August 3, 1987

FedkaTheConvict said...

Until today I didn't realize that and Marjorie Knoller and Diane Whipple were black.

YoungHegelian said...

@fedka,

No, Diane Whipple and her husband were lawyers.

That's an equally ugly dweller of yet another kind of ghetto.

Shanna said...

"It's not the dog," Parkinson (a neighbor) said "It's the owner."

I completely agree with this and it's a shame the dog breeds tend to get the blame when everybody knows it's not sweet old melva's pit bull that ends up killing. It's always a dog that has been treated poorly and usually trained to be mean. It's the type of owner that will do that who is often attracted to pit bulls and other large dogs.

Shouting Thomas said...

Fedka, you don't understand San Francisco.

The San Francisco hipster aspires to be black.

Unfortunately, the SF hipsters flock there in such great numbers that they drive the rents up to the point at which the blacks all depart for Oakland.

And, Oakland ain't hip.

The Crack Emcee said...

I just saw the movie "Machete".

It, too, was nice and mild mannered.

I hate what idiots do to dogs.

rhhardin said...

Dogs bred to fight like to fight; you don't have to make them crazy. They're nonaggressive with people.

A dog made crazy is a dangerous dog.

Thugs are good at making dogs crazy.

Anonymous said...

"It's always a dog that has been treated poorly and usually trained to be mean."

Not always, Shanna, not always. My cousin, as ER doc, worked on many, many toddlers mauled by their parents' huge, "trusted, gentle" big dogs.

He won't have one near his kids.

Shanna said...

You're right, not always, but most frequently.

Of course, kids can be hell on dogs. That why if you have small children you should be careful about the dog you have. My uncle used to have a Rottweiler when we were kids and she was always good with us, but he had some when his daughter was born and the minute they showed aggression he got rid of them.

Big dogs get a bad rep because their size makes them dangerous but a lot of little dogs are meaner.

AllenS said...

Dog story --

I have two friends who have Golden Retrievers. Both are nice good natured dogs. When the two friends get together they usually have their dogs with. The dogs had always seem to like each others company. Got along great. One day while putting up a new garage, one of the side walls fell over, and landed on one of the dogs. The dog let out a sound that could be considered a death scream. The other dog was on it immediately, trying to tear it apart after the scream. Just underneath that waging tail and happy to see you front, there is an animal not that far removed from the wolf.

Anonymous said...

And they are SURPRISED! and in DENIAL! Bet the IQ of the dog is higher than the humans. Collect your Darwin Award.

Freeman Hunt said...

Most dogs are nice. Most dogs are loyal. But those attributes blind people to the fact that dogs are still animals with their own minds. They can make mistakes.

I don't care how nice your Cane Corso is or how well you've socialized it. It has its own brain and may one day decide to do something you didn't expect. I don't want it anywhere near me.

I'm Full of Soup said...

"the cops used a tranqilizer dart" to subdue the snarling dog?

That is so wrong - that dog should have been shot on the spot!

And, as evidenced by the facts in this case [i.e 24 year old mother who is 100 lbs overweight and has four kids and has a fiance], there is a segment of his country who are really dumb imbeciles.

LilEvie said...

Dianne Whipple was the innocent victim. Marjorie Knoller (even now in prison) and her sick husband (never charged!) had crushes on white supremacist prisoners at Pelican Bay. They were part of a ghetto culture, just not a black ghetto culture.
ANYONE who has a toddler and dog must supervise and supervise well.
I compete in dog shows, maybe 60 per year, for almost 40 years, and have never seen an attack, on dog or human, by one of the pit breeds or a cane corso. Because these dogs are properly trained and socialized.
We need vicious dog laws, with severe penalties, not more breed bans.

Freeman Hunt said...

When my husband and I were first married, we had the sweetest German Shepard. We took over its care from my father because it was old and needed a lot of attention. The dog had been in my family since it was a puppy and had never shown the slightest sign of aggression.

One day a woman was painting the inside of our house, and she walked close by our dog. The dog had arthritis, and I suppose it was afraid that she was going to step on its paw, so it bit her.

I couldn't believe it. At least not until my father-in-law came to the house, did the same thing, and lost one cuff off his jeans.

Animals are not robots. Even when well-programmed, they are capable of diverging from the script.

Freeman Hunt said...

(And no, in case you're wondering, the woman who was painting the house was not badly injured. Luckily the bite did not break the skin, and she had only a tiny bruise. Still.)

Cedarford said...

Lynch - "the cops used a tranqilizer dart" to subdue the snarling dog?

That is so wrong - that dog should have been shot on the spot!

And, as evidenced by the facts in this case [i.e 24 year old mother who is 100 lbs overweight and has four kids and has a fiance], there is a segment of his country who are really dumb imbeciles."

Maybe it has come to a time to give eugenics a 2nd chance.

The Great Society was constructed at a time when America was a net exporter, controlling 40% of the global economy, under 1 trillion in debt. Dominant in industry and technology, with the best educated labor force.
Free trade, globalism, growth of a third world population, military adventurism, and the Elites selling out the worker has ended that sort of productivity and wealth surplus needed to nurture undesirable parasites.

Much less undesirable parasites that double their numbers, and financial burden on contributing US citizens every 16 years.

Freeman Hunt said...

Huh? Why the leap straight to eugenics? You could just end the parasite problem by not supporting the parasites. Then they'll become regular, productive people.

AST said...

I've read about Mastiffs in stories like the Sherlock Holmes tales and others, but I never really appreciated how big and violent they could be. This thing sounds like the hound of the Baskervilles, famous for tearing the former Lord's throat out.

If somebody were to toss it a spiked steak, he or she would be liable to a charge of cruelty to animals and subjected to public opprobrium. Meanwhile the whole block has to live in fear of it. Sounds like a public nuisance to me, and PETA be damned.

My grandson is 4 years old.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I agree Freeman - we enable those who decide it is just as fruitful to be parasitic as it is to be an earnest productive member of society.

The other week, the local paper had a story bemoaning state cuts to day care subsidies. One young lady they used as an example [a white girl C-ford] had two kids 10 years apart and no husband. The story lamented that the state aka taxpayers would not be helping her wit her daycare expenses. The reporter, of course, never got around to inquiring as to the whereabouts of the kid's father.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Nah, eugenics won't work in a free society (besides being wrong). Plus, we can't predict what might be useful in the future. Our cognitive meritocracy is relatively new, and it could just be a phase. Planning the future of the species based on a few decades of data is a bad idea.

Really intelligent people breeding with other really intelligent people has given us a lot of autism. There's a reason we aren't all Alpha Double Pluses. Genetically, there are a lot of trade offs for higher intelligence. It's not always a survival trait. And it isn't always a blessing. I suspect that a lot of ADHD is also caused by genetic traits related to intelligence. Speculation, but it explains a lot.

I wouldn't fetishize IQ as the end-all be-all of who a person is. The problem is letting divorce and illegitimacy destroy entire communities. We need to raise decent people, not assume that social chaos is caused by bad genes. It happened too quickly to be explained by genetic factors.

Fred4Pres said...

People snap for no reason. Why is it a surprise dogs and other animals do too. Still, a dog exposed to violence is obviously far more likely to cause violence. A dog well cared for, less likely.

But there are no guarantees.

MeTooThenMail said...

I had a cane corso - long story short - these dogs MUST be socialized and highly so - sadly, there are many unscrupulous breeders of this breed in the US and a cane corso can be deadly.

In Italy you can see the corso regularly - not so in the US.

Mine was a beautiful, sweet, funny, and powerful chocolate brindle - no better friend, no worse enemy - I rescued her as a pup - she was kind of a gift burden - but a remarkable dog (btw - males can be 60kg, mine was just under 50kg)

I also had an English Mastiff - he was the greatest dog and friend you can imagine - he worked as a therapy dog - now he was big - over 90 kg (over 200lbs) - a true gentle giant

Mastiffs are super loyal (the cane corso is in the mastiff family) and they tend to not bark, stay at the side of their master, guard the children; if either of my two dogs barked it was for real and usually meant "it's on."

In sum - the person who trained the cane corso to be aggressive is guilty of wrongful death or worse

holdfast said...

PatCA - the thing is, a kid bit by a Lab will end up in the ER, while the kid bit by the Pit or Cane Corso goes straight to the morgue.

We have two of the nicest dogs imaginable, but you still have to be careful with kids, especially at feeding time.

jr565 said...

"I guess it's just like humans,"said I. "It's the ones named Machete you have to watch."

jr565 said...

John Lynch wrote:
I wouldn't fetishize IQ as the end-all be-all of who a person is.


There are many "smart" people with genius IQ's who don't have the first concept of how to interact socially, to the point where their social interactions come across as a form of social retardation.
You could tell a joke and everyone in the room will get it, but their literal minds will not grasp the subtelty of a joke. They're like aliens who crash landed on planet earth not quite getting the environment they're studying. But they are really smart in other ways.
Then again, Rain Man was smart in many ways. Many geniuses are like Rain Man only slightly less autistic.

Anonymous said...

Exactly, holdfast. I'm sure that the same people who insist their dogs are harmless would also denounce those who keep loaded guns at home. It's crazy. It's just stupid to keep them "until they show signs of aggression." By that time, someone is mauled or dead.

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