Pit Bull Advocates Criticized For 'Victim Blaming' Family Who Lost Two Children In Dog Attack
They were being insensitive to the family whose lives were tragically changed forever.
@responsibledogowner / TikTok / Facebook A woman on TikTok slammed dog advocates for “victim blaming” a family that recently fell victim to a brutal attack from their pit bull dogs.
She argues that now is “not the time” to be sharing images of your “friendly” pit bulls cuddling with your children and is encouraging people to have compassion in the wake of this tragedy.
The woman criticized pit bull advocates for 'victim blaming' after the family lost their two children who were attacked by the family's pit bulls.
On October 5, unspeakable horror unfolded in a Memphis, Tennessee home when two pit bulls attacked two young children and their mother.
The 30-year-old mother, Kristie Bennard, and her two children, 2-year-old Lillie and 5-month-old Hollace were mauled by their dogs while at home.
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In the attack that lasted 10 minutes, Bennard “tried her best to shield their children” according to her husband’s uncle.
Unfortunately, the children succumbed to their injuries — Bennard was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive.
The family had owned the dogs — who have since been euthanized — for eight years without incident.
The attack has evoked mixed feelings in many pit bull owners, who claim that their dogs are incapable of such violence.
Many shared images of their children and their dogs together to prove that they are gentle animals.
Some even blamed the children for provoking the dogs to attack by misbehaving around them and “triggering the stable dogs.”
TikTok user @responsibledogowner, who is a pitbull owner and advocate herself, is criticizing other fellow dog owners for their incentive response to the attack.
“People are paying attention to how the ‘pit bull’ community has responded to that horrific, tragic attack in Memphis. And it’s not going great,” the woman says in a video.
She believes that victim-blaming and claiming that the children provoked the dogs to attack is not only cruel to the family but causes people to dislike the pit bull breed even more.
“You guys are actively pushing people to be more anti-pit bull,” she says. “People will read an article about this horrific ten-minute-long mauling by two family dogs on their own family, then they read the comments and they see these unhinged, awful comments from pit bull owners.”
“Most people, when they read a story like that, they feel so horrible for the family. It’s such a tragedy. They are shocked, they are horrified. Their first thought is not to immediately defend the dogs, blame the children, talk about how sweet their dog is.”
The woman claims that when people who are unfamiliar with the pit bull dog breed, which is prone to aggressive behavior and labeled as a “bully” breed, read the article and see the insensitive comments from the pit bull owner community, it will fuel hatred for the dogs even further.
She argues that true pit bull advocates intend to spread awareness of the dogs’ capability and inform people how to handle them with caution while caring for them.
They want people to gain an improved understanding of the dogs so those who choose to welcome them into their families are aware of how to properly ensure that themselves and their dogs are as safe as they can possibly be.
“Actual bully breed and pit bull advocates have been trying to get this point across for years. It is not advocacy to victim-blame. It is not advocacy to go to the comments of a highly-publicized attack and post pictures of your pits and your children,” the woman says.
“If you can’t stop victim-blaming for the family’s sake, please stop victim-blaming for the sake of your precious pit bulls.”
TikTokers appeared to agree with the woman in the comments.
“I couldn’t imagine losing my two children and then hordes of people turn up to defend the dogs,” one user wrote.
“As a bull breed owner, when these things happen, you communicate condolences. THAT’S IT!” another user commented.
Although pit bulls are a common breed among dog owners, education and sensitivity toward them and victims of pit bull attacks will keep families and dogs safe.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.