Pit Bull 2 two year old boy Lockport New York allegedly sodomized Niagara Country SPCA dog SPCAs Al Chille two-year-old boy TV talk show dog Wisconsin Local news reports pit bull pit bull sexual encounters investigation Buffalo breed

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After a two-year-old boy from Lockport, New York was allegedly sodomized by a family pet, a pit bull named “Bear,” people across the nation responded with sympathy and support for the child and the dog, who is currently in the custody of the Niagara Country SPCA.

Conversations on Internet message boards showed disbelief that the dog acted alone; and citizens were concerned that it would be euthanized for the act.  However, Niagara County SPCA executive director Al Chille said he will not let that happen.

He had a lot to say about the case. iMediaEthics therefore decided to publish the full text of our interview below:

iME: I’m calling about the case of the two-year-old boy.
Al Chille: May I ask you how you found out? The reason I ask is the fact that this was on local TV and I yesterday had a call from a Gulfport, Louisiana talkshow, wanted to interview me on the talk show. It was on TV last night and I had probably 30 emails immediately afterward most of which wanted—most of whom wanted to adopt it. None of whom blamed the dog and felt sorry for the boy but blamed the parents and the household and the environment and all the other causes. And one call was from Wisconsin, one call was from Alabama I think and—

iME: Oh my God.
Chille: Yeah and it just amazed me how the word is out all over the—seems like all over the country.

iME: Yeah, well that’s the thing about the Internet. Local news reports it and every dog lover latched on to it. The news doesn’t have a location on the Internet, and it’s a pretty unusual story. The director of Art Science Research Lab actually alerted me to it. Word spreads quickly. So all over the country, you’ve been getting calls and all sympathetic to the dog?

Chille: Basically — let me just say this — I am against euthanizing the animal. I don’t know how you feel about it, but I’m sure I’ll find out in a moment. But there is still an ongoing investigation by the police department. I am holding the animal. I understand from the police department that the woman wanted—wants the animal destroyed and she was kind of in a hurry for it. And to me, I don’t like the sound of that, and I have had a lot of offers of people who would adopt the animal. In the back of my mind, I’m toying with going to a rescue group with it. As opposed to keeping it in the general area here where it has quote “a reputation,” unquote. Even though it’s probably an unearned reputation, but nevertheless it has a reputation. Also, I don’t subscribe to the attitude of a lot of people that all pit bulls are bad. I mean I can’t buy that. You got any dog, any dog that is raised in a loving environment can be a good dog, and I’ve been here 27 years and dogs, they’ve all had their day. The Doby’s had his day, that he was a dangerous and terrible dog and the Shepherd’s had its day and the Rottweiler’s had its day and so now it’s the pit bull. I think ultimately people will get to know the pit bull as a dog and not as a menace.

iME: My brother has a pit bull. One pit bull and a Doberman/Rottweiler mix. So I know that that pit bull is far from menacing.
Chille: Well, you haven’t had an opportunity to see it, but the pit bull, we did a DNA [test] on it, we took the body fluids for a DNA, and when we took the body fluids, we put a muzzle on it. But it didn’t struggle at all and the needle was put in, drove into the wrist of the dog and took maybe two or three vials of blood out and then the needle slipped. So it had to be re-inserted… and he still didn’t struggle and then took the substance from the penis, and inserted a swab in the penis. Which you and I know that would be uncomfortable.

iME: Yeah of course.
Chille: And he didn’t struggle at all, he’s just more frightened than anything else, and he apparently, I would say, if the whole story that the owner tells is true, then he did what dogs do. He just picked the wrong subject. You know what I’m saying? I’m not minimizing what happened, but if it in fact happened as it is described to us, then he just did what dogs do. And a dog a couple of years old is going into sexual maturity, so something would have attracted him to it.

iME: Have you ever heard of anything like this happening before?
Chille: Never with a child. In 27 years, I’ve heard, we’ve had reports of adults and dogs having sexual encounters, particularly females. Male, female but the situation is not—I’ve never, never heard that and I’ve never heard of a dog even being attracted. If it was an older dog, it could be a—it would be a taught thing I would think. The first question the police asked me was, “Do you think it’s physically possible?” And anything’s possible. Highly improbable from my point of view but anything’s possible, without some assistance.

iME: You said that the media has contacted you as far as Louisiana. Did any of the local reporters who are covering this story?
Chille: Oh dozens of them, two, four, seven, our three channels from Buffalo. The four newspapers, five newspapers from the area. I’ve been on the TV probably two or three times in each channel.

iME: Well, it sounds like you’re saying that this story sounds suspicious. I definitely agree with that. From the local coverage that I’ve read, no one has even brought up the suspicion. Has anyone quoted you?
Chille: The only response I’ve given to the inquiry was the police are doing an in depth investigation and I’m not going to speculate on what their investigation is. I did indicate that probably 90 to 95% of the emails that I’m getting are [from people who] want to adopt the animal. I’ll quote you one. One said, “Punish the deed, not the breed.”

iME: Do you know when the DNA results are—
Chille: No I don’t. All I know is we’re asked to produce the fluids, and we did the first day that we had the dog. And the police department came in, picked them up, and took them to the crime lab.

iME: You told me that you’ve never heard of this happening in 27 years.
Chille: No.

iME: Have any of your colleagues or anyone who you’ve contacted?
Chille: The dog presently is in Buffalo for 24 hours for a behavioral [examination], and the folks that I’ve talked to can’t believe that it actually occurred. But the lady, the mother, says that she witnessed the dog running with the child attached, and she screamed, the child screamed, the dog ran outside, and a neighbor helped her dislodge the dog, and in doing so, they damaged the child significantly. He’s had surgery and will have to have, I guess, reconstructive surgery at a later date.

iME: Oh that’s terrible.
Chille: I shouldn’t say this, but my speculation is maybe someone else did this and they blamed it on the dog.

iME: Yeah, that seems to be the possibility that the media is not mentioning.
Chille: I think the police are aware of that.

iME Well, maybe they’re playing it safe, or they just are latching onto the more bizarre, sensational story.
Chille: Well that’s right. It really is. It’s grabbed everybody’s interest or curiosity. I know there is no man living in the house. Now, whether she has a boyfriend or not, I don’t know. But there are a total of five kids. I don’t know whether any of the kids are, for example, teenagers, male teenagers or something like that. I have no clue. But I’m sure that the police are aware of that fact. The other thing is, not to be crude, but when two dogs go at it, the male dog holds on to the female with his claws on the sides. This child has no marks on the child at all. No bites, no marks, no scratches, no bruises, and it just seems to me that there would be something. But again, I avoid speculating to the press because it’s really not my place to.

iME: I completely understand. There has been speculation in Internet forums and things like that. Are you aware of the organization, SnowballsChance.org?
Chille: No.

iMe: It’s a New Orleans organization that wants to reunite Katrina survivors with their dogs. So they’re all dog lovers, and they have had a running conversation for some time. They pointed that out too. That might be where you’re getting a lot of your calls.
Chille: Yeah, well I wouldn’t be in this business if I didn’t love animals. I mean I’ve got six, almost seven years of college, and I’m a retired school administrator and I came here, told them I’ve give them five years of my life and this is my 27th year. I’m here because I love animals and, if I have it within my power, I have no intention of letting this dog be euthanized for something that may or may not have happened. And if it did in fact happen, it’s more of an innocence thing than it is—I mean doing what the dogs do and it’s unfortunate that if it did in fact occur. But the bottom line is that most people want to adopt it. The lady said she wants it put down but thus far I have avoided her simply saying that there’s an investigation going on. And now she has re-located I understand. So long as she has re-located, I can’t reach her [laughs].

iME: Oh wow, re-located, did she give a reason?
Chille: No. They said that one of the agents went to her house, and the door was shut, and the neighbors said she will not be coming back.

iME: Oh my God!
Chille: So I don’t know what the circumstances are there. But the police are aware of this so—

iME: Huh, and you’ve expressed your skepticism to the police right?
Chille: Yes, I have yeah.

iME: Okay, and as far as you’re aware, they are investigating all options?
Chille: Yes, they said they were.

iME: Okay, well—
Chille: So it’s ongoing. As far as I’m concerned, I have the dog in possession. Get it from me… or try to.

iME: Well thank you so much for speaking to me and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it because as soon as—it’s—actually the director of Art Science Research Lab has a pit bull and as soon as she read this story, she said this is preposterous. It’s—anyone who has tried to breed dogs knows that it doesn’t happen quite so easily.

Chille: Tell her that it’s not—there’s no way it’s going to be put down as far as I’m concerned personally.

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20 Responses

  1. Rhonda R. Shearer says:

    Let us know what you think…if the dog was taught this behavior should the dog be destroyed ?

  2. Me says:

    Of course the dog shouldn’t be put-down, even if it is learned behavior. The dog is an innocent, just like the child. If a young child was taught/forced to perform sex acts, do you deem the child guilty? No because there’s no choice involved. The dog didn’t have a choice here either. I still don’t get how a dog’s penis could do so much damage though. I know it’s crude and disgusting but er…is anyone doing research on that? Like pit bull penis size, etc?

  3. LuvmyDogs says:

    This crime is heinous. I have actually lost sleep over this incident. I live in a town close to Lockport and the area in question is known for harboring the lowlife element. I am sure that this dog did not ‘act alone’. The SPCA believes this also and has gone public in stating their intention is to not allow the dog to be PTS. Their planning to release the dog, eventually to a rescue group so the dog’s ‘reputation’ does not preceed him. That way when the dog is adopted out, only the adopter will likely be aware of where the dog came from.

    The damage to was mostly caused by the man who reportedly saved the child, because at that point the dog was tied to the boy and his rectum was ripped when the man forced them apart. Of course..I don’t blame the guy for doing this….if this was what happened. Even if he did know the physiology of a dog, I don’t think anyone would be willing to ‘wait’ for the deflation in such a circumstance. It is such an abomination that this could even happen. The dog has coupled with a human before if he did act alone, but more likely this was an human assisted event. For the child to be still long enough for the dog to achieve penetration and the tie, which would take more than a ‘short time’, logic tells me there was someone else involved. The boy had no bites or claw marks, so I would assume someone prevented that during the onset. It’s hard to believe a mother would be involved with something like this, but in this part of town, nothing is too low to imagine. The woman reportedly was screaming ‘The dog is rapig my baby!’. I think you would agree…that if encountering something as bizarre as this…most folks would scream something to the effect ‘The dog’s ‘hurting/attacking/is killing/has’ my baby!!’ So much is odd about this that it can be nothing but unbelievable. The media has been silent on it for a couple days. Locally people are not going to let them sweep it under the rug without more of an explanation. Regardless of the circumstance, however…this is a tragedy for the poor child. I pray that he and his siblings will be placed in a loving home and that the details of this horrendous event is not known to him or his friends as he grows up. He is entitled to have a chance to be loved by a decent family and grow up to be the vital and good man he deserves to be.

  4. LIsa says:

    Is there any recent news update for this case? Where are the ‘forensics’? Surely the DNA results are going to be expedited in a case such as this?

  5. Concerned says:

    Just out of curiosity, do you know what nationality the boy and mother are?

  6. Luvmydogs says:

    As I understand, the mother appears to be Hispanic. I did not see her, but she did appear briefly, I am told, on one of the newscasts. As far as the child, I have no idea what nationality his father was. From what I am reading about this woman and her other children, I will venture to guess she may not be sure, herself. Sad, sad, sad……

  7. reggie santos says:

    mother is hispanic and black. children are hispanic and black. all have the same father excapt one. we need to be more respectful of the extended family that is affected by this tragedy. I hear that her father is a preacher. I am praying for them all.

  8. Concerned says:

    Thank you for your response. I, too, am praying for them.

  9. LuvsMyDogs says:

    I agree, the extended family, the injured child and the other children, are due respect. It is too bad that the family did not intervene before this horrific incident took place. Her father being a preacher makes this event even sadder. People lose their way. This man’s daughter apparently was one of them. She chose a path that endangered her kids. I hope the mother is ‘only’ guilty of neglecting to protect her child from harm, and not instrumental in the crime. The neighborhood they resided in is dangerous. Regardless of her roots, the environment she provided for these kids was unfit. By all means pray for the innocents, while you’re at it, pray the truth becomes known. Time will tell. If the unthinkable is true, and dogs have now taken to raping children, we are all doomed. The world is surely coming to an end.

  10. Concerned says:

    Yes, I agree, the world is coming to an end. The Bible speaks of signs in The Revelations of Jesus Christ.

  11. Christine K. says:
  12. Girl 10 says:

    Does it make a difference? They could have been purple and it still woudl not change a thing about this case.

    To me the question shows a biased mind with terrible intent.

  13. Concerned says:

    WRONG-WRONG-WRONG! The intent of my question was NOT terrible. When I first heard of this terrible ordeal, about a month ago on the radio, it horrified me. I just could not believe that it was true. So my husband told me to get on the internet and see what I could find. The more and more information I found, the more and more upset I became. It got so bad that everytime I looked at my little boy, who is 3 years old and has a 1 year old pit bull, I cried, because I know would lose my mind if something as horrible as this happened to him. I even began to question how God could allow this to happen to an innocent little baby. My husband became increasingly concerned about how more and more emotional I was becoming about this, to the point where I wanted to get rid of our dog. I am not a dog lover myself, but my husband has raised pitt bulls for many years and he feels that a boy should have a dog. So he told me that I needed to find some way to dis-associate my son from the little boy. I thought that if I could get a visual picture of the little boy in my head, that I could begin to separate him from my son. And that is why I posed the question. I assure you that I am in no way biased because I, myself, am Black, my husband is white, and as a result, we have 2 mixed children. And when I read that the little boy and his mother are mixed, it only made the situation worse for me because I imagine the little boy and my son have similar features and knowing this has only compounded my grief. I have been trying to contact Public Relations at Women and Children’s Hospital in Buffalo to see if there is anything that I can do for him, but because of the publicity that has surrounded this nightmare, no one will return my phone calls. I apologize, for the selfishness of my question, to anyone who felt that it was intended to be in anyway malicious.

  14. Demmy says:

    As far as the damage..

    It goes like this.

    A dogs penis, on average, is a bit larger then a males in length – 8-9 inches or so. (This is long enough to pierce through a rectum into he lower intestines in a small child I’d imagine… and also enough to simply break through the rectum in the first place) But there is something called a Knot on the canines penis. This knot, as the dog is ejaculating, swells and seals the entrance it’s in so that the dogs more liquid ejaculatory has time to congeal and impregnate it’s mate.

    They most likely damaged the dog by pulling it out while it was knotted. The knot swells to 2 or 3 inches, and pulling it forcibly out of anything, especially a young child’s rectum, will rip the flesh if it is not flexible.

    Another bit of suspicion – It takes a dog several minutes to ‘knot’… And of course when the dog went in the child would have screamed. which would have brought the mother.. which would have stopped it right there. So why didn’t she stop it then? There would have been no damage, and the scream would have frightened the dog and killed sexual desires. However, if it was knotted, frightened or not it would have been unable to stop its knot… It can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 for a knot to un-swell.

    Something is definitely fishy – considering that the times of the happenings aren’t adding up with basic physical attributes of a dogs.. mating.

    One more thing – to get a dog to ‘mount’ a human being takes work, I’d imagine. They’ll hump anything sure… But a boy is very very far from a bitch in heat.

    Maybe the mom should have done a bit more research on dog mating before she decided to use it as an excuse to cover her own abuse.

  15. Justified by Faith says:

    The Bible also speaks of the very pertinent fact that Jesus came, not to Judge man, but to save us. The issue with the world and with this tragedy is that people have turned their backs on other people and are full of judgement about where she lives and what she provided for her children. The reality is that we do not know what kind of devastation brought this woman to the place where we “found” her. All I know is we are indeed living in the last days and the greatest thing we could ever do is make a concerted effort to show love to one another. People are more moved by pet abuse than they are by child abuse, intrigued by drug addiction and dealing, disinterested in the children left to be reared by the addicts and the dealers… we should all fall down on our knees, daily, and pray for the deliverance of this world. As we look on the plight of the poor and the drug addicted, let us not forget that our lives and OUR childrens lives are intricately intertwined with the lives of the less fortunate, with the gang banger, the drug dealer, the abused children, the neglected child, etc… these kids that we pretend don’t exist because they are some place else or someone else’s, could be your childs classmate or bus driver or waitress or subway passenger waiting to snap. Take time to care about HUMANs and stop being obsessed about human nature and all ther frailties thereof. Sure she was a poor and disturbed addict, but who are we way deep down on the inside, what secret self do you harbor that no one can see…may be not drugs or bestiality, but we all have fallen short in one way or the other. And not even JESUS CHRIST himself came to judge, but to save, deliver, and set free- he was moved to compassion for our foolish, helpless self-destruction… have some compassion for our fellow man and save your judgement for God…

  16. Kerri says:

    There is a website supporting Bear, please feel free to visit and leave comments! It provides links and forums, keep checking back for updates.

    savebearthedog.com

  17. keenjole says:

    I feel really bad how these dogs get abused and these familys don’t feed their dog and they beat them with all sorts of metal objects. I think that any parent that does that should go to jail

  18. Pitbull lover says:

    Ok so why was the child not with clothes on and why was no one paying attention thats the parents fault. I have a pitbull that i love but NEVER under any circumstance would i leave my child with my dog and he is the most loving sweetest dog. The truth is Parents messed up no child should ever be left unattended with ANY dog

  19. alexus nations says:

    i feel really bad about the child being abused but the dog story broke my heart because i am an animal lover i can’t stand seeing a dog underweight has bruises or has a part blike there leg missing from their body!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope the boy and dog survive their new lives now 🙁

  20. Dave says:

    Does anyone else see the irony this pedophile dog is called "Bear"?

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