Massachusetts woman mauled to death by pet pit bull while having seizure, family refuses to put down dog
Despite a pet pit bull mauling a Massachusetts woman to death when she was having a seizure, her daughter has said that the family will not be putting down their pet.
The tragic incident took place on Friday, December 20, when 44-year-old Melissa Astacio was suffering a seizure in her Somerset home. After the pit bull named Amigo attacked her, Melissa's daughter, Heaven called the police to the home around 5.20 pm.
In order to get the dog off the victim and let paramedics examine her, authorities were forced to taze the animal. Melissa, who had a history of seizures, was rushed to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
Despite her dog being partially responsible for her mother's death, Heaven said that the family did not want to put the pet down.
"I don't think he was trying to attack her," Heaven told WJAR. "I think the dog was just trying to help my mom but he's just a dog and he didn't know any better."
"What happened that night, it never happened like that before. I don't want to see my dog get put down for something he was only trying to help with," she shared.
The family's decision was also based on the fact that the dog never reacted violently to Melissa having a seizure in the past. "The dog would just lie on the side of her and like sniff her and stuff like that," Heaven said.
Meanwhile, as officials investigate the incident, Amigo was brought to Swansea Animal Rescue and placed in quarantine.
Despite being stereotyped as "dangerous dogs", pit bulls are not necessarily pegged by dog experts as being more violent than other canines.
"Every dog has a behavior that comes from both nature and nurture, and no breed is inherently good or inherently bad any more than any human being is," Dr. Terri Bright, director of behavior services at MSPCA-Angell said, according to the Boston Herald.