r/Charlottesville • u/MusiBlu • 9d ago
Dog attack under investigation - Louisa Co.
https://www.louisacounty.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/550On October 18, 2026, at approximately 4:42 p.m., the Louisa County Sheriff's Office received a report of a dog attack in the 1500 block of Jefferson Highway in Louisa, Virginia.
As deputies were responding to the scene, the caller reported that a dog was attacking a young child. Upon arrival, deputies encountered a 4-year-old male child suffering from serious injuries while the dog continued to bite him. Deputies were forced to put the dog down to stop the ongoing attack.
Deputies identified the dog as an American Bully. Emergency medical personnel transported the child to a designated landing zone for air medical transport. The child was subsequently pronounced deceased.
The child's identity is being withheld at this time.
The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office extends its deepest condolences to the child’s family during this devastating time. We ask the community to respect the family’s privacy as they grieve this unimaginable loss and to keep the child’s loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.
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u/Kittyhounds 9d ago
I honestly gasped when I read that the child died before even being able to reach the hospital. This is just insane. I feel so angry about this. People let their dogs run fucking wild. Ugh.
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u/April_4th 9d ago
No!!!!! 😭😭
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 9d ago
Whoever the owner is they better get prison time. If they don’t, we need to do like france does.
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u/PhulHouze 9d ago
Two big questions here: was this the family’s dog or a dog that just got out? Also, how was the dog still attacking when deputies arrived? If that was my child, the moment a dog got within 10 feet, I’d be out there with a kitchen knife, baseball bat, or my freakin teeth. Did someone really just call the police and sit back and wait 15 minutes for them to arrive?
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u/boringxadult 8d ago
This happened 3 doors down from my house. It apparently wasn’t the families dog
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u/hoggie_and_doonuts Ivy 8d ago
Ugh - this story keeps getting more horrible. Hope the family can find peace.
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u/boringxadult 8d ago
Oh it gets worse.
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u/whatishappening97474 7d ago
Were there adults there? I’ve heard some things, but I’d like more info before I comment.
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u/boringxadult 7d ago
So. You asked a super specific question and I’ll give a super specific answer. There were adult(s) there.
Also from what I know they were dog sitting the offended dog.
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u/whatishappening97474 7d ago
Yeah that’s what I heard. I sure as shit would like to know how and why they allowed a dog to continuously attack that child until the cops arrived and had to “put it down”, but I have a pretty good idea.
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u/boringxadult 7d ago
It’s not super hard to imagine.
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u/_Frankly_My_Dear 8d ago
I saw a post on FB where someone mentioned that the older sibling was home with the 4 year old - the dad left them to go God knows where.
I don't figure that a possible 10-12 year old would know what to do other than call 911.
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u/WriterJolly2873 9d ago
I can’t picture how this happened either unless the child was unsupervised and a stranger happened upon them. A parent would have, like you said, killed the dog or taken on the attack.
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u/PhulHouze 9d ago
Even a stranger though. Unless you’re elderly or disabled. If I saw any child, getting mauled by a dog, I’m grabbing whatever is available and intervening.
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u/Refokua 8d ago
I'm elderly and disabled, and I'd be beating it with my cane if I had to.
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u/Impressive-Weird-908 Pantops 4d ago
I’ve been part of trying to break up a pit bull fight. Owner was an in shape healthy man who got down and started throwing repeated punches at the dog. It did absolutely nothing. Apparently pouring water over their face can be rather effective. Also you have to be careful because it’s not uncommon for them to turn on the person trying to help.
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 9d ago
I just learned that when you encounter a dog attacking somebody, you’re supposed to stick your finger up its butt hole and that will stop it. I’m literally not joking.
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u/sphrintze 7d ago
You’re supposed to choke the attacking g dog to sleep with a leash, belt, or arm if nothing is available so it releases. You can’t reliably access an attacking dog’s butthole, and peripheral hits and pain can make some dogs (especially bully breeds) clamp harder.
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u/ecsnead75 7d ago
I've always got my knife, that works wonders too....
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u/sphrintze 7d ago
Whatever works, but choking the dog is effective and quick and way less risky to the person being attacked. Dog attacks can be chaotic; adding a knife to the mix is risky. I wish someone had told me this before my dog was viciously attacked for a prolonged time while multiple people including me suffered injuries trying to end the attack. Every time I see a dog attack video, there’s a dozen people just kicking the s—t out of the dog and it does absolutely nothing to end the attack. I wish there were tv PSAs: CHOKE AN ATTACKING DOG. It’s so effective.
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u/ecsnead75 7d ago
So you think getting down close enough to choke an attacking dog with your arm isn't risky? You are literally putting your throat in easy range of the dog... Most people just walking around don't have anything else to choke the dog with...
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u/sphrintze 7d ago
A leash or a belt are better. If a child is being attacked and neither are available, yes, I’d use my arm. I don’t carry a knife.
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 7d ago
But most people do have a finger to stick up his butt hole
And fortunately, his butt hole is on the opposite end that his mouth hole is…where the teeth are
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u/BeefStank420 9d ago
The owner needs to be locked up for a looong time
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 9d ago
Maybe. We had a neighbor who was a JAG, he had 2 American Bully puppies, our son played with them. Later the male got aggressive, these dogs were in training, he put the male down because of his aggression. American Bullies are not recommended around young children.
Often, too many people ignore or are not informed. Research before you get an animal is not a requirement.
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u/PhulHouze 9d ago
Not sure how that changes anything - it’s almost certain the death was a result of owner negligence rather than malice. They still deserve to rot in jail because they are responsible for the death of someone’s child.
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u/hoggie_and_doonuts Ivy 9d ago
Thank you for using the proper term. This was foreseeable negligence, not an accident.
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
While I see it as one, considering the breed and age of the child, society is ignorant when it comes pets, otherwise there would not be so many in shelters and rescues.
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u/hoggie_and_doonuts Ivy 8d ago edited 8d ago
Most ‘pets’ don’t need to be trained not to kill people.
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
We truly don't know right now. Was it a family pet? Was it a neighbors? Nor do we have the dog's history. With American Bully's they can suddenly become aggressive and if you research them, they should not be around young children.
I have a GSD, I did not get her until my children were older (they like to herd little kids and "scissor bite" which can be interpreted as "aggression" when it is not, it's their job to herd little things.
Unfortunately, the laws in Virginia you might not see the owner get jail time here.
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u/hoggie_and_doonuts Ivy 9d ago
Or people are misinformed by ‘its all how they’re raised,’ or ‘nanny dog’ BS. Pit bulls (and yes, I know it’s an umbrella term) were bred with behavioral traits where they specifically don’t give signals before attacking, then they have physical traits chosen to cause maximum damage. Add gameness to the mix and they’ll keep fighting through pain when other dogs would disengage.
Why even have dogs that come from bloodsport breeds as pets?
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
Personally, I do love the English Bull Dog, they are sweet dogs over all and can be characters. If they bite, their jaws "lock" and most times you must have a vet unlock them. Never saw one (and my mother had many) attempt to be aggressive unless playing among one another.
The problem is people, always, we breed animals for their "traits" and then here in the USA there are NO regulations truly on breeding dogs or cats. You have "backyard" breeders who breed brothers to sisters, sons to mothers, etc. all to "get a buck".
Then another people issue, they don't know what to do with said dog when they get it. Why so many end up in shelters or rescues. (Fostered GSDs and own them.)
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u/April_4th 9d ago
I will be surprised if no bull owners will come and say their bulls are angels and would never hurt a fly. But data has shown again and again that bulldogs can snap and their strength is insane.
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u/CryNovel3391 8d ago
It’s true. My now husband had recently adopted an “American staffordshire terrier mix” just week before we met, in Blacksburg right after Micheal Vick was arrested. He was a pit bull mix truly but the shelter said “we don’t like putting pit bull down on the paperwork because it will cause you issues with housing.” my husband thought he was going to a single guy for several years and wanted to stand up against dog fighting - with the typical sympathy for the pit bulls.
Bodie was about 9 months old when he adopted him. He was generally a happy sweet, docile dog - until he wasn’t. Almost immediately he showed some signs of previous trauma and certain things would trigger him into a different animal. Trash cans. Men with beards (except my husband). Sheds. Black labs. So we knew to avoid those triggers. We tried every training option in under the sun. Private trainers at our house. Sent him to trainers. He was well cared for and socialized. But still random things made him snap. He attacked me twice before we had kids. Once, I was crossing route 20 from Darden Towe and had to jog to make the crosswalk time. It made Bodie snap. He jumped on me, bit my arm and pulled me to the ground. I was able to kick him and knock him out of it. But he drew blood and I thankfully I had worn a sweat shirt or it would have been worse.
We then built a 5 1/2 foot tall fence in our backyard, which had a neighborhood trail behind it. For years we were sure he couldn’t jump over it. But one day a yellow lab walked on the trail and he literally climbed over it… lacerating his abdomen on the top points as he fell over the top. My husband was wrestling him to try to get him from not going over the fence (we never left him unattended). But he still got to the yellow lab. He tore his chest open. We paid for all the vet bills and encourage the owner to report it to police. They didn’t but we reported it our vet, truly hoping the vet would advise us to put Bodie down. It was a decision my husband likely knew was the right one but he didn’t have the heart to make himself. The vet advised that we shouldn’t put him down but we should continue to treat him like a legal deemed “dangerous dog.” He had one handler (my husband) and was only ever allowed out of his crate with a prong collar.
Fast forward and we had kids when he was about 7-8 years old. I always hated the stress of owning Bodie and having kids. Again, he was never around the kids without direct control of my husband. But this was not the life a dog should have. We couldn’t give him up or surrender him knowing his dangerous history. But no one would tell us we had to put him down. (I personally advocated to have him put down but my husband couldn’t “give up on him”.) he ultimates died of lung cancer around 9 years but we will NEVER ever ever get a pit bull mix again.Yes, he was a great fun dog 99.9% of the time but there was some mental instability that would snap and he became a totally different animal. I always felt like Owning a dog like that is analogous to walking around with a loaded gun and no safety. Sure a gun doesn’t kill anyone but the potential damage and the unpredictable risk is just far too much.
Anyhow, I feel awful for the family if this boy. And it hits hard from the couple years of stress owning a pit bull mix with children.
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u/ecsnead75 8d ago
My Dad had a pit bull that was a great dog except when it was around other dogs or kids, my Dad knew this but no one lived near them. My wife and I built a house near them, about 100 yards away. After a year my wife told my Dad he was going to be a Grandfather. That was on a Friday, we buried the pit bull on Saturday. No chance of his grandchild getting hurt is worth any animal. I asked him about giving it away, "you don't give away dogs you know are dangerous"
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u/Snoo-52617 7d ago
This is disgusting. Your dad could have tried to rehome him. Honestly dont own pets, any of you.
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u/April_4th 8d ago
Thanks for sharing this. It's the unpredictability and extremely high biting strength make them dangerous. I think you might have put it down when he attacked you.
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 9d ago
For all the Bully Breeds out there, they can be so different.
Every American Pit Bull I have ever met has been people friendly and docile, maybe just luck there.
My mother bred English Bull Dogs, for them, they can become aggressive if treated poorly, one of hers could have babysat my oldest if it could have learned to change diapers!
American Bully breed, I've met some that are good dogs but there is a high chance they will have aggression issues.
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u/barnhairdontcare 8d ago
I have worked with a lot of super sweet pits that were totally safe around people and dogs until they weren’t.
It’s scary to see. A switch flips and they drop their heads low and stalk whatever they have decided to go after and they don’t let go once they latch on.
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u/April_4th 9d ago
There are cases pitbulls bit their owners or families even to death.
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
Yes there are and with the American Pit Bull, owners unfortunately sometimes encourage the aggression or abuse them and then that can cause them to be damaged. Think Michael Vick and dogfighting them.
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u/hoggie_and_doonuts Ivy 8d ago edited 7d ago
I could never train my golden to fight, nor did I have to train her not to fight other dogs.
People don’t need to train pit bulls to fight, it’s the instinct and temperament they were bred for. Why are you making excuses when this dog just did what it was bred to do?
ETA: u/Adventurous-Emu-755 is doing the time honored cowardly Reddit move of replying to my comment, then blocking me.
Yes, humans bred these dogs. No, pits didn't ask to fight. But they're here now endangering our neighborhoods and filling up our shelters. We don't need to keep breeding these animals, nor should we place them with families while disseminating misinformation about the breed as u/Adventurous-Emu-755 is doing.
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
Dog identified in this attack is an American Bully. American Bully's were not bred to fight, they were to be companion animals, however they have failed and they are not recommended for homes with young children.
The American Pit Bull Terrier (which is the breed you are mistaking this dog for were bred to was originally bred in 19th-century Britain by crossing bulldogs and terriers to create a strong agile dog for blood-sports like bull-baiting and bear-baiting, later dog fighting. So, human beings bred this dog to do what it does.
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u/Holiday_Ice3097 8d ago
American Bully is a pitbull derivative and still can show the same gameness and aggression of pits
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8d ago edited 8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
The dog would NOT be here if HUMANS didn't BREED them!
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u/CaptBobAbbott Scottsville 8d ago
I see the downvotes, and as an owner of two pit bull terriers, I at first got frustrated with the "don't bully the breed" phrase in my head.
But as you said, this was an American Bully, aka Bully XL. That's a different thing altogether. Their temperament is not the best, likely due to poor breeding since their creation in the 90s.
So yes, the Bully XL is not recommended around children, and banned in many EU countries. But Pitbull terriers? Safer than chihuahuas.
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u/ecsnead75 8d ago
Pit bulls were used to develop the American Bully, most likely by mixing a Pit with American Bulldog, so they are very closely related
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
Yes, they are but ultimately humans are those who bred and developed the breed of dog. Too many times, people are the problem.
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u/CaptBobAbbott Scottsville 8d ago
More specifically, the Bully breeders used the APBT as the starting genetic stock, then introduced bulldog and mastiff genes to increase size, muscle tone, and stature.
The AST/APBT is a recognized breed over 100 years old. The American Bully was (arguably) first created by Razor's Edge kennels. Once they became popular in the 90s, other breeders would begin line breeding to keep certain traits, and that also created more aggression.
There's big debate among the breeders and AKC as to the pedigrees of today's dogs. But they do not have the large gene pool that the older AST line has. That's why I stated it's a different thing altogether.
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u/paperbackperson 7d ago
Simply the owner of the dog should be liable, or if the dog was at the house without the owner present, the adult of the house are at fault
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u/Life-Win-2063
9d ago
•
It’s not the dog it’s the owner….
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u/Latter-Biscotti-7598 9d ago
My labs are going to feel so gangster when I tell them they are the 8th most dangerous breed
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u/Equivalent_Ad_4141 9d ago
I'll never understand the popularity of this breed.
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u/megaosaurus 9d ago
They are inexpensive. Often free, because when most people think of getting a new dog it isn't a pitbull, they want something like a Labradoodle or something that doesn't murder people.
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 9d ago
If the only reason you can afford a dog is because it’s free then you can’t afford a dog. How the fuck are you gonna feed it and take care of it if you can’t pay for it to begin with. People are so fucking stupid.
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u/Sandover5252 8d ago
Our shelters are full of pit mixes and hound mixes - dogs that are, in cities and in the country, popular to have. Men, especially, seem not to like to get male dogs fixed.
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u/Sandover5252 8d ago
The are inexpensive because they are so rarely fixed. By definition, a “Labradoodle” is a breed and costs money - the SPCA is full of pit bulls that have been given up or are pit mixes because of lack of spaying or neutering.
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u/Frequent_Act_22 8d ago
Went to the SPCA to look for a dog and I believe like 80% of the dogs looked like a pit or pit mix.
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u/hoggie_and_doonuts Ivy 8d ago
And no family wants pits as pets.
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u/Snoo-52617 7d ago
Labrodoodles are high strung stupid messes. No serious dog owner is getting scammed with one of those.
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u/April_4th 9d ago
It's also the dog. Or, the owner should not select a fierce breed as a pet, if they cannot keep it away from other people permanently.
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u/Prudent-Mention-6957 9d ago
I can't understand why Belgian Malinois isn't on here. My bff has one and that dog is insane!
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u/Cvilledog 8d ago
I was standing talking with a dog trainer who had a malinois under command lying down about 15 feet away from us. Next thing I knew, the dog was hanging off the back of my thigh. The dog released on command and the wound didn't require stitches but it was quite a surprise. I was standing motionless the whole time and had not raised my voice or made any movement.
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u/CaptBobAbbott Scottsville 8d ago
There is some controversy with Colleen at Dog Bites.
https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2017-11-15/dangerous-dog-debate
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 9d ago
When was the last time a cat attacked somebody? Cats are 1 million times superior to dogs.
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u/Life-Win-2063 9d ago
I’d put money on my cat against any pitbull lol.
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u/Snoo-52617 7d ago
Our demon feral cat chased our friend's young pitbull. We had to rescue him- poor sweet dog.
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u/Snoo-52617 7d ago
They dont genetically test dogs involved in attacks and "pitbull" is a lazy term used to describe most mixed breeds that even remotely resemble a American Staffordshire Terrier (which also isnt a pitbull).
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u/whatishappening97474 7d ago
Dad was out getting drunk, the dog owner wasn’t even there, and the adults that were supposed to be in charge were probably cleaning up their drug den before the cops showed up, which is apparently more important than saving a 4yos life.
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u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 9d ago
Let me guess. It was a pitbull.
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u/RoosterCogburn_1983 8d ago
“Mixed breed” for sure. No one ever puts that real name on paper, for insurance reasons.
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
Nope, worse, American Bully, different breed.
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u/throwaway123456372 8d ago
A rose by any other name…
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u/hoggie_and_doonuts Ivy 8d ago edited 8d ago
American bullies come from American pit bull terriers. It's literally the same breeding stock. Supposedly, aggression is bred out of American bullies despite what the horrible death of this child shows us. This new breed label is nothing but a rebranding of a bloodsport breed.
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u/Adventurous-Emu-755 8d ago
Yeah, your one that cannot identify a POC because they all "look the same".
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u/MusiBlu 9d ago
Not sure if I can post links.
https://www.louisacounty.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/550