You might ask this kid's mother her opinion.
S.F. boy, 12, killed by his family's pit bulls Shocked Inner Sunset neighbors call 911 as his mother screams: 'Help me!'
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Heather Knight and Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writers
Saturday, June 4, 2005
A 12-year-old boy was mauled to death by his family's two pit bulls Friday in his apartment in San Francisco's Inner Sunset District, authorities said.
The boy, identified by school district officials as Nicholas Scott Faibish, was in his apartment at 711 Lincoln Way when the 80-pound dogs -- a male named Rex and a female named Ella -- attacked him about 3:15 p.m., authorities said.
The boy's mother, covered in blood, screamed, "Get them out of here!'' said a neighbor who heard the commotion and saw the woman through the apartment window.
A police officer shot and killed one of the dogs, believed to be Ella, when the dog prevented him from entering the apartment in the building across from Golden Gate Park, a police spokesman said. The other dog was captured in the backyard and was being held by animal control officers.
Paramedics tried and failed to resuscitate the boy at the scene.
Shocked neighbors said the dogs were often friendly, affectionate and well behaved.
"The dogs were sweethearts,'' said Art Austin, a neighbor. "I never thought they were vicious. They were really nice. I would pet them, and my wife would kiss them on the forehead.''
But 13-year-old neighbor Aaron Vinnik said he saw the dogs regularly and they were not always well behaved.
"The dogs barked at us, and one of them, the white-and-brown one, he came (at) us," Aaron said.
He said the dogs were "sometimes nice, sometimes mean.''
Austin said he saw the first officer on the scene shoot one of the dogs.
"I saw the policeman trying to get in the door,'' Austin said. "The dog wouldn't let him past. He had to shoot it.''
There was no immediate explanation for what triggered the dogs' attack.
A teacher at Roosevelt Middle School, where Nicholas attended sixth grade, said the boy's family was planning to move to Oregon, probably after the school year.
Nick, as she knew him, liked talking about his dogs, playing computer games and being with his friends, she said.
"He's so similar to all boys his age, very similar," said the teacher, who asked not to be identified. "I'm just devastated. This is just so unreal."
Diane Panagotacos, the principal at Roosevelt, said Friday night that Nicholas had adjusted well to middle school.
"I just remember freckles on him," she said. "I kind of remember him just being animated. I saw smiles on his face, that's what I remember. I remember a happy youngster. ... It's just so sad to hear the circumstances.
"We're having our eighth-grade dinner dance right now, and we haven't told any of the kids,'' Panagotacos said. "Monday, we will definitely need to deal with this -- grief counselors, whatever the kids and staff need." She put her hands over her face and began to cry.
Ony Ozonsi, an eighth-grader at Roosevelt, remembered Nicholas as a bubbly boy who stood out even to him, two grades ahead.
"He was a happy little kid,'' Ony said. "He liked to play with the other kids a lot and was always here after school."
Police Chief Heather Fong and Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White were among the authorities who went to the scene of the attack.
"It's a very tragic situation,'' Hayes-White said. "The city family offers its deepest sympathy and condolences.''
Nicholas lived in the apartment with his parents and a sister and brother. Their names were not immediately available.
Donna Castelli, wife of Art Austin, said she had seen the boy's mother moments after the tragedy.
"She was hysterical, she was screaming, she was yelling,'' Castelli said.
A neighbor who lived in an adjacent building and who asked not to be identified said she called 911 after hearing Nicholas' mother screaming, "Help me! Help me!''
She looked through her window and saw that the woman's face and hands were covered with blood.
The neighbor said she had seen the dogs earlier Friday lounging in front of the two-story wood-shingled apartment building.
Castelli was among those who said the two dogs seemed tame. They would run around the backyard of the apartment building but were always on a leash when in public, she said.
"They were lovely dogs,'' Castelli said.
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