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SALT LAKE CITY — Pansy is a pit bull, a rescued animal and above all else, a lover.
"She's a kisser," said Temma Martin, Pansy's owner.
Pansy has never shown aggressive behavior, Martin said. Since Martin has a 4-year-old son and two other dogs — another pit bull and a Labrador — she made sure that Pansy wasn't aggressive before she brought the dog home.
Martin said Pansy gets along well with children and other dogs, and Pansy has no problem succumbing to a belly rub.
Through her work for Best Friends Animal Society, Martin took the dog through training courses and she said she keeps her socialized with other dogs and people. She's also had her spayed.
"The first on nearly any list on preventing dog bites is to have your dog spayed and neutered," Martin said.
According to the American Humane Association, about 70 percent of all dog bite cases involve unneutered male dogs, and 24 percent of fatal attacks involve free-roaming dogs.
Martin said that another potential factor may be when dogs hit a key age. Dogs reach sexual maturity between the ages of two and three and can become more dominant if they're not sterilized.
According to the Davis County Animal Care and Control, none of the dogs — including the victim in Mondays's attack — were spayed or neutered.
"Here you have this pair of dogs, and (the male) could have been feeling protective of the female in the presence of another unneutered male," Martin said.
Martin's big point was that it's not the breed of the dog that makes it aggressive, rather its upbringing.
Clint Thacker with Davis County Animal Care and Control said the owners of the pit bulls came forward, handed the dog over to the county and asked for them to be euthanized.
They told Thacker the dogs had never acted out before.
"They've raised them from tiny puppies. They say they've been in a great home. They say they've played with other family pets," Thacker said.
The owners did not say how or why their pit bulls were loose.
Animal control also reported the owners could face penalties for not only the attack, but also for allowing the dogs to roam unsupervised and not having pet licenses.
