Anonymous said...
Article Submission: The Incompetent of Atkinson.
Don Murphy and Mike Murphy (are you related?) both think it was nothing....sounds familiar. Remember the case of the young boy who was lured to get into a car? That was nothing too. Why are we paying animal control ""officers"" $300.00 a month? TO CONTROL ANIMALS, THAT'S WHY."
I was so infuriated to read about this young baby being bitten. It certainly sounds like an accident but the heartache is there for this family yet to have the town respond in such a cold manner is also a heartache. If a plastic surgeon had to do any reconstruction, it was not not superficial. My prayers are with your family.
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Toddler recovering after pit bull attack
By John Basilesco
Staff Writer
ATKINSON — April Smithell had just jumped in the shower at her mother-in-law's house when she heard a scream.
She ran into the living room and found her 23-month-old son, Ronnie, covered in blood after being attacked by her in-law's 9-year-old pit bull, Hooch, she said.
"I've never seen so much blood in my life," Smithell said. "It was like a horror movie."
She became hysterical as she picked up her son after he had been bitten in the face. She held him in her arms and called 911.
Her son was seriously injured in the attack and underwent reconstructive surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston on Thursday.
"Both of his eyes are swollen shut," she said. "And from his upper lip to his eyebrows is swollen.
"My child is unrecognizable. His twin sister won't even go near him. She's petrified to look at him."
Smithell said Ronnie had bite marks on five different parts of his face, including his nose and under his right eye, which each required stitches. In addition, part of his face had to be reconstructed by a plastic surgeon, she said.
She said she wasn't sure if it was just one or more than one bite that caused her son's injuries.
"Hooch has such a large head, it could have been one bite, but I'm not sure," Smithell said.
The incident happened shortly after 1 p.m. on Wednesday at the home of Cathy and Ronald Smithell Sr., the boy's paternal grandparents, on Waters Edge in Atkinson.
After treating the boy at the scene, firefighters transported him to Parkland Medical Center in Derry, where he was evaluated. He was then taken by ambulance to Massachusetts Eye and Ear, where he was kept for two nights and released yesterday.
His mother, who lives in Derry, said she doesn't understand why Atkinson Animal Control Officer Don Murphy didn't take the dog away after the attack. Murphy has not returned repeated phone calls from The Eagle-Tribune.
Police dispatcher Jodi Consentino said police don't have any jurisdiction over animal control issues in town. Such calls are handled by Murphy, and animal control is a separate town department and doesn't answer to police, she said.
Ronald Smithell Sr. defended his dog, but said he will voluntarily have Hooch euthanized to make sure that what happened to his grandson never happens to anyone else. Euthanizing the dog will also put Hooch — who suffers from painful arthritis — out of his misery, he said.
Smithell said he is very upset about what happened to his grandson. He said Ronnie was pulling on Hooch's bad shoulder to move him out of the way of the door to the sun deck so he could get outside when the dog bit him.
"He pulled the dog, and the dog reacted. It was just an accident," he said. "The dog is almost 9 years old and he never scratched anybody. He was loving the kid and licking him before Ronnie started pulling him. Ronnie was pulling him and probably hurt him."
April Smithell and her mother, Carol Lavoie, also of Derry, took issue with fire Chief Michael Murphy's initial assessment of the boy's injuries as "superficial."
Reached yesterday, Murphy didn't dispute the injuries described by the boy's mother and grandmother, but said he stands by his initial report, which was taken by firefighters at the scene. It stated that the boy suffered minor lacerations on his nose and under his right eye, he said.
The report is based on their observations at the scene, the chief said. The boy was taken to Parkland for further evaluation to see how extensive his injuries actually were, he said, which is the normal way of handling such an incident.
Despite Ronnie's appearance now, April Smithell said a plastic surgeon told her that the scarring on her son's face should be minimal.
August 2, 2008 6:50 PM
Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson
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8 comments:
Idiots. The grandfather was not watching the dog nor the kid and is not a responsible adult. Would you let your two year old play in the yard with an alligator? Rather than take responsibility for the accident, the grandfather blames the kid. Maybe he should have blamed himself?
The dog should have been shot and the grandfather arrested for plain old stupidity. But then again, if that were the case, we would have to make a bigger jail for all the stupid people out there.
To remark over the Animal officer, A few years ago i called the animal control over a dog that was in my yard that should not of been there. I never got a call back nor did anyone show up at my house to respond to my call. Was not just one phone call either.
I guess I don't see why the animal control officer is being criticized for this? The owner stated he will voluntarily put the dog down. There could have also been some further swelling of the injuries after the initial examination.
If anyone is to criticized here, it should be the pit bull owners who insist this breed is gentle. If only I had a dime for every article I read about pit bull attack with the quote from the owner saying the dog never harmed anyone before...
Enough about the breed involved. In half the homes with dogs that my kids visit, the "family friendly" dog will growl at the kids when the adult isn't present or will otherwise threaten the children. In most cases, it seems to be well known that the dog will "nip" or "snap", which is ridiculous and a liability that's kept secret from the other parents until something happens. Perhaps this pit bull "snapped", just like any other dog left to its own devices around kids that wasn't perfectly stable to begin with. I'm a certified professional dog trainer doing mostly house manners training on shelter dogs and the pit bull terrier has been my favorite breed since before they made headlines in the 1990s, and I would have this one euthanized just as I'd have any pit bull or other dog that threatened a child euthanized. There are enough stable, even headed dogs out there needing homes and no reason to keep a liability. The owner of the chihuahua that keeps growling and snapping at the family kids and friends of my daughter, I'm addressing you as well!
I agree. I complained to animal control when a neighbors dog came after me, on my property. He laughed at me. Since the dog is small he figured he was harmless. Aggressive behavior by animals obviously isn't taken seriously in this town. I don't think taking chances with aggressive animals is funny, Don Murphy.
Article submission:
Did you file for an abatement?
With house prices dropping, your home in Atkinson is probably overvalued now and you are entitled to a lower assessment. Take a look at your latest tax bill. Do you think you can get the assessed amount if you were to sell? It would be prudent for you to examine your tax card, which contains information about your home that is not reflected in the tax bill. Note any discrepancies in the description and get an assessment from a realtor. Why should you pay more tax than you should? Based on the article, the drop in the median price by $11,500 equates to $162.00 tax decrease, assuming you believe the average house in Atkinson is worth $434,115.
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Home sales plummet in N.H.; prices down 8 percent
By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
The number of homes sold in Rockingham County during the first half of 2008 was down almost 17 percent over the first half of last year.
Homes are spending more time on the market, and when they finally sell they're selling for less than they would have last year, according to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. But the housing market in Rockingham County isn't suffering nearly as much as the rest of the state.
Statewide, home sales were down 22 percent for the first six months of this year in comparison to the same period a year ago. Merrimack County experienced a 29 percent drop in sales while Grafton County saw 31 percent fewer sales.
The median sales price in New Hampshire was $241,000 for the more than 4,500 single-family homes sold — 8 percent lower than a year ago, according to association spokesman Dave Cummings.
But here in the southern part of the state, the median sales price — $295,000 — dropped less than 7 percent, Cummings said. Both in Rockingham County and statewide, homes are staying on the market for about 140 days.
While the news may be frustrating for those trying to sell, Cummings said the fluctuation in home prices is nothing new. The market runs in a 10- to 12-year cycle, and right now it's on the downside.
"In the mid- to late '90s, there was a real buildup of prices. They went up by double digits for five straight years," he said. "Now, it's starting to correct itself. It is literally a drop, but any sort of analysis would show that it's a correction, not a collapse."
With prices decreasing, sales are improving some for Tinkham Realty in Londonderry.
"In the last couple of months, I've seen a few more things go into agreement," said Tinkham real estate agent Deborah Shacht. "But there's still a lot of homes on the market compared to a couple of years ago."
Homes in the Derry and Londonderry area are staying on the market for about six months, Shacht said. Two years ago, houses averaged just 30 days on the market in this area.
The asking prices for homes haven't dropped much on average, she said. Starter homes range from $250,000 to $325,000, while larger homes in the area still average in the high $300,000s to $400,000, Shacht said.
Those prices probably won't drop much lower, according to Jim Lyons, president of the Realtors Association. He isn't sure when the market will pick up but said it probably will not change much until then.
"New Hampshire is performing best in New England," he said. "I think we're going to fare well."
To reflect that, many homeowners are still trying to sell in this buyers market.
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Plaistow is seeing just a slight drop in listings in Atkinson and Hampstead, the same number of listings in Plaistow, and more listings in Newton, according to Senior Vice President Erminio Grasso.
With a "good amount" of foreclosed homes on the market in those towns, average prices have dropped a bit, he said. But the higher the number of listings, the better chance buyers have to get a good deal in Rockingham County.
"Supply and demand," Grasso said. "More new listings cause prices to go down."
That's happened in Atkinson, where the median sales price has dropped almost $11,500 during the first six months this year compared to the same period last year, Grasso said. The median home price in Atkinson is $434,115, he said.
Newton has seen a more significant drop, with the median sales price about $38,000 less through June compared to last year. The median price in Newton is $218,400, Grasso said.
Plaistow's median sales price dropped about $28,000 to an average of $218,911, he said.
But in Hampstead, the housing market is going against the trend.
The median sales price has appreciated by about $2,000 to $283,089, Grasso said. Coldwell Banker sold 50 houses in Hampstead between January and June compared to 44 homes sold during the same period last year.
Anonymous, August 4. 11:06 am writes:
"Enough about the breed involved. In half the homes with dogs that my kids visit, the "family friendly" dog will growl at the kids when the adult isn't present or will otherwise threaten the children. In most cases, it seems to be well known that the dog will "nip" or "snap"..."
So what you are telling us is fifty percent of the homes with dogs you visit, the dog will growl or threaten your kids when you are not around (to see it happen.) Hmmmm...seems a little fishy to me.
Actually, this is about the breed. There is a mighty big difference between a nipping poodle and a pit bull that bit this child's face in five different places. You're kidding yourself if you think this breed is not more aggressive than other breeds.
The child is fortunate to have not lost an eye in all of this. Accidents do happen and after they do we realize that most of the time it could have been prevented.
In this case, the dog should NOT have been alone with the toddler period. Any animal whether it is a pit bull, alligator, mountain lion or poodle, have thoughts of their own and based upon those, they are unpredictable.
The grandfather, the fool who he is, should not have left the toddler by himself whether it be 10 feet away from the mutt or five inches. A strike can occur within the blink of an eye when we least expect it.
However, the dog worshipping grandfather is quick to blame the kid for the mistake that took place indicating that the kid pushed the dog. Well pops, if you knew that the dog was ill and that you have a toddler who is not an adolescent and thinks like a child, you should have thought "gee, this little boy by may push or poke my dog; maybe its not a good idea to let them play together". Do ya think! Maybe you should love your grandson more than your dog. Geesh!
I agree with the first poster here. These folks are idiots. It is too bad the child will be scared for life. And as for the dog officer, no question about it. Shot on site; maybe they could have used the firearm that was lost this past winter!
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