The trial of Jack Smith and Crystal Watson for the fatal dog attack upon 7-year-old Tanner Monk began this week. The boy was killed by two pitbulls on n May 18, 2008, in Breckenridge, Texas. (To read about the trial, click here.)

This state had the highest number of fatal dog attacks in the United States last year. (See the home page of Dog Bite Law.)

Concern over fatalities and other maulings lead to the passage of Lilian's Law, which imposes steep penalties on the owners of dangerous dogs. (For the law and my opinion about it, see Texas on Dog Bite Law.)

It is not widely known (but should be) that the U.S. Postal Service stops delivering mail to homes with dangerous dogs. Sometimes the stoppage extends to the entire neighborhood. This is for the protection of the mail carriers. Click here to read a recent article about one such mail stoppage.

On Monday, September 29, 2008, Katya Teresa Todesco, a 5-year-old girl residing in Simi Valley, California, died from a pit bull attack which occurred on September 23, 2008. The dog was in a neighbor's back yard. (Click here to read the story.)

There is an element of cover-up in this story that is somewhat remarkable. Authorities did not immediately report the attack, saying that keeping it out of the media would be best for the girl's parents. Tellingly, however, Ventura County Department of Animal Regulations Director Kathy Jenks also told reporters that in her opinion "pit bull attacks are reported much more frequently than those by other breeds of dogs."

However, there is no evidence confirming this.

Jenks also admitted that on the night Katya was attacked, a different pit bull killed another dog in Simi Valley, and yet another pit bull bit a woman on her legs in the same city. Both dogs were taken to the animal shelter, and Simi Valley police did not report any of the attacks to the media.

Doesn't this contradict what Jenks said? On her watch, pit bull attacks are NOT reported to the media. Is this what we should expect from animal control officials: manipulation of what the community knows and doesn't know about pit bull attacks?

On September 22, 2008, a 3-day-old girl in Warren, Ohio, was killed in her home by her parents' Husky. The girl was laying in her bassinet. Names have not been released. (Click here to read the story.)

In the United States, this is the third baby girl to be killed by a family dog in one month. (See the summary under "News" on the home page of Dog Bite Law by clicking on the Link, above.)

In this situation, the blame must fall squarely on the parents and not on the dog. Even the most gentle dogs can react unpredictably in new situations. I am willing to bet that this dog had never been around an infant.

What will it take for parents to realize the danger that the family dog poses to babies and small children in general? Dogs do not mix well with infants. Dogs should not be put in that situation. The penalty is death: for the dog even if it just nips, and possibly for the child too.

I will guarantee you, however, that the parents will not be prosecuted for their gross negligence. I see the same pattern again and again. The police start by making excuses, as in this case, where the police spokesman reportedly said the husky mistook the child for a stuffed animal. (See the article, link above.) The prosecutors do not file charges. And juries will not convict, even in the Nicholas Faibish case. This was the mother who told her son to remain in the basement, and gave her pit bull the run of the rest of the house, ending with the dog killing the boy a couple of hours later. (See "Defending against criminal charges: case study of People v. Maureen Faibish" at Dog Bite Law.)

The death of Diane Whipple was in the news this week. The owner of her killer was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. This was justice (even if at the expense of law, as suggested in my prior post). Justice for an adult. When children are killed, there is no justice. Our hearts break for the parents, but in the process we forget that one of the goals of the criminal justice system is to make people do the right thing. Protecting your children from your dog is the right thing. If you fail to do your duty, you fail your children, and you fail your community.

The criminal justice system must stop favoring the well-being of parents over the lives of their children when it comes to dog attacks.

The San Francisco dog mauling case is in the news again. More than 7 years after Diane Whipple was brutally killed, dog owner Marjorie Knoller has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. However, her attorney announced that she would appeal. (For the article, click here.)

The story of the Diane Whipple murder case is related in detail on Dog Bite Law (click here to read it). The Whipple section of the site was referred to as the "bible of the trial."

Whipple's death cries out for justice, but even at this stage it is painfully obvious that this justice will be at the expense of the law. The California Supreme Court has obliged so far, rewriting the law of second degree murder to accommodate prosecutors. The Superior Court has obliged so far, removing the trial judge who granted Knoller's first motion for a new trial, replacing him with a judge who heard not a word of testimony but threw the book at Knoller anyway.

However, the most serious issues in the Whipple murder trial have yet to be appealed. When they are, will the need for justice continue to sweep away the need for law?

Don't get me wrong. Knoller and Noel deserve the worst. Both of them deserve a lifetime in prison for what they did. As a lawyer, however, I cannot help but decry what is being done to the law. I do not see an increase in prosecutions of people as bad as they. I do not see declining numbers of fatal dog attacks, but rising numbers. The Whipple case should be about something more than putting Knoller in prison: it should be about justice and law too. It should be about stopping fatal dog attacks.

But it isn't. It's just about putting Knoller in jail for life. And that's not good enough.

Jeffrey King, Jr. and John Peterson of Yermo, California, both 23, have been charged with failing to maintain mischievous animals that cause death, a felony. (Click here to read the article.)

On December 25, 2007, in Yermo, 45-year-old Kelly Caldwell was killed by up to five dogs. The dogs were running at large on the street where the victim was walking. The dogs were pit bulls and belonged to King, Jr. and Peterson.

Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel were charged with this same felony after their dogs killed Diane Whipple in 2001. However, prosecutors also sought and obtained convictions for involuntary manslaughter (against both defendants) and second degree murder (against Knoller only).