Francesco Pio was the name of the 13-month-old child who died after being mauled by two pit bulls in Campolongo, a hamlet of Eboli. When the dogs attacked him he was in his uncle Simone’s arms. «I saw them bite my nephew. One held him by the shoulder, the other by the feet. I was sleeping when I heard the screams and then my sister calling me. I woke up and went down to the garden. But we couldn’t save him”, is the story of Uncle Giuseppe. The tragedy occurred at 8 in the morning in the garden of a semi-detached house. When the 118 rescuers arrived, the child was lying on a table and wrapped in a blanket, already dead. The dogs are now found in the “Dog’s Town” of Pignataro Maggiore in the Caserta area, where the municipality’s strays end up. The uncle was injured and was treated.
“They mauled the father”
The two dogs are subjected to medical and administrative seizure by the ASL and the prosecutor’s office. They will remain under observation for ten days to see if they have rabies. In this case they will be immediately demolished. But suppression is also foreseen in cases of proven danger. The Salerno prosecutor Giuseppe Borrelli and the public prosecutor Alessandro Di Vico are investigating the matter. According to one of Francesco Pio’s uncles, the two dogs in the past attacked another pit bull, apparently their father, and mauled him. A friend of the child’s mother and uncles also lives in the house. She should be the owner of the dogs, together with her ex-husband. The woman was taken ill. Today the investigators will listen to her. The dogs were always free to roam the space in front of the house.
Francesco Pio
Francesco Pio, tells the Corriere della Sera, was born on March 8, 2023 from a relationship between his mother, who is called Paola Santoro, and a citizen of Morocco. A previous partner of the woman, with whom he had had two other children, had recognized him. She is originally from Montecorvino Rovella, she works as a janitor in a bar in Battipaglia. In Eboli he was a guest of the owner of the dogs. “Maybe the dogs thought the child was a danger because they had never seen him,” his sister Milena explained to journalists. «My sister told me that the dogs attacked him directly. I don’t know if she was in her mother’s arms or in someone else’s arms: my two brothers were also in the house, perhaps she was in the arms of one of them, I think so. The dogs didn’t know the little one because when he went out they were sent away. Maybe they ran out of the room when they saw him. They belong to a friend who lives here. We knew them, but they never threw themselves at us.”
«Free to move»
The mayor of Eboli Mario Conte instead says that the dogs were always free to circulate in the space in front of the house. The municipality will cover the funeral costs. Paola Santoro would have arrived at her friend’s house on Sunday evening. According to Conte, the victim’s mother lived a few hundred meters from the area where the tragedy occurred. Marina Pompameo, director of the veterinary area of the ASL Napoli 1, explains today to Il Mattino that for “biting” dogs there is a ministerial order, that of 6 August 2013, which provides for the use of a leash and muzzle in the areas urban. Regional law 3 of 2019 in article 10 provides for an updated register of dogs at high risk of aggression, with prescriptions. When an attack occurs, the local health authority evaluates the context.
Responsible ownership
«Veterinarians assign a score based on the type of aggression, the predictability and repeatability of the event. In addition to the characteristics of the bite, the psychophysical condition of the animal and its correct management”, explains Pompameo. Marco Melosi, president of the National Association of Italian Veterinary Doctors (Anvi), explains today to Repubblica that «a regulation is needed, as happens in 80% of European countries: they call it responsible possession». That is, restrictive rules for those who own dogs such as pitbulls, Dogo Argentinos and Corsos. «These include insurance and the obligation to undertake a course with a vet, before having the dog at home, to know how to educate it and how to relate to it. Then, once this phase is passed, it is handed over to him.”
Rules for children
Melosi explains that pit bulls «are not a breed recognized by the ENCI. All dogs theoretically under certain conditions can be “dangerous” as they are instinctive. They have reactions because they sense a danger that is only in their mind and which they interpret as a warning, an alarm and therefore they react by biting. Obviously if you are dealing with the reaction of a dachshund, the problem will be small; a pit bull due to its physical characteristics – muscles and teeth – can create serious problems”. Finally, the vet explains the rules for children: «First rule: a dog and a child should never be together alone in a room, especially if we are talking about fighting or defense dogs. Dogs consider children to be their equals because they are the same height and do not respect the rules of contact when they approach, so they can react by biting.”
Read also:
Tags: Francesco Pio story child mauled pit bulls Eboli rules home
