There has been a renewed call for the banning of the popular pit bull dogs after an 11-year-old boy was mauled by one of the animals in Barbados.{{more}}

The Barbados Daily Nation reported Monday that Theo Watson was nursing two gaping holes on both his thighs, close to his groin at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

According to the Nation, the boy’s adoptive father Colin King said Watson and his 13-year-old brother were in the backyard of their St. Michael home last Wednesday when one of three pit bulls, owned by their cousin, came loose and ran after them. The animal grabbed Watson and dragged him away from the house. His brother, however, escaped.

The report said that it was only “after several blows from the child’s mother, who asked not to be identified, and his grandmother, Watson was finally freed from the jaws of the pit bull”.

The report said that soon after the incident, two of the pit bulls were poisoned and the other removed from the house.

The incident has sparked a call for the banning of the dogs from Barbados by the boy’s adoptive father Colin King.

The Nation Newspaper said that Wayne Norville, chief inspector of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruety to Animals, said he was aware of the situation and that from 1984 he had been warning the authorities about pit bulls, adding that something needed to be done urgently.

Similar calls had been made in Trinidad and Tobago after several reports of maulings by pit bulls.

These animals have increased in popularity across the region as guard dogs with some persons training them to be vicious.

Local veterinarian Dr. Eric Audain, however, does not agree with the dogs being banned. The SEARCHLIGHT columnist said that while there have been some cases of pit bulls attacking people, these are dogs that can be trained. He says that there have been cases of other pet dogs attacking people but it depends on how the animals were trained.

At the dog show held here recently at the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex, the majority of dogs entered in the aggression competition were pit bulls.