Bloody, Deadly Pit Bull Attack

Dog Who Killed Boy Held For Evidence

The victim, Nicky Faibish, was 12-years-old.
(ABC7)
San Francisco police are still investigating Friday's attack involving at least one - possibly two - pit bulls, now confirmed to be the victim's own pet.

Rex the pit bull is now confined at the San Francisco Animal Care and Control shelter. San Francisco police say the dog must be held for evidence and consequently, Rex's fate is still unknown.

Deb Campbell, San Francisco Animal Control: "Rex is calm, in his kennel, being fed and cared for by our kennel staff."

All is also quiet at the Faibish home on Lincoln Way. The apartment remains sealed off. On Friday afternoon, Maureen Faibish returned home to find her son, 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish, severely wounded by a dog attack.

Nicholas died at the scene.

Police shot the family's female pit bull, Ella, when she refused to let them inside. Animal control officers found Rex hiding in a crawlspace.

Investigators still don't know if one or both dogs attacked the boy. By all accounts, the dogs were friendly. The family even inscribed their names in the concrete out front.

Other pit bull owners say despite tragedies like this one, pit bulls make good pets if they have good, responsible owners.

John and Nancy Griffin adopted one-and-a-half year old Tawnee and say she's never been aggressive to humans, only other dogs. Now she's in obedience class.

John Griffin, pit bull owner: "At about eight-to-nine-months, dogs would come up to her and growl. I think it was fear on the leash or whatever. There would be an engagement, so it's something we wanted to nip in the butt because it was happening more and more."

And San Francisco is seeing more and more pit bulls abandoned and on the streets because owners are not getting them spayed or neutered.

Laurie Kennedy, San Francisco SPCA: "We have a lot of unwanted pit bulls coming into our shelter, and we don't have the homes for them. A lot of people aren't adopting pit bulls, and it's a tragedy."

Authorities Attempt To Reconstruct Details

Authorities attempted Saturday to reconstruct the details of the fatal mauling of a 12-year-old boy in his home.

Investigators late Friday conducted an examination of the body of the female pit bull, Ella, who was shot dead by a police officer after Nicholas Faibish was discovered in his Sunset District home by his mother. The second dog, Rex, was examined Saturday at the shelter where the 80-pound dog is being held.

Both dogs, pets of the boy's family, were examined by veterinarian Dr. Bing Dilts and a police forensic expert, according to Deb Campbell, a spokeswoman for Animal Care and Control.

Blood was found on Rex's fur, but Campbell declined to disclose any other details. Authorities are still uncertain if both dogs attacked the boy. More tests are scheduled for Monday.

Faibish, who had been home alone with the dogs, was found lying on the floor in a bedroom of his home Friday afternoon. He was covered in blood from wounds throughout his body and a significant injury to his head, according to a source close to the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The room was "torn up," said the source. "It looked like he put up a hell of a fight."

Police revealed Saturday that both dogs confronted the first police officer on the scene.

"When he arrived at the flat he radioed in and said he was faced with two vicious dogs," said police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens. "He shot one of the dogs and the other ran away."

Rex, found hiding in a crawl space outside, was captured. He didn't exhibit any aggressive behavior at that time, according to Gittens.

Rex is being held by Animal Care and Control in the same isolation area were two Presa Canario dogs were kept after mauling to death 33-year-old Diane Whipple in 2001.

Several neighbors said they heard both dogs growling and barking inside the victim's apartment late Thursday night.

Neighbors also said that one of the dogs went missing last year and was later recovered by Animal Care and Control. Campbell confirmed that one of the animals spent time at the facility but she did not know the reason for the stay.

The dogs were described as "sweethearts," by one neighbor but not everyone remembered them as particularly friendly.

Asked about the dogs' behavior, 13-year-old neighbor Aaron Vinnick said: "Sometimes nice, sometimes mean."

Michelle O'Leary, who lives around the corner from the victim's home, said that the dogs appeared to be treated well by the boy and his family.

Not long ago, neighbors said, the victim and his brother found a patch of wet cement where the sidewalk was being repaired and scrawled the words "Rex SF."

"It was obvious he loved those dogs," O'Leary said.

The incident has shaken dog owners in San Francisco. Campbell said that several people arrived at Animal Care and Control on Saturday to drop off their pit bulls.

"What happens is that people start thinking about their liability and safety," Campbell said. "The pit bulls that killed the boy were described as friendly and people start looking at their friendly dog and asking if it could do the same thing."

The shelter accepted the dogs and will perform an "aggression assessment" to determine whether a dog poses a safety hazard. If the dog passes, the dog is put up for adoption. If it does not, it is destroyed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Last Updated: Jun 4, 2005