AL: Alabaster Grandmother Fights For Tougher Dog Laws

Grandson Attacked By Airedale at Oak Mountain
POSTED: 5:04 pm CST November 10, 2004
UPDATED: 10:20 pm CST November 10, 2004

PELHAM, Ala. -- An Alabaster grandmother is fighting for a tougher vicious dog law after her 6-year-old grandson was attacked last month. Martha Stooksberry was walking with her grandson, Codey Wright, and her other two grandsons at Oak Mountain State Park when Wright was attacked by a 75-pound Airedale.

After the attack, Stooksberry discovered that the only law the dog's owner was in violation of was the Pelham leash law. A dog lover herself, Stooksberry knows what she would have done if the dog had been hers. "If my dog had attacked a child like that, I would cry and I would hate it, but I would have my dog put to sleep," said Stooksberry.

Her grandson is now OK, after having several stitches. "Just the very instant that I saw the dog, it already had a hold of Codey," said Stooksberry. "That maternal instinct kicks in, and you just know that you have to get that dog off that child."

Stooksberry said she wrestled the dog to the ground and held him in a headlock. But then she said the dog started attacking her. She escaped with just a scratch.

Now, Stooksberry is lobbying her state lawmakers for a stricter vicious dog law.

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