NC judge says attack by pit bulls not assault

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina judge has ruled pit bulls don’t fit the state’s legal definition of weapons and has dismissed assault charges filed after a 6-year-old’s mauling.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Thursday that Superior Court Judge Ken Titus dismissed the charges against 23-year-old Anthony Whitfield but urged legislators to change state law.

The case was one of the first in North Carolina to test whether pit bulls are so clearly dangerous that owners are responsible for controlling them as if they were weapons.

Whitfield had been charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury after his two pit bulls attacked the boy, who was forced to spend three days in the hospital recovering from dozens of bites.

Information from: The News & Observer

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