The story about a 9-year-old Erie, Pa., boy who was attacked last week by a 100-pound Rottweiler, spurred numerous calls and e-mail messages from Erie Times-News readers. They wanted to voice their support for the boy, D.J. Roberts, and to report sightings of other "dangerous" dogs in their neighborhoods.

The good news is that Roberts, whose right ear was nearly torn off in the attact, seems to be convalescing well. He was released from Hamot Medical Center Tuesday after a 5-day stay. Sixty-five stitches were needed to close the wound near his ear, which, judging from photographs of the boy by Chris Millette of the Times-News, appears to be healing well. The boy also suffered bite wounds to his back, leg and face.

When Times-News reporter Greg Gaudio interviewed D.J. and his mom, Michelle Roberts, at the hospital, they told a story that stirred the emotions of readers, according to the response from people I've talked to today. Michelle Roberts, who carried her son to safety after the attack, told Gaudio, "I was in such shock that I couldn't even stand up. It's hard for me because all he kept saying was, 'Mommy, am I going to die?' That's all I see when I close my eyes."

Erie animal enforcement officer Rob Culbertson told Gaudio that D.J. Roberts' neighbor's Rottweiler might have attacked for a number of reasons. "If a lot of kids are screaming and yelling, the dog is going to get confused," Culbertson said.

Gaudio reported Culbertson saying that these kinds of attacks are more likely to occur in summer because children are outside more and because dogs become increasingly irritable in high humidity. Erie's weather of late has been hot and humid.

The dog's owner turned the Rottweiler over to Culbertson on Monday. The dog will be quarantined at a local animal shelter until July 1st, when it will be euthanized.

The mauling of Roberts is the latest in a series of dog attacks on children in the Erie region. Several callers said they planned to alert local authorities about "suspicious" dogs. A local animal lover also said that, while she's sorry about the vicious attack on Roberts, the training of dogs has much to do with their temperaments. "Not every Rottweiler is to blame," she insisted.

As a dog lover, I hate to read of such attacks, but, as several readers pointed out, in an age when some individuals walk around holding the chains of vicious-looking dogs, almost as if the animals are trophies, you wonder if such dogs are receiving the proper type of training.

Judging from the response to Gaudio's story, this is the kind of newspaper story that readers love to chat about over the backyard fence. Thankfully, it appears that D.J. Roberts' story, thanks to the gutsy little boy and his fast-acting mom, will have a happy ending.

-- Kevin Cuneo

**Please send me a comment on this blog, so we can have a dialogue**