# Mom locks kid in basement. Kid gets loose, and is killed by family's pit bulls. WTF. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990 "2005-06-12T18:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/1 "2005-06-12T18:57:50Z")
This is the first time I’ve heard of [this story.](http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/12/fataldog.mauling.ap/index.html) I’m left scratching my head for a few reasons: [ul] [li]Mom felt the pit bulls were a threat to her son.[/li][li]Mom therefore locks son in _the basement_ with a shovel on the door.[/li][li]Mom says “It was Nicky’s time to go. . .”[/li][/ul] Am I missing something here, or did the gene pool just get four feet shallower? Tripler I fault Mom for not adequately protecting her son from an admittedly percieved threat. ---
**Author:** ![Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoodoo_Ulove)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/2 "2005-06-12T19:06:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Rex was taken to a shelter, but Faibish said she wanted him put down. I don’t like capital punishment, but if any putting down is called for, the mom is the one. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/3 "2005-06-12T19:10:48Z")
It’s been big news in the Bay Area since it happened. The Mayor of San Francisco is now considering some kind of regulations for Pit Bull ownership. As it is, talking heads are specualting that the pit bull wouldn’t have been so dangerous had it been fixed. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/4 "2005-06-12T19:13:31Z")
Good thing one wasn’t maned “Lassie”. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/5 "2005-06-12T20:36:26Z")
Why the hell didn’t she put the DOGS in the basement? I hope she wakes up screaming from flashbacks of that poor kid’s bloody shredded body, every night for the rest of her life. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/6 "2005-06-12T20:45:28Z")
> [@Stuffy](#): > > The Mayor of San Francisco is now considering some kind of regulations for Pit Bull ownership. As it is, talking heads are specualting that the pit bull wouldn’t have been so dangerous had it been fixed. How would this make the mother any less idiotic? The woman _locked_ her son in the basement, with a shovel on the door (presumably jamming it shut). What was he supposed to do if there was a fire or a gas leak? Does this not constitute neglect or abuse? This woman would be dangerous and irresponsible parent even if the dogs were a pair of toy poodles. I advocate spaying in this case…'cept I’d start with the owner. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/7 "2005-06-12T20:51:21Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Why the hell didn’t she put the DOGS in the basement? Probably because she couldn’t count on her son to rip the throats out of any intruders. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/8 "2005-06-12T20:54:20Z")
Apparently there was a stupid bitch in the house that caused this problem though I’m sure the female dog was a factor too. Shit like this makes it hard to have faith in humanity. I hope the DA uses this waste of Oxygen’s interview statements as evidence against her. I feel so bad for Nicholas that he lived in a house where his brutal death was shrugged off as “(his) time to go.” My wife deals with this all the time when meth addicts can’t figure out why their kids are taken away. Someting else sad about this is that Pit Bulls can be extremely gentle and loving dogs if they are well socialized. My folks had a pair years ago and are raising a neglected pup now and all have been gentle as any large dog could be. I think that Rosie is as ugly as homemade sin but she has the sweetest affectionate personality. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/9 "2005-06-12T20:56:26Z")
NICKY’S TIME TO GO!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: [ul] [li]You keep vicious dogs in your house with your child;[/li][li]You feared so much for your child’s safety that you locked him in the basement;[/li][li]You told him to stay put, even though you have to know that that warning is useless when dealing with a 12-year old;[/li][/ul] And when your child is torn to pieces due to your stupidity and carelessness, you have the AUDACITY to lay this on the doorstep of some sort of predestination?!Never mind the dogs; it’s F\*CKING IDIOTS like this that need to be fixed!!! ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/10 "2005-06-12T20:57:56Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > I hope she wakes up screaming from flashbacks of that poor kid’s bloody shredded body, every night for the rest of her life. Someday we’ll have a device that gives the perpetrator the experience that the victim went through. I don’t think the memory of just seeing her son’s torn body will have an impact on her, she needs to feel what he suffered though before she’ll get it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/11 "2005-06-12T21:04:00Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > Someting else sad about this is that Pit Bulls can be extremely gentle and loving dogs if they are well socialized… Yup. Every generation has it’s “demon” dog. In the '50s, we had German shepherds. In '70s, dobies. More recently Rottweilers and pit bulls. Sure, the dogs are bred for certain qualities – but incidents with them increase because the kind of asshole who wants a dog as a weapon selects for the most notorious ones. If the meme went around that Labs were viscious attack dogs, these cretins would get them and raise them accordingly, and Lab maulings would suddenly be more commonplace. It’s funny how responsible people have responsible dogs, innit? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/12 "2005-06-12T21:13:53Z")
What about: > [@CNN](#): > > “I put him down there, with a shovel on the door,” Faibish said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. “And I told him: ‘Stay down there until I come back.’ **Typical Nicky, he wouldn’t listen to me.** ” What a fucking cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/13 "2005-06-12T21:46:14Z")
As **Stuffy** said, this has been a major news story in the SF BAy Area since it happened. [Here](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/12/MNGJND7G5L1.DTL) is an update in today’s SF Chronicle online, which goes into more details than the OP’s CNN story. > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Why the hell didn’t she put the DOGS in the basement? From the linked article: > [@](#): > > The family had been packing for a move, and her husband, Steve Faibish, was out of town. Their two other children were also not home. > > Maureen Faibish said she put Nicholas rather than the dogs in the basement because the room, which also served as a playroom for the children, was filled with plastic bags in preparation of their move. She figured the dogs would have destroyed the bags filled with clothes. The mother is, not surprisingly, rather distraught and her statements are wildly inconsistent. She alternates between saying: > [@](#): > > "Even after the whole thing,’’ she said, "I’m not mad at my dogs. I just love them to death.’’ and: > [@](#): > > "I told them I wanted him put down. I think of Rex as someone who molested my child, murdered my child.’’ Whatever her level of culpability in this matter, there is no doubt that she is suffering right now. I’ve always been led to understand that losing a child is worse than **anything** else. Whether it’s worse than what happened to the son is beyond my ability to judge. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/14 "2005-06-12T21:48:31Z")
Oh yeah, “Oh, my stupid son, this is just like him to go and get himself killed!” What the fucking HELL? There has to be more to this story. WHY would she keep such the animals if she was that afraid they’d hurt a family member? Why would you have to lock a fucking _12_ year old in the basement? And then she just seems so goddamned blase about the whole thing. I suspect there’s something else going on. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/15 "2005-06-12T21:59:38Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > How would this make the mother any less idiotic? The woman _locked_ her son in the basement, with a shovel on the door (presumably jamming it shut). What was he supposed to do if there was a fire or a gas leak? Does this not constitute neglect or abuse? > > This woman would be dangerous and irresponsible parent even if the dogs were a pair of toy poodles. I advocate spaying in this case…'cept I’d start with the owner. > > Stranger Sorry I wasn’t clear enough, I was responding to the fact that the OP hadn’t heard the story before now. I’m not excusing the waste of space “mother”. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/16 "2005-06-12T22:09:05Z")
Did Nicky have mental or developmental problems? Why was his 9-year-old brother sent to the store to get him a snack? Why did she have to use a shovel on the door? I’m very much not understanding what went on here. She seems awfully sure that the police “killed the wrong dog” - odd when she also asserts that "He’s the most loving and giving dog in the world…There were no violent tendencies in him at all.’’ Umm, lady? Mauling and killing your child goes a bit beyond “violent tendencies.” ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/17 "2005-06-12T22:32:40Z")
How is this woman not behind bars right now? How is she still allowed custody of her other child? She’s clearly a totally unfit parent with neither morals nor common sense. My heart aches for her deceased son and his sister. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/18 "2005-06-12T22:33:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by CNN > “I put him down there, with a shovel on the door,” Faibish said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. “And I told him: ‘Stay down there until I come back.’ Typical Nicky, he wouldn’t listen to me.” This is the quote that I hope gets charges filed, a conviction, and many years in prison for reckless endangerment, manslaughter, and anything else a DA can think of to throw at her. So, not only did you get your son killed by dogs, when you told him to stay put, _it was predictable that he wouldn’t??!!_ I agree with **The Sausage Creature** : What a fucking cunt. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/19 "2005-06-13T00:00:27Z")
Darwin Award By Proxy (unfortunately). And what the heck – er, hell – is up with San Francisco pit bull owners? You’d think that ghastly case from a few years ago would have served as a wake-up call for the terminally obtuse, but no… ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990/20 "2005-06-13T00:23:41Z")
Diane Whipple. Except those weren’t pits, they were a breed called Presa Canario. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-locks-kid-in-basement-kid-gets-loose-and-is-killed-by-familys-pit-bulls-wtf/307990.md?page=2)