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2007 Dog Bite Fatality: Attack Shows Underbelly of Pit Bull Ownership

Pit Bull Kills Caretaker
76-year old Blanch Brodeur was found face down with severe head injury on December 17, 2007. She was killed while attempting to feed her son-in-law's pit bull. Blanch had agreed to take care of the dogs while her daughter Joan and husband Thomas Robinson were in jail. Both were arrested 5 days before the attack after a drug raid to their homes.

When first responders arrived, they could not reach Blanch's body. The pit bull that killed her was on a rope long enough to reach anyone who tried to help. It took 18 minutes and a phone call to the jailed dog's owner to get permission to shoot the dog so that responders could safely approach the body. Officials described the scene as gruesome -- the dog had locked down on Blanch's neck and head.

Before the Fatal Attack

On November 1st, the homes of Thomas and Joan (where the fatal attack occurred) were raided by drug enforcement officers. Deputies returned on December 12th with search warrants for both homes. One deputy picked up Thomas at his residence and allowed him to drop his dogs off at Joan's house. Simultaneously, other agents were searching Joan's home where they seized a half-pound of marijuana.

The victim, Blanch Brodeur, had moved into her daughter's home just one month prior due to an electrical fire that destroyed her own home. Her daughter Joan owned a few pit bulls that she kept in the house, but the deadly attack was committed by Thomas's dog that had only been on the property for five days. All five dogs ended up with Blanch because both dog owners were placed in prison.

Enforcement officials should have rules regarding drug raids and pit bulls. Animal control should have seized these animals and taken over ownership at the time of the arrests. Instead, the animals got dumped on Blanch and within a matter of days she was violently killed by one.

Labels: 2007 Dog Bite Fatality, Fatal Pit Bull Attack