In Memory of My Aunt Jill: She was Killed in a Savage Dog Attack
Jill Peterson was killed by a pack of vicious dogs in her own backyard in 2019.
Pall Mall, TN - Bessie "Jill" Peterson, 88-years old, was savagely killed by a pack of dogs belonging to her neighbor on February 26, 2019. Her sister, Nina Brown, witnessed part of the violent attack. Jill had gone into her backyard to clear a drainage ditch. The pack of six mixed-breed dogs came from behind and attacked her. "They dragged her down the yard and all of her clothes were off, her shoes, everything. They tore all of her hair out, the casket can't be open, it's like a nightmare," Brown said.
Family members said that Nina, who was 85-years old then, never recovered emotionally from the horrific attack and what followed. The first grand jury issued a No Bill. The second grand jury indicted on two felony counts. The owner, 62-year-old Holly Evans Delk, later entered a plea to one count, allowing dogs to run at large resulting in death. She was sentenced to three years probation. Nina died on August 27, 2023. A relative wrote a poem about what happened to her Aunt Jill that day.
Why Were They There?
We hear your screams,
you were all alone.
Being torn apart,
flesh and bone.
You looked around,
no dogs in sight.
You stepped outside,
into the light.
You stepped outside,
to give seed to the birds.
You looked again,
no dogs in sight.
The recent rain
had been a pain.
The ditch was clogged,
it needed to drain.
You let down your guard.
You stepped from your porch,
into your yard.
They attacked without warning,
no snarls, no growls.
You were their prey,
on that horrible day.
You were scared.
You knew they were fierce.
We hear your screams,
with every pierce.
Why were they there?
Didn't anyone care?
The owner, she knew.
The Sheriff did too.
Six of them
bit, ripped and tore.
You fought for your life,
that would be no more.
Your sister came home,
she looked all around.
She found you,
face down on the ground.
She tried to help.
They came after her.
Why were they there?
Didn't anyone care?
You were here for 88 years.
We'll never forget you,
through all of our tears.
It's just so unfair.
Why were they there?
Didn't anyone care?
You were cold,
as you took your last breath.
No one should suffer,
such a brutal death.
We hear your screams,
as you fought for your life.
We hear your screams,
all day and all night.
💜💜💜💜💜
We love you.
We miss you.
We wish you were here.
From left: In memory of Jill (Brown) Peterson and her sister, Nina Mae Brown.
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That poem was moving.
So horrible. Those dogs effectively took two lives. So sad.
Very sad
This sort of thing should never happen
It should be unacceptable
But, since the attackers are dogs, it is acceptable.
Why? Because dogs are worshiped and glorified in our society.
Once that stops, death by dog will be unacceptable.
Do you think it will ever stop? I see dogs (not service dogs) in every store, even in Sam’s Club, Holly Lobby, and Joann’s.
Complain to the management. If enough of us do that, change will come.
I did call the manager of lowes waco once after a totally out of control large pitbull was in their store and he was very defensive and offended by my complaint.
What kind of responses have u experienced when u have complained and by which stores?
Should I have tried to contact corporate?
I do too in every store it’s almost as if every store it’s petsmart. Especially lowes and home depot here in waco tx
I’ve seen many dogs in walmarts but only 1 pitbull all others have been very small dogs in the carts thankfully.
But it is a serious problem here because every dog I’ve seen in lowes and home depot were pitbulls or mixes and every single was pulling on its lead or staring me down it is always infuriating to me
Your Quiet Neighbor, you’re so correct. Dog worship is disgusting and out of control. Owning more dogs than one can handle, dressing dogs in human clothing, taking dogs everywhere, calling dogs “fur babies” or “granddogs” used to be unheard of. The ONLY places that dogs should be taken are to the vet or pet stores that allow them. The ONLY exception being true, qualified, certified Service Dogs. Leave those emotional support, fake service dogs at home. I stopped in a dollar store for some craft items and had to listen to yip-yap-yip-yap from two small dogs a lady just HAD to bring into the store. She was behind me in the check-out line and was gushing over her dogs, trying desperately to get attention. She had the nerve to say (to her dogs) “I guess she doesn’t like dogs.” A lady behind her said, “I don’t know who you’re talking to, but not everyone likes dogs and you should leave your dogs at home.” I laughed out loud. It also seems that there are people that think the only problem dogs are pit bulls and pit mixes. Indeed, they are scarier and more dangerous, but ALL dogs are a nuisance when
their owners force others to be around their dogs.
What a touching poem. I have a daughter Jill, and I love the name. I am sorry for you and your family’s loss.
The sad part of this is that these deluded fools do NOT see that they’re being used.
They’re being used by dogfighters to run cover for their multi-million (possibly billion) dollar betting operations as they sling sob stories all over the media that pitbulls are “misunderstood house pets”
If pitbulls are made illegal to own–then they’ll have to spend decades breeding new fighting dogs up to standard. Pitbulls are miserable nervous wrecks on top of their aggressive natures. It took a century to breed a dog that is an apex predator against large game, other large dogs and humans.
While some might try to breed another dogfighting line–once the money is out of the game, the game will stop.
I feel for this woman. Her misery is the direct result of someone else’s greed for profiting off these dogs.
The problem isn’t “dog worship” or the vast majority of dogs or their owners. The problem we all need to focus on is fighting dogs/pits and blood sport breeds. Why are they still in existence, and why do people continually trying to shove them into a space where they don’t fit: as pets.
@Jenesis.
100% this problem.
While I have sundry and many complaints about “average” dog owners who, for the past 2 decades have become completely clueless about how to train a dog (I blame YouTube for this. The cookie brigade training their own easy-train dogs to an absolute crap standard is just mind-numbing to me and watching people on the street watching a bunch of confused people waving treats at their equally confused dogs is beyond the limit)–those dogs, while annoying, aren’t slaughtering people. All the “it’s my baby” (retch) brigade aren’t that much of a problem until…
…they bring home a pitbull or blood sport dog.
Then it’s every neighbourhood’s nightmare. They kill dogs, they kill cats, they make every other dog owner’s life a misery until they finally snap and maul or kill a human and too often, that human is a helpless child or senior.
Nobody has, “I think I’ll get eaten by a pitbull” on their retirement bucket list.
@NoShame:
Plenty of countries have people that are extremely fond of dogs.
Those dogs aren’t eating people. Plenty of countries have loose “street dogs” of various origins who are perfectly friendly and sociable.
Know what they don’t have *mixed in those dogs*?
Blood sport dogs.
Feral dogs can be a problem. The question becomes, “why were these dogs not removed and euthanized”?
According to your assessment, the blind should not be allowed guild dogs, shepherds should not have sheep dogs, hunters should not be allowed to own hounds. Cattle dogs should not herd cattle and companion dogs should not be companions.
That’s never going to happen regardless of how much you yell at dog owners because you hate dog smells.
Humans would not have evolved out of the caves without dogs to provide warning systems against predators and herding capabilities. Their sense of sight, smell and sound is far greater than ours.
Dogs can be a menace or an attribute, depending on what they were bred to do and what environment they are able to navigate in a socially acceptable way and how they are trained to navigate that environment.
It’s a disgrace the murder mutts owner only got probation.
Indeed it is!
Agreed. That’s ludicrous. They had a six-dog, uncontrolled pack running loose, risking the neighbourhood.
That alone should be grounds for a “wrongful death” charge, at least.
Rachel, these mixed mutts were NOT pit bulls or bully mixes. You are OBVIOUSLY a DOG lover. GSD’s have maimed and killed.
Is it worth screaming for a spelling error? I think you know very well what *guide* dogs, are.
NoShame, this is not making your case for you. And you have a case to be made, here.
Too many dogs in one home, no enforcement of the bylaw codes (if that area restricts the number of dogs in a non-kennel), plausibly illegal dog breeding if that occurred–resulting in death, Animal control allowing dogs to run loose, the possibility that a 62-year old had dogs shoveled onto her by relations or a shelter that she was unable to manage, faulty fencing that was not inspected and repaired, etc. etc.
Don’t waste rage on the people who are making the case for why the death of Jill Peterson was so unjust and preventable.
This post is about a poem. We will resume posting more regularly again next week. We have written posts in the past that do talk about dog ownership attitudes, but this was not meant to be one of them. If Richard were still with us, however, he would have had something powerful to add to this thread. I miss him dearly: https://blog.dogsbite.org/category/dog-ownership-attitudes