Rita Vasquez, 58, died after being attacked by her daughter's pit bull-mix while dog sitting.
Woman Dies in Hospital
Corpus Christi, TX - A 58-year old woman is dead after being attacked by a dog she had been watching for her daughter. On May 31, Rita Vasquez picked up the black-and-white pit bull-mix from her daughter's home to dog sit for the day. The attack occurred at about 11:54 am in the backyard of Vasquez's home in the 6500 block of Lyons Street. Joel Skidmore, the Corpus Christi Animal Care Services program manager, said that Vasquez sustained severe injuries in the attack.
"Sadly, the injuries that the victim sustained were categorized as severe," Skidmore said. The dog in question was still in the backyard when animal care services arrived at the scene, he said. They impounded the dog and brought it to the shelter facility for quarantine. "The owner was very cooperative," he said. She surrendered the dog to our agency. "Animal care services humanely euthanized the dog the same day it happened," Skidmore said. The dog tested negative for rabies.
According to Skidmore, the dog did not have a violent history. Skidmore was resourceful when responding to how his agency investigates severe and fatal attacks involving humans and animals, "It's not based on breed," Skidmore told KIII TV. They examine the circumstances about that specific incident. "Everything's looked at as an individual," he said, such as the victim and the dog involved. In this "specific situation, the dog owner is not facing any repercussions," he said.
The Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined the exact cause of death but has said the bite injuries Vasquez sustained were a contributing factor. Vasquez's obituary states that she leaves behind three daughters. One of them, Roxanne, organized a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral costs. "Our beloved Mother, Rita Maria Vasquez, tragically, suddenly lost her life on June 2, 2023," states the fundraiser. It's unclear which daughter owned the attacking dog.
Skidmore also stated in the KIII TV interview that this was the first fatal human mauling that had occurred during his tenure at Corpus Christi Animal Care Services. Our records show that the last case we recorded in Corpus Christi and Nueces County was the death of a woman also named Rita in 2014. Rita Woodard, 64, was attacked by at least four pit bull-mix dogs she was fostering. Her death was ruled, "critical coronary artery atherosclerosis following multiple dog bites."
Family Comments
Family members spoke to KRIS TV. Though no one witnessed the attack, family members speculate that Vasquez was breaking up a fight between the pit bull-mix she was dog sitting and the two chihuahuas in her home when the pit bull-mix turned on her in a "redirected attack" that resulted in severe injuries and her death. Thus far, no evidence has been presented stating that either of the two chihuahuas sustained injuries in this alleged, pre-cursor dog-on-dog attack.
Dog Sitting Fatalities
Vasquez's death marks the fourth fatal dog mauling since March when the victim was dog sitting at the time. In May, 46-year old Tamieka White, a Marion County sheriff's deputy, was killed at her home while dog sitting a pit bull-mix for a friend. In April, 22-year old Dezmond Trawick was killed at his home while dog sitting four pit bulls belonging to his brother. In March, 38-year old Kristen Potter was killed by a pair of great danes she agreed to feed while their owner was away.
View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Texas Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.Related articles:
03/10/23: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Horrific Pit Bull Mauling in San Antonio Kills One, Hospitalizes...
02/01/23: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Killed by Multiple Pit Bull-Mixes in Northwest Houston
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
What a terrible way to go. To be mauled to death by a dog you know and like. Have these people got their heads in the sand about dangerous breeds? The owners and the authorities simply ignoring the facts about breeds that regularly kill people.
Rita Vasquez was a beautiful woman. She likely would have lived another 30 years, blessing her daughters’ families.
What a tragedy pitbull owners have not done research on pitbulls and pitbull mixes before selecting these dogs at rescue shelters.
What a tragedy that shelter staff do not have a true bite history on the rescue dogs and are persuasive to move more pitbulls out of the shelters.
What a tragedy that a pitbull owner would not value the life of their pet sitter to have done the research necessary to learn that pitbulls have the highest kill rate of all dogs.
What a tragedy that parents end up having to forgive their adult children as their lives are taken in such a frightful manner because their children did not take the time to discover the reality of owning unpredictable pitbulls.
I just saw a TV commercial last week for carpet steam cleaners, featuring a dog that’s “part pit bull and part masterpiece,” and the owners–a young couple with a small child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-yE_94ePTc
We’ve gone past the stage when pits are identified as “rescue dogs” or “mixed breed dogs” or whatever–pit bulls by name are specifically being marketed to families, by some of the most mainstream and trusted entities.
It took a long way to get to this point, and it’s going to take a long way to get beyond it. In the meantime, I honestly feel nothing but sorry for all of the people being duped into getting these dogs and learning the hard way. The propaganda is pervasive, and it’s all most people ever hear,
PH, just saw this commercial.
Thanks for the find and sharing it w us. I have to wonder if the Bissell pet foundation was created and/or funded by Best Friends Animal Society.
The lesson here is not to pet sit any pitbull or pitbull mix for any reason. Although I believe most pitbulls don’t eat people, too many do. I’ve been asked to board many pitbulls simply because
many boarding facilities won’t take them. Neither will I.
It’s sad that pitbulls kill.
I have GSDs, and I have split fights because I stupidly let the wrong dogs together. However, GSDs never caused major injuries because of me splitting a fight. The worst I ever got injured caused a hand surgeon to have to come in after midnight.
As I approach 60, I am ever more aware of just how many senior women are attacked and killed by pit bulls. AARP, who is supposed to advocate for seniors, has as one of its advertisers Best Friends Animal Society. If you are unfamiliar with Best Friends, a quick visit to their website will give you a list of all the reasons that pits are so misunderstood and would make great pets. Their motto is, “Save them all.” Best Friends is one of the organizations that has worked tirelessly to get us into this horrible pit bull mess we’re in. I’m appalled at AARP’s embrace of a monster. They are now added to the list of pit advocates who are responsible for every drop of blood, every scrap of torn flesh, and every life cut short by the dogs they promote.
The good news is that if you know someone who’s been targeted by this leech of an organization, and, I’m sorry, I just insulted leeches, but it’s not hard to get off of their mailing list. I did this with my mom, and it only took one try.
The local SPCA was a much tougher challenge. I finally had to call them, state that I was my mom’s power of attorney, and that she needed to be removed from their mailing list. The SPCA complied.
I’m disgusted by the GFM. “While we find solace in knowing she is no longer suffering…” WTF does that mean? It’s like the writer/daughter is trying to imply that her mother died of natural causes after a long illness.
On 5/22/23, was it possibly the same Rita Vasquez, who posted on FB, “Looking for my grand dog,” Kilo” ,white pit mix, neutered, chipped, very friendly. Listens well. Was taken from castleberry area off Isbell. Going towards white settlement rd. Towards university. If u see him, call his name he will come to u. In box me , my grand kids are missing him..”? The face photo looks like the same person as the woman on the GFM.
That poor woman was in the hospital for days as she died an agonizing death. I guess that’s what they mean by her “suffering”…suffering caused by her daughter’s poor choices. One article said Rita was “babysitting” the mutant. The grand dog did a grand job of killing grandmother. The GFM is another hide-the-cause-of-death way of financial gain with no accountability for anyone.
Farmer Jayne, well said!
Best Friends Animal Society has recently opened a free-range animal shelter in NW Arkansas. Bentonville. That’s right. Dogs unleashed roaming around in shelter rooms in an attempt to provide a homey atmosphere for prospective dog owners.
Bentonville, Arkansas, is the home of Walmart headquarters. I expect there will be constant funding expectations by Best Friends. Most likely, Walmart even paid for this shelter for starters.
https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/dogs-cats-roam-free-first-cageless-animal-shelter-us-opens-arkansas
Multiple photos of people shoving their faces much too close to dogs’ faces.
THIS is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Although, they probably have most of the pits and pit/mixes locked up in a back room. Anytime, we see footage of a typical shelter, most pits are barking, snarling and bouncing off the cage doors. BTW, get a load of the new digs for dogs. I bet the battered women and children’s shelter cannot hold a candle to that place. Our society has gone mad.
It will be full of pits soon enough.
The normal dogs will get adopted out and it will turn onto a “slow kill” pit prison.
Why on Earth should an Animal Care Services program manager be the one to decide whether the owner of a killer dog should face “any type of repercussions” or whether they should be let off the hook because “they’re already facing something that is very traumatic”? Is this guy law enforcement? Is he the district attorney?
If Corpus Christi Animal Care Services is really charged with public safety then why are they selling pitbulls?
Follow the money. There’s a lot to be made if you’re part of the dog industry.
I believe that. But why do they have any authority? Why are citizens denied police response if a dog has anything to do with the problem?
Rebecca, I totally agree w you that Animal Control should be handled primarily as a public safety issue. Imagine my surprise when I recently read that animal control was part of a city’s Department of Neighborhoods.
BTW, does anyone really believe Rita was breaking up a fight between her two chihuahuas? Then, suddenly the pit attacked her? That’s BS. I bet she was trying to protect one or both of her little dogs when the killer redirected.
Dog owners are quick to defend dogs and the so-called “redirecting” excuse is another way to say, “He didn’t mean to do it!” Meanwhile there was no witness, as far as I know, and people grasp onto whatever story the family comes up with. What I’m not hearing is that it was a dangerous, vicious dog from a dangerous, vicious breed.
At least they were smart enough to put it down. So that’s one less mauler, out of the thousands of ticking time bombs still alive in homes and neighborhoods.
Redirecting in dogs is quite common. When I inadvertently let two GSD bitches together, I was trying to get out of the way so I didn’t get bitten.
I failed. The less aggressive daughter bit my hand requiring surgery. Neither Promise (the mom) nor her daughter would have bitten me if a fight had not been involved. I still safely split the fight and then sought medical care.
A very large ex-fire chief’s two pit bulls were fighting. He tried to split the fight. He was badly bitten on the leg.
Redirection won’t get anyone killed if the dog is not one of a killer breed. It will get people killed if the dog is one of a killer breed.
The best way to handle a pitbull fight is to walk away, but it may be hard to do that. The dogs can kill each other.
The way to safely split a fight is to grab the rear legs or tail of one of the fighters. Pull the tail or rear legs through a door and close the door as much as possible. When the dogs adjust their grips, close the door.
Rebecca, that’s the conundrum, that dog never killed anyone before, so we’ll never hear that it was a dangerous, vicious dog. You, and all of us here, know it’s a dangerous, vicious breed. But most people do not believe that. I had a long discussion with a new mom whose partner brought home a young pit bull. She’s already nervous and confused about whether to keep this thing. She said, there’s so much “conflicting information” about pit bulls. She also described some troubling, dominant behaviors, but she wants to wait a year and see what happens. So, I gave her the M&M analogy: if someone gave you a bowl with 100 M&M’s and said one of them is poison, would you eat the candy? Of course not. This will always be the pitbull problem, most of them won’t maul/kill, but if you get just ONE bad one? I urged her to not take that chance with her precious new life. I think she got it. Now, she has to convince her partner. I hope good, common sense prevails. I also told her to check out this website.
When people choose a dog, they often fall in love with it. So why get a dog that you will get attached to and then have to have it euthanized for temperament? This makes no sense. It’s better to get a nice dog from a nice breed and raise it right. Then you have a great family member.
Rachel, this is a GREAT common -sense posting for those who must have a dog.
Another EXTREMELY simple basic FACT that almost no person seems to be able to grasp and remember is this: it does not matter how u raise a pit bull or its mixes
Training and breeding are 2 totally different things and there is no untraining what a breed was specifically designed to do by culling out unwanted characteristics and keeping the wanted for breeding stock
Pit bulls were bred to be UNPREDICTABLE (bingo! Ding ding ding ding!) And attack without warnings or triggers and many other traits but that right there should be enough to ban them
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again-u cannot train a border collie not to heard AND u don’t have to train it to heard I know this 1st hand but it’s also just a simple fact
*Herd not heard sorry I think auto suggest did that to me
The Pit bull issue is a rapidly emerging public health crisis. 80% of the dogs housed at animal shelters and county dog pounds where I live in Ohio are pit bulls or pit bull mixes. These organizations do a great job in “selling” this killer breed to the naive and unsuspecting public who walk through their doors. Do some research. Ohio State University did extensive research project and published their findings a couple of years ago. Not surprisingly, pit bulls were responsible for the most deaths and the most serious injuries to humans. They are also responsible for the most kills of other dogs. I just can’t comprehend these pit bull lovers rationale for their deep devotion to this breed.
The organizations that are doing such a great job at salesmanship should be sued into the ground.