Family Blames Noise
UPDATE 09/04/10: An update from WRCB reveals that the owner of the pit bull was actually Mattie's daughter who did not offer her name in the news report. As suspected, the family (and unnamed pit bull owner) is blaming the brutal attack on "noise" from construction work being done on the home. Back in January, Johnny Wilson was killed by his daughter's six pit bulls. That daughter (also unnamed) suggested the attack was due to her father's "loud" voice.
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09/04/10: Sheriff: "No Reason" for Attack
Sheriff Joe Guy said that Daugherty's pit bull "attacked her for no reason." Guy's language is unsurprising; pit bulls were selectively bred for unpredictable explosive aggression. A critical question, however, is the length of the attack -- from the time the dog clamped down on the victim to the time it was shot dead and released the victim. The answer would help readers understand the unique traits a pit bull displays when it attacks. Was the episode 8 minutes, 16 minutes?1
But Saturday morning that changed. Guy says Daugherty, her family, and a neighbor were doing work on Daugherty's house at 151 County Road 492 near Etowah. Daugherty went inside, while her family worked outside. That's when Guy says the pit bull jumped on the woman and wouldn't let go.
Her family found her inside, with the dog standing over her. They couldn't get close, so a neighbor tried to shoot the pet.
"Unfortunately that didn't work," Guy said. "Our officers arrived and they also fired their weapons to try to get the dog to release and it would not."
Officer Randy Gabrel finally got the dog away, and Officer Tim Davis fired additional shots and killed it. They then tried to rescue Daugherty, but it was too late. (Jana Barnello, NewsChannel9.com)
2010 Fatality Update
DogsBite.org has recorded 24 U.S. dog bite fatalities so far this year. Pit bulls are responsible for 67% (16). This is the same percentage recorded at the end of July (See: Mid Year Results: U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities from January 1 to July 22, 2010). In the past 16 days, there have been 5 U.S. fatal dog attacks, 4 involving pit bulls: Tracey Payne, 46-years old (GA), Jerry Yates, 69-years old (CA), Jason Walter, 7-years old (IL), Taylor Becker, 4-years old (WI) and Mattie Daugherty (TN).
09/04/10: Victim: Mattie Daugherty
Etowah, TN - In a developing story, an elderly woman was mauled to death by her pet pit bull. Sheriff Joe Guy said that 85-year old Mattie Daugherty of McMinn County was killed after her 9-year old pit bull attacked her inside her home. Prior to police arriving, a neighbor shot the dog, but the animal continued its brutal assault. Arriving officers fired multiple shots into the pit bull finally killing it. Daugherty died on scene due to the devastating injuries inflicted by her pet.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Tennessee Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
08/26/10: 2010 Fatality: Mountain Ranch Man Mauled to Death by Two Pit Bulls
08/21/10: 2010 Fatality: Tracey Payne, 46, Killed by Pack of Pit Bulls in South Macon
07/25/10: Mid Year Results: U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities from January 1 to July 22, 2010
Oh gosh thats awful!
How many times have I heard about family Pit Bull attacking, and even killing? Too many!
Some people tried to give me grief about putting mine down, but I refuse to let anyone become another statistic of what these dogs do.
The Mike Vick story will never be understated when asked about impact to help raise unimaginable cash for pit bull propaganda machines and apologists. I almost got ill reading these bullet point lies in magazine after magazine @ local Pet Smart. Ironically, this store itself will not keep pit bull in their doggie hotel; undoubtedly after a lawsuit in which ungodly attack from pit ensued. Even ASPCA is trying to distance itself from "old" Randall Lockwood, Etiology of a Dog Bite. Really sickening the lack of reality and honesty about the inordinate strength and tenacity of this "man-made" breed. Dogsbite.org reveals propaganda. Thank You DBO
The length of an attack was one of the things that most confused and then appalled me when I first began reading about pit bulls.
I read accounts, like this, in which people describe being unable to stop the dog from biting, and they call the police, and the police attempt to get the dog to release the victim.
At first, I wondered,"How did the police get there so fast?" And then I was appalled to realize these attacks – with constant biting go on for long minutes.
It is so mind boggling, that it is difficult for people to really imagine how different a pit bull mauling is from most other dog attacks.
Thank you for bringing this and other difficult-to-understand aspects of pit bull attacks to light.
Stop Making Excuses, the people who have tried to give you grief about the decision you made are the same people who feel absolutely no grief for the human life lost when they hear stories like this latest. They care nothing for human life. They grieve only for the shot dog and resent the fact that it's "just another story for the media to hype" and "make pit bulls look bad". They seem incapable of understanding that when a dog kills a person and it gets covered in the news, it's not "hype".
For nine years this dog was a family pet, and yet these same people will now try to claim this woman somehow abused the animal, the same people who would have praised her just last week for being so "open minded" in having a pit bull, the same people who probably praised you when you still had yours. They talk of "loyalty" of the dogs and "solidarity" in the pit community, when they are just as quick to turn as these pits that snap, because to admit that this could happen to any pit owner, even after nine years of a good life with the dog, is to admit that they are wrong, and that seems to be something few pit nutters are capable of doing until it happens to them. If they're lucky, they live to apply the lesson.
They are indeed "blaming the noise."
"Family members say they believe noise from construction work to the roof is what caused the dog to become aggressive enough to attack."
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http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=13102259&clienttype=printable
Roofing work is done all the time, on homes with Beagles, or Poodles, or Golden Retrievers, or Labs… without fatalities.
there was good reason why donna reynolds was shushing the rachel rey audience for jonny justice.
cking, I so agree with you… I was trying to explain to someone the other day the difference in my deceased Pit vs. a different breed. It was terrifying! A normal dog, if it got into a squabble, you could scream "no" or kick it ONE time and it would stop… A Pit Bull, once they get into that mindset will stop at nothing! And I mean nothing! Even getting smashed over the head with a shovel don't stop tham.
You are right Dark… Selfish, inconsiderate idiots is what they are!
"The Holbrooks say the pit pull was a big part of the Daugherty's family. They had raised it since it was a puppy, and the dog had its own room in their house."
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http://www.wate.com/global/story.asp?s=13106121
"They had raised it since it was a puppy, and the dog had its own room in their house."
Uh-oh, i smell more victim blaming and a "shoulda practiced nilif" lecture coming on.
says neighbor Brandon Russell, describing an encounter he had with the dog. "It was a real friendly dog."
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=133167&provider=rss