Quarla Blackwell filmed part of the attack that occurred at Lenoir County SPCA.
Repeated Attack
Kinston, NC - On November 16, a pit bull-mix being housed by Lenoir County SPCA at 2455 Rouse Road Exd broke out of a new kennel and attacked Dillon Grant, a shelter worker. According to witness Quarla Blackwell, who filmed part of the attack, the dog escaped the kennel twice and attacked twice. Quarla began filming after the first attack and captured SPCA staff trying to secure the dog. Grant was taken to UNC Lenoir Health Care where he was treated and released.
"My legs just got turned into chew toys," he said. "I'm the one who finally stopped him long enough for them to put him in a crate." - Dillion Grant
According to SPCA president Jerry Henderson, the pit bull-mix broke out of a new kennel the SPCA had implemented just two weeks earlier at the shelter. The county owns the shelter and the city insures the building through a contract with the SPCA, reports the Kinston Free Press. "He was strong and aggressive enough to break through a door lock," Henderson explained. "These are brand new kennels, and the lock mechanism must have been a little faulty," he alleged.
Henderson continued with his claims, including that all employees and volunteers receive hands-on training and are required to study from a manual on animal care and safety procedures, reports the Free Press. "The thing you worry about are animals brought in and you don’t have any history on them," Henderson said. "They have triggers that take them back to some unpleasant experience they had in the past, and they just snap." Henderson meant to say that "pit bulls snap."
The Lenoir County SPCA website is branded with a young pit bull and 95% of the dogs available for adoption are pit bulls. The SPCA is currently trying to raise $1.5 million dollars to build a new shelter, according to a brochure on its website. A donation of $50,000 will get the donor's name placed in the reception/lobby. The goal of the new shelter is not to ensure the safety of staff members, but to "ensure the safety, health and well-being of more homeless animals."
Quarla's Video
Again, Quarla did not start filming until the second attack -- the dog breached the new kennel twice, each time to attack Grant. Staffers have no noticeable equipment during the video except for the brief showing of a pole. Instead, they jimmy-rigged a contraption to contain the dog. They placed a kennel over the dog and fortified one side of the kennel with a fan until animal control arrived. Two officers, each with a catch pole, later loaded the dog onto an animal control truck.
Quarla is the star of her own video. She is absolutely amazing. She does, however, make several erroneous conclusions, including that the dog was a "red-nose" (slang for fighting dog). It was not, this pit bull was white. The viciousness of the "repeated" attack was so profound to her that she mistakenly believed that Grant "must have done something" to the dog. Pit bulls do not need provocation to attack; they were bred for explosive aggression to excel in the fighting pit.
What Quarla witnessed is "gameness." The continuing tenacity and tendency of a pit bull to attack repeatedly for the purpose of killing.
Quarla is correct that the pit bull targeted Grant. We have seen this trait in numerous fatal pit bull attacks and these victims are often children (Benjamin Cobb, Daxton Borchardt and many more). We most commonly see this trait when pit bulls attack other dogs. 10 people may rush in to stop the attack, but the focus of the pit bull is to only kill the dog. Some of those 10 people may get injured trying to save the victim dog, but the pit bull is otherwise uninterested in the bystanders.
A targeted attack is common. A rampage attack -- when one or more pit bulls severely attack three or more people -- is less common. Pit bulls will also redirect before or during an attack. The two pit bulls in the Avalon attack were after a Jack Russell. When the victim dog became out of reach, the two pit bulls began attacking each other. This pair of pit bulls also severely attacked the victim dog's owner, "All I did is lift my dog off the ground and I was being chewed on instantly," he said.
Finally, a rampage attack does not necessarily exclude a targeted attack. In the mauling of the 21st Century, three pit bulls attacked for 1.5 hours before they were shot by police. Six victims were rushed into emergency care that night; two were children who suffered massive injuries. The dogs attacked everyone who intervened -- including their owner -- but were dead set on killing the two children. Deputies used a shotgun and a CAR-15 assault rifle to end the rampage attack.
If one has not seen a pit bull fight match -- the extreme concentration on fighting and attacking -- one might have a similar reaction as Quarla.1
We have marked areas of Quarla's video and added commentary. Also, in comments on the video, Quarla nails the true nature of many shelters today. "I never knew the SPCA was a jungle," she said. A jungle without the proper equipment to house potentially dangerous dogs. Housing pit bulls -- many with unknown backgrounds -- is not a snuggly story. Housing biting pit bulls is even more dangerous and many no-kill shelters, like the City of Los Angeles, have poor safety protocols.
Video Excerpts
- (1:35) "When I tell y'all some red-nosed pit bull just shook him like a salt shaker … he must have done something to that dog." No. This is called gameness. "Relentlessness" is not the same as "vengeance."
- (2:15) "When we were signing that paperwork, we heard somebody hollering. It was him, y'all. The dog had been shaking on him for about" ten minutes. (During the trauma of an attack, ten seconds can seem like ten minutes. It is unclear how long the attack lasted). "The ladies went in there to get him and I jumped in my car -- locked the doors and rolled up the windows."
- (3:18) The bizarre jimmy-rigged cage contraption is seen. There is a kennel, trash can and a large outdoor fan, somehow securing the dog.
- (4:10) "Y'all shoot the damn dog!" Remember that Quarla is traumatized from seeing the attack and from recognizing that she could have been the victim. She does not understand what they are doing with the dog, nor is she a shelter worker nor perhaps does she have any experience with firearm protocols. "If that were me, y'all would have shot me." (Painful societal commentary that we could not leave out).
- (4:50") "I don’t know what I got myself into! I was just coming to get my dog. I am 100% going to get him away from this." Quarla surrendered her dog Willie (a "Puggle" according to video comments) to the shelter, but then changed her mind.
- (5:19) Slight zoom in. There is no noticeable safety equipment anywhere.
- (5:33) In a classic moment, Quarla blurts out, "Grandpa, you know you ain't ready for that dog! That's a red-nosed pit bull" (a generic term that refers to a fighting dog).
- (6:42) "Oh my God, in the name of Jesus. It's crazy out here. I wasn't looking for this." Quarla was an accidental witness to the speed, ferocity and relentlessness of a pit bull attack. No normal person is "ever" looking for this!
- (7:00) "That cage is still shaking. She just got him caged in. She put it over the dog's head and caged him in. And they are using the fan to cage him in."
- (7:50) Quarla recounts the events. "We were in the building talking. We hear somebody hollering and screaming and she take off running. And a pit bull busted out of his chain (kennel). They thought they had him locked into another cage and he was smart enough to lift the handle on that … Moral of the story is, you gotta have better equipment when you dealing with them dogs … them pit bulls will turn on you."
- (8:15) He must have done something to that dog. "He broke out of two fences to get to him. It was like no stopping him. I ain't never seen nothing like that before in my life. He [would] shake it like a red-nosed -- he shook it like a red-nose. I'm not lying to you. My God! All of us were standing around when he broke out the second time. He didn't come for neither one of us. He only went for his 'subject' … when that dog hit that chain, he didn't have me in mind. I couldn't even get the video going fast enough. I was gone, back to my car to lock myself in. But he didn't come after nobody, but exactly who he wanted. He had his 'target.'" The dog had extreme focus and concentration on fighting and attacking its subject.
- (9:15) "Only him and the dog know why the dog attacked him." Many people refuse to believe in unprovoked violence by a dog. Quarla even understands what a red-nose is, a pit bull specifically bred to fight to the death. Quarla still can't believe what she saw, yet she mistakenly presumes provocation, even vengeance, was involved.
- (9:36) "Got yourself a hell of a lawsuit. That is what you call worker's comp. If they was paying him and it wasn’t under the table…he definitely gets some unemployment now." Quarla is right about this, but notice how the CEO was quick to blame "product failure" to escape liability?
- (10:15) "They can't spare his life. He just tried to kill somebody." Quarla is right on the mark. If human intervention had not occurred, Grant would have ended up like Christine Liquori, who was attacked by a pit bull-mix that was up for adoption at the Humane Society of St. Lucie County. She was found dead and disfigured two hours later by a shelter volunteer.
- (11:00) "Is that dog dead already?" She asked. Not yet, the deputy responds. It is a natural reaction for Quarla to be fixated on this question. She wants the dog dead so that she can safely get out of her car and so that it cannot harm anyone else.
- (15:00) Another recount of events.
- (18:07) The back of the animal control truck is seen.
- (18:22) "Is it safe to get out now?" She asks. No, says a person off screen.
- (18:53) Loading the dog into the back of the truck.
- (19:30) "I was here to pick up a dog. That could have been me! … All of us were standing out there. He only had one 'target' that he wanted," she said.
- (21:10) "She was the closest one! He passed her to get to him." In this moment (and throughout the video) Quarla can't wrap her head around an unprovoked, relentless and targeted attack by a pit bull, despite this being the very behavior pit bulls were selected for.
This discussion of “unpredictable aggression” pertaining to an animal is relevant given that one of the chief reasons pit bulls are regulated under breed-specific laws in over 1,000 jurisdictions in the U.S. and jurisdictions within 53 countries worldwide is specifically due to the breed’s “unpredictable aggression.” Fighting breeds were selected for impulsive aggression, unbridled aggression, and the willingness to attack in the absence of species-specific signs. Multiple appellate court decisions have also remarked on this characteristic of the pit bull. - DogsBite.org, public comments to the Department of Transportation, April 2020
Pit Bulls also possess the quality of gameness, which is not a totally clear concept, but which can be described as the propensity to catch and maul an attacked victim unrelentingly until death occurs, or as the continuing tenacity and tendency to attack repeatedly for the purpose of killing. It is clear that the unquantifiable, unpredictable aggressiveness and gameness of Pit Bulls make them uniquely dangerous ... While these traits, tendencies or abilities are not unique to Pit Bulls exclusively, Pit Bulls will have these instincts and phenotypical characteristics; most significantly, such characteristics can be latent and may appear without warning or provocation. - Vanater v. Village of South Point, June 1989
Quarla continued to post about the attack. On November 18 she wrote, "They need to do something about this place. It's loaded with dogs and cats and the workers are at HIGH RISK. I watched an employee get attacked and no one had any protection. With all those dogs around and all the money that is donated to the SPCA, they should at least have dog mace there to control these stray dogs." Instead, the CEO blamed the attack on a "faulty" lock mechanism.
In 2018, the Lenoir County SPCA took in $463,000 in donations and $162,000 in program service revenue (Animal Control and Care for Lenoir County). Total revenues were upward of $736,000. Thus far, it appears that no other information about the SPCA's investigation has been released. The dog was expected to be "put down and tested for rabies," according to Henderson. Without Quarla's Facebook video, this violent attack on a shelter worker would have remained hidden.
Lenoir County is situated right in the middle of dogfighting territory. There is no doubt the SPCA has taken in a share of fighting dogs too. There are no excuses for the SPCA -- whose building is owned by the county and is insured by the city of Kinston -- to lack proper safety equipment and protocols. "Throw a kennel on the dog and fortify it with a fan," is unacceptable. Grant is young, but certainly could have endured permanent injuries. We hope that he is properly compensated.
SPCA Fails Inspection
After we published this post, it came to our attention that there was a surprise inspection at Lenoir County SPCA two days after the dog broke out of its new kennel twice and attacked the shelter worker. "The future of the Lenoir County SPCA is in serious jeopardy after failing a recent state inspection citing multiple major violations and management issues," reports the Kinston Free Press. The inspection report was disapproved by the North Carolina state inspection agency.
The inspection notes that new enclosures have "damaged chain link, bent poles and gate laches are not sturdy enough to contain a large breed aggressive dog." - Kinston Free Press, November 24, 2020
"Major faults include lack of proper records, inadequate facilities and enclosures for the dogs, poor cleaning, not enough staff, lack of toys for long-term animals in care, lack of rabies vaccinations and being over capacity for dogs and cats," reports the Free Press. Management at the shelter has 48 business hours to respond in writing with a corrective action plan. The report also states that recent enclosures added to the facility since August may not meet basic safety requirements.
The jimmy-rigged cage at Lenoir County SPCA after a dog broke out of its new kennel twice.
Animal control officers load dog onto truck after it attacked a worker at Lenoir County SPCA.
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Homeless animals? Nice manipulative language ya got there, Lenoir County SPCA.
And, unfortunately, the dog worshippers will fall for it. Bigtime. Watch that $1.5 million fundraising goal fall in record time.
Meanwhile, homeless humans get nothing.
Funny you mention that, Quiet Neighbour…
At our last housing meeting about the 100000 de-housed humans in this province, I suggested we take over the dog pounds/shelters since the dogs have better homes than the people sleeping in the parks. It’s warm, there’s food, baths, beds, washrooms and they get exercised twice a day.
Our priorities are severely whacked.
If these shelters weren’t keeping all these dangerous dogs (to hold for pie-in-the-sky adoption), they wouldn’t need to spent $1.5M on a new facility. Their No Kill policy changes are what has caused all the shelters in the country to be “inadequate”. If they really looked at the COST of keeping dangerous dogs, they might consider changing their minds about warehousing them.
Just imagine if she hadn’t filmed this and uploaded it to Facebook! I’m certain the shelter would have covered it up, or at least tried to. I’m quite convinced this kind of stuff happens frequently with shelter pits and it just gets covered up like most dog attacks in general. And of course shelters like this place are always the main ones begging for money. These organizations that are harboring dangerous animals don’t deserve a cent!
I hope someone reached out to this lady and educated her on the viciousness of pitbulls so she will stop victim blaming.
Having spent the last 20 years working in animal shelters, I can attest to the increase of aggressive dogs entering them. Used to be chows, antisocial aloof critters that would attack if pressured. Now we have pits, and their cousins the cane corso, american bully, press canario….etc. These dogs scare the daylights out of me. They truly are zero mistake dogs. And almost seem to wait for the tiniest show of perceived weakness to attack. Fighting back is futile, submitting is futile. Thank goodness there were other employees around to assist him, or we might have had another shelter fatality. I agree, no kill is a disaster.
We need a No-Kill movement that protects innocent human beings.
Dixie, here’s a thought.
As soon as we had BSL here the pitbulls were gone, and the huskies, which had been the majority before, became the majority *again*–which they were before pitbull owners were overbreeding them.
Huskies don’t scare me. Generally, they arrived because they are super high energy, shed buckets and tend to either jump up and knock people down, or grab a child that they’re annoyed, by. People are completely clueless as to what to do with them and pick them for their looks–not their temperament, so they land in shelters. They’re not the most trainable dogs, but they’re far from the worst.
Put them in the hands of someone who understands their needs and 99% of them are handleable.
Can’t say the same about pitbulls, Cane Corsos and other molasers. Once they’ve learned the value of intimidating humans, they generally do not come back from it.
Anyplace that has dogs capable of killing should be required to have the means to dispatch them immediately should the need arise- a firearm. I wonder if this mauler is going to find a ‘furever home’ after this complete with a child’s face to eat. SMH
I agree. There should be at least one firearm at the shelter and someone who knows how to use it. Animal control officers often carry pistols but they need carbines.
Sadly I bet this beast gets “pulled” and sent to a “rehab” that will have even worse equipment. Someone there will take the beast for a walk and the pronounce it cured.
Notice the deceptive picture on their fundraising brochure. A lovely Golden and a cat. That breed of dog would be adopted in a minute. Not a mauler in sight when they ask for money. This whole operation is criminal.
This is fun. As has become old hat, shelters are having Black Furday specials on dogs. This “article” has so many pits on it as well as what I am seeing with the ads within it in my area. You would think there was no other acceptable or as popular of a breed with these pushers.
https://barkpost.com/good/black-friday-adoption-specials/
Has anyone seen this !?
https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php/cw/animal-watch/20752-pit-bull-adopted-from-laas-shelter-attacks-victim-hospitalized-in-critical-condition?fbclid=IwAR3iJeN8brztrZ4SdSAUaZGAvTSKf9RCT4Asutnu9jYqLg6fx4LL41F93C8
Lazy owners, negligent shelter.
Dog should have been put down immediately after the attack on the jogger.
If you’re going to own a dog, be prepared to put it down if it is vicious. Nobody should be palming off a dangerous dog on a shelter.
And a shelter that takes one, then adopts it out, should be sued into the ground and the managers should be held criminally liable along with the owners.
That would put a stop to this nonsense, post haste.
With a donated piece of land and renovation scrap, hundreds of de-housed people could build cabins to keep from freezing to death this winter for 1.5M dollars. A whole community or a bunch of vicious dogs?
Think about that.
Thankyou Christine, I have just learnt a lot from your provided link!
This “poor abooosed puppy was so scairded it mauled some mean human that gave the aboosed puppy flashbacks” nonsense burns my socks right off.
Dogs are not humans.
That is NOT how abused dogs react. Abused dogs cower at the sight of whatever implement they were abused with, or bark, snap, quick bite and *run backwards* so they can see the implement. They may hide behind a trusted person, or another dog. They may shut down, and begin quaking, if they’re temperamentally anxious as well.
A dog that mauls, mauls because it is vicious, dominant and because it’s been getting away with previous behavior that has taught it that it will get something it wants from intimidating humans. It has learned it can self-gratify from attacking.
I see crappy dogs everywhere. Most are mishandled, especially nowadays when gadgets such as hobble harnesses and head halters (created for prey species with their eyes on the *sides* of their heads) are making dogs more neurotic than ever. Dogs are predators. They either have respect for another predator or they do not. Some, temperamentally, have more ingrained respect for humans. Some do not. Some, temperamentally sound as companions, have zero respect for humans.
And these supporters are breeding more of these beasts and euthanizing less of them.
Pure recipe that creates the disasters we’re seeing.
A good dog is a joy to be with. A stupid, sentimentally sloppy bunch of humans, are not.
Plenty of abused dogs become aggressive defensively, it’s a normal animal behavioural response to danger -flight or fight. If something triggers a dog and it feels like it’s life is in danger it’s very likely that it will bite to defend itself. Not only pits will do this, most dogs and pretty much all living animals will do this. That’s why it’s important not to push dogs or any animal beyond their thresholds.
People have become complacent with dogs but we should remember that they are animals, not robots, and act on instinct, not reasoning.
Dominance between dogs and people is a myth and has been debunked many times over, including by the original author of the myth himself.
Pit bulls are dangerous because they are highly motivated to kill and dismember (their prey drive has been modified in this way), they have an inability to de-escalate from excitement or conflict, they are extremely excitable (verging on neurotic), they bite and hold then “rag” as their preferred biting style.
They are not the only breed to have these dangerous traits but they are the most popular of such breeds.
ERROR:
“temperamentally *UNsound as human companions.”
Ooopsy
The shelter’s website does not appear to be providing any information about any adoptable dogs at this time (11/30/20). They have a dropdown for cats, but no dogs. Curious.
Looking at their FB, lots of posts in the past 2 months asking for volunteers and possible employees. Clearly understaffed.
Shelters and rescues will continue to be chronically understaffed as long as they are paying to keep murderous dogs alive while underpaying the workers they are putting at risk from those dogs.
Nobody asks a high-risk construction worker dangling in mid-air to install i-beams for minimum wage but somehow, skilled animal handlers are supposed to “do it for da lurve” and crap wages while at higher risk for losing life or limb.
Again, a society with utterly whacked priorities.