Taylor Becker, 4, of Hustisford, was mauled to death by a family friend's dog.
Backyard Breeders
UPDATE 08/27/10: In an update that can only be described as "subtle bomb dropping," the Beauprey family had only owned the 5-year old dog, named Rocky, for 3 to 4 months prior to the attack that killed Taylor. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls then let slip that there were also five puppies inside the home that Rocky sired. There is no mention of an adult female dog. Authorities say charges are unlikely,1 but they are researching the dog's history and where it came from.
"The boxer is currently in custody at the Dodge County Humane Society. The sheriff said it's likely, at the owner's request, that the dog will be euthanized.
Readers, you are witnessing yet another instance -- which there are too many to count -- of the offspring of a dog guilty of killing a person being "preserved" instead of humanely culled.
08/26/10: Photo Released of Offending Dog
The Wisconsin State Journal has released a photo of the dog, which appears to be a boxer. It's unclear when the photograph was taken or why the sudden change of heart by the Dodge County Humane Society. The little girl's parents, Jennifer and Brian Becker of Hustisford, had been visiting the home of Steven and Stefanie Beauprey when the horrible attack occurred. At the time, the child was alone with the dog in the backyard. An autopsy is being conducted today.
08/26/10: Victim Identified, Taylor Becker
Authorities on Thursday morning identified the victim as Taylor Becker of Hustisford. Neighbors said the home belongs to Steven and Stefanie Beauprey. Troy Erickson, also a neighbor, witnessed the attack. He was on his way to work when he passed what he thought was the dog playing with a piece of carpet or a doll. "I saw the dog chewing on her and dragging her around," Erickson said. "I thought 'Oh my God, I can’t believe I'm seeing this, this can’t be happening.'"
Patricia McConnell, a certified applied animal behaviorist and adjunct zoology professor at UW-Madison, makes the following distorted statement in the article: "There are about 15 dog-related fatalities per year in the United States." (The actual tally is double this amount.) She added that, "A lot of the problems that dogs run into are related to an inability to deal with emotional arousal. As a result, dogs can become aggressive in situations even if they don't start out that way."
The last statement seemingly concerns the split second arousal period of a pit bull to reach explosive aggression, uncommon in other breeds.
08/26/10: Humane Group Disallows Photos
The victim's name will be released following the conclusion of a death investigation being conducted by the Sheriff's Department and the Dodge County Medical Examiner's Office. The Dodge County Humane Society, who took the dog, will not allow photos to be taken of the animal. This may be due to the fact that the dog is not a "boxer," but is a pit bull or pit bull-mix. This would hardly be the first time a publicly funded county humane group has covered up a U.S. pit bull fatality.
08/25/10: Dog Kills Visiting Child in Backyard
Hubbard Township, WI - In a developing story, a 4-year old girl was killed by a dog Wednesday in Hubbard Township, according to the Dodge County sheriff. The victim was "visiting the home" where the attack happened. Both families knew each other, and the girl had been to the home before. The dog, described as a boxer, was on a "leash and chain" in the backyard, but slipped out of it's collar before or during the attack. The leash was long enough to access the location of the attack.
Related articles:
05/22/10: 2010 Fatality: 3-Year Old Child Killed by Sled Dog in Napaskiak, Alaska
02/24/10: 2010 Fatality: 3-Year Old Mauled to Death by Pit Bull Type Dog in Ocala
10/29/09: 2009 Fatality: Toddler Wanders from Babysitter's Home; Killed by Pit Bull
Photo: Wisconsin State Journal
"Boxer" is one of the breed names most commonly used for pit bull when the breed is being disguised.
mcconell has a phd. i've read a couple of her books. she is a so a darling of of the pit nutters. my biggest complaint with her is her inability to apply genetics consistently across ALL breeds. she lives on a farm with sheep, border collies and a pyrenees. phd's are not a guarantee of knowledge and integrity, but she lives with border collies, she should know better.
"The Dodge County Humane Society, who took the dog, will not allow photos to be taken of the animal. This is likely due to the fact that the dog is not a "boxer," but is a pit bull or pit bull-mix. This is hardly the first time a publicly funded county humane group has covered up a U.S. pit bull fatality."
This is a pit bull, and the shelter is hiding this fact.
They receive tax money. They need to be held responsible for this hiding of public information.
There need to be formal complaints filed with the county, state, and governor for this misbehavior.
It is not the job of an animal shelter to be protecting pit bull fighters and dangerous dogs.
There also needs to be an investigation into previous complaints about this dog that this animal shelter may be hiding.
"Patricia McConnell, a certified applied animal behaviorist and adjunct zoology professor at UW-Madison.
“It’s really not about the breed,” McConnell said"
The University of Wisconsin Madison needs to answer the question of why a professor of theirs does not even have proper statistics or facts, and is giving out false information, and also failing to acknowledge that pit bulls cause the overwhelming majority of deaths. It IS about the breed.
However please notice that McConnell is an ADJUNCT professor. She is not a full time professor or staff member for the university. She is a dog trainer that they allow to teach a course.
You or I could be an adjunct professor as well. Nearly anyone can. It's a nice way of saying a member of the public that they let teach a course. It's an inexpensive way for a college or university to cut costs.
But how can someone like this be responsible enough to teach? She can't even get the basic facts right.
There's a basic competency problem here, as well as the disturbing issue that this woman is repeating falsehoods from the for profit dog breeder lobby and even worse, dog fighters.
Universities need to know when extremists or radicals are using their facilities as a background to give credibility where none is due, and to give out incorrect information and serve a personal agenda.
As far as this humane shelter, they have already not been honest. There HAVE been problems with this dog and aggression issues with neighbors, as reported in the article via a direct interview with neighbors.
The shelter has failed to proect public safety.
McConnell flat out blames the pit bull problem on low-income people!
"What's happened is pits have become part of a culture as a way for low-income people in neighborhoods with very few opportunities to get power and protect what they have," said Patricia McConnell, who has a doctorate in zoology and has specialized in canine aggression for 22 years.
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http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_24a60774-cf14-11de-b974-001cc4c002e0.html
McConnell is a for profit businesswoman. She sells her services as a dog trainer, in particular as a dog trainer that can "cure" issues like dog aggression and aggression in general.
It is of course ridiculous to even attempt to claim this, particularly when dealing with breeds that are specifically bred to have a high prey drive ralated to other dogs and be aggressive. Many other "trainers" with as much if not more credibility than she has state exactly that.
But a key point here is she is a completely unproven "expert." Dog training is an opinion-only field. There is no quality control whatsoever. There are no proven results for any of them. There is no yardstick to measure them by, no guidelines. The degrees, certificates, are all meaningless.
The PhDs are empty. Anyone can easily obtain a PhD. They are profit products for colleges and universities, and impart no credibility nor expertise in and of themselves.
A dog trainer with a PhD has no more inherent credibility than a dog trainer with a high school degree.
The dog training world is built on a foundation of shifting sand.
But the real heart of the problem here is a university allowing its name to be used to "endorse" someone's for profit business and by someone trying to impart credibility or claim special knowledge in a field where there is none.
The dog training world is heavily polluted also by related interests, such as for profit breeding. There is a reason that so many breeder lobbyists declare themselves "dog trainers" as they try to gain some aura of expert status, again where there is none. And they let their business interests affect their advice.
There are no "experts" in the dog training world.
But when someone from this field is outright presenting false statistics and information, and doing so in the name of a university, that is a problem that can lead to public danger. That is a public health and public safety issue. That is a serious liability.