Macon-Bibb County Animal Control loading a pit bull suspected of killing Tracey Payne.
Previous Attack by Dogs
UPDATE 08/21/10: Authorities report the same pit bulls that killed Tracey Payne attacked a man walking past the house the night before. Kerry Whisby, 31, said he was cutting through the alley to go to the nearby Flash Foods convenience store at about 11:30 pm when one of the dogs ran up to him and started biting his arm. "The dog tore me up and kept biting even as I was trying to run away," he said. "Eventually, I was able to climb on the roof of someone’s car and ride away."
Unlike the Memphis attack (See: Pit Bulls Kill Man, Injure Four Others in Memphis) that killed William Parker and injured four others in July, police did not know about the incident involving Whisby. The "badly injured" victim did not file a police report after being taken to the hospital in the predawn hours of Thursday.1 Payne was killed between 6-8 am Thursday morning. The attacking pit bulls belonged to the house's previous resident who left the animals behind after moving out.
In a separate incident Wednesday night at the same location, Kerry Whisby, who lives on Carling Avenue, was bitten and badly injured by one of the pit bulls while walking past the house.
Whisby, 31, said he was cutting through the alley to go to the nearby Flash Foods convenience store at about 11:30 p.m. when one of the dogs ran up to him and started biting his arm.
“The dog tore me up and kept biting even as I was trying to run away,” he said. “Eventually, I was able to climb on the roof of someone’s car and ride away.”
Whisby said the dogs belonged to the house’s previous tenant, who he said had left the dogs behind after moving out.
Whisby did not file a police report about the dog attack after being taken to the hospital for his injuries Wednesday night. - Carl Lewis, The Telegraph/Macon.com, August 21, 2010
08/20/10: Fatal Dog Mauling Suspected
Macon, GA - In a developing story, an autopsy conducted Friday confirmed that a woman died of blunt force trauma and lacerations by a pack of pit bulls. She had been dead for about six to eight hours prior to being discovered. Tracey Brazzell Payne, 46, was discovered Thursday in the backyard of a vacant south Macon home with severe lacerations that appeared to be inflicted by dogs. Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said a pack of pit bulls was found in the same yard.
A woman whose body was discovered in the backyard of a south Macon home Thursday afternoon died after being attacked by a pack of pit bulls, an autopsy conducted Friday has found.
Tracey Brazzell Payne, 46, was attacked by dogs that were roaming in the yard at 1284 Glendale Ave., near Houston Avenue. Police found her body lying in the bushes in the backyard of the house about 2 p.m. Coroner Leon Jones said Payne died of blunt force trauma and lacerations from the dog attack. She had been dead for about six to eight hours.
Macon police spokeswoman Jami Gaudet said police are waiting to see the full autopsy report before making any decisions about exactly how the death occurred. - Carl Lewis, The Telegraph/Macon.com, August 20, 2010
Related articles:
07/25/10: 2010 Fatality: Pit Bulls Kill Man, Injure Four Others in Memphis
06/16/10: 2010 Fatality: Lorain County Man Killed by "Rescued" Dangerous Breeds
08/19/09: 2009 Fatality: Senior Couple Killed by Pack of Dogs in Oglethorpe County
and then there are today's "lucky" survivors…
62-year-old Cora Vande Heiden was jogging in newton, iowa when she was attacked by 3 pit bulls.
http://www.kcci.com/news/24706204/detail.html
48 yr old Laurie Schissler was attacked by 3 pit bulls in houston, texas.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7620175
we need more bloggers to cover these tragedies.
http://www.macon.com/2010/08/21/1236070/autopsy-woman-died-of-mauling.html
photo of one of the dogs. the same dogs attacked a man the night before.
"Neighbors said the home has been empty since the previous tenants moved about two weeks ago. They said people from the community often cut through the alley of the house as a shortcut to a nearby convenience store.
Kristia Hargrove, who lives down the street, said she’s seen the pit bulls outside the house for a few days now, and she knows of at least two people who have been bitten by them already.
“One of my best friends was bitten by one of those dogs the other day. She had teeth prints all over her"
How on earth could it be that the city hadn't removed these dogs?
Government workers receive salaries and benefits specifically to handle issues like this, which is not only animal control but also health department and law enforcement related.
Two people already had been injured, and the city response is to do nothing?
Clearly the city has responsibility for this death here, and it is very evident that local governments need to corrected when it comes to handling dog issues.
The lawyers are clearly going to have to do the correcting.
georgia, it is the epicenter of dog fighting. remember emery hands out money to creepy lunatics that want to attend dog fights, write about dog fighting and create dogfighting "arts and crafts". fulton county animal shelter hired 2 of these nut jobs to run their facility.
it's like spain and bullfighting. they can't seem to let it go.
Despite the CORONER being very clear on THURSDAY that the victim suffered horrible injury and death inflicted by "dog bites," Macon police are saying Saturday:
“The dog could have knocked her down and that’s how she died,” Gaudet said. “We really don’t know until we see official documentation.”
People don't report this stuff to the authorities is a big part of the problem. Like the man bitten but didn't report. And the neighbors knew the dogs were abandoned yet probably didn't take the time to call. I find that to be the biggest problem and when something happens, animal control is blamed. AC can't do anything if they don't know about it.
P. In this case, that man may have still been in the hospital. Ever been to ER? It can take hours. That woman was killed between 6 – 8 am the next morning. He did not have time to file a police report. If he had filed one at 4 am, what do you think the police would have done? Of course authorities can't do anything if they do not know about it, but to lob blame onto Whisby in this case is indecent.
My understanding is that the bitten man was in the hospital being treated and probably zonked out on pain medications and unable to do anything.
The HOSPITAL staff needed to contact police to report this dog mauling, because it should have been obvious to the hospital staff that the dogs were still out there and dangerous and ready to kill.
However, I don't believe that animal control was not contacted at earlier dates. The previous tenants had been gone at least two weeks, and these dogs had been causing trouble ever since. I will bet money that the neighbors DID call and complain, and animal control and/or the police ignored them and didn't properly report or file anything to simply avoid working.
There also is a problem in Georgia with authorities that themselves are involved in dog fighting and pit bull breeding.
look at those uniforms, and that expensive animal control vehicle. These people are being liberally paid to protect the public, and I sense that they just are not doing their jobs.
And how was someone able to use their property to run a pit bull breeding operation in a crowded residential area?
It is extremely important for anyone with a dog issue in their neighborhood to file WRITTEN complaints, with every single authority including the mayor or local council. Informal, telephoned reports get ignored by incompetent animal control departments, who then claim they "never" got a complaint because it never gets officially submitted and animal control just ignores it.
Taxpayers are paying a lot for animal control. They need to start demanding efficiency and quality, or more people will die.
Trigger the neighbors knew before the attacks that the dogs were there. I'm not blaming the man in the hospital at all but the neighbors for two weeks failed to report these dogs probably. I find that too many times in my investigations. If animal control doesn't respond, then you call your elected officials. If that doesn't help then do something to get them out there such as blocking off a main highway, which I have done more than once. Whatever it takes to get the attention that is deserved in order to prevent either attacks or the animals dying from neglect. I see the time frame for this young man and the deadly attack, that is not what I was talking about. I was talking about the neighborhood in general not doing anything about these abandoned dogs.
It's a difficult scenario. It seems many folks do NOT contact authorities in these scenarios (neighbors knew but did not call) or they start feeding the abandoned dogs! It is up to local authorities to do all that they can to educate residents. I believe the problem is that they do not know WHAT to do or WHO to call. But in instances of attacks, the police are usually called — most residents at least get this much. But not, I guess, Kristina Hargrove:
Kristia Hargrove, who lives down the street, said she’s seen the pit bulls outside the house for a few days now, and she knows of at least two people who have been bitten by them already. "One of my best friends was bitten by one of those dogs the other day. She had teeth prints all over her. That’s why I don’t walk near that house or through that alley anymore," Hargrove said.
I'm late. This is the first I've heard about this one. Sheesh, there are just so many I can't keep up with them all.
How horrible…
Yep, Trigger, that is what I mean. Hargrove had a friend bitten and her solution was not to put herself in danger, not thinking about other people. That is the problem of our society today, not getting involved. That's why we have the pit problem and so many others, people stay in their own little world.
It is easy to check and see if reports were made, ask for the service records. Most animal control agencies have a list of calls, assigned a number, and these can be checked. However, in many instances, if animal control comes and they can't see the problem, the law stops them. Many are not allowed to enter private property and many times the dogs have retreated back to their "home". I have investigated many a complaint from people that AC didn't do their job when actually they did do their job but because of laws they couldn't do anything about it. Not defending AC, just talking from experience. And yes, in GA, many an AC agency is full of pit nutters/fighters. I know, I'm from there.
Remember to always ask for a call number so you can do followup. This alerts dispatch that you know what you are doing and you will followup. Keeps them on their toes.