One of several pit bulls belonging to the owner that killed Mable McCallister.
Mable McCallister
Cleveland, TN - WRCB reports that an 84-year old woman died New Years Eve after a pit bull owned by her grandson attacked her face and neck on December 18 in Cleveland. Mable Harrison McCallister was transported to Erlanger hospital's trauma unit, where she spent more than four days following the attack, according to Bradley County Medical Examiner Dr. Jeffery Miller. Privacy laws are preventing the news agency from learning more about the cause of McCallister's death.
Gamble says the dog in question belongs to Harrison's son, McCallister's grandson, Jerry Harrison, Jr.
"She was bit in her face and neck," Cleveland Police Ofc. Evie West says.
Privacy laws prevent Eyewitness News from examining the medical records to determine the extent of her injuries. But they were serious enough to put Ms. McCallister in Erlanger hospital's trauma unit for more than four days, according to Bradley County Medical Examiner Dr. Jeffrey Miller.Those same privacy laws also are denying Eyewitness News access to records that could indicate why Ms. McCallister died in hospice care New Year's Eve. Did she succumb to complications that developed from the dog bites? Or from a previous medical condition?
"We became aware of the dog attack only after Ms. McCallister was brought to Erlanger," Ofc. West says. "Neither we nor Animal Control got a call when she was injured."
The dog has remained with the Harrisons since the attack.- WRCB-TV, January 3, 2012
The pit bull has remained in the home of Jerry Harrison, Sr., the dog owner's father, since the attack under a home quarantine. WRCB asked police officials about Tennessee law allowing for "house arrests" after a serious biting incident. Officer Evie West said, "If it complies with those plans and procedures [of a rabies quarantine], it can stay with the owner." WRCB asked, "Even if the bite was serious enough to put somebody in the hospital?" West said, "That's correct."
Welcome to the reality of home quarantines even after life-threatening dog attacks. Tennessee is not alone in allowing for such house arrests. Also, plans call for McCallister's body to be cremated, but the medical examiner "may hold off on signing the authorization" pending further review.
A person named Amanda, who purported to be Mable's great-granddaughter, left comments on the news article, including: "I am the great-granddaugter of Mabel McCallister. My grandmother died from the pit bull attack," and "Jerry is a cruel human being. He sets out to hurt others. He is always threatening to set that dog loose on people. Something needs to be done about the dog. A woman an amazing woman dies from this dog and nothing is being done about it," she wrote.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Tennessee Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
10/02/11: 2011 Dog Bite Fatality: Philadelphia Woman Killed by Husband's Pit Bulls
05/08/09: Pit Bull 'Redirects' Attack onto Owner in Greeley, Colorado
what kind of human garbage keeps alive the dog that puts his own parent in a hospital where she dies 4 days later?
what kind of a state (besides missouri) dares to leave the dog in the custody of said human garbage? they have PROVEN themselves irresponsible and unworthy of second chances.
Happy Maulidays from the National Pit Breeders Association!
5 DBRFs in December!
We need a law that requires Pit Advocates to wear black during Pit Pride Marches.
Sigh…looks like it's time to build a Tennessee Pit DBRF map.
Here's the Body count:
December 2011, Bradley County TN
Mable MacCalister, 84
Fatal Dog Attack: Pit Bull
September 2010, McMinn County, TN
Mattie Daugherty, 85
Fatal dog attack: pit bull
July 2010, Shelby County, TN
William Parker, 71
Fatal dog attack: pit bulls
November 2007, Knox County, TN
Jennifer Lowe, 21
Fatal dog attack: pit bulls
May 2007, Shelby County, TN
James Chapple Jr., 59
Fatal dog attack: pit bulls
June 1990, Shelby County, TN
Betty Lou Stidham, 57
Fatal dog attack: pit bulls
Sept 1984,Knoxville County, TN Douglas Edward Waddell Jr.,<2
Fatal dog attack: pit bull
here's the putrid owner
They must have Pit nutters running animal control in the county…
According to Tennessee State law, the District Attorney can order impound and request a court order to euthanize this mankiller.
§ 44-17-120. Death or serious injury; destruction of dogs
(a) Any dog that attacks a human and causes death or serious bodily injury may be destroyed upon the order of the judge of the circuit court of the county wherein the attack occurred. Such orders shall be granted on the petition of the district attorney general for the county. The petition shall name the owner of the dog, and the owner shall be given notice in accordance with Rule 4.01 of the Tennessee rules of civil procedure, that if the owner does not appear before the court within five (5) days of the receipt thereof and show cause why the dog should not be destroyed, then the order shall issue and the dog shall be destroyed.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), in counties having a population in excess of eight hundred thousand (800,000), or having a metropolitan form of government and a population in excess of one hundred thousand (100,000), according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent federal census, a municipality or county is authorized to adopt local ordinances authorizing the municipality or the county to appropriately petition in a general sessions court to provide for the disposition of dangerous dogs or dogs causing death or serious bodily injury to humans or other animals.
I'm confused… I thought man biters were always culled.
April
You are apparently confused. Pit Bulls are Nanny Dogs because they've killed over 180 American children.
Get with the program!
@ vintage, or the pit nutters are in the prosecutors office. and with more and more nutter infiltration in the american bar association, that seems plausible.
Here's another bizarre pit bull incident involving a senior citizen: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/15/2642455/son-shoots-mom-by-accident-amid.html