Video Captures Unprovoked, Unpredictable Attack
DogsBite.org - A dog bite victims' advocate alerted us to this video on the day it was published on YouTube, February 27, 2015. For several reasons, we believe it will be taken offline in the future -- we preserved a copy in case this occurs.1 For those who can bear to watch it, it is a classic "unprovoked, unpredictable" attack by a pit bull, the very type of attack that appellate courts have described for over 25-years and why cities and entire countries choose to regulate this breed.
"pit bulls are especially dangerous due to their unpredictability. It is impossible to tell from looking at a pit bull whether it is aggressive or not. American Pit Bull Terriers have been known to be friendly and docile at one moment, willing to sit on your lap and lick your face, and at the next moment to attack in a frenzied rage. - Court of Appeals of New Mexico, Garcia v. Village of Tijeras (1988)
CONTENT WARNING Readers who have been viciously attacked by any breed of dog and suffered Posttraumatic Stress Disorder should not watch this video. It might reignite this emotional trauma. Our emphasis on this warning cannot be stressed enough. Once seen, there is no going back. This video does not show gore or injured body parts during the attack. It is the idyllic setting of the video, hijacked by sudden violence, and parts that are not shown that will shudder your core.
The setting is an innocent Ice Bucket Challenge performed by a grandmother in a residential backyard. The grandmother is seated in a chair when the video begins. Three young children, her grandchildren, hold modest sized bowls filled with ice water. "Okay, press the red button," she says, indicating to the camera holder to start filming, as is required in the ALS Challenge. The grandmother is not thrilled about being nominated for the challenge and vows to return the favor.
"I appreciate the nomination and as you can see the children are thoroughly going to enjoy doing this. Me, however, I'm not. However, I do think I am going to nominate somebody and he's standing right in front of me." - Grandmother
At 35 seconds, she covers her face with her hands and braces for the icy cold water. The unpredictable violent attack by the pit bull begins just seconds later -- at 43 seconds -- which is the first time the dog is seen. If you've ever questioned the veracity of an unprovoked, unpredictable attack by a pit bull, in this case an attack on a family member, you won't again after watching this video. Now that you have read this far, along with our warning, below is a link to the grim video.
At 43 seconds, the grandmother is still recovering from the cold water shock and the children are squealing in delight when the pit bull leaps up and latches onto her face with its powerful jaws. The video clearly depicts how sudden and swiftly these violent attacks occur as the children continue laughter nearby and the camera holder requires a moment to comprehend what is happening. (DogsBite also captured still frames, which occur so rapidly they are unseen in the video.)
By 46 seconds, the "idyllic scene" is destroyed. The pit bull has pulled the woman to the ground with its jaws and the camera holder rushes to help, whereby depicting a scene of "spiraling down" until the camera falls to the ground. We are left with the camera pointing up toward a blue sky with puffy white clouds as family members scramble to pull the dog off the woman. We hear shouts and struggles, we hear someone beating on the dog then the first words, post attack, are spoken.
[Child] Grandma are you okay?
[Grandma] No. Go get me a towel please.
[Child saying to someone else] Hurry!
[Child] She's BLEEDING!
[Grandfather] This dog is going to the fucking pound.
[Grandma] Yes. I need you to...
[Child] Look at her arm!
[Child] Here grandma.
[Grandma] Thank you.
[Child] Now he's bleeding.
[Grandfather] No he's not, that's your grandma's blood.
[Grandma] Would you turn the video off?2
[Grandfather] I dropped the damn phone to get him off of you.
[Child] I'm going to go get a stick.
At this point, the grandfather picks up the phone and the imagery spirals upward. One catches another brief glimpse of the dog (1:36) being held by a man. The pit bull is perfectly calm, like nothing ever happened. The video of the ALS Challenge ends at 1:42. The original video simply ended. A second version of the video was republished to the web also on February 27 that added two still images at the end, the grandmother's healing facial injury and the attacking pit bull.
The Video Poster
The person who posted the video states that she is the daughter of the victim. Her irresponsible sister owned the attacking pit bull. She blames her sister and unfortunately blames the horrific attack on poor training, even going as far as calling the dog "wild." It is unknown what the actual history of this pit bull is, but the dog clearly lived on the property with the family. Every year in the U.S., well-raised pit bulls from puppies unpredictably attack and kill their own family members.
Video Description (by emaustin102387)
This is my mom when she was viciously attacked by a pit bull last year during the ALS ice bucket challenge. She lived to tell the tale of it and didnt want this released until she was ready. This should serve as a warning to all pet owners. Unless you are going to take the time to make an animal a pet then it will remain an animal. This was my sister's dog who she only kept to stud out for breeding purposes. she took no time to train him or make him listen. He was a wild dog and she should be ashamed for keeping him out of selfishness and not love.
The daughter provides more background details in the comments section, many of which aptly describe a common pit bull owner, deviant, narcissistic and more. She also adds, "Even though Kilo was dumb and stubborn even I did not see this coming. He had no warning signs or indication of being neurotic or anxious around people. He did not growl snarl or show any signs of aggression. He just turned for no apparent reason." (Read full comment in related footnote).3
A sampling of other commenters include Velvet Norman who wrote, "Pit must be the only dogs you have to TRAIN NOT to kill you or a family member" and lifehackertips who wrote, "Well looks like we just saw 5 more people become BSL advocates. Those children will forever remember their cute adorable nanny dog attacking grandma for no reason." David Orth bluntly states, "If it had been the 4 year old, he'd be dead now." The daughter replies to Orth, "Yes it was very scary."
Grandparents Victimized
Grandparents are frequent victims of these attacks and under this very scenario. An adult child or an adult grandchild dumps their pit bull(s) at their homes and in other cases, the adult child or grandchild moves into his parent's or grandparent's home and brings along their pit bulls. In 2014, 5 fatal dog attacks involved this scenario, 4 deaths involved pit bulls and 1 involved rottweilers. Each person would still be alive today if they had been able to say "No" regarding the dogs.4
According to the daughter, the pit bull wound up at her mother's home when her sister got kicked out of her living environment and had no other place to put the dog. Unfortunately she also writes, "My mom was determined to make him a part of the family and was holding out hope that he would adjust to our family. Even my dad wanted to get rid of him and told my sister several times to come get her dog, but she did not." Her mother nearly paid with her life for this false hope.
Still Frames of Pit Bull Attack
2Stunning lucidity.
3emaustin102387 (2/27/15) - Sorry I had to remove the other video because of all the negative comments directed towards my mother. Changed a few settings then added the aftermath photo since i had a few people that wanted to see it. As for the dog in the video yes he was held for a mandatory 10 day holding period to ensure he didnt show any signs of rabies. My sister did not want to release the animal to be euthanized even though he almost killed our mother. The only reason the dog was at my moms was because my sister got kicked out of where she was living and had no place to put the dog. The 3 children that you saw in the video are my sister's kids. my parents are raising them because my sister is just not a good person when it comes to taking care of anyone/anything but herself. so when she was asked did she want to surrender Kilo she had to think about it. After speaking with animal control they informed us that because she left the dog there for more than 30 days that he was considered my parents' dog and that she had abandoned him. My dad went there the next day and signed the papers to have him euthanized. This dog had not been kept around the children and the entire time he was around he had to be kept away from them because he kept knocking them down every time they would try to run by. Even I went there and tried to teach him basic commands "sit, stay, no, and to not jump." The dog was unwilling to learn and continued to exhibit dominant behaviors. I begged my mom to get rid of him and she was terrified that someone else like my sister would get ahold of him and continue to breed him or use him for dog fights. My mom was determined to make him a part of the family and was holding out hope that he would adjust to our family. Even my dad wanted to get rid of him and told my sister several times to come get her dog, but she did not. It came to a point that I stopped going down there because I did not like the dog especially being around my daughter. Even though Kilo was dumb and stubborn even I did not see this coming. He had no warning signes or indication of being nuerotic or anxious around people. He did not growl snarl or show any signs of aggression. He just turned for no apparent reason. Even though he almost killed my mom, she still was very upset at the situation. My least favorite part about this story was talking to the people at animal control to find out that my irresponsible sister had previously been to the emergency room for dog bites with this dog and then still brought him to the home where her children and our parents were I completely blame my sister for this. Unfortunately we cannot pick or choose who we are related to, but I can tell you that i do not consider her family to me. This is just one incident on a long line of past and present screw ups she has dragged us through.
In another comment, emaustin102387 talks about her mother’s injuries:
emaustin102387 (2/27/15) - +Spanky Jenkinz actually he didnt let go willingly. all the thumps you hear and snarling was my dad punching him. he took her down and my mom actually had to pry her hands into his mouth. even with all the punching he was only focused on killing my mom. my dad had to stand there and hold kilo until i got there while his wife layed bleeding in front of him unable to help her. The aftermath was a broken AND unhinged jaw several stitches and nerve damage so now my mother will never speak normally again.
Here, she may just echoing untruths told to her by her sister. Blue pit bulls are a “designer” breed and have added value for their unique coloring. Blues are not used in dogfighting, if they ever are it is exceptionally rare. Kilo was allegedly born by two blue fighting pit bulls and is 125 pounds. Real fighting pit bulls are half that weight (or less). Kilo probably was stubborn and dominant, but the “fighters as parents” rumor needs to cease.
emaustin102387 (2/27/15) - +Falkosmom unfortunately no there is no way of knowing how many dogs were bred with him. he was on pup out of a litter between 2 fighters. my sister sold off his brothers and sisters in New Orleans and then when Kilo matured there is no way of telling how many he bred with. The only reason she kept him for breeding was his size and color. he was made between 2 blue pitts and came out blue fawn. He weighed a whopping 125lbs and was built tanky. I am a heavy girl and i had a hard time when he would jump on me while i was trying work with him. he was not interested in learning he only wanted to show me he was the boss.
(Update 03/01/15 evening). As suspected, Kilo’s mother (Roxy) was nothing more than a house dog. Kilo did not come from a litter “between 2 fighters.” Kilo’s owner was simply selling blue pit bulls, which can have a significant mark up. It is important to point this out because saying that the attacker came from a litter “between 2 fighters” is just another attempt to excuse away the dog's explosive unprovoked aggression.
emaustin102387 (03/01/15) - +Maryann Dikinbut no roxy was actually a house dog and was being used for a protection animal. but roxy was a crazy bitch that no one could be near because she was so fucking neurotic. when my sister got roxy no one could come in her house PERIOD because the dog was too viscious. you wanna talk warning signs? barking growling snarling head low ears low. anxious. that dog shouldnt have been bred PERIOD, but my sister did make 600$ per puppy in New orleans so i guess it didnt matter much to her!
4Annabell Martin, Nancy Newberry, Dorothy Hamilton, Cindy Whisman, Alemeaner Dial
Related articles:
08/31/15: Who Can Identify a Pit Bull? A Dog Owner of 'Ordinary Intelligence'...
01/08/15: 2015 Dog Bite Fatality: Maryland Man Mauled to Death by Family Pit Bull
12/30/14: 2014 Dog Bite Fatality: Portage Man Mauled to Death by Pet Pit Bull on Christmas Day
08/07/14: 2014 Dog Bite Fatality: Ohio Woman, 59, Attacked and Killed by Her Daughter's Pit Bull
04/11/14: 2014 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bull Kills 4-Year Old Girl in Houma, Louisiana
03/13/12: Fort Wayne Citizen Witnesses The Extreme Violence of a Pit Bull Attack
Here is a dog showing a classic bull dog trait: going for the face of the victim. This is what pit bulls were bred for, and one of the reasons they are so dangerous.
EXCELLENT POST !!! The still frames are chilling. The width and depth of that pit's mouth next to that little boy's head…that child would have not had a scalp left. Yes, Dayna, it is nothing short of miraculous. Regardless of any criticism I or anyone else might have of the grandparents taking that dog in (I am a grandmother and I've had dogs put off on me also) the grandparents and their daughter are to be commended for attempting to prevent future victims of these dogs. They may regret showing the public this video and take it down but I hope they don't and I wish to thank them for their efforts and courage in putting this video out there.
After reading the details of this dog it is nothing short of miraculous that he didn't go after one of the children.
My thoughts exactly. He had previously "knock them down" as they'd "run by". Any one of those times a child could have been killed. The fact that it didn't happen is miraculous indeed!
The way he went right for the face and pulled her down – dogs aren't supposed to do that. Dogs *don't* do that. I've seen dogs who would be "set off" by noise or action, and might have bitten in that situation. But not like that.
I have to disagree about the brief shot of the pit after the attack – it's not calm. It's not struggling, but it's tensed and poised to go again – it's standing straight, staring, eyes wide and hard, ears back, body braced against the restraint, and its mouth is a thin tight line.
More breeding. The sister was involved with pit bull breeders, and dog fighters from what she described.
That is the point of pit bull advocacy and lobbying, so those who make money from these dogs can keep doing it, no matter who they harm or what damage they do.
This is what groups like Best friends Animal Society and their sheep-like followers are supporting.
(Some of their supporters, who here attacked and blamed the victim, as they always do. Never the breeders, do you notice?)
I hope people learn from this incident, but they need to understand that the pit bull did what it was specifically bred by people to do. This is normal behavior for a pit bull, to attack and kill.
There is no way to train a pit bull not to do this.
This lady is lucky she survived, and those kids came within an inch of the end of their lives, literally.
It's going to happen again and again across America as long as the pit bull money market advocacy keeps getting away with lies
The lady that put up this video is very brave and did a great service, and likely saved lives because some people saw the truth here that pit bull lobbying wants to hide
I hope victim advocates can help her to ignore the hate attacks from the pit bull lobby
I'm sorry, after I posted my comment, I caught your paragraph addressing the fighting issue.
More than likely, this dog was advertised for stud on facebook and craigslist, who refuse to stop this kind of underground dog breeding industry activity on their sites and cause a lot of harm.
Just imagine if you had the bad luck to live next to the sister when she had the dog.
I disagree with this part of the video description:
Unless you are going to take the time to make an animal a pet then it will remain an animal.
No, no, and no. A dog is *always* an animal, even after it becomes a pet.
A pit bull? It's a vicious animal, and it has been bred to disguise this tendency until it suddenly attacks.
And yet we're supposed to listen to these FOOLS when they tell us their pibbles is different and would never hurt a fly. Right.
" the video poster just removed about 400 comments, possibly by banning a swath of pit bull promoter"
Good for her. Ignore these organized, evil moneygrubbers
Many of them that are attacking her are not even from this country
I saw at least one dog fighter from Australia attacking.
They attack because they want to censor and silence so they can go on lying and making money from these dogs and get away with murder
Kind of like if the tobacco industry set up their lobbyists to attack any public health videos exposing the dangers of tobacco
They tried that too once upon a time when people spoke the truth, but good people didn't back down and kept telling the truth
By letting people see the truth, the lady who posted this video could be saving lives every day, especially some of those who have gotten nothing but propaganda and lobbyist lies through a sometimes corrupted media
I hope that victim advocates let her know
I could not watch the video but I think your family is very brave for sharing. People can be very cruel in their comments but the truth needs to be told. Hope your family heals from this horrible attack.
Too bad these dumbass dogs don't use their bark instead of their teeth when "protecting" their loved ones. Any other dog would just bark if it got excited.
I am always blown away at the high stress life pitbull owners choose for themselves… To have this high risk animal around that could any minute kill you or another person! I get it that these people are either martyrs or sociopaths or in most cases completely ignorant, but still, to have a dog that makes people uncomfortable when they are in your home? To simply look at the mouth of your Pitbull and know that it is the same size or bigger than your child's head, knowing the child doesn't stand a chance if the dog bites?
And I won't ever understand the Nanny dog thing?!? Why in the world would you put an animal in charge of children? Isn't that what a parent is for? Let me tell you, my kids are safe tonight because of me and my husband, not because of the animals in our home.
I can't believe how wide open it's mouth is, it's actually more open than the width of it's neck, like a shark with it's muzzle pulled up. Look at it's eyes as it bites. This is a little horror movie, from a cute family bit of fun to pure horror. What is wrong with people, why bring a thing like this into a family and expect anything good to come of it?
People don't learn….this breed can kill. Tired of hearing its the owner, how they are raised etc..to all those who make excuses for this breed, look into the eyes of families who have had children mauled to death. I wont own a dog who can do this damage. Say what you want about a 4 pound yorkie…can never do this damage…physically impossible
I came across this blog after looking for information on the unpredictable nature of pitbulls. A old friend of mine had a pitbull many years ago although i wasn't told by her that's what breed he was, i found out only today when i was told by our mutual friend he had bitten his owner. I wasn't at all surprised as a few years previously i had been in their kitchen with my daughter who was a toddler at the time, My daughter was playing and the dog was asleep on the other side of the room, whilst playing she let out a squeal very similar to the squeals of delight you hear in this video before the attack. The dog ran from his bed and i knew instantly he was going to go for my daughter, i grabbed my daughter and pulled her high into the air, luckily i had just come from the stables so had my long leather yard boots on, as the dog jumped to get my daughter i protected us by putting my leg out. The dog grabbed my boot and ripped the leather with ease. My friend struggled to free her dog from me and actually had to get a broom to help beat the dog from leg. My daughter and i were lucky to come out with no a scratch on us, and i thank my lucky stars that day i was wearing thick leather boots that had lots of lining in the so they were thermal. The boots were shredded by the time my friend freed my leg from the dog. I never went and visited my friend again and reported the attack but i never followed up the reports because i assumed wrongly that something would be done. I am under no doubt it was the noise that startled the dog to provoke this behaviour but even still that makes them a very dangerous animal. This dog was well trained, well loved and very obedient but he turned and it happened very quickly. If it hadn't have been for the fact i have worked with dogs in the past i might have missed the signs. My daughters face would have been exactly where the dog would have made contact if i had not have grabbed her and my stomach turns when i think of the damage that dog could have done to my beautiful daughter, scars that would have lasted forever.
When i found out the dog had attacked his owner i was not shocked, i found out the attack had been under similar circumstances. My friend was at a BBQ and her friends had arranged to play games in the garden, they were doing a egg and spoon race, as my friend came closer to the finishing line her friends started cheering her on, and it was at this time the dog attacked her (again during moments of high pitched noise) This dog has since been PTS, and could have caused someone real damage or worse. I plead with people not to buy this breed. I had known this dog for years, my friend did agility with this dog he was well trained and a member of the family, but this dogs prey drive kicks in very quickly and it is my thought that it happens during moments of high pitched noise or sudden movement something that can at anytime. Don't put others at risk, they have a strong bite and a unpredictable nature and its selfish to put others at risk, its also selfish to breed a dog that can never be trusted its not good for the poor dog either.