2018 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bull-Mix Kills 4-Year Old Boy in Bexar County, Texas

Noah died after a tethered, male pit bull-mix latched onto his neck and shook him.

Male Pit Bull-Mix
UPDATE 03/27/18: A member of Noah's family shared with KENS 5 News more details about the family dog that attacked and killed the little boy Sunday in Converse. The animal is a male pit bull-mix, named Bam Bam. The dog was given to the family as a gift three years ago. Jon Ramirez, a family friend, said he had seen Noah and Bam Bam interact well in the past. The pit bull-mix was chained to a fence in the backyard when Noah entered into the "death radius" of the canine.

Late Sunday, News 4 San Antonio reported that neighbors said the dog had previously escaped the family's property and fatally attacked neighborhood pets. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is still trying to confirm those reports. Again, the extreme risk factors present in Noah's death -- a young child left unattended near a male (neuter status unknown) chained dog, and with a potentially lethal track record in killing animals -- is one of the most dangerous scenarios of all.

03/25/18: Family Dog Kills Boy
Converse, TX - A 4-year old boy is dead after a family dog latched onto his neck. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) was called to a home in the 8900 block of Twincreek Farm about 3:45 pm Sunday after a report of a dog attack. BCSO said the boy was in the backyard when the large canine attacked him. The child was airlifted to University Hospital in San Antonio with life-threatening injuries and "excessive trauma." He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

The 4-year old boy has been identified as Noah Trevino. It has also now been confirmed the dog was tied up when it fatally attacked the child.

"It appears that the child may have gotten too close to the dog," Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said. "One of the relatives of the child actually looked out into the backyard and saw that the dog had his mouth around the little boy's neck and was shaking him," Salazar said. Animal control took the dog. The dog is potentially a mixture of American bulldog, pit bull or mastiff; no confirmation at this time. Also, "too close" indicates the dog may have been penned or chained.

Late Evening Updates

A larger photograph Tweeted by David Caltabiano of News4SA shows better scale than the first one (which was a close up). Mastiff as a possibility can now be removed. This is a pit bull-type dog -- an American bulldog, pit bull terrier or a cross between these close breeds. Authorities are simply calling it a "large mixed-breed," yet the dog's behavior is very specific to these breeds: The dog latched onto the boy's throat and shook him to death. The sex of the canine is unknown.

Readers also may have noticed this statement in various news reports, "The family said the dog has never attacked people." In their evening broadcast, reporter Caltabiano stated that according to BCSO, neighbors told them the same dog had escaped the yard in the past and attacked and killed neighborhood animals. BCSO is still trying to confirm those reports. The risk factors posed by this canine -- a chained aggressor with a lethal track record -- were alarmingly evident.

View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Texas Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

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Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.

11 thoughts on “2018 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bull-Mix Kills 4-Year Old Boy in Bexar County, Texas”

Notice how many of the warning signs were present in this attack, I'd say at least three if not four. https://dogbitelaw.com/parents/a-dog-attack-danger-scale-to-keep-you-and-your-kids-safe

Pit bull not just any mixed breed generic collie or golden or beagle

Yet another family where the children are forced to play second fiddle to the dogs.

Just disgusting and sad. That dog looks pampered. He also appears to be strutting and happy because he did what he was bred to do. Looks like he wants praise for his actions.

And another dog with a known history of killing neighborhood animals is considered by the dog owner's family to be "safe" around humans. So what if the dog killed a few neighborhood animals, surely that's not an indicator that the dog could attempt to harm humans as well? A young child had to suffer for the negligence of pet owners who refused to take responsibility for their dangerous dog. If your dog is killing other cats or dogs, it's time to euthanize your dog.

How heartbreaking. And unnecessary. I always wonder after reading these stories, are the parents who own these dogs ignorant of how many children have been killed by "family-friendly" pit-bulls? Or did they know, but willing to risk their child's life that they would be one of the lucky ones who wouldn't have a killer pit-bull? What kind of person would bet their child's life in a lottery? And if ignorance, than I hold all the pro-pit-bull lying and manipulating organizations responsible for the child's death. On one hand, I guess it doesn't matter, the child is dead, the siblings forever scarred, as well as the parents. On the other hand, for a normal, non-narcissistic person, I think recovery would be easier, knowing the death was caused by ignorance, and not stupid, "I can beat the odds" type thinking.

The fatalities caused by pit bulls will only get higher as more and more will be adopted out of shelters! When will people wake up to the truth that they are not a safe breed? When pit bulls are the cause of 90 percent of the fatalities involving dog bites will people still say they are no different than any other dog breed? SMH!

Sellers of dogs (private or commercial), public or private animal shelters, and rescue organizations and adoption groups (including non-profits) (collectively referred to as "transferors") have certain legal obligations when they place a dog with a new owner. A breach of any of those obligations can result in civil liability and even criminal charges, and can lead to public mistrust.

The prior owner of a dog cannot normally be held responsible for harm caused after ownership is transferred, provided that the prior owner retained no further interest in the dog and did not misrepresent its temperament or warrant that it would not create the harm in the future. For an excellent discussion of various possible causes of action based on harm occuring after transfer of ownership of a dog, see Blaha v. Stuard (2002) 640 NW 2d 85 (South Dakota Supreme Court).

Civil liability will result from adopting out a dog that is known to be dangerous, is known to have dangerous propensities, or is misrepresented as being safe when the transferor has no reasonable basis to make that representation.

A dog known to be dangerous or vicious must be put down or cured of its potentially injurious tendency. https://dogbitelaw.com/adoption-organization-liability-for-dog-bites/the-legal-duties-of-a-transferor

Today we had a client come in with a "mix" breed that he had just adopted from the shelter. As soon as the technician went into the room, all that could be heard was growling, barking and the sound of nails on the table. The tech came out and was giving a pass down to the Dr that was going in to examine the dog. Righht. So, as soon as the Dr stepped into the room, the chaos erupted again. The Dr said that the dog was biting the owner's arms trying to get to the Dr and was trying to jump over the table to get to him.The owner said that they were trying to get the dog to a trainer…..yea, you are really going to train this level of aggression out of this dog….but they have not yet. Anywhoo,,, the paperwork that the owner brought in with this dog from the shelter had several bullet points that that owner had to initial acknowledging that 1.) This dog could not be taken to dog parks, 2.) was not to be taken around children, 3.)O was to use caution with this dog when it is around strangers/ new people, 4. ) O was to keep it on a leash when it is taken outside. There were a couple more things but these were the most prominent red flags that , to an intelligent person, would be an immediate deal breaker. When this dog does maul or kills someone, the shelter can then say that it was the owner's fault for not adhering to the agreement that he initialed.
This dog should not have been adopted out . PERIOD. I am angry that the " save at all cost mentality supercedes the safety of the general public.

So true Colleen, BUT many shelters are willing to take a chance that THAT pit bull won't kill anyone. They are willing to roll the dice with OTHER people's lives and pets so they can avoid euthanizing another pit bull, or so they can make their 'live release' rates look good on paper.

Ka_D it's true that any shelter wants to improve its "live release" rate but I will have to agree that it's irresponsible to knowingly adopt out an animal that has shown aggressive tendencies or was surrendered for being aggressive.

I volunteered in a shelter -years before the current pitbull craze–and we carefully watched the behavior the dogs we had. They lived with fosters until they were adopted so we got a good idea of each dog's general disposition. I can only really recall maybe one or two out of several hundred dogs who had an aggression problem. It was sad but we would euthanize aggressive dogs since they had little chance of being adopted and also to protect people who were potentially adopting a dog. It breaks my heart to euthanize a healthy animal but I can't imagine how I would feel if I adopted out a dog that ended up mauling its owner, other animals in the household, or the kids in the house.

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Ka D on March 26, 2018 at 3:06 am said:

Notice how many of the warning signs were present in this attack, I'd say at least three if not four. https://dogbitelaw.com/parents/a-dog-attack-danger-scale-to-keep-you-and-your-kids-safe
Jaloney on March 26, 2018 at 3:47 pm said:

Pit bull not just any mixed breed generic collie or golden or beagle
Your Quiet Neighbor on March 27, 2018 at 1:15 pm said:

Yet another family where the children are forced to play second fiddle to the dogs.
Christy D on March 27, 2018 at 5:16 pm said:

Just disgusting and sad. That dog looks pampered. He also appears to be strutting and happy because he did what he was bred to do. Looks like he wants praise for his actions.
lipski on March 28, 2018 at 2:17 am said:

And another dog with a known history of killing neighborhood animals is considered by the dog owner's family to be "safe" around humans. So what if the dog killed a few neighborhood animals, surely that's not an indicator that the dog could attempt to harm humans as well? A young child had to suffer for the negligence of pet owners who refused to take responsibility for their dangerous dog. If your dog is killing other cats or dogs, it's time to euthanize your dog.
LibertarianThinker on March 28, 2018 at 11:10 am said:

How heartbreaking. And unnecessary. I always wonder after reading these stories, are the parents who own these dogs ignorant of how many children have been killed by "family-friendly" pit-bulls? Or did they know, but willing to risk their child's life that they would be one of the lucky ones who wouldn't have a killer pit-bull? What kind of person would bet their child's life in a lottery? And if ignorance, than I hold all the pro-pit-bull lying and manipulating organizations responsible for the child's death. On one hand, I guess it doesn't matter, the child is dead, the siblings forever scarred, as well as the parents. On the other hand, for a normal, non-narcissistic person, I think recovery would be easier, knowing the death was caused by ignorance, and not stupid, "I can beat the odds" type thinking.
responsible dog guy on March 28, 2018 at 10:10 pm said:

The fatalities caused by pit bulls will only get higher as more and more will be adopted out of shelters! When will people wake up to the truth that they are not a safe breed? When pit bulls are the cause of 90 percent of the fatalities involving dog bites will people still say they are no different than any other dog breed? SMH!
Ka D on March 29, 2018 at 11:27 pm said:

Sellers of dogs (private or commercial), public or private animal shelters, and rescue organizations and adoption groups (including non-profits) (collectively referred to as "transferors") have certain legal obligations when they place a dog with a new owner. A breach of any of those obligations can result in civil liability and even criminal charges, and can lead to public mistrust.

The prior owner of a dog cannot normally be held responsible for harm caused after ownership is transferred, provided that the prior owner retained no further interest in the dog and did not misrepresent its temperament or warrant that it would not create the harm in the future. For an excellent discussion of various possible causes of action based on harm occuring after transfer of ownership of a dog, see Blaha v. Stuard (2002) 640 NW 2d 85 (South Dakota Supreme Court).

Civil liability will result from adopting out a dog that is known to be dangerous, is known to have dangerous propensities, or is misrepresented as being safe when the transferor has no reasonable basis to make that representation.

A dog known to be dangerous or vicious must be put down or cured of its potentially injurious tendency. https://dogbitelaw.com/adoption-organization-liability-for-dog-bites/the-legal-duties-of-a-transferor
Concerned Vet Tech on March 29, 2018 at 7:57 pm said:

Today we had a client come in with a "mix" breed that he had just adopted from the shelter. As soon as the technician went into the room, all that could be heard was growling, barking and the sound of nails on the table. The tech came out and was giving a pass down to the Dr that was going in to examine the dog. Righht. So, as soon as the Dr stepped into the room, the chaos erupted again. The Dr said that the dog was biting the owner's arms trying to get to the Dr and was trying to jump over the table to get to him.The owner said that they were trying to get the dog to a trainer…..yea, you are really going to train this level of aggression out of this dog….but they have not yet. Anywhoo,,, the paperwork that the owner brought in with this dog from the shelter had several bullet points that that owner had to initial acknowledging that 1.) This dog could not be taken to dog parks, 2.) was not to be taken around children, 3.)O was to use caution with this dog when it is around strangers/ new people, 4. ) O was to keep it on a leash when it is taken outside. There were a couple more things but these were the most prominent red flags that , to an intelligent person, would be an immediate deal breaker. When this dog does maul or kills someone, the shelter can then say that it was the owner's fault for not adhering to the agreement that he initialed.
This dog should not have been adopted out . PERIOD. I am angry that the " save at all cost mentality supercedes the safety of the general public.
Ka D on March 31, 2018 at 1:13 am said:

So true Colleen, BUT many shelters are willing to take a chance that THAT pit bull won't kill anyone. They are willing to roll the dice with OTHER people's lives and pets so they can avoid euthanizing another pit bull, or so they can make their 'live release' rates look good on paper.
Amethyst on April 1, 2018 at 1:18 am said:

Ka_D it's true that any shelter wants to improve its "live release" rate but I will have to agree that it's irresponsible to knowingly adopt out an animal that has shown aggressive tendencies or was surrendered for being aggressive.

I volunteered in a shelter -years before the current pitbull craze–and we carefully watched the behavior the dogs we had. They lived with fosters until they were adopted so we got a good idea of each dog's general disposition. I can only really recall maybe one or two out of several hundred dogs who had an aggression problem. It was sad but we would euthanize aggressive dogs since they had little chance of being adopted and also to protect people who were potentially adopting a dog. It breaks my heart to euthanize a healthy animal but I can't imagine how I would feel if I adopted out a dog that ended up mauling its owner, other animals in the household, or the kids in the house.