Denali Gonzalez, 2-years old, was killed by her family's new dog in Alvin, Texas.
Child Identified
UPDATE 10/16/18: A 2-year old girl fatally mauled by a family dog Friday has been identified. Denali Gonzalez died of her injuries at the scene. Her mother and children were returning home from a shopping trip and carrying in bags when the dog suddenly attacked the girl in the yard, Lt. Varon Snelgrove said Saturday. The dog's jaw locked in around her upper torso and throat and it all happened very quickly. "There's nothing the family could have done," Snelgrove said then.
About 5:00 pm Friday, Brazoria County Sheriff’s deputies and Alvin Animal Control officers arrived at a home in the 3900 block of County Road 424B (also known as Morning Dove Street) and found the dog had severely attacked the young girl, reports the Alvin Sun. The child was unresponsive and could not be revived. The dog, described as a mix of varying breeds, was so aggressive when officials arrived they had to tranquilized it with a dart. The dog was euthanized at the scene.
On Saturday, the victim's brother told KHOU the dog was new to the household and had been aggressive since it was brought to the family's home -- the dog even bit him. He said they were in the process of having the dog removed, but they did not act soon enough. It is unknown if the dog was adopted from a shelter or rehomed through another means. The sheriff's office said the investigation is ongoing. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with funeral expenses.
10/13/18: New Family Dog Kills Toddler
Alvin, TX - The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a 2-year old girl was mauled to death by a family dog Friday afternoon. The deadly attack occurred in the 3900 block of Morning Dove Street, near Quail Drive, about 6:00 pm. The toddler was pronounced dead at the scene. She was transported to the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. The family dog, described as a mixed-breed, possibly a pit bull-mix, was taken into custody.
"It's a terrible incident where the family dog attacked a 2-year-old. We have no idea why. It's been a long time since we've had anything like this happen. It's a tragedy for all involved." - Brazoria Sheriff Charles Wagner
A separate report by the Houston Chronicle describes the dog as a leopard cur breed-mix, also known as an American leopard hound and possibly the Catahoula leopard dog. Catahoulas come in a variety of mixed-breed flavors, including mixed with American bulldogs and mixed with pit bull terriers. A merle coat often characterizes their appearance. The sheriff's office is not releasing the name of the family or the deceased child at this time. The dog has already been euthanized.
Evening Updates
Over the course of Saturday, the breed became a "mixed-breed" that appears to be a Leopard cur-mix, according to animal control. The Brazoria County Sheriff's Office told Click2Houston that DNA was taken from the dog, and its exact breed makeup will be determined at another time. When officials arrived at the scene, the dog was so aggressive it had to be tranquilized with a dart; the dog was euthanized at the scene. The KHOU evening update provides more information.
KHOU spoke to the victim's brother, who would not go on camera, but said the new dog was aggressive from the time it was brought to the family's home -- the dog even bit him. He said they were in the process of having the dog removed, but they did not act fast enough. It is unknown if the dog was adopted from a shelter or rehomed through another means. The brother's account is vastly different from earlier news reports, which stated the dog had no history of aggression.
Lt. Varon Snelgrove told the Houston Chronicle, the animal had no known history of violence or aggression. "The mother and children were returning home from a shopping trip and carrying in bags when the dog suddenly attacked the girl in the yard, he said. The dog's jaw locked in around her upper torso and throat and it all happened very quickly," reports the Chronicle. "There's nothing the family could have done," Snelgrove said. "It's just a horrific, horrific incident."
A 2-year old girl was killed by a family dog on Morning Dove Street Friday in Alvin, Texas
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Related articles:
03/27/18: 2018 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bull-Mix Kills 4-Year Old Boy in Bexar County, Texas
08/21/17: 2017 Dog Bite Fatality: 2-Month Old Baby Killed by Family Dogs in North Houston
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.
How common are Catahoula Leopard Dogs as a breed? I only heard about them a few years ago when they started showing up on Craigslist and PetFinder. I had to look them up online and to be honest, I didn’t see anything special about this breed to explain why they were proliferating in Pennsylvania. The link above describes the temperament of the dog in a way that would be a turn off and warning to any buyer. I don’t recall much info on their temperaments a few years ago when I first researched them on line. Looking at their coats and eye colors I suspect they are being bred with pits to produce designer coat and eye colors. Based on their shape and size, they could be bred with pits with minimal watering down of the pit bull look.
Is anyone else seeing these in their shelters or in other rehousing sites?
Colleen –
I respectfully disagree. Border Collies can climb trees. They can climb out of 8′ kennels and I’ve even had one climb up the wall of a barn stall and peer over the edge at me and a group gathered for lunch in the aisle way. At that point others told me they’ve had their bcs climb out of stalls and walk along the rafters of the barn, just because they could. Thing is, bcs rarely do much damage when they climb and they’re easily called back.
Many people claim that Catahoulas are a herding breed, but I haven’t seen anyone have much success with them.
I did further reading on this breed and I found that it is often classified as a ‘hound’ but that it is not, it is a ‘cur.’ I was not exactly sure what that was but it is apparently a mixed breed landrace local to an area. Basically a mutt that has a certain look in a geographic area. Many curs are now registered breeds. The description on Wikipedia makes it clear this is a dog that can be unsafe with children. I sure it is only a matter of time before someone (anyone) edits that description to something more benign and deceiving.
Yes. I am currently looking for a puppy in Wisconsin, and the shelters and ads are mostly pitbull, pitbull mixes, and “lab mixes” but I have also seen several leopard dogs, catahoula hounds, etc. And the sites have those tri color and merle pitbulls. I just want a normal puppy, but it seems very difficult to buy one that doesn’t cost around 1000.00 or you’re stuck with a pitbull often disguised as something else. I was considering a puppy that had pretty tan and black coloring that they said was a border collie shepherd mix, but I am suspicious because of the coloring and short coat. It is hard to tell when they’re puppies and online, but at best I’d say it has rottweiler coloring and I don’t know what else. It seems wrong to be afraid to take a chance on a puppy because you’re unsure if it will grow up to be a mutant mauler.
When northern shelter/rescue people discovered cur breeds (through the southern transport network), they began calling every pit bull mix that wasn’t wider than it was tall a ‘cur’ breed. Have a tan pit bull with a dark face? It’s a black mouth cur! White pit bull with freckling or patches? Catahoula! I think the ‘cur’ name didn’t help that much, and most of them around me seem to be going back to “hound mix” in an effort to evoke images of Snoopy.
The curs in general may have been distinct from pit bulls/bulldogs originally, but there are two issues with that:
1) They were created for and are still used for bloodsports. Breeds used for those purposes had to be extremely aggressive to survive.
2) The curs tend to appeal to the same people as pit bulls, and end up mixed with them. At some point, you always have to suspect any breed that’s found favor with the pit bull breeders. Ever look at the Patterdales? They started out as offshoots of the Lakeland Terrier, which look like what a child would draw if you asked them to draw a terrier. The Patterdales, on the other hand, look like tiny, coal-black pit bulls.
Yes. I am currently looking for a puppy in Wisconsin, and the shelters and ads are mostly pitbull, pitbull mixes, and “lab mixes” but I have also seen several leopard dogs, catahoula hounds, etc. And the sites have those tri color and merle pitbulls. I just want a normal puppy, but it seems very difficult to buy one that doesn’t cost around 1000.00 or you’re stuck with a pitbull often disguised as something else. I was considering a puppy that had pretty tan and black coloring that they said was a border collie shepherd mix, but I am suspicious because of the coloring and short coat. It is hard to tell when they’re puppies and online, but at best I’d say it has rottweiler coloring and I don’t know what else. It seems wrong to be afraid to take a chance on a puppy because you’re unsure if it will grow up to be a mutant mauler.
“Nothing they could have done”- BS! They could have taken a known aggressive dog to the vet to get PTS instead of trying to pawn it off to be someone else’s problem. And their child would still be alive today.
Anyone else wonder if a rescue was involved here?
And Cindy, have you found a puppy? I found that it helps to Google specific breeds + your city. You don’t seem to have a specific breed in mind, but if you have a type, at least, looking them up can help. I found our puppy this way–he’s an absolutely fantastic GSD that we bought for a great price because the breeder isn’t a “champion” breeder, just someone who has some solid, papered GSDs who make great pets. Our boy is six months old now and an absolutely perfect GSD: smart as a whip, very loving and loyal, aloof but calm with strangers but very alert, gentle with everyone especially kids, and gorgeous. We paid only $600 for him, which is an amazing price if you know how much good solid GSDs can demand from breeders. It’s also worth going to your local pet stores and looking on their boards or asking other customers who have good dogs where they got them.
Don’t give up, Cindy! There ARE good dogs still out there. Just don’t even bother with those lying rescues and pit pushers at Animal Control/HSUS. Our GSD is the first dog we’ve ever gotten from a breeder; I can’t in good conscience support the rescues etc. anymore, sadly, but have no regrets when our little man curls up next to me for a nap or insists on accompanying me outside (into our fenced yard, where I smoke cigs and read) so he can keep watch. 🙂
(PS Yay! I can finally comment anonymously here!)