Adrieanna O'Shea, 19-years old, died after five dogs attacked her in Knox County.
Victim Did Not Survive
Knox County, TN - Multiple family members confirm on social media that 19-year old Adrieanna O'Shea did not survive her injuries. On Friday, August 23, Adrieanna was viciously attacked by five dogs while visiting a property on Crescent Drive. The pack contained multiple mastiff-mixes, a rottweiler-mix and a pit bull. Adrieanna had been returning to the home after leaving her purse there the night before. A witness said "the dogs were dragging her and tossing her in the air."
Case Background
On August 23, multiple media outlets in Knox County, Tennessee reported a vicious dog attack in the 6000 block of Crescent Drive. A controversial GoFundMe campaign was created afterward, dividing family members in multiple states. Adrieanna resided in Maryville, but was attacked in Knox County. Her relatives appear to reside in Mississippi, North Carolina and Nevada. On Tuesday, we began following a man on Facebook who calls Adrieanna his daughter.
On August 28, the Knox County Sheriff's Office confirmed investigators were sent to 6517 Crescent Drive on Friday at about 2:00 pm for reports of a 19-year old girl viciously attacked by a pack of dogs (read parts of police report). A witness at the scene told investigators Adrieanna was coming over to pick up her purse because she had left it there the night before. The witness said she heard Adrieanna say, "No Boscoe!" then heard her screaming, "Help me! Help me!"
The witness said, "she heard screaming and ran to the door and she saw 4-5 dogs attacking Adrieanna," states the police report. "The dogs were dragging her and tossing her in the air," the witness said. Two arriving officers were told that Adrieanna "had jumped a small fence to try to get away from the dogs." An officer shot and killed one of the dogs after it charged them. Officers said the victim had "bite wounds to both her arms and all over her body" and had "lost a lot of blood."
"The dogs tore off her clothes during the attack. She was covered in blood and debris and non-responsive." - Knox County Sheriff's Office report
As reported by the owners, the dogs involved were a male mastiff named "Boscoe," a male rottweiler-mix named "Buddy," another mastiff-mix named "Camo," an unaltered female pit bull named "Nila" and a male, neutered mastiff-Labrador mix named "Duke." While officers loaded the dogs into a van, the landlord and dogs' owner, Rodnee Herald, told officers, the dogs were just "Doing their job," states the report. The dogs were taken to Young-Williams Animal Center.
According to news reports, the owner said the dogs were restrained by an electric fence that was not buried. When deputies tried to explain that this type of fence was not allowed, one of the owners became "hostile" and proclaimed, "We killed his dog!" states the report. Also stated in the report, Herald told officers, "the dogs are family dogs, the family being: herself, her husband and her son." As noted in the news reports, there were multiple mobile homes on the property.
Adrieanna was attempting to retrieve her purse from a mobile home on the property that was adjacent to where the owners of the dogs lived.
By Wednesday evening, the remaining four dogs had been euthanized and Herald walked back her cold-blooded statement to officers. However, it only matters what was said at the scene after five dogs brutally attacked Adrieanna, who knew at least one of the dogs by name. The dogs were just "Doing their job," Herald told officers then. Herald stated Wednesday, the gruesome attack was "traumatizing for all parties involved." Except that only Adrieanna suffered traumatic injuries.
As the owner of vicious dogs, the Heralds could not leave it at that either. Referred to as "they" by WBIR, Herald family members told WBIR, "I would not own any kind of animal that would do something like this. We are all traumatized with this freak accident and are praying for Adrieanna and her family." The term "freak accident" has been employed by the owners of vicious dogs -- primarily pit bulls -- to deny responsibility after monolithic maulings and fatal attacks since 1985.
Another Teenager Killed by Dogs
Adrieanna is the third teenager mauled to death by dogs this year. As we stated after the deaths of 14-year old Ryan Hazel and 16-year old Nelson Cabrera earlier this year, victims in the 10 to 18-year old age group make up only 1.5% of dog bite fatalities. Victims in the 19-29 age group make up only 3% of fatality victims. All three fatal attacks involved multiple dogs on the dog owner's property while the teenage victim was visiting -- Cabrera was allegedly trespassing at the time.
According to Adrieanna's Facebook page, she graduated from Heritage High School in Maryville in June 2019. She began studying at Walters State Community College in Sevierville afterward.
Three of the dogs belonging to the Herald family that attacked and killed Adrieanna O'Shea.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Tennessee Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
07/23/19: 2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Mauled to Death by Pack of Dogs in Southwest Memphis
08/13/19: 2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Texas Teen Dies After Brutal Attack by Three Pit Bulls in Irving
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.
I am going to guess that she was babysitting their child the night before. Unless it turns out the son is her age, then she was visiting a friend.
It is real special how these people are now claiming to be traumatized after their self-defense claim comes up callus and very short. First the are right and now they are victims! Dirty filthy aggressive dog people.
I wonder what they’re “jobs”were, defending trailers? Idiots
I also have to add that claiming the dogs were just doing their jobs and that one charged a person with a gun as it was trained to is 180 degrees opposite of the freak accident/ we would never own such dogs claim.
People need to talk to their kids and grandkids about the danger of weaponized dogs, especially in packs. I wouldn’t go to the house of someone with a pit bull, Rott, or mastiffs, particularly multiples of these. The fact they were breeding seems to me they’re in the process of making a bigger, better killer. What a lovely young lady, with her whole life ahead of her, cut short by shitty people with shitty dogs.
True. And I’m sick of ignorant people who believe they need to train dogs to kill.
Mastiffs were bred to guard and protect so they don’t need any training to attack intruders. Most won’t actually maul or kill though – they usually give the intruder a warning before attacking but I guess she may have ignored the growling and barking (if there was any) thinking that the dogs would recognize her when she got closer. She seemed to know at least one of their names anyway.
I suspect it was the mastiff (Boscoe?) that started the attack and the others just joined in with pack mentality (very common, even friendly dogs can turn aggressive when in a pack and one dog starts an attack).
Very sad for her family 🙁
They were NOT contained and this CHILD was one I watched grow up! The damn dogs should NoT of been out period!
Dogs and undefended people do Not mix. Dangerous animals do what dangerous animals do, so no surprise there. The surprise is that someone went into a very dangerous location without adequate protection. Why would anybody do that? Did she think that she was a dangerous animal whisperer? I have heard it before many times: “If one or more dogs charges me, I’ll just kiss and lick them, and they will kiss and lick me back.” “I am a nice person who loves dogs. They would Never attack me!” People are in denial that dogs are dangerous animals. Wake up!
You’re stepping into the territory of blaming the victim here. Please stop.
It’s very possible that these dogs had been fine the night before.
These DOGS belonged to the neighbor!
The place where she was going was her friends house. The DOGS weren’t in their area. The dogs attacked HER… she didn’t attack them.
Those Dogs didn’t even have updated shots!
Know the story before you blame the victim!
And Yes I too LOVE dogs and have had
many in my life.
I hope the police do the right thing here and punish these people! A young girls life is gone.
Not surprising. “Not my fault they got out, I wasn’t even home.” So these dogs were left outside unattended with an “above ground electric Joke” to keep them contained. Tazers don’t stop such dogs. I wonder if they had collars on? No reason to wear one , no vaccine tag or license to display. Irresponsible people with dangerous dogs are directly responsible for the gruesome death of a beautiful young woman. Remorse? “The dogs were just doing their job,” which apparently was to maul a beautiful young girl to death at 2:30pm in the afternoon.
In a just town they would go directly to jail and await trial. But there is rarely justice for Victims of dangerous dogs.
DogsBite.org is helping to change that.
I believe the people who owned the dogs need to be held accountable.Im talking prison.
I don’t think above ground fencing I sufficient for dogs of these bred. These types dogg have a bad reputation and must be secured by tall high wire fencing.
Prayers for the family & friends of this young lady. Such sad sad loss.
You are spot on right…I cannot even begin to imagine what that young poor lady must have endured before she succombed before dying..horrifying
I knew someone with a German Shorthaired Pointer that had terrible separation anxiety. She would jump their six foot fence so they tried putting electricity on it. She would still jump out of their yard because the adrenaline in her system caused her to ignore the shock. But then she couldn’t get back in the yard later because she was afraid. She was rehired to a hunting family and lived out an active good life.
She didn’t recognize the danger. Many people don’t. They think because their dogs are nice TO THEM they are ‘nice dogs’. They’ve been brainwashed by the ‘it’s how you raise ’em’ crowd. They think because the dogs know them, that makes it safe to be around the dogs. None of these things is true. Education is the key.
I love dogs as much as the next person but this young lady died because of animals these dogs were not pets they were their to protect their ignorant owners so they say well if I needed protection that bad I would have invested in a gun instead of all the dog food. I hope and pray justice is served for this beautiful young lady.
No, she didn’t think she was the dangerous dog whisperer dick . She thought she would get her purse & be on her way to continue getting ready to start her first college class Monday morning. She thought she would live past yesterday. Shut up
Piss off jerk.
I’m pretty sure the article said she was at an ADJACENT property, not the property where these dogs lived.
The houses (mobile homes?) might have a shared yard, so perhaps she was going into an adjacent house but the fenced yard area was shared and the dogs were running loose in the yard?
Well, I guess I shouldn’t go to the grocery store undefended, lest I meet my demise in a parking lot full of pitbulls.
While I wholeheartedly believe in self defense, this girl (in most states) was not old enough to carry anything smaller than a shotgun. I’m highly skeptical that bear spray would have helped her, and even though I’m a strong woman in peak physical fitness, I highly doubt I’d even be able to fight the things off with a steel club.
So I have to question your point here, sir.
Thank you for telling it like it is!
Heck, if MEN have trouble fighting off these animals, what chance does a woman have? Even a FIT woman.
And even IF armed with a handgun and able to dispatch a head-shot with a high caliber bullet, oftentimes these beasts just KEEP ON COMING! THIS site has video proof of that!
Freak accident? Wow, the denial that all of these dog owners have is so predictable, and scary. I heard of this attack yesterday and worried she might not make it, truly horrified that she did not recover. These dogs are taking down healthy young adults. People they know. Prayers sent for her family
This beautiful young lady sadly lost her life. Were these dogs loose? Did she actually walk in with these dogs? I still have questions which haven’t been answered. To me, it would be pure foolishness to walk into an area where these dogs lived. Had she played with them before? Did she trust them?
Actually some years ago a man turned five GSDs loose on me. Thank God they were just GSDs, but I was not happy about it.
I cannot imagine the horror of these dogs playing tug of war with a live human being.
So pictured is 3 of the 5 canines. I honestly cannot call them “dogs” because “dogs” are domesticated to have a mutually beneficial relationship with humans. In this case they have shown that they are anything BUT family dogs and are in fact closer on the scale to wolves, coyotes, and dingoes with one caveat — those other canines are not welcomed to move among us or suffered to play judge, jury, and executioner. That one human being would abdicate her/his position as master of the house and her/his status as part of the community of people by allowing another human being to be destroyed but a canine they are responsible for is unconscionable. We cannot allow canines to run this brutal and egregious personal safety for us without forfeiting public safety for all and destroying the fabric of community. It is high time vicious dog ownership was viewed as the public safety hazard it is and these canines were legislated to permanent removal from human community.
I noticed that all the dogs are pictured except for the female pit bull, which the police report indicated was 4 months old. If you look behind the brindle mastiff (presumably Boscoe) and the center dog you can see part of the head and the legs of the Rottweiler mix. I’m thankful these breeds have been accurately reported instead of just being called “mixed breed” or “Lab mixes” without defining what the Lab was mixed with. I’ve had enough half and half mixes to know that certain breed traits don’t just disappear when they are blended with some other breed, even something as innocuous as a Lab. I had a half feist, half American Eskimo. You better believe he could tree a squirrel. Mixing does not mean all breed characteristics vanish.
But that being said, I find it interesting that the one name the neighbor heard being called out by the victim was Boscoe the mastiff, which makes me think that he was the lead attacker and which (aside from the young pit bull) was the only “pure” fighting breed. How sad to think of this young woman’s fear when she realized that this dog she KNEW was turning against her, along with the rest of that terrifying pack.
One thing the owner did get right: these dogs were “just doing their job.” She hit the proverbial nail on the head with that one. The “job” of fighting breeds is to attack. Even when they are outcrossed and mixed something else.
But it was not really honesty about breed traits which made the owner say that. It was callousness and deflection.
Since when does a known individual entering a property warrant an instant death sentence? If the homeowners had shot this young lady for merely coming into their yard, they’d be held liable.
How much do you want to bet that the young female unaltered pit bull Nila was for future breedings to that mastiff?
I simply don’t see a dog that looks like a mastiff here. None of the dogs appear over 100 lbs, in fact quite a bit smaller. Just because a dog has brindle coloring doesn’t make it a “mastiff”. Pit Bull types come in brindle colors too. Land never. In another photo, a Black Pit Bull, fully mature, is visible. No way to confuse that dog with a Lab! Look st it’s head, and small Pit Bull ears!
I don’t see Mastiff at all in the photo! My Mastiff will be a year old a week from tomorrow and he is 180 lbs. My Brexit is an English Mastiff. My 9 year old Newfoundland is over 200 lbs. My Irish Wolfhound/Dane is about 135 lbs at 14 months. My Rottie/Shepherd now under 90 lbs at 13.5 years old. Breed matters way more than size. Other types of dogs can bite but as for how often and the severity of the bites the Pit Bull and or Pit Bull mixes are in a class of their own.
There is certainly no full blooded English Mastiff pictured here. But the one referred to as a mastiff and which appears tall and lanky in the photo could be a Brazilian Mastiff (Fila Brasileiro). Younger dogs can have that lanky appearance like in the photo, and even accounts for the odd stance the dog seems to have which indicates a higher rear end (a breed characteristic).
That breed of mastiff certainly fits better with what these “types” of people keep as pets and what happened in this case with the apparent mastiff Boscoe being the first to attack. I found a refreshingly honest website which tells about the breed and says they are not suited for 99% of households and can be very aggressive to anyone not in their close family circle. To quote the website as it refers to this breed’s distrust and aggressiveness to outsiders: “Like all Old World mastiffs, the Fila Brasileiro is calm and quiet, until aroused. Then he shifts into his fierce protector’s role in an instant, moving with tremendous speed and athletic agility. People who keep this dog need to be fully aware of their responsibilities in protecting the innocent public. That includes your own friends and relatives if they don’t visit often enough for the dog to accept them as part of the family. Yes, a Fila will attack your Uncle Bill for scooping up little Johnny to give him a hug.”
Or maybe a young woman who is returning to get her purse?
It doesn’t pull any punches about the dangers this breed can pose to strangers or even acquaintances (as this victim clearly was).
Filas are often banned in countries which have
BSL. And rightly so.
OT: I absolutely love the you named your dog Brexit. 🙂
U hit that one right on the nail head!!!
The Herald family owned at least 5 highly dangerous dogs any one of which was capable of killing any person who came by. They maintained a mobile home park with the dogs contained only by an ineffectual electric “fence”. No one would have stood a chance against those dogs. The family claimed that the dogs were only doing their job in killing a defenseless and harmless young woman and complained when the police had to shoot one of their vicious animals. By their own admission, the purpose of keeping those dogs was to attack and maul or kill visitors. They had the dogs euthanized only after it dawned on them that they could be held responsible. Every member of the Herald family, as joint owners of the dogs, should be arrested, charged and tried for the criminal death of Adrieanna O’Shea. This kind of atrocity cannot go unanswered if there is to be any kind of justice.
Exactly, if you shot an unknown trespasser & were not in a life threatening situation you’d be held accountable & in prison. A family dogs job is to bark & alert you & then attack (bite, growl, chase off) any person once you react scream or are in a harmful life threatening situation. I have 2 boxers & that’s how they respond & if someone calls their names they start the wiggle butt. Sorry but dogs don’t compare to a humans life, I love mine like my kids but I would no want them back after mauling & now killing any person that wasn’t actually harming or hurting a family member, period.
Well said!!
Any one of these five dogs is capable of killing a person by itself….no one would stand a chance against five. Regardless of the owners comments that the dogs were “doing their job”….it is NOT the job of ANY dog to kill people. Even police dogs are taught to hold suspects, not kill them. All five of the dogs must be euthanized! Sue the owners for all they have!!!
I agree Sara. It’s one thing to keep a barking watchdog, quite another to dig a pitfall trap and line the bottom with spikes and shotguns on tripwires. Civilized countries do not allow citizens to booby trap their private land. Keeping 5 aggressive pit bulls / Mastiff / Rottweiler crosses loose is no different than a trip wired shotgun, or buried mines.
Decent people don’t want this.
Dogs have historically been used to guard property and kill human intruders. Romans used mastiff type dogs to kill humans in the arena for sport. So yes, people did at one point breed dogs to kill humans. Good breeders try to eradicate human aggression in most dog breeds today but who knows what backyard breeders are doing..? I bet there are criminal gangs deliberately breeding dogs to maul or kill humans to protect their drugs etc. Some of these dogs probably make it through shelters and get adopted into the general population after drug busts etc. It’s a scary thought.
A judge should make it to where these owners cannot own but one dog in the future. You can teach dogs not to be aggressive. I thought dogs who guard your home were meant to be there to alert you someone is at your home, where were the owners when this happened? My dog is not vicious and I keep the gate locked, because you never know what could happen if someone unfamiliar were to walk through. There should have Bern a lock on the gate.
Unburied electric fence?!? Meaning the signal wire was just strung along the ground? Omg, this is the heighth of laziness right here.
Four reasons why the wire is supposed to be BURIED 6-12 inches below goroud
1. The earth protects the wire from damage from people standing water lawnmowers and the dogs.
2. For training purposes the wire needs to never ever move. If it is above ground it can and will move.
3. Exposing the radio wire to standing water or exposing the innerds can cause it to short out or misfire, zapping the already aggressive dogs at random making them even more volatile and crazy
4. In all invisible fence systems it says DO NOT USE ON AGGRESSIVE DOGS or GUARD DOGS about fifty times all over the instruction manual.
Pit bull type dog owners can’t, won’t or don’t read. If I see worst practices in dog keeping it is always these kinds of dogs. Forget about erecting an actual fence. These people are too apathetic to get out a trenching shovel after ignoring the instructions.
For the good of all dogs and people I am thinking e fencng should be banned along with all this sloppy purposeless cross breeding of pits and Mastiffs. It’s pointless and the people doing it are clearly psychos.
I have to agree Heather. Electric fence isn’t even legal fencing in many areas for obvious reasons. I think anyone with a dog that weighs over 20 pounds should be required to have a six foot PRIVACY fence, and if they have pits/pit mixes that fence should have to be topped with inward facing fence extensions.
Hi KaD
It’s too bad that people with passive rovers like hounds retrievers and pointers wouldn’t have that option. EFencing is really effective for chronic escaping behavior with dogs devoid of human aggression . It causes no trouble when correctly installed and used. But it only works on passive bred dogs. Indiscriminate shocks delivered by an automatic switch be it from e fences or bark collars can never be used on agresssive dogs. It has failed time and time again and may have contributed to the attack.
Pit bulls ruin everything! Time to stop the breeding of unpapered BYB mixed Bully SHIT.
I suspect they were using the kind of electric fence you use with cattle not an “invisible fence”. Instead of the collar delivering a shock, bare wire is strung around the edge of the property and mounted to insulators on fence post. The wire is connected to a fence charger that delivers a high voltage low current shock to anything that touches the fence.
These are nearly always illegal in residential areas because they will shock anything that touches the fence whereas an “invisible fence” only shocks the dog that is wearing the collar.
Invisible fencing (the buried kind) is not safe (nor humane) either. Dogs can run through the shock and batteries can get depleted. A high fence with an inward sloping section at the top or coyote rollers is really the only effective solution, plus something so that dogs cannot dig under it.
My daughter is 11yrs old now. When she was 3yrs old she was attacked by 6 dogs at her mommas boyfriend’s house in Blount Co. TN.
2 pitbulls, 1 standard poodle and 3 regular poodles.
She was in pediatric ICU for 9 days.
The owners refused to give insurance information till 6mos later when my lawyer sent them letters saying we would she them for their personal stuff.
I feel so bad for this young lady and her family. As bad as my daughter’s attack was, I’m still blessed to have her with me. I can’t imagine what this family is going thru.
Another horrifying, unnecessary death of an innocent person courtesy of lazy, ignorant, belligerent, bottom-barrel TRASH. Unfortunately people with this mindset need to be babysat by the government and police in order to function at a minimal level. Instead of realizing that owning dangerous dogs is not an intelligent decision, they obviously need to be told this in the form of BSL and subsequent law enforcement. Much like the tag that tells you not to operate your hairdryer in the bathtub, there needs to be a rule for everything for some, particularly stupid, people.
Unfortunately this wasn’t a case for Darwin’s theory and the dogs killed an innocent person.
Sadly the people most in need of babysitting via warnings and laws are the least likely to obey those laws and warnings.
It is a shame their stupidity keeps leading to the deaths of actual productive members of society. Put these people and their dogs on a deserted island. In a few years we can send troops in to deal with the dogs.
Truth.
Tell this young lady’s loved ones it was just a “freak accident”.
We had 8 dogs on a 40 acre property when I was 8-12 years old. They would bark when a car came on the property, but would NEVER attack an adult, fatally injuring them.
I have a german shepherd for protection now … Same deal.
Bad owners make Bad dogs/pack here. AT THE VERY LEAST, SECURE your dogs when you are not right there … fence, inside the home.
Just graduated high school only to be viciously mauled right when starting college. Incredibly sad and as usual the trash owners don’t seem to give a damn about what their mutant mutts truly did. They murdered a girl right when she was starting the next and probably biggest stage in her life.
This is heartbreaking, again. My 17 year old nephew in Michigan, who has autism, was charged the other day by two pit bulls while walking home in his mobile home park. He had a scout knife (legal) on him and turned around and stabbed them in the back. A neighbor heard them barking and assumed someone was being chased, and then heard them yelping.
Now my nephew is high functioning, and he does not know about this web site. He would be obsessed if he did. He was carrying the knife because neighbors had been harassing him and was just protecting himself. I just sent my sister this article, this is why he protected himself. He did a few things wrong, and now the neighbors are having the kids do things to their house and harass them. The dogs have had surgery, but we don’t know what will come of this. But this…he could be a victim. Any of us.
She knew them…that is somehow worse. As for ANY electric fence, any animal will go through them. I dog sit for three Havanese who have an electric fence. They finally gave up because one of them bites, and two of them run right through it regardless how high. I’m glad they were euthanized. My sons husky/heeler/gsd mix worries me at times because she is terrified of certain things and I don’t want her to bite out of fear. She has a ferocious bark but is a love. But I told my sister ultimately she is a dog, an animal. I would be heartbroken to lose her because she bit but even more heartbroken if she hurt someone. I have been bit several times, and even the smallest bites hurt. God bless this young lady.
Hello Kathy, I have read that your nephew was able to successfully on-the-spot deploy the immediate, effective solution to the problem of dangerous dog attack. Fact: Pit bulls are not going to be going away for a long time. Fact: Pit bull attacks are not going to be going away for a long time. Fact: It will be a much, much longer time before several of the other dangerous breeds that have been banned/very regulated in Europe are banned/very regulated in this country. Fact: It will be a much, much longer time before attacks from other dangerous breeds go away. Of course, we all want to contribute much effort toward the arrival of the eventual time when the dangerous animal attack problem is solved the way the Europeans have begun to rid themselves of this universal, constant risk of severe threat. Until such time is eventually reached, how your nephew survived/survived unscathed shall be an vitally valuable education point for all others.
IF they started to put any owner whos dogs attacks anyone because they are running around trailer parks or the neighborhood in JAIL… then just maybe they would stop breeding dogs to be mean. The problem is the owner just says things like “the dogs were doing their job” get slapped on the hand, meanwhile someone is burning another loved one! The LAWS need to be changed. And Changed FAST!! I just can’t believe how many have died because of packs of dogs running unattended!
Exactly! There is no need to wait for these dogs to be banned, the owners of the killers should be held criminally liable (at least manslaughter) and civilly liable with future paychecks appropriately garnished (responsible for all medical expenses, loss of future earnings, psychological damage to survivors) If this starts happening, many people will think twice about getting a killer dog for a pet. It won’t solve the problem completely, but I believe it will drastically reduce the problem.
Update on my nephew. The owners of the dogs he stabbed came over to talk to my sister today. They claimed that the 7 year old who was outside with the dogs is autistic and that these dogs are his support dogs. They also said their older son saw his dad killed in front of him. She gets this. But they said the trailer park said it was fine to have them off leash outside, that they got permission. That the dogs are harmless. Thing is other adults who walk and know the dogs have complained to the complex and called the police before. ESA or trained service dogs would not be allowed off leash outside. That’s the biggest load of shit I have ever heard. So they let their 7 year old go outside with these two dogs just loose. No fences or anything. Anyway, they were trying to make excuses. But trained dogs wouldn’t chase someone walking by. This is 30 miles from the attack that happened in Detroit with the 9 year old killed. I cannot believe how ignorant people are. I dog sit, and I will never dog sit a large dog or any of the pitty breeds. I would be hesitant to watch a husky too, even though one is living with me. She is a mix but small thank goodness but still. I just don’t even want to mess with it. I’m watching my friends 13 year old lab/heeler mix and I have seen him go after my sons mix. But he is small and annoying as hell, and I know him really really well. I have thought about doing a business of dog sitting but it’s not worth it. I’m disabled and while I can still get away if I have to I don’t have the strength I used to by any means.
They’re lying about them being service dogs – service dogs should not display aggression to humans ever, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to have public access and they’d be a liability in a situation where emergency services needed to rescue the owner (give cpr, put into an ambulance etc). They could be “emotional support dogs” but that doesn’t give them any right to be offleash in a public place that has leash laws. Please report them to the relevant authorities if you haven’t already! Best regards to you and your nephew, I’m glad he was able to defend himself xx
Dismaying that in the hit movie ‘Once on a Time in Hollywood” a huge pitbull is shown in a heroic light, killing the baddies. This will give more credulous people the wrong idea.
Sadly there is more outrage when someone stabs or shoots an attacking dog than when someone is killed by one.
We live in a society that devalues human life and worships animals. Such a backward way of thinking.
At the root of this problem is the out-of-control worship of dogs. Until dogs are put back in their proper place — they’re unpredictable animals and not humans — the maulings and killings will continue.
People first!
Completely agree.
Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged Pierre Cleveland, 33 (DOB: 12/22/1985), in connection with the death of nine-year-old Emma Hernandez, both of Detroit. On August 19, 2019 at 4:03 p.m. in the alley of a location in the 6030 block of Central Avenue, the victim was riding her bicycle with her 13-year-old brother when she was fatally attacked by three pit bulls. A male neighbor threw bricks at the dogs in an attempt to stop them from attacking the child. The child was observed with multiple bite wounds on her body. Medics were called to the scene, rendered medical assistance, and transported the victim to a local hospital where she was pronounced deceased.
Defendant Cleveland was the next door neighbor and owner of the three pit bulls that attacked the victim. On August 19, 2019, before the fatal attack, it is alleged that the defendant left the dogs that he knew were dangerous, loose and unsecured in the backyard of his home while he went to a nearby store. Investigation of the location revealed that the fence that lined the yard was damaged and not secure. There was also a garage side door that was open and led to the alley where the victim was attacked. Further facts and evidence in the case will be presented in court at the preliminary examination.
Prosecutor Worthy said, “It is horrible to imagine what Emma went through as she was being mauled to death by vicious dogs allegedly owned by the defendant.
“It is high time that the City of Detroit shines a light on the owners of these dangerous animals that sometimes roam and wreak serious havoc – none worse than what happened here.”
The defendant has been charged with: Second Degree Murder, Dangerous Animal Causing Death and Involuntary Manslaughter.* Cleveland was arraigned in 36th District Court at 2:00 p.m. today before Magistrate Millicent Sherman. The Probable Cause Conference is scheduled for August 30, 2019 at 8:30 a.m.; the Preliminary Examination is scheduled for September 6, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. Both hearings are before Judge Michael Wagner in 36th District Court. The defendant received a $2 million cash/surety bond.
We all grew up together and she was an amazing inspiration and a great role model to our generation. It’s sad that because they couldn’t control there animals, her life was end short and painfully.
“Doing their job”??!! And what WAS that, exactly?
Clearly, they weren’t protection dogs…they had no one to protect and not one had the foggiest notion how to grab and hold.
Clearly, they weren’t “guard dogs” as the young woman was not on their property and the dogs didn’t bark to warn the people inside to tell them someone was engaging in thievery on their property. Nor were they the sort that are inside property that grab and hold anyone who crosses the threshold without being specifically trained to allow them to pass.
I fail to see what “job” these dogs were doing.
Take them all. Euthanize them all. They can’t be trusted now to *not* formulate a pack mentality with other dogs and attack humans.
Protection and guard dogs are *kept indoors* or outside kennelled in runs when unaccompanied. They are not “invisible fenced” because that’s beyond ludicrously dangerous.
These people should be banned from dog ownership.
For life.
Another community in deep mourning and traumatized over a lost member because irresponsible people were allowed to keep a large pack of dogs when they couldn’t even prove they could train a single dog in basic obedience. My heartfelt condolences to all those touched by this tragedy.
Another young life snuffed out. 😢 so very sad. The lack of concern by the owners gets my back up big time. Scum!
I love dogs. But this is unacceptable. The owner needs to be charged with negligent homicide. It’s a death involving a deadly instrument that was not properly secured. If you’re driving down the road and a kid runs out in front of you, and you crush them dead… well that’s negligent homicide. If you leave a gun on a table, and some one grabs it, drops it, and it discharges into some one killing them… that’s negligent homicide. What fucking pisses me off, is people DO NOT bother learning the rules of deadly force and when it’s justified. The only justification for deadly force by use of a firearm, knife, or any instrument including an trained dog, is to prevent the imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to yourself or others. Imminent meaning, if you don’t take action IMMEDIATELY yourself or others will die or be made a vegetable for life. At no point is it okay to kill some one if they walk into your property, or even start stealing your TV. You just can’t kill some one over property… you can’t! Most god damn fellow Americans don’t realize that… there has to be absolutely no other option available between you and the alternative of death for you to unleash deadly force. It’s not a suggestion, it’s the law. So why is the owner who obviously trained the dogs to use deadly force on humans as “doing their job” not being charged, when clearly this was negligence leading to the unjustified death of this girl. As a cop and a father it pisses me off to no end that this isn’t getting more coverage and this sob isn’t jailed pending prison time. Dogs who are trained to take life over property or kill on sight, only kept at bay with electronic fencing… that owner needs his freedom taken away and given some years to think about how his actions, and lack of knowledge on the subject of defending life and property, accosted the life of this innocent girl who was fucking mauled!!! That’s a terrible death. Fuck these owners. If they don’t get tried, they need to be unable to EVER raise a dog again.
Amen. I couldn’t agree more. I had to go through fairly extensive training to be able to carry a concealed weapon to protect my family. Any inbred toothless elementary school dropout or thug or dealer can have a weaponized dog -or a pack of them – and they’re all good if someone dies as a result of their dog(s). How is that ok? It’s basically free murder. “Oh, I had no idea my shitty fighting mauler was dangerous!”
These people get away with the violent, horrific, agonizing death of beautiful innocent people because they claim “muh wigglebutt wouldn’t hurt a fly!” Things need to change in this country.
P.S. Thanks for putting your ass in the line everyday for folks like me and my family. Stay safe.
Adrienna was my granddaughter and I want thank everyone who has defended her.. I want justice for Adrienna o’shea. She didn’t deserve to lose her life..she was young and beautiful and her life was just beginning and now she’s gone.
Anyone who, after knowing their dogs attacked this girl and seriously wounded her, would say anything snarky at all, or defend the dog behavior at all, is a highly screwed up person to start with.
So viscous dogs kill girl. “Just doing their job”?
Owner, gives bad name and stereo type reinforcement to mobile home dwellers in the south. Can guess this guy looks stylish in a wife beater tee shirt, just saying……….Mean while the local news is more consumed with who stubs their toe on the Vols football team………….Just saying.
I know someone in Maryville where the girl lived and they got 2 pit bulls who roam outside all the time. They don’t have a fence and they bark at everyone. One tried to attack my soninlaw. I’m so afraid their going to hurt someone are kill them. They got two kids and I’m afraid for them.
Geez, I get it, Rebecca. Owners like that scare the crap out of me, too.
I was out walking today and a 12 year old was walking an adolescent pitbull. The owners are beyond stupid–the dog weighs more than she did. If it drags her into the street chasing a squirrel and she gets run over…is that negligent child endangerment? If not, it should be.
This is why I loathed pitbull owners when I trained dogs. To many are beyond stupid and you can’t tell them anything without their backs going up about their pibblety wibblety. That’s not even including their propensity to demolish other dogs and maul people.
Rottweiler, Malanois, GSD and even husky owners can see the stupidity in letting a kid that’s smaller than the dog (who isn’t trained to “heel” competently) walk a dog that can drag them down the street.
So far, the person owning those dogs has been (mostly) lucky. Any dog that lunges and barks is already in dire need of corrective training. Quadruple that for pitbulls.
Did you report the attack on your son-in-law? If so, what were the results?
Oh and might I add…We HAVE BSL, here.
This is the 5th pitbull that’s moved into the neighbourhood this summer.
Areas without BSL must be flooded with these manglers by now.
After my wife and I had a close call with a pit near a lake, I’ve been thinking about personal defense options. I always carry a pocket knife, but that might not always work. Obviously the dog has to attack before it can be used. I’m wondering if a loud alarm would spook them enough not to attack.
You could try a can of Pet Corrector if they get too close and you’ve told the owner to recall the dog.
Available at your local pet store or Am*zn.
Depending on your age, and agility, there are other plausible options in case of emergency, depending where you’re located.
If you’re worried, try to find some options for yourself.
One is always stand side face to new animals, don’t run and don’t reach overtop of them or stare in their eyes.
Thanks! I think the loud noise route is a good one. There is a good chance it will scare the dog enough to run away, and avoids issues with owners.
I wouldn’t count on a loud alarm dissuading a pit in attack mode. There’s a video on YT showing two pits attacking each other in a pet store. Someone is blasting an air horn repeatedly and the loud noise does … nada.
I carry a Ka-Bar knife in a leather sheath hooked through my belt. Yes unfortunately this is a close-contact weapon, so if I have to use it, that means things have gotten really ugly. OTOH large knives are one of the few things that people have deployed effectively with the maulers. A pocket knife is likely to be inadequate, so you may want to up the blade with a combat knife.
Ultimately it’s your call. The park where I walk my GSD mix isn’t very crowded most of the time, and even when it is, it’s all families with regular dogs & no pits SO FAR. We’ve been very lucky. But luck can run out, and free-roaming pibbles are not, alas, rare.
It’s good that you’re thinking ahead re: protection. In my opinion — better to have and not need than to need and not have.
Hi Ken,
Your quote snip: “Obviously the dog has to attack before it can be used.”
Next quote snippet:
“It is lawful for a person to take lethal action before it is too late to successfully repel an imminent attack threat of death or great bodily harm.”
Back to your quote snip: It depends on what your definition of “attack” is. If you are attacked by an ambush charge, tenths of a second before consummation of actual physical mauling: You are allowed to use effective force to stop the attack immediately before you are actually mauled.
Next, ineffective methods to stop an attack charge are ineffective. If you want to effectively stop an ambush charge attack, it is best to use effective methods, especially considering that your life and/or limb depend on it.
In 8,000 pedestrian miles, in over three years, at 50 pedestrian miles per week, this strategy and tactic has kept me out of the hospital on two occasions. Repeated at large dog owners do not like this. I suggest that they wake up, because I have been forced to do it, twice, to immediately avoid hospitalization. Both occasions were Shepherd breeds, Belgian, and Australian. Knife in hand? Dog will have the wrist in jaws so very much faster than anyone can do what they think they can do with the knife.
We all work toward getting the top few top dangerous breeds off the streets. Until that great day arrives, it is survival on the streets, for those who are ready, willing and able to defend selves and their loved ones.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to put a link here but here is the *scientific proof* we’ve all been discussing, about WHY pitbulls are “different”. It’s no longer a question of Nature vs. Nurture.
Humans have bred them for their brains to be wired to fight. It’s that simple
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/how-centuries-of-selective-breeding-has-changed-the-shape-of-dogs-brains-1.5270099
Update on my nephew who used a BSA pocketknife against two pitbulls who had chased him down the road and had cornered him. He is being charged with felonious animal cruelty. Mobile home park told people it was ok to let dogs be loose though the county where they live has leash laws. I don’t get it. He didn’t kill the dogs, they are both fine, though I think they had surgery. So what are you to do if you can’t defend yourself? What is considered self defense? What if the person has a spectrum disorder that affects the way he perceives danger? I’m at a loss.
As for this young lady, she went to get her purse. How many of us have left something at someones house and not thought anything of it to go pick it up? How many times have I gone to someone’s house and run into their dog who I knew, and I didn’t even think twice? I met a heeler yesterday who was the friendliest heeler you would ever meet, yet they had a beware of dog sign, and the ranch hand said if yoI
Hello Cathy, Quote snip: ” What is considered self defense?” Self defense is when a reasonable person is required to immediately use potentially lethal force because the reasonable person feels reasonable fear of immediate bodily harm. The two key words are “reasonable” and “immediate”. Also, most all people will advise him to seek legal counsel. The prosecution has to prove to a unanimous jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a reasonable person had no reason to feel reasonable fear, in order for them to get a conviction. That is, the burden of proof is on the prosecutor, not on your nephew. So, the person who gets ambush charge attacked by a dog may get cuffed, stuffed, booked, incarcerated, charged, and brought to trial, and still not be convicted. In most jurisdictions, the police and prosecutors work for the repeated at large ambush attack dog offenders. That is, the police and prosecutors work against the person who avails themselves of their self defense rights. The police and prosecutors want the victim of ambush dog charge attack to go to the hospital, instead of using force to defend themselves. The repeated at large dog offenders and the police and the prosecutors do not want a person to take lethal action before it is too late to successfully repel an imminent attack threat of death or great bodily harm. Instead, they want the person to simply get mauled and go to the hospital. They will cuff, stuff, book, incarcerate, charge, and bring the person to trial to force other people to not attempt to use force to defend against ambush dog charge attack.
I’m utterly confused by the situation, there. It’s not like your nephew went onto the neighbour’s property and stabbed two helpless pitbulls while they chained/caged on the property and unable to run away?
No matter how much he was fear-triggered, these were two big dogs, running at him. He clearly can’t run down two dogs that can run 30mph to stab them.
Even if they were running at him or jumping on him in a “friendly manner”–nobody is psychic…160lbs of dog is the same as having a huge human jumping on top of you. I’ve known people to suffer broken hips and spine injuries from large dogs jumping on them. Isn’t that an assault onto itself?
I hope he has a good lawyer because I am baffled as to how that case is even going to trial.
Dog worshipers vote. This poor young man is being made an example of for votes. Sadly a public defender will tell him to plead guilty. I don’t understand how the owners of the trailer park can tell someone it is OK to ignore the leash law. But I don’t understand anything when it comes to dogs anymore.
Being arrested and charged doesn’t mean someone goes to trial. The prosecutor will try to get a plea-bargain out of the young man (it is not uncommon for innocent people to accept plea-bargains, over the threat of harsher punishment.) If someone refuses to accept a plea-bargain, and the case is iffy, the prosecutor may drop the charges. This young man needs to contact a good lawyer with experience in this area (unfortunately the expense of a lawyer is a defacto financial penalty for saving his own life, but still far cheaper than dealing with the cost of massive injuries or death from a pit bull mauling.)
But I understand she was on an adjacent property and the dogs came over their electric fence to attack her. It is confusing though.
Why is it taking so long to arrest him? It’s clearly negligent homicide .. so what’s the hold up.. he needs to be held accountable for what he has done ✅ #justiceforadrieanna#
From what I gather, the dogs were owned by the owners of the mobile park home, so technically she was on their property (that they were renting.) Still, with apartment/house rentals, the landlord can’t just bring their dogs into someone’s apartment even if the landlord legally owns it. I would think mobile home rentals would be governed similarly, but maybe not? Best thing is for the family to consult a good lawyer who has experience in this area.
I don’t think the man that said he was the girl’s father is legit. He has posted new pic promoting pit bulls recently on his page about respecting the dog of the house as Family. .Doesn’t fit.