Alan Bruce, 56-years old, died after a vicious dog attack in Bennington, Oklahoma.
Man Dies of Injuries
Bennington, OK - A man has died after enduring a vicious dog attack over the weekend. Three dogs savagely mauled Alan Bruce, 56, Saturday.1 He was transported to a hospital in Durant then airlifted to a hospital in Plano, Texas. In Saturday's version of this news article, Bennington Police Chief James Heil said that no criminal charges would be brought even though these same dogs had previously bitten two juveniles. Circumstances may have changed now that Bruce has died.
On October 1, KTEN updated their piece, including clarifying the third dog breed. The attacking dogs were two pit bulls and a pit bull-mix. Alan Bruce, 56, was brutally attacked by these dogs and later died. "He had severe trauma; bite marks to his trunk and head and arms with just massive trauma," Chief Heil said. "It was the most gruesome thing I've ever seen in 18 years of law enforcement." The dogs belong to Don (or Michael) Wright, who was an acquaintance of Bruce.
Case Background
It was reported late Saturday that a 56-year old man was in critical condition after being attacked by three dogs in a Bryan County neighborhood. The attack occurred earlier that afternoon, Bennington Police Chief James Heil said. Two pit bulls and a mixed-breed inflicted the attack and belong to a man who lives on Nail Street. When Heil and other officers arrived at the scene, the dogs charged them. Heil open fired on one pit bull, killing it, causing the other two dogs to flee.
EMS called a helicopter to airlift the victim to a hospital in Plano, Texas, but due to his unstable condition, he was instead transported by vehicle to AllianceHealth in Durant. He was later flown to the hospital in Plano in critical condition. Both surviving dogs were taken into custody. According to Heil, the owner of the dogs will not face criminal charges since the violent attack occurred on the owner's property. This was the third attack carried out by these dogs in less than one month.
"Whenever me and my other officer arrived on scene, it was gory, horrific. The worst I've ever seen." - Bennington Police Chief James Heil
Two juveniles were attacked by the same dogs, one just two days earlier. On Thursday, September 26, a boy was attacked by the dogs while walking home from school. Earlier in September, a girl was attacked by the dogs requiring treatment in an emergency room. The Town of Bennington is located in southwest Oklahoma and has a population of 358, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Bennington also lies within the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma region.
Bennington's municipal code defines a "vicious dog" as one that has "bitten, or attempted to bite, any person without undue provocation, or which attacks, or barks or growls at and acts as if it intends to attack or bite, or bites a person or persons, when not unduly provoked." Dogs are also not permitted to be at large, including not being "securely confined by a fence or other means on premises" or not under the control of the owner "whether on the owner's premises or not."
Any person may also kill a "vicious dog" in self-defense or in the defense of another, according to the code. No vicious dog designation process is defined in the code. Oklahoma state law has a criminal provision for the owner of an animal that kills a person. This penalty applies if the owner knew of the dogs' vicious propensities, the dog was "at large or not confined," and killed a person "who has taken all the precautions which the circumstances permitted, to avoid such animal."
21 Okl. St. Ann. § 717 - "If the owner of a mischievous animal, knowing its propensities, willfully suffers it to go at large, or keeps it without ordinary care, and such animal, while so at large or not confined, kills any human being who has taken all the precautions which the circumstances permitted, to avoid such animal, the owner is deemed guilty of manslaughter in the second degree."
Bennington said Monday that it will be up to the District Attorney if the dog's owner, Michael Wright, will face any charges. Meanwhile, the two remaining dogs are still with Wright.
Part of the municipal code of Bennington, Oklahoma - Chapter 1 Animal Regulation.
Scene of vicious dog attack in Bennington, including one of the fatally attacking pit bulls.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Oklahoma Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
11/04/17: 2015 Dog Bite Fatality: Oklahoma Man Dies After Vicious Attack by Five Pit Bulls
05/10/17: 2017 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman and Dog Killed by Two Pit Bulls While Walking...
Statewide attacks:
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma by Butch Bridges, a log of Oklahoma vicious dog attacks.
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.
Three bites? No charges? I am beyond flabbergasted. I am appalled. How many more people will the two remaining dogs, harm? When is enough, enough?
School children getting attacked by their neighbors dogs while walking home from school. Not drug gangsters, not drunk drivers, but by the hostility of the surface of the earth brought to children by dog owners.
I have, for five and a half decades, avoided the hostility of the surface of this earth, and I also have been able to successfully avoid evil people. All of this changed when I started walking in a nice residential neighborhood 210 miles per week. After 8,000 pedestrian miles and two ambush charge self defense cases, I am done with only informing my church minister that dog owners and local law who willfully and maliciously swap the criminal with the victim, have made the surface of this earth unlivable for me. Now, I am informing all that I want out, because dog owners and local law have made this life on this earth too hostile for me. In Heaven, school children do not get attacked by their neighbors dogs. I want that for myself. I have to leave here to get that.
I was bit by a pitbull in my front yard, in plano. There are leash laws……if that was one of my grandkids, it would have been 1 dead dog!
I’m not sure why the dog owner considers cluelessness a valid defense, moral or legal.
Wright says he wasn’t home during the time of the attack and thought he had the dogs on leashes in his yard.
So either they weren’t leashed at all, or they broke containment. Vicious dogs with a history of attacking people.
Oh, but wait … dog owner’s intentions were good. And he’s sorry for the man who died.
“You’re dang right I’m sorry. Hooty (Alan Bruce) was a friend of mine, man. He was a real good friend of mine. They (Bruce’s family) know I would never want something like this to happen to anybody,” said Wright.
If the remorse is genuine, then at least he’s got “not a sociopath” going for him. Unfortunately “not a sociopath” doesn’t equal “responsible dog owner.”
Which leaves the reader pondering the conclusion of the article:
Heil says for now the dogs are still at Wright’s house, and it will be up to the District Attorney if he’ll face charges.
Why are the dogs still with this reprehensibly irresponsible man? Lead pit was shot dead by the cops, but all three participated in the fatal attack on Mr. Allen. Which means two man-killers were returned to a person who has demonstrated no capacity for containing and controlling them.
BTW – If the 14-yr-old boy hadn’t beaten off the dogs with a baseball bat, what are the odds that he would still be walking and talking?
So, the owner of the dogs that attacked 3 people, killing 1, gets his dogs back? And no one bats an eye? No one thinks this is a ticking time bomb? Well, I’ve seen it all now. We are screwed. Surely if they take the dogs, they’ll be smuggled across state lines by some “save them all” nutjob and rebranded as cute little Halloween pumpkins before being adopted by some unassuming family with little kids near YOU.
My condolences to the victims and their families. No one should have to suffer the way those children and that man did.
Totally agree, this poor man would have had an absolutely horrific death, he could have been conscious during this attack, which could have lasted for over 30 minutes, these dogs are clearly very dangerous. What good are they now? As guard dogs? The owner is now fully aware that they will kill anyone even walking past…plus this victim, the dog owners friend, would have known the dogs…
Re reading the above quoted ordinance, I believe the dogs were in violation, it states under control on or off their premises. They clearly were not. A second question, why was anyone other than the main caregiver allowed contact with them? Should they not still be under a rabies quarantine for the last bite? Should they not be properly quarantined this time?
What is a leash? In my world, it’s a leather or nylon linear object with a handle on one end and a clip on the other end to fasten to a collar or harness. Or it could be a kennel lead with a slip noose on one end and a handle on the other end.
Are there chain leads? Yes, but they are worthless for training.
How could any dog owner owning dogs that like to bite not be sure if his dogs were leashed when he left home? Was he tying up his dogs with leashes such that one bite on the leash released the dogs?
I think he intentionally left the dogs loose or he was so under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol that he did not know what he did. Either way, he belongs in prison.
I agree 100%
It’s inconceivable the second victim alone did not have these man eaters removed and euthanized .
Anyone with simple common sense knows these dogs laid important wait.
This is beyond lunacy just pathetic!!
Laws need to be revised and updated regarding this breed
Correction: “Laid in wait”
Gawd, that news link made me ill. I just do not get people who own dogs and are this awfully and willfully irresponsible. The dog owner looks like and lives like he doesn’t have two cents to rub together and he spends money on three dogs. His poverty will be what keeps him out of jail or from being financially responsible in any way.
The owner gets no charges, still has the remaining maulers and the only person penalized (other than the victim of course) is the police officer who “had” to discharge his gun to stop the mauling and prevent more destruction by the dogs! What kind of crazy world are we living in???
Exactly!! 100% agree with your statement !
The dog shot was on a chain and choke chain that couldn’t reach the victim. There is a photo of the chain embedded in one of the bullet wounds showing that she was shot off her chain. The officer mentioned was discharged for theft and drug abuse. Things don’t line up nor make sense. Several witnesses are now dead, or in hiding and have signed statements stating it was murder. The first one on scene isn’t even a witness for the state nor the accused. Crooked and set up is a few words to describe this situation. There was also 2 dogs similar to Mr Wright’s running loose and did diet someone but no one mentioned that. We have tried to get this investigated but to no avail. I pray someone reads this and can help before an innocent person is locked up or worse, ends his own life because of someone else’s evil dead.
Quote: “…and the only person penalized (other than the victim of course) is the police officer who “had” to discharge his gun to stop the mauling… …”
The police officer will do light duty for three days, then resume normally as he was, after the investigation clears him. If the police officer were a regular civilian, and if that regular civilian had done exactly as that police officer did, the civilian would have been cuffed, stuffed, booked and incarcerated overnight, then have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to defend against felony animal cruelty charges and the resultant criminal court trial.
“What kind of crazy world are we living in???” The crazy world of the repeat at large dog offender-police-prosecutor complex. Not much longer for me, hanging on the dog fur covered cross with canine fang nails that I have been crucified on by local law is too much for me to bear.
I agree with your statements 100%
This country has lost its mind!
We need common sense back NOW!
Every inoccent life is precious and deserves protection under the law (s)
The News link is appalling.
Hang in there with us Richard. We need every sane voice and every sane compassionate vote.
I dislike it when a dog attack like this one is called a dog ‘bite’ no it’s a horrific mauling, canine homicide! Normal dogs can bite, pit type dogs maul…
I live in Hazel Park, MI where the 4 year old boy was killed. We have a Pit bull lover that is now on the city council and she pushed for and got rid of all laws regarding pit bulls in the city. I could use some help on how to get this breed banned again. Since the ban was lifted I will not walk around the neighborhood without mace because I am afraid of the dogs.
Pit Bull owners are absolutely deluded. Like anti-vaccers. Facts are irrelevant. The fact that when Pit’s bite, they mean to kill, as opposed to other breeds dog bites, intended to warn, is lost on these mentally helpless vicious dog owners. There’s a big difference between the injuries caused by a mauling from a dog that means to kill you and a bite from another that just wants you to go away. “Oh, they’re so sweet” you often hear. Until they’re not so sweet. “He cuddles and licks my face and wouldn’t hurt a fly!” Until they rob your next-door neighbors 3-year-old a chance to have a life. It’s really pretty simple. Millions of unwanted non-Pit Bull dogs need a loving home. Do that if you’re truly a dog lover and you care about the well-being of other people. Let this vicious breed disappear. We made ’em, (shame on us) and we should take responsibility and un-make ’em. Pit’s kill other dogs as well so please just stop with the stupid, stupid. Sadly, nothing I say, no set of facts, no amount of reasoning, no posting, no argument, no nothing, will convince a single delusional human to consider or ponder reality as it is if they’re convinced otherwise. So here goes another useless post that’ll never find its way to the sensibilities of a fool.
Michael Wright, the owner of the pit bulls, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter as of 6/17/20.
https://www.kxii.com/2020/06/17/bennington-man-charged-with-manslaughter-for-fatal-dog-attack/
Also, last October another prior attack victim surfaced, so the fatal attack was actually the 4th known by these pit bulls.
https://www.kxii.com/content/news/Another-dog-attack-victim-comes-forward-562117921.html