Harvey Harmon Jr., 76-years old, was killed by a pack of dogs in central Mississippi.
Man Killed by Dogs
Attala County, MS - A man is dead after being mauled to death by a pack of dogs, Attala County Sheriff Tim Nail confirmed today. The attack occurred last Thursday at a home on Highway 14 West, in the Palestine community near Kosciusko. Four dogs were involved in the deadly attack, according to Nail, and were at the scene when deputies arrived. Two dogs belonged to a relative of Harmon, who also lived with him. The other two dogs were strays known to stay in the area.
The owner of the dogs agreed to put the dogs down, reports Breezy News. A veterinarian at the scene euthanized three of the dogs, the fourth dog escaped. No other information has been released. A discussion on the Facebook group, What's Happening in Kosciusko and Attala County Mississippi, says the dogs involved in the attack were pit bulls. We were first alerted to the group late last night. The nearby city of Kosciusko recently repealed their breed-specific ordinance.
Afternoon Updates
At the time of the attack, Harmon was in his front yard, reports the Clarion Ledger. The attack occurred about 10 am on January 30, according to Attala County Coroner Sam Bell. Harmon appeared to be have been dragged from his wheelchair by the four dogs, Bell told the Ledger. Harmon died at the scene of "blunt force trauma due to a pit bull attack." The owner of the dogs, Harmon's nephew, lived with Harmon and, to his knowledge, the attack was unprovoked.
It's hard to imagine, you live for 76-years, and in an instance like that you die from a dog attack that. I am sure was very horrifying. - Sheriff Tim Nail
WLBT spoke to Sheriff Tim Nail. The two stray dogs are now being characterized as mixed-breeds. When deputies arrived at the scene, Harmon was discovered dead on the ground. There had been no previous complaints about the dogs. The two pit bulls, belonging to Harmon's nephew, were euthanized at the scene, along with one of the strays -- the other stray fled and has not been found. Nail said that no charges have been filed, but the case is still under investigation.
The Star-Herald reported new details as well, including that the two pit bulls had been chained prior to the attack. Harmon was found deceased near one chained pit bull; the other had broken free from its chain. The two stray mixed-breeds were present nearby. "[Harmon] just might not have been able to fight them off," Nail said. "According to the owner, they weren't aggressive dogs, but clearly, they were aggressive that day," Nail said. The nephew has not been named.
Breaking Restraint to Attack
Dog attack studies measure different data. We attempt to collect 33 parameters for each fatal dog attack victim, including if the dog was chained "during" the attack. One piece published in 1987 measured if a dog broke restraint to attack. Of pit bull attacks, 14% (20 of 143) involved breaking restraint to initiate the attack, versus only 0.7% (1 of 135) of all other breeds. Thus, pit bulls were 14 times more likely to break restraint to initiate an attack than all other dog breeds combined.
The attack occurred on Highway 14 West between Sallis and Kosciusko in Attala County.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Mississippi Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
01/14/19: 2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman Killed by Pack of Dogs in Grenada County, Mississippi
05/17/18: 2018 Dog Bite Fatality: Elderly Woman Killed by Two Pit Bulls in Gulfport, Mississippi
03/08/18: Mississippi Man Killed by Pack of Pit Bulls; Second Death Inflicted by Same Pit Bulls
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.
Absolutely terrifying. Both the attack, and that one dog is still at large. Prayers for the family. Wonder why we are just now hearing about this attack.
The two dogs that were owned and the two dogs that were strays cooperated with each other just fine, they all got along with each other just fine to get the common interest job done together. Birds of a feather flock together. All four are one and the same, the only difference between the two groups is that two of the four had a different legal status.
How sad that this 76 yo man in a wheelchair was killed by his good-for-nothing nephew’s dogs. Good-for-nothing nephew can’t get his shit together and ends up living off of his old uncle and brings two pits to the home. This story keeps repeating: elderly person lets younger, would be homeless relative move in with pit bulls. The elderly person is mauled. People, don’t let anyone in your house who brings pits.
Someone’s dog came home covered in this poor gentleman’s blood. Strays are very rarely actually homeless, but have merely “strayed” from their home. Imagine letting your dog back into its pen or even your own house, seeing the blood, and then hearing about the death of someone in your area. What would a normal person do? Now, what would most pit owners do? All those dogs in lost dog ads which “somehow got loose” are somewhere else doing who-knows-what. Sometimes it’s getting in
someone’s trash, or mating someone’s female dog tied up in their yard, or chasing and maybe even catching cats. In this case it was helping three other dogs pull an elderly man from a wheelchair to kill him. And I will bet that someone out there knows this and has decided not to say a word. Let’s hope their dog doesn’t “somehow get loose” again.
And I implore all elderly relatives who are just trying to help someone out, please don’t take in dangerous dogs when you open your home to your human kin. It’s not worth it.
This is terrifying. My brother has Parkinson’s and uses an electric wheelchair to get around. It’s highly specialized and goes pretty fast. He is friendly with the dogs in his complex and carries biscuits on his chair. But my sister told me recently that there are two pit bulls he just loves. People like this gentleman and my brother are at the mercy of a vicious dog. Or a pack.
I am the sister of Cathy, and I am also so worried about our brother. He doesn’t really believe that pit bulls are dangerous because he has seen these dogs be cute and playful.
I live in a neighborhood where people get away with allowing their pit bulls to roam. My special needs son was chased by two pit bulls who were known to the police and by the complex to have killed small animals. The dogs were upon my son, and so he protected himself. Because our neighbors lied, and because my son was able to protect himself, the sheriff instead, made a report about my son as committed animal cruelty by use of felonious assault. Thankfully, one of the neighbors who has also been confronted by the dogs stood up for my son, but both dogs are still alive. One is still here. The owners were willing to further destroy my son’s future just for the sake of theirs and their dog’s rights.
We have other pits who roam our neighborhood, and nothing is done.
I hope that no one will be attacked and killed by these dogs.
Our township supposedly has leash laws, but in my estimation, they are not enforced.
I don’t know what it will take for things to change.
The city recently repealed their breed specific law…..that says it all.
I wonder why. I also wonder if the owners had the dogs in violation of the law when it existed.
It’s probably part of that nationwide push by organizations like Best Friends. Those nefarious besties do not like breed-specific legislation, and they’re behind a lot of the efforts to block them from passage or get them repealed.
One month, 5 fatalities. Pits or pit mixes for certain involved in 4 (I wouldn’t rule them out in the reservation case). By my math that makes pits involved in 80% of fatalities. I hope we don’t maintain this pace the rest of the year.
I just saw something unbelievable…a long, long series of photos of happy-looking pit bulls. The article, by Dodo, was entitled, “Pit Bull Photos That Prove They’re The Snuggliest, Silliest, Coolest Dogs On The Block.” and went on to imply they couldn’t possibly be dangerous.
People believe this stuff!