Elayah Brown, 4-years old, died after being attacked by a family dog in Fort Worth.
Dog Kills Child
Fort Worth, TX - On Friday, a 4-year old girl was attacked by a dog at a South Fort Worth home. The attack occurred in the 1400 block of Oak Grove Road just after 5:00 pm. Arriving officers found the child seriously injured by the dog in the backyard. She was taken to Cook Children's Medical Center in critical condition, where she later died. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner identified her as Elayah Brown. Fort Worth animal care and control took custody of the dog.
"The sole dog responsible for this incident has been identified and is in the custody of Fort Worth animal care and control," police said in a news release Friday. Crimes Against Children Unit detectives are also investigating. "Anytime there is a loss of life, it’s a tragic incident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and all first responders that responded to this call," Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said. The circumstances of the deadly attack were not released.
Fox 4 News captured footage of a fawn colored dog with blood on its coat being led to an animal control vehicle by a catch pole. The male, unaltered dog, is clearly a pit bull-mix -- see additional screenshots. The wide skull, head shape and ears are predominantly pit bull; the tail and fur are a mixture of another breed. There were two dogs in the family's household, reports Fox 4 News, one of the dogs was not responsible for the attack and was not taken into custody by animal control.
Weekend Updates
The family started a GoFundMe to help pay for the child's funeral costs. Police released no additional information. A spokeswoman for the city, Diane Covey, made a peculiar statement to the Star-Telegram, indicating that she couldn't name any predominant breeds. Currently the city's shelters are holding 355 dogs. Zero of these dogs are listed solely as "mixed breeds." 100% of these dogs have a predominant breed listed and many also have a secondary breed listed.
Churro is a good example of a pit bull's wide skull, head shape and ears, where the tail and fur are a mixture of another breed. Churro is listed as a pit bull-mix. Furthermore, the idea that breed is solely determined by physical appearance is invalid. Appellate courts have long ruled, "Pit bull dogs possess unique and readily identifiable physical and behavioral traits which are capable of recognition both by dog owners of ordinary intelligence and by enforcement personnel."
The dog owner of ordinary intelligence, when determining whether he or she owns a pit bull dog, need not rely solely on the dog's physical traits. Rather, the pit bull possesses certain distinctive behavioral features which differentiate it from other dog breeds…the trait of unusual relentless ferocity or the extreme concentration on fighting and attacking…the quality of gameness, which it described as "the propensity to catch and maul an attacked victim unrelentingly until death occurs"…When these behavioral traits are taken together with the physical characteristics described above, a fairly clear picture of a dog "commonly known as a pit bull dog" begins to emerge…Pit bull dogs possess unique and readily identifiable physical and behavioral traits which are capable of recognition both by dog owners of ordinary intelligence and by enforcement personnel... - Ohio v. Anderson, Supreme Court of Ohio (1991)
Images of the male family dog with blood on its fur being taken into custody by animal control.
Join Texas Dog Bite Victims' Advocacy - Join our Texas email list to stay informed
View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Texas Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.Related articles:
01/12/21: 2020 Fatal Dog Attack Breed Identification Photographs - DogsBite.org
04/14/20: 2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman Dies After Pit Bull Attack in Fort Worth
08/31/15: Who Can Identify a Pit Bull? A Dog Owner of 'Ordinary Intelligence' Say High Courts
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 so extremely depressed about having to be on the same planet as the killer dogs that killed the seven year old girl three days ago, and now I wake up thinking about her ultra grisly killing, feeling so extremely depressed about it, and now here’s this one, a four year old girl killed by a dog that looks like it might possibly not be the most dangerous vicious killer dog on earth. Bottom line: in addition to canines that look light they could kill at any moment, canines that look like they might possibly not kill at any moment also do kill at any moment. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands and millions of severe injuries and major injuries and life traumas caused by predictably and unpredictably dangerous canines every year in this country. Who brings these dangerous canines into our neighborhoods? People who are not stupid, but instead, people who don’t love themselves, who don’t love their children, who don’t love other peoples pet animals, and who don’t love their neighbors. I am just too depressed to continue being surrounded by such evil wicked people. Our neighborhoods are saturated by these people, and our local governments are saturated by these people, and our state governments and our federal government is saturated by these people. There is no retreat to safety, there is no getting away, there is no adequate defense from all of this horror that they inflict upon us. We are their perfect victims as long as we remain on this hostile earth.
You need to relax, Richard. Not good for your mental health.
If more people cared as much as Richard did, we’d end the insanity of allowing killer dogs in our midst as if they were pets. Pit bulls are not pets.
We need people like Richard to speak up. It’s good for public health…we need those with his concerns to say, “We’re not gonna take it anymore.”
I’ve got his back.
I agree Susan. If more people were like Richard, caring about the life of a child—we would not be allowing these dogs to be bred and placed in family homes. It’s time for people to have compassion for the victims instead of protecting the dogs!
Richard, I get it. I’ve felt the same. You are not alone. Meditate. Speak these words “I am always safe”. Things WILL change. Are changing. People are waking up. It’s the ‘darkness before the dawn’. Support those who speak up about evil dogs. Be fearless in the anti-dog crusade. Do what you can. We have the power. “All it takes for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing.”
Richard, I have been part of this site since, oh, a few months after it began. A lot of what we deal with is heartbreaking, but know this: Our numbers are growing.
We have your back.
This is my God daughter this is extremely heartbreaking
My deepest condolences to you and your family Lll on losing your God Daughter in such a tragic manner.
This mix has definite pit bull characteristics.
I don’t think these people are uncaring as much as they just have a bad case of cognitive dissonance. Studies have shown that people aren’t attracted to pits because they are ‘nice dogs’ but because of defects in their own psychological makeup. THEY were bullied or unfairly treated, so they gravitate to a breed they perceive (due to the propaganda) as treated unfairly.
The problem with pitbull cultists’ thinking is that most serial killers are gentically flawed *and* have abusive childhoods. What the pitbull “lovers” don’t get is that the only difference between the level of brutality from that genetic flaw is what makes the ritual of the killing different–not the fact that the serial killer is always a time bomb waiting to go off. And they are much rarer than the same flaw in pitbulls.
We can’t predict that flaw in humans. We *can* predict it in pitbulls.
While some pitbulls, like potential serial killers, might get through life without committing a murder–the potential is always there.
These people delude themselves that they can bring home John Wayne Gacy and he won’t kill them. And maybe he won’t. Then they point to lack of killing *them* as proof that Gacy isn’t a killer.
Flawed logic.
Hello Boni,
Your above comment is food for much thought. You raise some very interesting points. It is not a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. Instead, it is artificially selected via selective breeding to carry a genetic flaw.
Quote of your second sentence:
“What the pitbull “lovers” don’t get is that the only difference between the level of brutality from that genetic flaw is what makes the ritual of the killing different–not the fact that the serial killer is always a time bomb waiting to go off.”
End quote.
Please, Boni, break down your thought/meaning a little bit for us. 🙂
Psychopathology is a genetic trait. If someone is psychopathic, that can’t be fixed. It can be modified into socially acceptable behavior under careful circumstances but an actual conscience, can’t be instilled. That makes a psychopath a potential time bomb.
Not all psychopaths will kill but all will leave damage in their wake because they are missing the empathy genes that sociable humans require to give meaning to life. Like pitbulls, if they feel charm will serve them, they’ll use that as a means to get some of their needs, filled.
The level of damage committed by an individual depends on a host of other factors. Given enough violentization, a human without the genes of psychpathology may eventually mimic the same patterns–the same way a poodle could become deranged given an abusive set of circumstances.
Pitbulls are bred to be the psychopaths of the dog world. It isn’t surprising that so many kill–it’s surprising the number of them that don’t–considering that they are genetically flawed by design. Add abuse into that genetic stew increases the likelihood of vicious behavior–but it’s not the cause of it.
Does that clarify my view, Richard?
Is the almost 8-million-people Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area just “lucky”? This and the Ft. Worth woman killed in April of 2020, along with the fatal maulings in Irving over the past couple of years, must set a record among comparably sized urban areas. At least I’m not aware of similar numbers in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles. Are the stats really as bad as my memory would suggest?
Holy cow! I missed that.
It may be a stretch here, but that dog looks like a pit bull Rhodesian ridgeback cross. On one of the photos on the Twitter link, you can see a dark line going from the head down the neck and back. I’m going to wait for more information before I comment further.
The laws of today in the USA scare me. The police scare me. The pit bulls scare me. The future of the USA scares me. Will it change? I doubt it. Fortunately my life is nearly over. Younger people will determine their future.
Once again, the family pit bull kills a child in the home. How many more children must die before people see these aren’t family pets??? The pit lobby will forever have power as long as people keep trusting these dogs to be in their homes. Say no to pit bulls! Hundreds of dog breeds out there, no need to have a pit around your child.
The pit bull breed is increasing in numbers. Many people still think it’s how you raised them. The human deaths will continue to rise. Improperly raising a dog without socialization and training can ruin it.
Today my four year old GSD service dog helped me understand how being stolen for three months screwed up his mind. He’s still totally stable wearing a Service Dog vest. He’s friendly. He prefers women over men.
However, without his vest, he doesn’t want men to touch him. Catchpole?
Hanging. Beating. All folks involved were involved in animal control.
“Doesn’t want to touch” and “maul to death” are completely different reactions.
I have a sled kennel husky. He doesn’t like people grabbing over his head before they speak to him because they are roughly yanked out of their kennels or off their chains to work. Just backs away, nothing mean.
It’s possible to fix your dog if he’s inherently stable and he was mishandled after a year old.
Pitbulls can’t be fixed because viciousness is a breeding characteristic not a trait gained from poor handling.
Two little girls in one week? I am so tired of this.
A 2019 study shows that mixed breed dogs with pit bull characteristics are just as dangerous as pit bulls. They bite as often and inflict the same type of very serious injury.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center identifies dog breeds and physical traits that pose the highest risk of biting with severe injury. Doctors want parents of young children to use this information when deciding which dog to own.
The study, published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, explores the risks of dog bite injuries to the face in children and bite severity by breed, size and head structure. Researchers found pit bulls and mixed breed dogs with pit bull characteristics have the highest risk of biting and cause the most damage per bite. The same goes for dogs with wide and short heads weighing between 66 and 100 pounds.
“The purpose of this study was to evaluate dog bites in children, and we specifically looked at how breed relates to bite frequency and bite severity,” said Dr. Garth Essig, lead author and otolaryngologist at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. “Because mixed breed dogs account for a significant portion of dog bites, and we often didn’t know what type of dog was involved in these incidents, we looked at additional factors that may help predict bite tendency when breed is unknown like weight and head shape.”
To assess bite severity, researchers reviewed 15 years of dog-related facial trauma cases from Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the University of Virginia Health System. They looked at wound size, tissue tearing, bone fractures and other injuries severe enough to warrant consultation by a facial trauma and reconstructive surgeon and created a damage severity scale.
https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/mediaroom/pressreleaselisting/study-identifies-dog-breeds-physical-traits-that-pose-highest-risk-of-biting-children
The pit bull breed is increasing in numbers. Many people still think it’s how you raised them. The human deaths will continue to rise. Improperly raising a dog without socialization and training can ruin it.
Today my four year old GSD service dog helped me understand how being stolen for three months screwed up his mind. He’s still totally stable wearing a Service Dog vest. He’s friendly. He prefers women over men.
However, without his vest, he doesn’t want men to touch him. Catchpole?
Hanging. Beating. All folks involved were involved in animal control.
In other news, this dog is being declared a “mixed breed” which I guess is true but we know what the mix is. Calling a dog a mixed breed is basically the new term for pit bull mix. Notice, you never hear them being called mutts.
Shelter spokesperson Diane Covey needs to have her eyes checked: Covey acknowledged there have been people saying “it looks like this; it looks like that,” but she said, “Really, it’s just a mixed-breed dog.” She couldn’t name any dominant breeds.
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article251096229.html
In other news, this dog is being declared a “mixed breed” which I guess is true but we know what the mix is. Calling a dog a mixed breed is basically the new term for pit bull mix. Notice, you never hear them being called mutts.
Shelter spokesperson Diane Covey needs to have her eyes checked: Covey acknowledged there have been people saying “it looks like this; it looks like that,” but she said, “Really, it’s just a mixed-breed dog.” She couldn’t name any dominant breeds.
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article251096229.html
“It’s just a mixed breed dog”
“It’s just a mutt”
“It’s just a bully breed”
“It’s just a pit bull type dog”
The new breed, the Just A.
Sara, you have inspired me, from now on, I will write “mixed breed” and the formal “Mixed Breed” because it is clear to me that this is always a pit cross.
Pit bull fanciers are trying to do with the breeds what was done with poodles. Poodles were arguably one of the most ridiculous and mocked breeds until they became designer dogs by crossing them with every known possible breed. The marketing for this has been excellent. Everybody knows what Shitpoo, Cockappo, Maltipoo, Goldendoodle, Labradoodle, Schnoodle, Yorkipoo, pomapo, Westipoo, etc. are and almost everyone wants one. The only ones I know by name for pits are the pitsky (x husky) and the pocket pit (x Frech bulldog). What is different is how the pit fanciers will brag about what kind of a cross they have but when shit hits the fan, will immediately lie and call it a Mixed Breed (in their case mixed breed).
I love poodles. I don’t particularly like the mixes.
Poodles are clever. Most of the mixes are not half as smart and they’re all still smarter than a pitbull/pitbull mix. Poodles, for all the teasing, were always top-notch for people who like to train dogs because they’re so biddable.
No matter what pitbulls are mixed with, they’re still one of the stupidest, thickest dogs to train even in basic obedience, completely unreliable and they will never be “biddable”. They dumb down any breed they’re mixed with.
Pitbull cultists blame all their training failures on their perceived belief that pitbulls are “picked on” instead of their poor choice of picking a dog that’s dumber than a bag of hair and unpredictably vicious.
Don’t forget American Shelter Dog. Saw that one awhile back. All should be adopted out with a breakstick and muzzle-not that the owners would bother.