Fifth Fatal Dog Attack in Counties Near Knoxville in Past Year
Pet rottweilers killed 70-year old Debbie Boyde in Sevier County on June 3, 2022.
Woman Found Dead
Seymour, TN - On Monday, the Sevier County Sheriff's Office reported that a 70-year old woman, identified as Debbie Boyd, was discovered dead inside her home after being mauled by one or both family rottweilers. The attack occurred June 3, at a residence on Olympic Court View in Seymour, an unincorporated community in Blout and Sevier counties located about ten miles southeast of Knoxville. A small child was also in the home at that time, who was not injured.
Sheriff Ron Seals ~ A Sevier County woman has died as a result of an attack by a family dog. Officers were dispatched to a residence on Olympic View Court in Seymour on Friday June 3rd 2022 and found a 70 year old female, identified as Debbie Boyd, deceased, suffering from numerous dog bites. Officers observed 2 large Rottweiler dogs in the fenced in yard that had been secured by family members before the arrival of first responders. It was determined that the dogs were in the home with the victim at the time of the attack along with a small child, who was uninjured. The dogs were captured by Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Division and taken to an animal housing facility till the investigation is completed. The victim was taken to Knox County Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville for an autopsy. The investigation is ongoing. - Sevier County Sheriff's Office
Prior to the arrival of first responders, family members had secured both dogs in a fenced-in yard. It was determined "the dogs were in the home with the victim at the time of the attack." The two rottweilers were captured and taken into custody by the Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Division. The dogs will be held at an "animal housing facility" until the investigation concludes. The victim's body was transported to Knox County Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville for an autopsy.
Earlier this year, in Tellico Village -- another suburb of Knoxville, located in Loudon County -- a woman was killed by her own personal protection trained Dutch shepherd. "Deputies were unable to approach the victim due to the potential attack from the dog and a LCSO Deputy was forced to shoot and kill the animal," the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office said at that time. Authorities also confirmed that the victim's husband was "a long-time and very accomplished K9 trainer."
Last year, two people were killed by dogs 3.5 months apart in Cocke County, about 50 miles east of Knoxville. Those dogs, cane corso mastiffs, were suspected of belonging to Charles Everett Owensby, who goes by "Charlie Dogman" on Facebook, who became a "person of interest" in both deaths. Owensby, who is known locally as a dog trainer, was later arrested on unrelated charges. To date, no charges have been brought in connection to these two fatal dog attacks.
Finally, in addition to multiple fatal dog maulings near Knoxville over the past year, a fatal dog attack recently occurred in Sevier County too, which only has a population of 98,000. In October, a 7-month old boy was killed by a St. Bernard while visiting his grandmother's home in Sevier County. The dog had a history of aggression and was normally kept outside when the boy visited. Two fatal dog attacks occurring months apart in a county population of this size is uncommon.
Since April 2021, five people have been killed by dogs in counties near Knoxville, Tennessee.
A pet rottweiler seen on the victim's Facebook page, posted in November 2019.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: U.S. Fatal Rottweiler Attacks By StateRelated articles:
06/07/22: Fatal Rottweiler Attacks - The Archival Record - DogsBite.org
04/02/22: 2022 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman Killed by Personal Protection Dog in Loudon County...
10/19/21: 2021 Dog Bite Fatality: 7-Month Old Baby Killed by Large Family Dog in Sevier County
07/22/21: 2021 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman Killed by Dogs in Cocke County; Second Fatal Attack...
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.
Poor lady but what do you think it going to happen if you get two dog breeds known to kill people rottweilers and pitbulls.
Again we see why an elderly person has no business whatsoever being around power breed dogs.
Amazing that the Owensby case is still in limbo.
The two cane corso murders. What is going on in Cocke County that this dog owner Owensby has not been charged?
No more free bites! Manslaughter charges in deaths caused by dangerous dogs. Bites and maulings to be handled by death of the dogs and prison time and restitution by dog owners. You own a dangerous dog, you take the full responsibility first time around. No more free bites!
I think we have to differentiate between nips and bites IMO.
Puppies nip until they learn humans aren’t to be chewed on. Adult dogs may nip under threat or because they didn’t get proper training or supervision as young dogs. That’s all fixable by anyone with a lick of sense or first year dog trainer. So are most fear “nip n runs”–that’s actual fear biting…not this nonsense of snarling then biting then claiming the dog is “scared”.
While a nip may hurt a bit, it’s intention isn’t any kind of true aggression towards humans or other dogs.
An intentional bite is something else, entirely. And a “grabbing bite” has harm to the victim at its very core. Deluded owners often mix up the two. One of the tip-offs for me on a video is *any* dog that is doing a lot of tooth grabbing even if there’s no damage.
Unfortunately, the law is a sledgehammer, not a scalpel.
Most sensible owners teach their dogs not to engage in any mouth play or jumping up because any variation of those could be misconstrued.
Any dog that kills people or other pets/livestock needs to be put down.
Since we don’t seem to be getting anywhere with the daily slaughter by dogs, maybe we can get through to people because pitbulls and Rottweilers in packs are dangerous to *other pets*–since it seems that’s all the public seems to care about.
You can gun down 52 people on the way to get John Wick but don’t kill the dog ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My two categories are “death” and “bites and maulings.” Those should be clear enough to the police, the animal control officers and ER doctors. The only thing I would change is to “jail/prison time.”
We too often read that pitbulls and other dangerous dogs have indeed bitten before. It’s waaay too unfair to victims like Jacqueline, Kyleen and Zainabou and thousands more to dismiss previous bites. I don’t think we can get this pitbull problem under control without insisting on no more free bites.
I doubt things will ever get under control. The media and our lawmakers call the shots in that regard. And it seems to me that the more vocal dog owners are often the most irresponsible of the lot.
These are the ‘Big Three” that are going to keep escalating the insanity.
-Media
-Lawmakers
-irresponsible owners
And they are each intertwined because focusing on one eventually results in being attacked by the other two.
Just pointing out the nearly insurmountable task to getting things “under control”. Or at least under more control than they currently are. But my gut feeling tells me that things will need to go as Claudius suggests:
“Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out.”
I mean, Really. Does anyone honestly think that laws are going to bring this situation under control? Any congressperson will be vilified, by the press and their constituents, at the mere suggestion of adopting legislation to control dogs. Their political career would easier survive taking bribes, a DUI, or sex scandal.
If a media outlet begins to sway towards dog control, the other press hounds will surround that lone outpost and move in for the kill. Doesn’t this web site and blog have a kind of “circling the wagons” sort of a feel to it? Perhaps it’s just me that feels this way- a reluctance to openly discuss this matter with coworkers, or sign my actual name to comments.
Dog owners. They’re continuing to become more and more deranged. Heck, they’re driving me crazy. The heavy breathed sigh of disgust I feel whenever I see someone driving a vehicle full of dogs. Each one of them trying to find that optimal spot, like piglets seeking that favorite nipple, each one leaning so far out the window at 50 MPH that their heads could hit either signpost or a car in the opposite lane of travel. Pit bull or Rottie not necessary to bring about an eye-roll on my part so devastating that I could foreseeable strain a facial muscle or optic nerve.
Yes, Claudius. I don’t think any of these things are going to get better until those poisonous flies hatch and bring about some pestilence to cure the situation a little. Then perhaps we’ll be fortunate of a least a lull in the viscous cycle where we can freely walk the sidewalks without fear of being bitten by the pests.
Some Rottweilers are born with lousy temperament. This cannot be trained out. I saw a Rottweiler male puppy that routinely growled and snarled at people in obedience class. He had a good handler.
The two Rottweilers in this case .might have been fighting and the owner killed trying to split the fight. The Rottweilers I’ve seen with dangerous aggression have been males. Many male Rottweilers have good temperament.
People need to choose Rottweilers wisely and train them well. Rottweiler don’t suddenly become
Vicious. Their behavior is predictable.
Nearly had an Achilles tendon snapped in half by a rottie owned by a former employer. Just got my foot out of the way in a split second. I don’t have reflexes that fast anymore.
The dog had a heart condition and was very unpredictable. She could be nice and allow you to pet her. On other days she needed to be kept in a pen.
Probably all breeds can have such unpredictable dogs. The problem is when a rottie of pitty has a bad day, they are capable of doing massive damage, more so than other breeds.
This blog is full of entries of owners that never understood that simple fact.
There is a significant difference between rottweilers and bully breeds. Rottweilers are purpose bred for protection not for fighting. Some such dogs are unstable and you can see it in their behavior from a very early age. Others are very stable, and you can see that in the young dogs too. A reputable Rottweiler breeder has no dogs that show aggression, socializes them from birth, and vet prospective buyers to insure they are knowledgeable enough about the breed to train and raise it to remain stable. As a protection, herding, and working breed a good Rottweiler has the ability to discriminate between friend and foe, taking cues from the owner. In my work as a vet tech I’ve worked with the stable Rotts and the ones that are clear liabilities.
More people are getting these extreme dog breeds. They don’t want a nice little maltese, a yorkie or a real Lab or golden, or any of the setter breeds. When was the last time you saw an Irish Setter? They want rottweilers, cane corso and I am not happy about the Anatolian shepherds next door. I do believe if they got loose, they would attack and the male is huge. Then of course we have the cheap pit bull in every neighborhood. The number of dog fatalities is just going to keep increasing.
And why might this be? Shelter propaganda.
You can hardly move without hearing some shelter trying to get you to “rescue” this, that, or some other extreme dog breed.
What happens next? Well, you are a RESCUER! A good person! Someone who can virtue signal every time you take your mauler for a walk!
The fact that these maulers can and do kill people is beside the point.
I’m with you folks. Know what we mostly had, growing up?
Lab and spaniel mixes. Half the houses on the block had them. Maybe 1/10 dogs was an actual GSD or herding dog. Older women had peeks/poodles/barky cockers. One dumb dalmation owned by my sister-in-law after she saw the movie. Everyone knew that GSDs were “junkyard dogs” so unless the owner gave you permission–well, you just stayed off their lawn.
I never even saw a pitbull until 30 years later. Ever. No families had them.
And I honestly can’t remember a dog fight that ended in stitches although a few chased cats here and there were alive but tramatized.
All those resources spent on “spay and neuter” campaigns and what did we spay and neuter? All the family-friendly dogs owned by responsible people while the pitbull cultists crept up on us and bred literally…MILLIONS of them.
Suddenly Rotties were a “thing” and maulings started. Most people can’t handle rotts and mals. They can’t even handle a GSD or Dobe. If you mishandle a lab he will likely eat your sofa or nip your calf. Mishandle a rott or pitbull the result can be death.
And pitbulls? These rescue fools are nothing but free cover for the dog fighters–both are multi-million dollar businesses. I have questions about how deep those ties at the top, run.
Was this victim, RIP, the actual owner of the dogs or was she a visiting relative? That could explain why the dogs attacked her and not the child.
Growing up, my family had a lab that did not quite understand who my grandomther was. But being a lab and, not a rott, when she went rumaging in the closet simply knocked her down. No biting.
I was just reading the comment section on a different site, several people arguing about which breed, the pitbull or the Rottweiler has the stronger jaw power? Or, which breed can bite the hardest… what a pathetic subject to bicker about, they are both capable of killing people, I can’t stand the ‘it’s all how they’re raised’ narrative! Ugh! Personally, I wouldn’t keep either breed and I would be mighty upset to live next-door or even nearby to such breeds, I don’t want or need the extra worry..
A refreshing article from a newspaper columnist on the mauling death of a senior Canadian woman by 3 pitbulls.
Nelson: If owners rather than dogs are responsible for severe attacks, make them pay severe consequences
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/nelson-if-owners-rather-than-dogs-are-responsible-for-severe-attacks-make-them-pay-severe-consequences
As others have often pointed out, the problem with the “make them pay” angle is that pit owners are often poor and don’t care about adding another entry to their already lengthy criminal record.
And… their not giving a hoot for the law means that, even after having a proven killer dog taken from them and their being banned from owning another mauler, they will laugh and disregard any such attempt to separate them from their luvable soul mates. Even after more deaths and more jail time.
Wish I could feel good about any legislation to make them pay. But it’ll be obeyed about as much as the 65 mph speed limit.
One of my Tucson friends is a personal injury attorney. A while back, he won a lawsuit involving one of those (insert sarcastic boo-hoo sounds) poverty-stricken pit bulls.
To what did he owe his success? Easy. He went after the insurance company that covered the property, which was a rental.
The poor wibble pibble had, in the words of my friend, ripped the face off a toddler. The judgment in the case? Half a million dollars.
Mind you, this was done without any sort of legislation to make poor wibble pibble owners pay. Call it BLS, as in, Breed-Specific LITIGATION.
In the final paragraph, I should have said BSL.
I’d like to see Joe and Amanda White made to surrender every penny they could ever hope to earn. Still wouldn’t be enough.
Shame should be made to follow them like a shadow everywhere they go since they have shown not a hint of care or accepted any responsibility for their dogs mauling Jayden Henderson.
I’d applaud seeing the law give them a wake up call. Set a good example for other like-minded pieces of trash that might potentially have some minuscule ability to learn from the misfortune of others.
We have (had?) BSL here. The pitbull cultists don’t give a rip-roaring fig now that our Premier has come out on the side of “if it’s not 100% proven it’s a full pitbull we won’t apply the law”–the legislation states that all partial pitbulls, staffies, anything that clearly resembles a pitbull cannot be sold, adopted, must wear a muzzle in public, cannot go to dogparks or be loose and must be spayed and neutered and if found in breach, pitbull+ will be confiscated and because it cannot be adopted–euthanized. Also, euthanasia for the first bite.
Due to recent laxity, all major political parties but one supporting the removal of BSL and the premier’s interference, we’re now being overrun with murder beasts.
The shorty pitbull that the premier stood up for as “not quite a pitbull” and thus overturned our common-sense legislation? Within a month, maimed a child. That dog is still in its home and nobody was charged with an offence. The child was blamed.
For a decade we had zero pitbull deaths and next to zero bites/maulings from pitbulls.
We’re all lead by grifters that pay heed to highly paid pitbull lobbyists and pet corporations.
None of them care about the common good.
The solution of this is simple. 12 years to phase them out with mandatory spay and neuter with euthanasia after that point. Then owning a pitbull becomes a criminal offence of owning a dangerous animal. Selling/adopting one is the criminal offence of selling a dangerous animal.
Leave zero wiggle room.
Thank goodness that at least the Whites’ two pitbulls have been put down. I just read the Sept 2021 news about White’s 53-minute video designed to engender sympathy to reclaim their 2 pitbulls. Despicable. Blaming their kind neighbors Jayden and her mom for the attacks. Then saying the pitbulls were service dogs. Traipsing into Hooters, Home Depot and Lowe’s with them. Bet the other customers were not happy campers.
You know, these two faux service dogs could be on an airplane riding in the passenger cabin. Something I have been thinking about lately is the chaos ensuing when a woman goes into emergency labor on a plane where one or two pitbulls are in the cabin. HOW in the world will she and her baby make it to their destination alive?!
Colleen did extensive reporting on an airline passenger who was seated next to a big fake service pit bull. The dog growled at him and he expressed his fear to the owner. Next minute, the monster had him by the face. Delta airlines changed its policy about “fighting” breeds after that. Why? Well, lawsuits and hitting companies, shelters and owners of dangerous dogs in the wallet seem to bring result. Not always, but it helps. Besides the Whites, I’d like to see the couple whose two dogs mauled the dog- sitter almost to death and now has permanent life-altering injuries sued for every last penny, too.
On Instagram I have been seeing several Boerboel and Cane Corso breeders showing off their humongous dogs. All have that “gangsta” vibe to their websites. I see big trouble on the horizon with these breeds.
Yes. This is already happening where I live. Now that pits are a dime a dozen, gotta stand out from the crowd with something bigger, scarier, more expensive.
Teresa, thanks for the info on Colleen’s blog on Pitbulls on a Plane. I had read that.
But it was only this week that I read comments from 2020 by either Christy or Christine, who wrote that her husband flies extensively. He sees a pitbull once a month on a flight and sends her the photos. I also remember that Caz recently saw a pitbull at one of the major carriers. Delta? So it sounds like there continues to be a problem with faux service dogs on air carriers. Excuse me, ladies, if I have given too much info here.
There is also the ex-NHL player, Bryan Bickell, who prepares pitbulls as service dogs.
Yikes, so sorry to hear that. What will it take to stop this? Can you imagine if there’s ever a major mauling while they’re in flight? Gives me chills to even think about it. The ignorance and denial surrounding these dangerous dogs is appalling. Thanks for this information.
They should be muzzled on flights. Period. Can still do whatever ‘job’ with muzzle correctly fitted.