The coroner’s office identified the victim as 74-year old Joe Cleveland Scott.1
Man Killed by Dogs
McDonald Chapel, AL - On Tuesday morning, just before 7:00 am, a man was discovered dead by a passerby in the 5700 block of Iceland Avenue with several dogs surrounding the body. Investigators said the dogs were hindering their investigation. Animal control came and trapped six dogs, as seen in the photo supplied by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and took the dogs into custody. At that time, it was unclear if the dog pack was involved in the man’s death.
Today, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office confirmed the man was fatally mauled by a pack of dogs and identified the victim as 74-year old Joe Cleveland Scott, who lived in the McDonald Chapel community, where the attack occurred. The attack is believed to have occurred at 6:49 am, according to Lt. Joni Money. When deputies arrived on scene, the man was unresponsive and surrounded by six large dogs. He was pronounced dead at 7:08 am, Lt. Joni Money said.
Before they could begin their investigation, animal control had to be called to trap the dogs. Trapping the dogs took over an hour, reports AL.com. “It is unusual for somebody to be attacked,’' Money said. “My understanding from these neighbors is these dogs have been in the area for a while and have not been aggressive.” Douglas Peterson, a neighbor, told WTVM that he had seen a pack of dogs before. A few years ago, a dog pack came into his backyard and killed his cat.
Thus far, investigators believe the dogs are stray or ownerless with a “pack-type mentality.” As most readers know, ownerless dogs are rarely involved in fatal dog attacks, even when these maulings occur on Indian reservations. From 2005 to 2020, we recorded 569 fatal dog maulings. The owners in 19 cases were unknown or unreleased by officials. Of the remaining 550 deaths, there were 3 deaths involving stray or ownerless dogs, comprising around 0.5% of all cases.
Related articles:
11/24/20: 2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Killed by Pack of Dogs in Rural Jackson County, Florida
08/13/20: 2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Teenager Killed by Dogs in Knott County, Kentucky
05/21/13: 2013 Dog Bite Fatality: Paralyzed Man Pulled from Wheelchair Dies After Dog 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.
Why didn’t they just shoot the dogs and save the costs of quarantine and investigation?
One resident of the area said that police initially thought it was a hit and run (in comments).
Well Neighbor, when you consider shooting the dogs, plural, it’s messy. Some of them are going to run. Some of those may be hit but not killed, now you have wounded dogs suffering needlessly. I have euthanized hundreds, possibly thousands of animals. Humane euthanasia is quiet, calm, and orderly. Easier on the animal and the people responsible for euthanizing them. All around a better solution than shooting.
@ Unsolicited Opinion: Well, big shot, how about you shake a leg and euth all those mutts that are terrorizing those neighborhoods? They’re not going to euth themselves.
PS. Stop worshiping dogs. That way lies ruin.
PPS. You are a liar.
Animal Uncontrol,
I am many things but a liar is not one of them. I am or was a certified euthanasia technician. The shelter I worked at for 27+ years initially had a county wide prohibition against adopting out Pitbulls or Pitbull mixes. If their owners didn’t claim them they were euthanized. When I began my career as an Animal Control officer my first duty of the day was euthanizing the animals on the list for that morning. I started at 0600 hrs by euthanizing the cats on the list. There were usually around twenty to forty or so. My partner came at 0630 and together we would euthanize the dogs which would often be in the double digits. I did this for YEARS. Hence my claim to have “put down “ hundreds, maybe thousands of animals. Before I worked at that shelter I worked at the local Humane Society where I first received my certificate for humane euthanasia. I euthanized many animals there also.
I am an outspoken Pitbull critic. DESPISE the breed. There is no place for them in our society. But that is not a reason to make them unnecessarily suffer during the euthanasia process. We, people, created them. Why should the individual animal suffer for our stupidity. I agree they should ALL be put down for our safety and the safety of our pets and livestock. I live in fear that one or more of those things will attack me, my pets, or my livestock. I have filed numerous complaints with local animal control.
So, Animal Uncontrol, I respectfully invite you to rethink your comment.
You lose.
Unsolicited Opinion, thank you for your professional reply to an unprofessional attack.
I would have preferred that the pitbulls be shot on sight at the site. Sometimes even killer dogs escape capture and death due to no-kill policies at shelters. I appreciate your comment. I can see why you despise pitbulls.
Wow. It’s interesting to hear from behind the scenes. Thank you for doing so. 20-40 cats is heartbreaking.
There is no need for this. Please stop it Animal Uncontrol.
The dogs have been euthanized according to the report I read. Let’s hope their bodies have been preserved so local authorities can determine if this pack did, in fact, kill this victim.
Whoever made the decision to euthanize these dogs and whoever authorized it are to be congratulated.
Truly. I’m shocked they didn’t try to “rehab” and adopt out the stupid maulers.
First day of the month and we’ve already had someone killed by these things. I’m kind of speechless.
Why so many dog mauling in Indian reservations. Do the dogs belong to the residents or do people abandoned their dangerous dog over there.
Because they most often run loose, are uncollared and unchecked. The volume of dogs is massive too. https://blog.dogsbite.org/2022/05/escalating-fatal-dog-maulings-tribal-lands-suspected-fatal-attack-wind-river-reservation.html
I literally almost got mauled by a pack of dogs on an Indian reservation we went to visit when I was 17. I rode a bike that was in the camper about a mile up the road to a store and stopped on a bridge to watch the alligators. I felt the hair on my neck stand up and when I turned around there were about 8 wild dogs surrounding me. I never heard a thing. Scariest moment of my life. I took off and they ran after me for a min and then stopped.
What are thoughts on the animal behavior aspect on why so few rez deaths? I am wondering about jealousy created within the human family with new babies, which creates tension in the pack structure. So less tension if the dogs ramble about and are not close to human owners?
Or perhaps over-protectiveness by the dogs of owners so lessens the drive to maul on the free-range rez? Again, reduced closeness to humans.
I’m thinking that it boils down to inhibition: more contact with humans means less inhibition about interacting with humans (be the interactions positive or negative for the human).
I can’t prove but I can suggest.
Dogs, like wolves, aren’t inherently (in general) dangerous to people. There’s an old saw that if you want a genetically healthy and intelligent dog, get a rez puppy to raise.
Loose Rez dogs are not pampered, chained, locked up during work hours, frustrated with owners who understand little about dog behaviour and send mixed signals about what’s acceptable social behaviour. They live with other dogs who show them the way to survive and live around people who see dogs as *dogs*–not as their babies. They aren’t bred with traits that humans desire that weaken their genetics.
The strong and intelligent, mate. The weak, socially inept and stupid, die.
This is why most street dogs are not generally dangerous, either.
Does it happen? Yes, particularly when dog fighters and city folks dump their unwanted canine behavioural disasters, there. It used to be, cruel as it sounds, a yearly dog shooting ritual on some rez’s to get rid of them but I expect that’s no longer the norm due to animal rights activists.
The above comments are based on what I’ve heard and who I know. There’s been no scientific research to prove this so I am just surmising.
I wonder if those dogs were socialized. Were they fearful of people? Were they pitbull mixes? It’s such a shame to see a man lose his life merely going for a walk.
Who cares whether they were socialized or not? Ditto for being fearful of people. That matters not at all.
They killed a man.
That’s what matters most. Nothing else comes close.
Most ‘ownerless’ dogs are only ownerless in the sense that their owners don’t accept any responsibility for their animals.