Glennaroy Blackwelder, 71, was killed by four dogs belonging to a neighbor.
UPDATE 12/02/23: In late November, DogsBite.org obtained records from the Tulsa Police Department and the Tulsa Animal Welfare Department after submitting a public records request regarding the death of Glennaroy Blackwelder. After the April 18 fatal dog attack, police did not release the time the attack occurred or the dog breeds involved. The attack occurred at approximately 4:30 pm. Three pit bulls and one Belgian malinois were taken into custody and euthanized after the fatal attack.
Blackwelder was discovered deceased in the backyard of a home next door to where the dogs resided. Fence lines and heights are not explained in the police incident report, nor is the location of where the attack started (on or adjacent to the dog owner's property). According to the narrative, only the three pit bulls were involved in the attack. However, we do not have the supplemental reports. Therefore, we cannot exclude the malinois, given that this was a complicated multi-dog attack.
"TPD explained she had been mauled by the three pit bulls resulting in her death. I spoke with the dog owner redacted redacted. He was visibly shaken by the encounter. He received a call that his dogs attacked someone, and got to his house to secure the dogs for TPD and the medical examiners. He did not want to own the dogs anymore and willingly loaded the three attack dogs and one malinois that he'd received a complaint on before." - Tulsa Police Incident Report
The three pit bulls and a Belgian malinois involved the death of Glennaroy Blackwelder. From top left: Bergle (female), Boba (female), Billy (male), and Josh, the Belgian malinois, (male).
04/29/23: Attacked Through Fence
Tulsa, OK - Another adult is dead after being attacked by dogs in Tulsa. The fatal attack occurred on April 18, but no confirmation was provided by local news outlets until April 25. Glennaroy Blackwelder, 71-years old, died after being attacked by four dogs belonging to one of her neighbors. The deadly attack occurred near Blackwelder's home in the 1400 block of North Delaware Place. The time of the attack was not released by Tulsa police, nor were the breeds of dogs involved.
In late March, 66-year old Donald Gibson of Tulsa died after being viciously attacked by at least one family pit bull after trying to break up a dog fight. That attack happened in east Tulsa, about 15 miles east from Blackwelder's home. Longtime neighbor and friend of Blackwelder, Diane Wise, spoke to KJRH. Wise said that "everybody liked Glenna." Wise has lived just a few doors away from Blackwelder since the 1980s. She has known Glennaroy Blackwelder for decades.
Wise affectionately called Blackwelder a "crazy cat lady," who rescued and cared for cats. Wise said that Blackwelder was looking for one of her cats that day when she was attacked by the four dogs. According to Wise, Blackwelder was walking between her friend’s house and another neighbor’s house, which had a short chain-link fence separating Glenna and the dogs. The dogs attacked Blackwelder through the fence, Wise said, grabbing ahold of one of her arms, killing her.
She died in a neighbor's yard who had known and cared about her, Wise said. “The guy that she died in his yard was just heartbroken,” she said. “‘She is such a good neighbor,'" he told her. “He had only lived there about five years, but he was very attached to her," Wise said. That man was not identified. A spokesperson for the city of Tulsa said the dog attack is still under investigation. The four dogs involved in the attack were surrendered to Tulsa animal welfare and euthanized.
Glenna was "was passionate about rescuing & feeding animals including cats, more cats, stray cats, birds, squirrels, a resident possum and OH! Did I mention her love of cats," states her obituary. She volunteered at "Catholic Charities and local animal shelters, often bringing home animals that needed extra love and care." It describes her death as a "sudden passing" that has left a "deep void in the hearts of her family, friends and cats." She will be dearly missed, the obituary states.
In October 2020, Curtis Wickham, 26-years old, was killed by three pit bulls in west Tulsa. That attack occurred about 7 miles west of Blackwelder's home. The dogs' owner, Benjamin Ryan Spence, pleaded no contest to second-degree manslaughter in connection to Wickham's death in May of 2022. Prosecutors had initially charged Spence with second-degree murder for directing his three pit bulls to attack Wickham, but corroborating that in court proved to be too difficult.
More Unreported Fatal Dog Attacks in Tulsa
Several days after publishing the post, Animals 24-7 reported that at least two other adults were killed by dogs in Tulsa recently -- neither were reported by police, animal control or local media outlets. John "Pops" Hunter, 78 years old, was apparently killed by a family pit bull, possibly his own. The source of this information was Hunter's daughter, Becca, who told Animals 24-7 that she had previously been bitten by the same dog. The date of Hunter's death was not provided.
The victim in the other apparent fatal dog mauling in Tulsa was John Reed. “John Reed, 55-60 years old, badly bitten near Sheridan and 36th Street North,” who after the pit bull attack “went into his house and bled to death," according to a confidential source of Animals 24-7. A funeral for his death was apparently held on May 1, 2023, but it was not publicly announced. Reed is believed to have been killed by his own pit bull. The Reeds are said to be of Native American heritage.
Blackwelder's home of 71 years in the 1400 block of North Delaware Place in central Tulsa.
View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Oklahoma Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.Related articles:
03/24/23: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Killed by Pit Bull in East Tulsa After Trying to Break...
05/09/22: 2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Dies After Violent Pit Bull Mauling in West Tulsa...
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.
How does a dog attack and kill a person through a fence? Was it standing up tall enough so that it’s head was above the fence and had unfettered access to grab her arm and maul her?
Pitbull owners need 6 ft fences…. although we’ve all read here about cases where even that doesn’t stop these menaces from escaping and killing.
I’ve heard of this before. Remember the husky type dogs that ripped a little girls arm off through a chain link fence?
There is an article where one of the police officers say they think one or more of the dogs must have jumped the fence and eventually jumped back in because of the injuries. It was apparently very gruesome.
The medical examiner is the one that mentioned a dog possibly jumping the fence because of the damage to her face.
Here is the link https://www.animals24-7.org/2023/04/23/does-not-acknowledging-a-fatal-pit-bull-attack-mean-it-did-not-happen/
It looks like Glennaroy was a kitty art lover of Laurel Burch’s colorful cats. And most probably of Sandra Boynton’s whimsical animals including cats.
Laurel Burch cats:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/967385919/laurel-burch-fanciful-felines-bunched?gpla=1&gao=1&=&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjwgLOiBhC7ARIsAIeetVBDEL5HM5Pyi9tpyo1ttljreUuPYJEWUnGXVhdJAbEp6XUVK8DZOWgaAv8oEALw_wcB_k_&utm_custom2=12573075997
Boynton’s hippo:
“Things are getting worse.
Please send chocolate.”
If you’re ‘fond’ of any other human beings you don’t keep a pit bull for a pet. This is why.
So sad and pointless.
Reminds me of the Klonda Richey case.
Hopefully her cats can find loving homes.
It seems cats are after thoughts at most pounds.
I will never forget the pound where a pit got out and slaughtered all the cats in the pound.
The pound used this as a fund raising opportunity.
Not for safe and secure space for their cats, but for more and better space to warehouse pits.
At least the murder beasts in this case have been put down.
Sad that is ever in doubt but we all remember cases where that did not happen.
Speaking of any updates on Dexter?
Naming your dog after a serial killer becomes a lot less cute once it kills someone.
Another case that seems to have disappeared a woman in Massachusetts I think was allowed to walk her condemned dog before it was to be put down.
The dog “escaped”.
Coincidently cell phone data puts her boyfriend in the area of the “escape” and shows him heading to the state line.
Any updates there?
Thanks for the updates!
More than likely Dexter will die of natural causes while his rich owner fights any sort of responsibility.
Looks like the creeps in Maine will get away with it.
I am shocked they weren’t both locked up on contempt of court charges.
Judges really don’t like it when you thumb your nose at them and do what you want.
I guess dogs are even more powerful than judges now.
I should not be surprised. They have outranked the rule of law for years.
odd circumstance? no one mentions the breed either?
It seems all the traditional “legitimate” news sources go out of their way to not notice breed when ever a pit does what it was bred to do.
Reminds me of the quote “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
― Upton Sinclair
Mr. Sinclair was kind of a crank but this is a good quote none the less.
It is amazing how much news doesn’t get reported becase if it was the newscaster that reported it would get angry letters and would not get invited to parties anymore.
If they didn’t mention the breed everyone already know the dogs in question is pitbull that the number one killer breed.anyways the poor lady looking for her cat being mauled in killed by that ugly beast of dog.I what I find strange is when a pitbull killed someone the first thing the pitbull defender said is not a real pitbull it’s an american staffordshire what do the consider a real pitbull because I googled it and the only difference is the pitbull is built bigger basically the same dog if you ask me.
If German shepherd, great Dane, Rottweiler, etc kills a human that info is readily offered right up so when ,breed is not disclosed… yeah it’s obvious BUT any person that assumes is treated like a bad evil person-thats the world we live in today and I find it incredibly disturbing
If it’s too big, it’s not a pitbull. If it’s too small, it’s not a pitbull. If it’s the wrong colour, it’s not a pitbull. If it’s eyes aren’t wide enough apart, it’s not a pitbull. If it’s tail is too long, it’s not a pitbull. If it’s tail is too short, it’s not a pitbull. If it’s ears stand up the wrong way, it’s not a pitbull. If it’s ears flop, it’s not a pitbull.
Funny how nobody is quite that fussy when describing a dog as a GSD or Husky or Poodle, or even Goldies who aren’t even always gold.
Then again, most of them aren’t responsible for 300+ deaths per year, the #1 mauling breed by medical standards or the most dreaded breed in the shelter system.
“…the most dreaded breed in the shelter system.”
Which is probably why a Bakersfield animal shelter recently offloaded by adoption over 50 pitbulls in one weekend. No telling how many of those “rescues” kill and attack those new owners in central California. And, worse yet, impact the surrounding area by killing innocent people.
A chef in Portland, Oregon was attacked by a pitbull in the legs and arms recently. The pitbull named Bubbie is still on the loose. See the chef’s creativity in creating a postcard w some of her injuries. BTW, between hundreds of thousands to millions of bubbies were murdered in the Holocaust in the 1930’s-1940’s.
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/05/03/portland-authorities-cant-even-handle-a-vicious-dog-n548285
You can bet the population of neighborhood friendly dogs and cats will drop exponentially from mauling attacks in the next few months, as well.
Pro-pitbull and pro-pet are antithetical stances.
The population of pets as a whole won’t decrease – they’ll be replaced with pitbulls. Low-class people are ramping up production with their backyard-breeding side gigs, and shelters are selling the inventory surplus.
It sounds as if the dogs’ owner will face no legal consequences. I can understand why you would redact his name. Prevention would be preferable to punishment – I wish we could ban the owning of dangerous breeds of dogs and ban the keeping of so many dogs in one place.