Robert Showalter, 71, was killed by his pit bull while undergoing a medical emergency.
Man Killed by Own Dog
Beckley, WV - On June 16, WVVA reported that a man was killed by his pit bull a week earlier, while undergoing a medical emergency. Robert Showalter, 71, had been sitting on his porch with a neighbor when he fell unconscious. The neighbor ran next door and called 911. When firefighters and EMS arrived, a pit bull breed dog belonging to Showalter was seen latched onto his throat. They contacted police for back up. The arriving officer shot and killed the dog to stop the attack.
The attack occurred on June 8 in the 100 block of Wilson Street. Beckley police said Showalter was transported to a local hospital, where he later died. His obituary states that he died that afternoon. Fatal attacks inflicted by pit bulls by latching onto a person's neck who is unconscious or undergoing a medical emergency, such as a seizure, have occurred multiple times in the past. We can only add that Beckley firefighters and EMS must have been horrified by what they saw.
No other information was released, and no other media agency investigated the incident. Comments on the WVVA Facebook post were predictable. Though, none addressed that this was an owner-directed fatal attack while the owner was undergoing a medical emergency. Only one similar case we have recorded since 2007 has been carried out by a breed other than a pit bull, a rottweiler. Beckley is a city in and the county seat of Raleigh County in Southern West Virginia.
View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: West Virginia Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.Related articles:
07/22/21: 2021 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman Fatally Bitten in the Neck by Pet Pit Bull in Toledo, Ohio
10/08/19: 2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Found Dead Inside Modesto Home, Pit Bulls Suspected
05/14/18: 2017 Dog Bite Fatality: 21-Year Old Man Dies After Dog Attack in Quincy, Illinois
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 don’t understand why pitbulls kill their owners by grabbing their owners’ neck. Why not bite the hand? Obviously the pitbulls cannot answer that.
Was an autopsy done? Did this man die of other causes and the dog just helped out?
Regardless, why have a pitbull when there are so many nice dogs of many breeds that don’t maul or kill their owners.
I think pitbulls were selectively bred for the behavior of going for the throat.
It seems genetic. Pitbull in my are park always sims for the neck. Every incident.
Well, he won’t have any more medical emergencies, at least it wasn’t a child or neighbor, and one less killer pit bull in the world.
Beckley, West Virginia, is down the country road a piece from the New River Gorge National Park. America’s newest national park features the oldest river In North America, and the second oldest in the world.
A great area to river raft. It’s my guess that the Dragan brothers whitewater rafting enterprise played a large role in encouraging the federal government to designate this area as a NP.
A beautiful area of winding roads and West Virginia bluegrass festivals that this man mauled to death must have enjoyed for years.
Oddly enough, Kanab, Utah, is an area known for great Western river rafting before it seems to have been taken over by Best Friends Animal Society. I remember the Kanab name from planning my motorcycle trip Grand Canyon Colorado River rafting trip. Best Friends continues to try to coerce all of America into believing animals have priority over people. Best Friends advocates for pitbulls from Ohio to Arkansas to Salt Lake City to LA and ignores the grievous damage to thousands of Americans from pitbulls.
I hate it when people say that a dog has to be trained to do this. Professional guard dog trainers do not train dogs to go for the throat or face. That is a liability. It seems that certain breeds, need to be trained to NOT attack and kill humans..
Pitbulls are a killer breed that need zero training to go for the throat (of a person, a cow, a sheep or another dog etc.)