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25 thoughts on “2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Man, 67, Killed by Daughter's Dogs While Dog Sitting in Johnston County, North Carolina

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  1. I wonder why dogs being babysat seem to be more likely to kill people. Are these dogs upset about their owners being gone? Which dog bit the clinic employee? Could these attacks be minimized by the dogs having more training in a group of dogs and people? It seems like highly socialized dogs don’t need to be aggressive. Fearful dogs are often aggressive.

    • Dogs bred to fight to the death aren’t fearful and no amount of training is going to make the breed safe. They bite instinctually.

    • More dangerous dogs being owned, more people using pet sitters = more dangerous attacks on pet sitters.
      I have been bitten by a fearful dog. These attacks are not fearful dogs, just aggressive maulers. Their DNA can not be loved or trained away.

      • 1000x THIS^^^^ Boston.

        When I was training dogs my ex adopted a half-crazed, terrified, battered GSD. How do I know it was battered? Cigarette burns all over her body and two sprung ribs. Not “gee it looked upset”.

        Yes, it fear bit me once. It fear bit my ex…once. Both times it ran off afterwards. After that she never bit again. If she was afraid–she ran.

        And training dogs, that was my experience with *real* “fear biters”. All of them.

        It took a year of work to fix that dog but after that, everyone loved her. I was careful with her around children but she even had one fall on top of her once, and just ran away–not even a snap.

        Therein lies the difference. Dogs don’t hold grudges and fear biters nip and run. They don’t stand around mauling the crap out of you. All they want is to get away. To teach/train them, you teach them to manage their fears and make better decisions because they actually have a brain to think, with.

        Every time I hear the “pitbulls are anxious that’s why they bite” nonsense I wanna upchuck. They aren’t nervous. They’re under-exercised, agitated and overly excitable with a genetic propensity to maul. Horrid combination.

  2. What I find interesting is that the vet clinic employee got out with only one bite. Maybe she was lucky. Maybe she was standing in the doorway and could slam the door. So maybe that was enough to rile the dogs into kill mode. The dogs apparently attacked the man as soon as the employee left. Is it smart to get around dogs programmed to bite? Probably not, but he knew these dogs and they knew him.
    Genetics matters.

  3. Not that it makes any difference, I believe from the pictures it appears that they were both intact males. They could have been fighting before attacking and killing the man.

    • Wow, great catch! I can’t believe these two dogs were left intact. Insanity.

      By the way, our vet office stopped seeing pits, rotties and mastiffs if an owner will not spay or neuter by one year of age. I don’t believe altering them makes them less aggressive, but we are all about not being a vet for breeders of these dogs. When they say we discriminate against their dog, we tell them the shelter is full of pits and by not altering their dog, they are contributing to their suffering. Shuts them up pretty fast.

      • With Rottweilers, I think I
        would like to know the client and the dog. I know of Rottweilers competing in conformation in AKC shows that are fine to handle.

        One woman was in a bad wreck with her gorgeous male Rottweiler in the back seat. The owner was unconscious. That dog was safely removed by a friend, as police made sure he stayed safely in the car.

        Female Rottweilers in my experience are less aggressive than males.

        I suppose it’s possible that the two dogs were neutered after the picture was taken although I doubt it.

        Mastiffs, in my experience are dangerous around small dogs. A pair of idiots took their beloved male mastiff biter into PetSmart where he bit the Blue dogfood rep in the hand causing nerve damage. They left the store and called back reporting they had to have the dog PTS since that was his third bite. It would seem to me that a person who loved his dog would not have taken it into a store unmuzzled. Instead he told the Blue rep the dog didn’t bite. Dumb!!!!!!

        As pitbulls continue to be present in excessive numbers, I think we will see more cane Corsos, Presas, Mastiffs, Dog Argentinas and any other breed of dangerous dog.

        Since these two dogs were quickly destroyed, no one could fight to keep them alive.

        • As far as Rotties go, I was bit in the hand severely by a female with an ear infection. It stopped my sirgery career, and I was a great surgeon. I also had a large male that attacked and killed my Boston Terrier. I have no love for this breed and avoid them in practice most of the time. The breed also killed the child of a Wake County, NC police officer. No love.

          I saw two mastiffs, father and son, right before Covid. The owner left one in the car as he brought one into our vet clinic. The younger dog was leaning out the window, actively terrorizing people coming and going to the dentist. People stayed inside their office until the dogs left with the owner. The owner had a history of taking this dog places, leaving him in the car with the downed window, and the dog terrorizing people. When I realized the issue, I told him “ your dog will come out of the window and hurt someone”. He dismissed me. He asked I send a signed form into the county for rabies as the lunging dog had bitten someone on the waterfront.
          I sent the form in with a letter that the younger dog was the most dangerous dog I had seen in my career and it would be back on their radar. 3 months later, the two dogs together scalped the mail-carrier. She and I ended up in court for a hearing to have them euthanized because the owner was fighting to get them back! Who needs these monsters? So many other nice dog breeds.

  4. Both these breeds are stubborn and need firm handling. They will push around anyone they perceive of, as “weak”.

    The Cane Corso bit first–and I’m not surprised by that.

    A 67-year old is an easy mark for dogs like these, regardless of what good shape he might be in. They aren’t Snoopy.

    Now another senior citizen won’t be around to collect his pension because of someone else’s stupidity of dog choices.

    The lesson in this is: Don’t dogsit large dogs, seniors. No matter how well you get along with them, unless you’ve walked with them, done some training with them and know they respond to you without a cookie in hand–do not take your life in your hands. Even if they’re rambunctious you could wind up with broken bones.

    And anyone who asks you to babysit their pitbull, cane corso or mastiff better not be in your will.

  5. I don’t think that dog is a cane caro because those dogs are big muscular and black I’m pretty sure that dog is a Fila Brasileiro or a bull massifs which are both ban dogs he or she probably mistaken the breed.

  6. These dogs were not neutered, number one. Also, this was after the weekend before July 4th. They could have been more protective if they were scared the night before.
    I would really like to know how many attacks are by dogs who are unaltered.

    • Altering may help–if only to stop the propagation of the breed, but it won’t change the basic genetics of a breed designed to kill. People adopting a dangerous breed and thinking it will be safe because it has been altered are delusional.

  7. The big dog might be a mix but I don’t see Cane Corso as their color is more dark grey to black. By face and color this looks like American Mastiff. It seems to me much of America is unfamiliar with Cane Corsos though.becoming more numerous. As frightening as Pit Bulls are, these are bigger and even stronger. In 2015 a young man out for a jog, on a rural Michigan road, was attacked and killed by a pair of Cane Corsos. His name is Craig Sytsma and he had recently survived cancer. It was the third time the dogs had attacked someone. I believe we are being forced to educate ourselves about dangerous breeds in order to protect our families and pets. People who buy or adopt them need to know they take an unnecessary and even deadly risk for which they will be held responsible if they are not the victim themselves.

  8. bull terriers are jerks and worst case scenario suffer from rage syndrome they are not intelligent animals AT ALL I have one

  9. My brother was the very next neighbor to the owners of these dogs. They have moved in this short period of time. My sister in law would not let my 9 year old nephew play at their house because of these dogs. I met these dogs this past Christmas when I was walking my brother’s 10 pound terrier. It’s a sad situation all around.

    • Your sister-in-law is a smart and strong woman. God bless her! It’s quite possible she saved her son from these monsters.

  10. Dogs were originally meant to do a job, not sit around and be fussed over, laze around and be spoilt. Modern dogs think that they are in charge. 25,000 people are mauled to death by a dog every year.

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