The medical examiner ruled that Carol Streit, 65, died of a heart attack.
Post-Mortem Bites
UPDATE 12/21/23: Despite the grisly details about this death, including the victim's left arm being "skin and bones," her right hand missing, found wearing only a bra, her pants pulled below her waist and blood-stained clothing found in a nearby field, the Spokane Medical Examiner's Office said Carol Streit died of natural causes, a heart attack. The animal predation (bite damage) was inflicted post-mortem, Chief Medical Examiner Veena Singhs stated, "and did not cause or contribute to death."
Streit suffered a "sudden cardiac death caused by a disease of the heart muscle." In the 732 dog bite fatalities we have recorded, only a handful of other deaths (< 1%) initially believed to be a fatal dog attack by authorities were later overturned by a medical examiner as cause of death natural due to a fatal stroke or heart attack prior to the bites being inflicted. Streit died in an outdoor location, so post-mortem predation by the dog or other animals is expected, and it began soon after her death.
12/14/23: Sheriff's Office Media Release
Spokane, WA - A woman found dead in a vacant field may be the victim of a dog attack, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office. On December 13, 2023, at about 4:05 pm, deputies responded to a report of a possible deceased female in a vacant field in the 4500 block of East Buckeye Avenue near North Custer Road. The deceased female was discovered with her dog. "The dog, which was not on a leash or lead, exhibited protective/aggressive behavior," states a release from the sheriff's office.
Investigators believe the victim had not been lying in the field for very long. The only obvious wounds are believed to have been caused by the dog. "From the initial information gained at the scene, it appears the female had not been lying in the field for a considerable amount of time. Evidence discovered also indicates that the only obvious wounds observed were to her upper extremities and are believed to have been caused by the dog found with her at the scene," states the release.
Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS) -- the agency that adopted out a pit bull-mix that killed a Spokane child on Halloween -- impounded the dog. On Friday, the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as 65-year-old Carol Streit. The cause and manner of death are pending. Streit's death marks the fourth death near the Minnehaha neighborhood in the last week, including two people who were found dead after gunshots were heard.
UPDATE: Death Investigation on E. Buckeye AvenueSpokane County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Detectives and Forensic Personnel remained at the scene well into the evening as they collected evidence, conducted interviews, and documented the scene.
The deceased female was located with her dog in a vacant field to the southwest of E. Buckeye Avenue and N. Custer Road. When Deputies first arrived at the scene, the dog, which was not on a leash or lead, exhibited protective/aggressive behavior, preventing Deputies and medical personnel from assessing the unresponsive female’s condition.
Deputies eventually gained the dog’s trust and coaxed it away from the female, allowing medical personnel to check for signs of life. Soon after, she was unfortunately pronounced deceased at the scene. The dog is in the care of SCRAPS pending further investigation
From the initial information gained at the scene, it appears the female had not been lying in the field for a considerable amount of time. Evidence discovered also indicates that the only obvious wounds observed were to her upper extremities and are believed to have been caused by the dog found with her at the scene.
However, additional testing is needed before this can be confirmed.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the name of the decedent, along with her cause and manner of death, when appropriate.Major Crimes Detectives continue to investigate this incident as they work to factually determine what led up to and caused the death of the female.
At this time, Investigators do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the public stemming from this incident. - Spokane County Sheriff's Office
KXLY confirmed the victim's Facebook page in a follow up story Friday. Streit's social media page shows she had a female a pit bull named "Sugarpie," as recently as May, 25, 2023. However, the color markings on that pit bull terrier appear to be different than the dog seen being loaded into the SCRAPS vehicle. The lighting is poor in the video, which was shot at night. But there's no mistaking the dark brown coloring near the dog's tail in the video footage, which is absent in "Sugarpie."
Streit worked as a counselor in Spokane, according to KXLY's report, "most recently in the opioid treatment services division at the Spokane Regional Health District." Her previous pit bull, Sugarpie "passed away a few months ago and recently rescued another." Further, "Spokane County confirmed to 4 News Now that Streit adopted the dog with which she was found in October." Thus, SCRAPS, may have adopted out two pit bulls between September and October 2023 that each killed a person.
Our FOIA to Spokane County regarding the death of Kline was submitted on November 11, but the records cannot be obtained until March 2024. It's unclear why the city of Spokane and Spokane County withheld the information that the dog that killed Kline on October 31, 2023 was adopted out by SCRAPS on September 2. Streit's death is not yet confirmed as a dog bite fatality. By why withhold the adoption information in one human fatality case but not the other? Government at its finest?
SCRAPS Adoption Confirmed
The Spokesman-Review confirms the dog involved is a pit bull-mix that was adopted out by SCRAPS in October 2023. The dog had "no bite history," said a county spokesperson. Court documents obtained by The Review show that "Streit’s pants were pulled down below her waist and she was wearing only a sports bra. Her arms were injured so badly that bone was exposed, the records said, and her right hand was missing. Blood-stained clothing was also found in a field adjacent to Streit’s body."
Over the last 16-years, our nonprofit has reviewed numerous police and medical examiner reports of fatal pit bull maulings. This attack fits the bill.
KREM reports that Streit lived at Beau Rivage, an apartment complex in the 4900 block of East Upriver Drive, close to where her body was found. Neighbors said that Streit adopted "Reggie," a male pit bull, a few months ago. Shortly after the adoption, Reggie was hit by a car, but fully recovered. Neighbors told KREM they let Reggie out every morning when Streit was at work, including the day she died. The dog never showed any aggression toward humans, only to other dogs, neighbors reportedly said.
SCRAPS adopted out dog-aggressive "Reggie" to Streit in October, and like many other dog-aggressive dogs implicated in a fatal human mauling, apparently killed it's owner. As if the behavior of "aggression" in a dog can be classified into the distinctly separate factors of "animal-aggressive" or "people-aggressive." As DogsBite.org stated in 2016, "Aggression, is aggression, is aggression." A dog with "dog-killing aggression" is not a safe pet in any community with other dogs or people.
Audio Dispatch Logs
KREM plays the audio dispatch files from Broadcastify.com in their segment. We also listened to the feed from Spokane County Sheriff and Fire. The dispatcher states: "...East Buckeye, there's a possible female, face-down in a field, not moving. Unknown if she is breathing. There's a dog running next to her that has blood on it. It doesn't appear she has clothes on. 4502 East Buckeye ... The female is against the fence, near the south side of property. The dog is a pit bull. [Seems] like it belongs to her."
The dog adopted out by SCRAPS seen being loaded into the agency's truck at the scene.
Related articles:
12/06/23: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Pit Bull-Mix that Killed Child on Halloween in Northeast Spokane...
03/11/21: Peer-Reviewed Study Examines Dog-on-Dog Attacks in UK by Analyzing Media Articles
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.
Wow, I appreciate your careful journalism. I had found Carol’s Facebook page and assumed the old dog pictured there was the culprit. I hope Carol had loved ones who will find justice for her, if any is possible.
And now, because of their ridiculous vote to ban the euthanasia of dogs for behavioral reasons (killing a human), these idiots (City of Spokane Council Members) have two dogs they cannot humanely euthanize. Do they even comprehend what they have done? The euthanasia of dangerous dogs is done in the interest of keeping their constituents and their communities safe!
I find myself wondering if this woman acquired the dog who likely killed her from SCRAPS. If so SCRAPS and the council members of the City of Spokane have much to answer for in the last two deaths by dog in Spokane.
I have much more to say about this, but I’ll save it for later after others have commented.
Yes. This victim worked for Spokane County and Spokane County has verified the dog was recently adopted. SCRAPS is the Spokane County animal welfare agency. Notably, one does need to read between the lines for this because KXLY did not explicitly state this, but we believe this is the case. “If so SCRAPS and the council members of the City of Spokane have much to answer for in the last two deaths by dog in Spokane.” Well, they have not responded to our first FOIA. We already sent the information about “Spud” (child killer) to KHQ — they have done nothing with it. We sent it to KXLY Friday afternoon. In the history of DogsBite.org there has never been a county dog pound that adopted out TWO killer dogs in a two-month time span, and, all while going through the “behavior euthanasia” drama. It’s getting surreal.
I’m thinking she was homeless that explains the empty lot and her own pitbull killed her I seen lots of homeless people with pitbull .all I know about dangerous dogs like pitbull they’re on death row and they are put down in couple of days.but the bleeding heart pitbull defender stop them for killing the dangerous pitbull poor lady to died by her own dog because she believed in the pitbull lied.
She worked for the county. We don’t believe she was homeless.
“Spokane Regional Health District, where Streit worked, remembered her on Friday.
“We are shocked and saddened by the news,” SRHD said in a statement. “Carol was a joy to work with and was loved by her patients. She had a smile and laugh that was infectious; you couldn’t help but grin and laugh along. Our hearts go out to her family. As colleagues and friends of Carol, we share in their grief for the loss of such a wonderful person. She will be missed.”
Carol was not homeless – she was a drug recovery counselor working for Spokane County. She didn’t live far from there and would always walk her dogs along the river – along with many others here in Spokane.
Verified — “A pit bull mix suspected of attacking 65-year-old Carol Streit, who was found dead in a field Wednesday, was adopted by the victim from Spokane County’s animal shelter but had “no bite history,” according to a county spokesperson … Streit adopted the dog in October from SCRAPS, he said.” https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/dec/15/no-bite-history-for-dog-suspected-to-have-killed-6/
I would never adopt a pit or pit mix from a shelter or anyone else for that matter. WHY are people so gullible? Perhaps the victim felt safe because her former pit didn’t show signs of being aggressive and never mauled her. Anecdotal. Just because you’ve owned one savage that didn’t maul you, does not mean that another one will be safe. Add puking to the trigger list for pit savages.
SCRAPS now has custody of the dog, cannot euthanize it, do you think in light of what this owner did to it they will garner the sympathy vote and adopt the thing out again? Ugh. Disgusting dogs owned by disgusting people.
Yeah, first thing I thought when I saw the headline with Spokane in it was, “bet they’re going to try to adopt the thing out again”.
The heads of SCRAPS should be charged with manslaughter at the very least.
And every worker that has to feed it, or groom it, or clean the waste out of its cage is at risk *for the lifetime of that dog*.
Too bad shelter workers aren’t decently unionized. With all the injuries this nonsense would be stopped, post haste.
Once again, we see the misuse of the word “rescue.”
People, unless you pulled that dog out of a raging river or carried it out of a burning building, you didn’t rescue it. You bought it.
In short, it’s a business transaction, just like buying new tires for your car.
If you had a cow that kept kicking you in the face when you milked it so you turned it into dog chow–nobody would be complaining that you “rescued it” therefore you should let it kill you.
Somehow apex predators get a pass.
Colour me, confused.
As we all know, this dog wasn’t raised right. If it had been raised right, it wouldn’t have attacked her. However, how can a shelter determine whether or not a dog was raised right? It seems to me that a shelter would have to euthanize all the pitbulls and pitbull mixes because this would be the only way to protect the public from adopting dangerous dogs.
In general, most of the dogs available in a shelter have been raised by someone who cares very little about the dog. Otherwise, the dog wouldn’t be homeless.
There are certainly other reasons why dogs are in a shelter.
Owner died. New home didn’t allow dogs. Etc.
The truth is that no one can predict whether or not a dog is going to bite the rest of its life. One, however, can predict the severity of a bite by looking at breeds of dogs.
One prediction that we can make is that the incidence of humans killed by pitbulls and pitbull mixes is going
to increase.
These days I am around a woman who has owned pitbulls and adores them. I asked her what happened to her pitbulls. She took the mommy dog to the veterinarian to be euthanized because she had bitten a police officer in the leg. The other pitbulls were mostly her progeny that weren’t sold because no one wanted them. Same Old Broken Story!
The “raised right” pitbull is a myth. I agree with your assessment that shelters should euthanize pits and pit mixes. It sounds as if SCRAPS director Jesse Ferrari cares about public safety and cleaned house of the employees unwilling to euthanize, then those former employees used the press to try to undermine her, after which city council took away her power to do the right thing. If enough residents were to complain to city council, they would reverse that decision.
This nonsense took place in a certain Humane Society I know. The administrator was an absolute nutter. She got rid of anyone who wasn’t a nutter. Nice huskies died so pitbulls could stay, hunting dogs died so pitbulls could stay, big friendly dogs were the ones hitting the euthansia room in unprecedented waves as pitbulls overran the place–some even loose in the offices.
Sure enough, all the pitbulls they were selling to the public caused a spate of pitbull manglings.
Then we had BSL and a massive public outcry.
Out she went. Out her nutters, went.
For a decade or two, all was good.
Now I’m at the bus stop and a six foot ad for that same Humane society is shilling for a pitbull.
In a province that has BSL. Animal Control is doing zero enforcement.
This, folks, is the insanity we are up against.
The manner of death has come back as natural. We don’t know yet if the bites were a contributing cause of death. We know she was heard yelling “help” and that the bite injuries were severe, including the amputation of her hand. We know that cause of death in some cases is a heart attack (like the below) that occurred during a violent dog mauling. We also know that serious bites can be inflicted post-mortem. We will wait for local media to question the coroner/police and see if some of these questions are answered:
Name: Carol Streit
Age: 65 years
Cause of Death: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy
Manner: Natural
https://www.spokanecounty.org/3954/Media-Release-Information
I knew Carol Streit personally. Yes she adopted the dog from SCRAPS.
Here are the facts:
Carol Streit had a job working for Spokane County as an opiate addict recovery counselor. She was not homeless.
Carol adopted a a pit bull / Stafford named SugarPie – the one you see on her Facebook page. SurgarPie had been a “bait dog” and her teeth had been filed down. I observed Carol with this dog – very calm and very aware of any possible issues SugarPie might have – didn’t take her to crowded places, etc. SugarPie had to be put down the end of September.
According to news reports, Carol adopted “Reggie” from SCRAPS in October.
Carol worked until 2pm in the afternoon Mon – Fri. I knew that as soon as she got home (driving from downtown Spokane to Argonne Rd) she frequently would take her dog to Upriver Dr to let it run and play off leash.
Carol Streit was NOT the person initially reported by Darrin Williams. Darrin and I spoke via phone – he saw a dark-haired woman covered in blankets with a Mastiff mix that was malnurished at 10:30 – 11:00 am on 12/13/23. Carol was at work at that time.
I contacted the homeowner who has a security video of Carol. and she sent it to me. The date / time stamp is 12/13/23 @ 2:32 pm. Carol is clearly visible walking her new dog on a leash with a ball tosser (some people thought it was a stick). She walks past the house on the sidewalk with the dog leading the way, turns left into the field next to a white fence near an electrical substation. Behind the time stamp on the video you can see a tiny figure of Carol tossing a ball, picking it up, tossing it again, etc. After about 3 throws, you see her arm up to toss the ball then she suddenly falters backwards yelling NO so loud to be heard on the video, she is obviously struggling with the dog, trying to get it away from her neck and trying to get it off her. Within seconds she falls to the ground and is rolling around. In a second video you can hear her screamming Help! Help!
Wounds reported by police and ME –
Both arms “shredded” to the bone, right hand missing
One report said there were chest wounds
Her jacket and shirt were missing
Her pants were pulled down below her waist
She was lying face down (same position I saw on video)
Neighbor with security video claims there was alot of blood on the ground and the police left it there.
Police claim there was blood on the dog – per news report.
Carol was an experienced dog owner with a calm personality. She was capable of staying calm under duress.
Carol was physically strong and fit.
Carol never abused or neglected her animals. I believe her family has ranch land in Montana – she understood animal behavior and the outdoors.
Carol was a compassionate, kind, generous and highly intelligent individual who contributed to the lives of those around her.
Thank you so much for sharing this information and clearing up Williams’ allegation. We saw the surveillance footage (or at least parts of it) for the first time last night. There is a truncated version of it posted at KHQ: https://www.khq.com/news/new-video-released-of-northeast-spokane-dog-attack/video_6d3adf82-a04c-11ee-81b0-eb600362d44a.html I am so sorry that after the loss of your friend, you are now having to clear up misinformation. We can only hope that local media outlets will get clarification about the autopsy report from the medical examiner’s office.
Thank you Colleen. Yes, it’s been frustrating and upsetting.
I spoke with Darrin Williams personally. He saw a different woman at 11 am Argonne Road. – Carol Streit was working in downtown Spokane until 2:00pm that day and every week day.
How our nonprofit defines a fatal dog mauling:
https://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-fatality-citations-data-collection.php#definition
“We define a fatal dog mauling as 1.) A vicious attack 2.) resulting in severe or catastrophic injury and 3.) the victim dies. Severe injury includes: injuries requiring multiple surgical procedures, injuries resulting in broken bones, multiple deep bite injuries (Level 5 bite), and mutilation or amputation injuries. The vast majority of deaths occur immediately, or within hours of the attack or while the victim is hospitalized, typically one to several days or several weeks after the attack.”
View the other heart attack injury cases we have recorded:
https://blog.dogsbite.org/tag/heart-attack-injury
Carol DID have a heart condition but it was under control and she lived a normal, active life.
There may be extenuating circumstances, such as protecting the family, that are caused the ME to report she died of “natural causes” and not from the dog attacking her.
https://www.khq.com/news/medical-examiner-woman-found-dead-in-field-in-east-spokane-died-of-heart-attack/article_483a195e-a066-11ee-b9b4-833cfd3d65d4.html
The ME determined the bite damage occurred post-mortem by canine/animal predation. It’s not uncommon when a body is exposed in an outdoor environment. Pet dogs do this when a person dies inside a home too, as quickly as within one hour. This is not a reality the general public is often exposed to. I am so sorry.
————-
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1556-4029.12684
The medical examiner is not lying. She was exposed in that field for 1.5 hours. Significant animal predation occurred in that time.
Ok, I accept the coroner’s report – the dog didn’t kill the owner, it just started eating her soon after she collapsed. Still we have a dog that EATS PEOPLE – and it won’t be put down. Has some fool purchased it and taken it home yet? I’m glad I don’t live in Spokane… and I’m crossing my fingers they won’t be shipping that dog to my town.
So what was the video about? I thought it said the woman could be heard screaming help… did she fall then scream help to get up? Did she fall to the ground having a massive heart attack and scream help? Am I missing something here? Please someone explain (smartassism not required I just would appreciate some help understanding I have dyslexia and severe A.D.D. and I live in Waco, TX where they no longer allow adderall or medication for adults with A.D.D. only for hyper undisciplined children)
I just watched this video – she shouts loudly a couple of times but we can’t see what’s happening.
https://www.khq.com/news/new-video-released-of-northeast-spokane-dog-attack/video_6d3adf82-a04c-11ee-81b0-eb600362d44a.html
Thank you
So the dog was just trying to protect its owner
By devouring and consuming her arms?
I know dogs are just “dumb” animals but come on man! Get real folks.
No purebred collie golden retriever poodle shitz zhu chihuahua basset hound etc would go about protecting a cardiac arrest victim by shredding their limbs sorry no disrespect to her friend its just im not buying that load of crap and I’m offended and insulted by all pitbull propagandists and apologists who expect the public to believe their bs
It’s narcissistic
*please excuse my spellun’ errs I don’t use auto much because it has done more bad than good in the past for me ha ha and also I know I make up words sometimes
Some jerk 1 time got all smart with me calling me an idiot on here that why the disclaimer cheers all