A woman was killed, her husband injured after being attacked by a catahoula leopard dog.
Killed By Own Dog
Chiefland, FL - Last week, a news report was published by WCJB about a woman killed and her husband seriously injured by one of their catahoula leopard dogs on January 29. Levy County sheriff's deputies said the couple had bred catahoula leopard dogs for more than 25 years when one of them turned on them. The husband and wife, who were not identified by police at that time, were badly mauled. The couple has since been identified as Leonora Lawhon Hale and her husband, Jim.
According to audio dispatch log files from Levy County Public Safety, the attack occurred around 9:15 pm in the 6800 block of Northwest 88th Lane. After stating the address, the dispatcher states, "reference 72-year old female, animal bite." About seven minutes later, a second responder was sent to the same address. "Reference second patient, animal bite," states the dispatcher. Jim remains hospitalized but is expected to recover from his injuries. He is being moved to a rehab center soon.
Jim's Facebook page, which he shares with his wife, states, "We love dogs, horses, fishing and music." Multiple catahoula leopard dogs are seen on the page. Both are listed in a 2021 show roster for the International Dog Shows and International All Breed Canine Association. They were competing with a male catahoula leopard dog named, "Hale's Doc Holiday." Koon's Bleu Ace is the sire and Hale's Sparkle is the dam. Family members later confirmed that Doc Holiday was the dog involved.
The couple is active with the Levy County Horse Club Trail Riders (LCHCT), a nonprofit organization. Business records from the Secretary of State show that Leonora was the director from 2017 to 2018. She also participated in horse shows in the region. A December 2017 post from Jim states, we have "been saying Merry Christmas together for 48 years today. Wishing you all the best." Indicating the couple has been married for over a half century. We hope that Jim makes a full recovery.
Leonora Hale, 72, died after being attacked by one of her catahoula leopard dogs.
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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.
Poor Leonora killed by dogs she breed for 25 years.I don’t get it if she breed them for 25 years why did they attacked her.I guess she was an older lady they probably bite in her neck and she died instantly I think if she was younger lady she probably could fight them off.
It’s hard to fight a dog pack at any age.
As we get older, our strength tends to decline. In my case, I currently handle very few of my GSDs. Why? Playing can get out of control. A friend handles all of them. I don’t know much about this breed.
Totally get that. Even still young, I swapped from the Great Dane I adored, and who was gentle and amazing, to French Bulldogs. I injured my back as a dog groomer and by age 25 had significant pain I knew would get worse. The moment I knew for sure was when that poor boy, as a senior, slipped and fell in the kitchen and I could NOT get him up on my own. I knew a giant breed puppy, and eventual senior, wouldn’t be a good fit in my situation any longer, so I looked for a similar-temperament dog in a small package. I’ll always miss my big boy, but I chose 100% right. My back and neck ARE much worse now in my 40s and I haven’t been able to work in a while now, but these guys are something I can easily deal with.
Is this the “hound” breed” historically used to track escaped slaves? They used to be called bloodhounds.
Learning, in a word, no. Bloodhounds are not bred to tangle with wild hogs and Leopards as these dogs were. Bloodhounds are “finders” not fighters. I have only met two (that I can recall) in three decades of animal control, and/or welfare, and they were not aggressive at all. Doesn’t mean there isn’t an aggressive individual out there but that’s not the role for which they were intended.
That’s correct Colleen. Stories from the American slave era talk about horrible hounds that not only tracked but viciously attacked fugitives. No not the goofy looking bloodhounds of today!
I was wondering if theses catahoula leopard dogs are the same or a related breed.
this breed fights wild hogs in Louisiana. My Dad had one he hunted with but it was not a people dog.
Colleen, you had flagged this breed for me, also known as a Catahoula Cur, when I passed along to you some years ago a Bay Area attack on a small child.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bay-Area-TV-anchor-s-son-mauled-by-dog-12609991.php
It’s certainly confusing. The ever questionable Wikipedia automatically redirects “Catahoula Cur” to “Catahoula Leopard Dog.” Who knows what the dog involved in the Bay Area incident actually was!
Thanks for the links.
I thought January had been too quiet.
Prayers for Mr Hale, So heartbreaking. These dogs aren’t known to attack and kill people. Wondering if the dog had some underlying condition that caused it to attack them. I’ve heard that Hypothyroidism is a problem in theses breeds and can cause temperament changes. I hope they can get to the bottom of this Horrible Tragedy. Praying for this family 🙏
Truth be told, all large dogs are capable of mauling and killing humans. It’s a simple fact of life. Pitbulls are the most rampant killers, of course, but no one should be complacent about the danger that all dogs can pose under the right circumstances.
Let me just say as an experienced handler of this breed ( more than 40 years) this is absolutely not typical of the breed. They are usually very loyal to their family. Furthermore for accurate info on the breed you must go to their registry NALC. That is the official registry of the breed period.
I’m absolutely saddened by this story and all thoughts and prayers go to the family.
Heya Happy,
Yeah, had a buddy and she trained/handled protection dogs for a couple decades.
When she stopped doing that, she bought a Catahoula. As an experienced dog handler and hunter, she believed it was a great dog, protective but not aggressive towards other dogs or people. As any good dog handler, she researched deeply before making a choice. She had zero intent of using it for protection work but did train it for hunting.
Last I heard, she was enjoying this dog immensely. Up to that point–I’d never even heard of them. As someone who spent a lot of time discussing dog aggression (and retraining some decades ago)–I’m pretty aware of all the usual culprits.
So, this dog could be a mix. Could have been mentally unstable or even, a common problem in hunting dogs–have had serious heat stroke at some point causing aggression.
They are too old to be breeding large dogs. They should have stopped a while ago.
Some years ago I had a breeder-friend who bred GSDs and GSD mixes. With advancing age and medical problems (type 2 diabetes with neuropathy and severe arthritis in one knee), taking care of his dogs became impossible for him. A neighbor was feeding them. The owner walked through his kennel with a BB gun. I know he used it to scare
dogs. I don’t know if any were actually hit.
I think John used his BB gun because he was afraid his dogs would attack him as a pack. He often had six or more dogs loose in his yard. Many of his dogs were feral. They had never been handled.
No person was mauled or killed. John loved his dogs, but his health gave out. At the end, he signed over his dogs to rescue. He was gone within a week.
I enjoyed this man but not everything he did. The reason I listed breeding GSD mixes was because I believe he did.
He also had some fantastic quality GSDs.
Breeders with medical problems need to have a way to stop breeding dogs with the safety of people and dogs. Some breeders of large breed dogs have downsized to small breeds. I no longer handle many of my GSDs. The exceptions are my ninety pound service dog and his obnoxious son who lacks training.
“Not Everyone Needs a Catahoula” is the official registry motto. National Association of Louisiana Catahoulas, Inc. Only dogs registered with the NALC are real, untainted, Catahoula Leopard Dogs. The leopard is the name for the merle color. It has nothing to do with leopard hunting.
There is no such thing as a “show” Catahoula. They are not house pets. They are working dogs and have a reputation for turning aggressive towards strangers when they get old. If you know anything about them, you would be cautious approaching a home that has these loose outside.
Male catahoulas are commonly aggressive towards other male dogs they don’t know. They do not have any pitbull in their breeding. I am from Louisiana not far from where they originated. The only people that have them use them for what they were intended, hunting and herding cattle. When used for pig hunting they bay the pig. They don’t catch the pig. That is where bull dogs come in. They work with the Catahoulas. No sane person would mix a pit with a Catahoula. Catahoula’s are part wolf and extremely smart. I am shocked frankly, that people are trying to keep these as house pets. All that said they are not people killers like pit bulls. I have never heard of a serious injury caused by one to a person. I would have to guess that the poor victim here got caught up in the middle of a fight between males and something freak happened.
No just the one male in a kennel. She was my sister. I completely agree with you for many reasons based on experience. She and I didn’t agree on dog matters. I am not a breeder but have had akc registered German shepherds for over 30 years. We had one litter 6 years ago. But breeding isn’t for me at all. With your experience please continue to educate others.
I am Jim Hale, Leonora’s husband. I am the only person present when this tragedy occurred, I was not interviewed by the sheriffs department at the scene or afterwards. Leonora and I were not breeders, we produced 3 litters over the 49 years we had them. We did not sell dogs, they were placed with loving families for free.
This is painful but I will state the circumstance of that evening. Leonora walked Doc every evening on our property then bring him in to the house for the night. I did not go as I was recovering from a serious heart attack. She was out longer than normal so I walked to the back pasture to check on them, where I found her light on the ground, at that time and heard her over by the fence, as I approached there was no dog present, I asked, what’s wrong Baby, at that point the dog attacked as to protect her.
I knew that no one could get to her to help her unless I got him away from her so I held him by the collars as he continue to viscously attacked . I was weak with my heart functioning at 20 to 25 percent and on blood thinners, he got me on the ground and I prayed to God to help me get him to the gate and he did.
He left me at the gate and I was able to get to the phone and called 911. While on the phone with them I located a gun but my hands were so broken up I could not chamber a round.
A deputy pulled up and I pleaded to him to kill the dog so EMS could get to her to help. I collapse on my lawn and that’s where EMS found me. I told them to go to Leonora, they did not but another EMS pulled arrived and she was life flighted.
I can not tell you what happened but I’m sure there were circumstance the caused her injuries, the dog did not turn on her.my opinion is there was another animal involved and she tried to intervene. We have all kinds of animals here, coyotes, bear, panther, wildcats, etc. As a matter of fact, a deer was killed by a bear about 75 yards from where I found her.
After hours of surgery and 4 units of blood I was taken to see her only to see her breath her last breath. I asked to not be treated further by my family overruled my request, loosing the love of my life after 54 wonderful years of marriage is the hardest thing I’ve ever faced,
I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing the details. I cannot imagine how horrible it was for you and how much pain you are in…I will sincerely pray for you. I live in Lake City, not too far from your area and have a Catahoula/hound mix. My heart truly hurts for you.
Thank you Jim for your explanation of the events that day. Your assessment of the events make perfect sense. I am very sorry for your loss. God bless.