35-year Dominic Cooper was killed by a pack of breeding pit bulls in his backyard in Compton, CA.
Man Killed by Pit Bulls
Compton, CA - A 35-year old man is dead after being mauled by a pack of breeding pit bulls in the backyard of his home. The attack was reported around 7:10 am in the 900 block of North Thorson Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Just before 9:00 am, deputies were still trying to enter the yard where the pack of aggressive pit bulls were fighting near the man's body, reports Patch. "They're trying to make a plan to enter the backyard," Deputy Maria Lucero said.
The victim has since been identified as Dominic Cooper, 35. His cause of death is listed as "deferred," meaning the investigation is not complete.
KTLA Sky footage captured the chilling scene of a firefighter atop a stone wall looking down into a yard of kennels and pit bulls. The man's body was covered in blood, laying inside one of the kennels. The firefighter is helping a woman safely evacuate the yard. Animal control confiscated 13 pit bulls -- five adults and eight puppies. According to investigators, surveillance video captured part of the attack. The man appeared to have been feeding the dogs when several of them began fighting.
KTLA reports the attack likely occurred Thursday night between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm, but his body was not found until a concerned friend visited his home on Friday to check on him. Neighbors said the man lived alone at the home with the dog pack. Lt. Michael Gomez with LASD’s Homicide Bureau said in a press conference, "It is believed he was feeding the dogs, at which point, maybe there was an altercation between some of the dogs, and [they] ultimately attacked and mauled the victim."
FOX 11 Sky also captured footage of the scene. It is believed it was the victim's girlfriend who called 911 to report the incident. "We cannot show you what we discovered in that backyard, but apparently there are two homes out here that are breeding pit bulls," said a FOX 11 reporter from a helicopter above the scene. "When I say there is a number of them, I mean a large number of pit bulls out here. And sad to say, we did see one person not moving and very bloody in the backyard as well."
According to a press release from the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC), the eight puppies taken into custody are 4 to 6 months old. The father of the victim is cooperating and has signed over the 13 pit bulls to DACC. "Preliminary information suggests that the deceased individual was involved in breeding and selling pit bulls. DACC continues to work diligently to gather additional details surrounding the circumstances of this tragedy," states the release.
Covid Macro-Level Forces
There has not been a media-reported fatal pit bull mauling in California since February 2020. Between May 2020 and July 2021, our nonprofit uncovered three non-media reported California fatal pit bull maulings. From 2005 to 2019, there was an average of 3 fatal pit bull maulings in California per year. But there were no media-reported pit bull fatalities in California in 2021, 2022, and 2023. That is potentially 8 or 9 fatal dog maulings unaccounted for due to ongoing Covid macro-level forces.
Dominic Cooper, 35, was killed by a pack of breeding pit bulls in Compton, California.
Scene after Dominic Cooper was killed by a pack of breeding pit bulls in Compton, California.
Footage from ABC7/KABC-TV shows the kennel operation and one of the pit bulls.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: California Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
11/07/23: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Taylorsville Woman Killed by Her Son's Pack of Pit Bulls
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.
Puppies will probably be discretely sent to rescues to continue the deadly potential stored inside their genetics. I was hoping the interviewed neck tattoo guy was on the right track with stating that these dogs can be dangerous then he dropped the “it’s the owners” BS.
exactly where charlatan trainers will ‘rehab ‘ them etc…………..
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. With every place glutted with pits most people don’t want why mandatory spay/neuter isn’t a law everywhere is beyond me.
It isn’t the law of the land because a) dogs are widely worshiped in this country and b) some dogs are urban cash crops.
Greeding is worshipped in this country, whether it is livestock or dogs. Narcissists back narcissistic thinkers, sadly.
At least livestock winds up on people’s menu, not the other way around.
You are correct it’s a combination of greed and stupidity, which we have in spades! I think the greed actually started when those “nonprofit” grifters realized they could get more money from their pit bull rescue than they could begging at an airport beside the Hare Krishna cult. They realized how much money was in the cult of dangerous dogs! I’m willing to bet there
are quite a few still fighting these dogs! Despite all of the people who are killed by these dogs there’s no lack of delusional fools
that think they’ll be the exception, just as the people who own their Bushmaster XM15 have the delusional beliefs that their angry teenage “angel” would never blow their brains out before heading to the local elementary school to kill babies! We have more mass shootings in this country and more pit bull mauling than anywhere else because we also seem to have a whole lot of people with IQs on the lowest possible end of the spectrum & thanks to our flawed plutocracy the majority don’t make our laws Unless you are extremely wealthy your voices aren’t worth two plug nickels & it seems like those with the most money & therefore power have the least amount of intelligence!
I’m not advocating it because it hasn’t worked here.
What we got was nice mutt lines with nice owners all spayed and neutered while the pitbull nutters just kept banging along (pardon le pun) breeding more and more pitbulls as the choice of friendly mutt lines was destroyed. Too many of the nice mutt/purebred lines are being infected with pitbull DNA to scramble the ability to enforce pitbull bans.
Thus, a glut of pitbulls/pitbull mixes *after* BSL laws.
The answer is simple. Give these people 15 years of implementation then pitbull breeds/pitbull-looking mixes are permanently outlawed. Until then. breeding them is illegal, selling them (including pups) is illegal, humane euthansia when they show up at shelters/rescues/pounds.
Greyhound racing is illegal here. It still happens, sure–but there’s just not that many greyhounds around since that happened. And most of them wind up as pets. Fortunately, they make reasonable pets.
Pitbulls, don’t.
The only way out is to take the money out of pitbull breeding and ruin prospective ownership of the breed. Nobody wants to pay for enforcement forever just to chase these fools down when Animal Control could be doing something useful.
I hope every one of those things are put down. But most likely they’ll adopt out the puppies.
They were. People magazine reported all were euthanized
It’s sad that he died but why would he think it was a good idea to breed pitbull.pitbull are the most dangerous dogs to breed.having multiple pitbull is asking for trouble.I think he was used to taking care of them without them attacking him.that why he was comfortable to feed them sad that he died by doing something so simple as feeding dogs.you can’t walk feed be next to them dog sitting pitbull and getting killed by pitbull.
I would think this pitbull breeder had heard about the excessive number of pitbulls in shelters. I wonder if anyone knows the age of the puppies.
The entire group of pitbulls needs to be euthanized quickly, as people will want them.
I would think the opposite about people not wanting them. These dogs/puppies will be sought after. When a dog kills a human many people want these ‘famous’ dogs as I saw happen with Hera and Bane. Not only did people want to adopt Hera, but the breed Presa Canario became well known after the death of Diane Whipple. The phone will be ringing off the hook to adopt these dogs.
The glut of pit bulls in shelters is no more meaningful to pit breeders than the consequences of their actions are to litterbugs, thieves, or vandals.
It’s all about the chance to get some quick cash. Notice these dogs are the heavier “XL” stock and we see one in the currently trendy tri-color pattern. “Blue” pits were once all the rage–now shelters are full of them. When one coat color or body confirmation stops selling, they move on to a new one.
If they are that old probably because he was having trouble finding suckers who wanted them.
Or he was fighting them and waiting to see which dogs made the best fighting stock.
And/or running cover for dogfighters.
Whatever shelter they were sent to ordered a case of tutus and started typing up a “their mean old owner abused them, that makes them the sweetest pets” narrative.
Sounds like the guy was already very dead but it is crazy the cops stood around for 2 hours “making a plan to enter the back yard”.
You get a couple guys there with rifles and you shoot the attacking dogs until there are no attacking dogs left.
Instead they spent a lot of time, put a lot of police and fire at risk but successfully “saved” 13 pits.
They should have been pts on the spot and then checked for evidence.
They will probably claim they all have to be kept alive until the investigation is closed putting kennel workers and vet staff at risk.
Hopefully no one else is hurt and the “lucky 13” all get put down soon.
It is never too late to start culling man eaters.
The video I watched stated that, “The dogs will be evaluated and any deemed unsafe for human interaction will be euthanized.”
As if killing a full grown man, a man they knew, who was feeding them, doesn’t already show that they are unsafe. How much more unsafe can you get?
Right? What else do they need to do to prove they’re unsafe as pets? Jesus.
Making a plan to enter the back yard? Sounds like the police response in Uvalde.
Yep. I’d sign up for that duty. None of those things should have left that yard still breathing.
I was wondering why they weren’t shot as well. It would’ve been the easiest way to deal with the killers.
Agree. It’s absurd to me that these dogs weren’t shot on the spot. Seems like that would’ve been the normal , reasonable consensus response a few decades ago, but now they probably know pit people would cry foul. Insane. Human life is worth much more than canine life… and I say this as a (non-pit) dog lover.
This is Los Angeles County. The rabid pit lovers would have started a lawsuit, paraded around the police station with the Service Dog Pits and badly lettered placards, etc. Arousing the anger of these unhinged women is more than anyone can realistically manage
As in, signs saying “Don’t Ban the Bread!”
To which I would say, what kind? Rye? Or pumpernickel?
I think he breed all type of pitbull. Judging by the blurry pictures it looks like pitbull terrier brown pitbull and mixed pitbull with another dog breed.it doesn’t look like one type of pitbull.have you seen the comments supporting the pitbull.oh he’s a bad owner he was probably abusing them he put them in a small backyard and tight space they need a big backyard to roam.
No pity for an idiot breeding pits (for once only the guilty got hurt!), and I hope every single one of those dogs is humanely euthanized instead of being “snuck” back into the community or given a sob story.
Agreed…FAFO…These people never learn..Eventually thier love of these maulers gets them..
It’s good to see the news media covering this incident, as well as noting the specific breed involved.
But really…
“it involved pit bulls. But again..I do not like the demonizing of any type of animals”
About time you come back down to Earth from the sky chopper to see that this particular breed of dogs are not suitable to have as pets.
If you were any sort of reporter with a clue you would warn the viewing audience of the danger. Might prevent a future mauling if you did that.
Such a classic case of “play stupid games, win stupid prizes…”
I was horrified watching all the police and medics wandering around, waiting to retrieve the deceased breeder, while the ACO officers are letting the pit bulls out into the open front yard and chasing them around with catch poles. Did no one understand how dangerous these dogs could be, running loose around all these people?
Par for the course for animal control. Because they wu-u-u-uv the pibbles so-o-o-o much!
I ran my own stats today in my vet clinic. 7.4% of my current dog patients are identified as pit bulls or pit crosses. This leaves out the dogs that are identified as boxers or labs or some other bs. I do not see any pit bulls over a year who are intact, much to the dismay of my clients that want to breed their pit bulls. That decreases my overall pit bull numbers.
So, we are losing the battle at keeping the numbers down and stopping breeders. I fear we are in for a huge spike in injuries and deaths. I also worry constantly about the other dogs, the cats, the horses and other livestock. It is hard to feel anything but hopeless. Someone tell me I am wrong.
Welp. One breeder won’t be breeding pits anymore. He wins the Darwin Award for the week. I’m just glad nobody else got hurt, although those animal control officers tried their best to have another attack happen, letting those freak dogs run around while trying to corral them.
Boston, it’s interesting to hear your professional and personal perspective. From what I’m seeing on websites e.g. The Pit Bull Problem (FB) et al, so many children, the elderly, disabled…simply the vulnerable are being attacked and maimed almost on a daily basis. (And, yes, more than 20+k animals a year.) I do feel hopeless about things changing anytime soon. In my small, college educated community, I see dozens of pits and pit mixes dragging their owners down the street. It’s gotten worse. We have a county animal shelter that’s highly funded and packed with pits. These folks who take these timebombs in seem to have no idea of what they’re risking. The media will not cover most of these horror stories even fatalities, never mind a child who has life limiting deformities and grievous medical needs after a mauling. As a mom and grandmother, it breaks my heart. I naively thought the Bernard family tragedy (two dead children) would be publicized more nationally and create awareness and change. It did not. So, if nothing changes, nothing changes. We are indeed losing the battle. But fortunately, victim advocates like Colleen are not giving up the fight. I will also continue to speak up as a journalist and concerned citizen.
Boston, this is why my stance on “make them outright illegal to own” is so fervent.
Because so long as we wiffle-waffle along, trying to be kind, people are dying, the shelters are stacked full and the deluded pitbull supporters will continue to run cover for the dog fighters. Doing so makes it simple. See a pitbull? Call animal control. End of story.
There is *nothing* a pitbull can do for someone that another breed or even a mutt–can do better. Nothing.
Sometimes, there’s only ONE SIDE to a story.
It’s like kids.
Sometimes you have to tell them, “I know you love that dog and this makes us all sad–but he bit your brother and I can’t risk someone getting hurt.”
Everyone cries over Old Yeller but nobody argues that we should let the rabid dog run loose and hope it gets better.
At the end of Old Yeller they got New Yeller the very next day and everyone was happy.
As a retired Animal Control Officer I was appalled by the shoddy way these ACO’s handled that scene.
You always make sure the animals are securely confined before you make a plan to safely remove them.
That video is an opportunity to train ACO’s on how NOT to handle a situation.
Embarrassing!
Pit bulls are weapons that can pull their own trigger.
As of today, 2/20 all 13 dogs were euthanized. Good job.
Having this much publicity would have made it more difficult to fly under the radar if the dogs had mauled again. The odds were too great of a repeat performance and referral back to this latest incident.
Someone was wise enough to see tomorrows headlines, save their job, avoid the lawsuits, etc…
@ Willowspirit, that is GREAT news! I’m surprised frankly.
Finally, some common sense entered the picture.
Probably not because it *was* common sense but because the liability if one of those pitbulls bit someone, was off the charts.
Thanks for letting us know, Willow.
It occurs to me that this society is more concerned about the health and welfare of killer dogs than it is about its mentally ill, drug addicted and destitute citizens living on the streets.
^^^^^Caz, 1000x THIS.^^^^^
The dogs get a warm cage, food, water, blankets, volunteers to take them for a walk and a program of kids reading to them. (as if the dogs cared)
Unhoused citizens are lucky to find a warm heating grate before the police come and beat them up.
https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.durso.98/posts/pfbid0qZ5MARjmmenzpE9yFZetCe2j2oYt4mMk1me8dX7p3ASGi87Bt7f3QWWStyNDXSpbl
Some reaction on this epilog :
“My heart hurts for these poor dogs. 13 pitbulls were euthanized today. They killed their owner. Some of you might disagree with me. I am sad for the dogs. The guy was breeding these dogs out of his home in Compton. My guess is they were bred to be used as fight dogs. Dogs are not born evil. Pitbull or golden retriever, they are born, gentle and loving.” ……..
For more delusional nonsense click the link .
Some people are out of this Planet … She said – the dogs killed their owner – and I am so sorry for the dogs .. Maybe she needed to adopt them all, if possible ??? But to late , unfortunately for her and her twisted mind.
Matrona, that hit me right in the gag reflex. These people are deluded.
Dogs are not born loving and gentle.
They’re born with innate characteristics, modified over time according to breed, to do a job or be companions.
Then, it’s up to humans to socialize them into a world where they will have to adapt to human customs. For some dogs, this is easier than for others.
If either of those factors (especially with large breeds) are not met–the results are neither gentle nor loving–but dangerous.
The person that wrote that is clearly delusional or maybe just stupid. I have bred a lot of GSDs, and none was vicious. I didn’t breed them to be killers.
Years ago I saw a litter of eight week old GSDs
out of German working lines. Those puppies had terrible temperaments. They were viciously attacking littermates.
I don’t think the man with the thirteen pitbulls that was killed by his dogs did anything wrong other than breed
a kind of dog that kills
people. His biggest problem was that he bred the wrong breed of dog.
Y’know I think of ya Rachel when I’m walking along and I see some really magnificent working line GSD that’s aching to work (you can see them looking for direction) …with some nitwit that has zero control on some flaky harness, dragged down the street, some of which are lunging and barking.
All I can think is, “Oh wow, what a waste of a dog. That dog could be glorious”.
Makes me sad.
I don’t get it. They paid thousands for a good line of dog then don’t bother to invest a couple hundred in an obedience class to learn basic dog handling.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It reminds me of the person who only drives to and from work, who has never been to a race track even in the stands, buying some hopped up, limited edition car that was designed for racing.
All they know is it was the most expensive and the hardest to get and that’s why they want it.
Never mind the car wasn’t built to be a daily driver, never mind it isn’t really fit for that purpose.
They want it as a flex to all their friends that they own this expensive, high performance thing.
Then they injure themselves or others because they don’t understand how to use it.
“What do you mean I can’t drive it in the snow?”
They had no idea that the tires, while being DOT approved and street legal were designed for the track. They are not mud and snow rated.
It is more tragic with the dog because it is a living being but the concept is the same.
They have a high performance, carefully crafted item they have no idea how to operate or care for.
All they know is it was expensive and most people can’t afford one.
In both cases the person and the general public would be better served if they had purchased the more common version of their item.
It would be fit for purpose and do a better job.
Back to this case I am pleasantly surprised that the dogs were put down.
It is sad that there was any doubt but that is the state of what is ever increasingly inaccurately called “animal control” these days.
AC in it’s main function needs to be dog cops running a dog jail and death row.
Now they refuse to do that and all want to be doggie social workers sparing no expense to warehouse unstable, unwanted dangerous dogs.
That’s an unfair, libelous accusation in my opinion. The girlfriend didn’t have a way to make the dogs kill their owner. It’s nonsensical. An accusation like that hurts an innocent person’s reputation.
Just read the news story. The family claims it was an accident and doesn’t wish to provide details other than the baby is dead and the dog has since been humanely euthanized.
EOS…RIP…SO,SO
Just an accident.
Yes, just an accident. Pathetic. Drug addict uncle who films horrific fire scenes, car accidents and posts them live for a living, is all over the news fake crying.
Mom has several videos of “ Dakota”, a husky, on her FB feed.
With the deafening silence about the “accident”, I wonder if there is a bite history with the dog.
A beautiful baby with a 10 year old brother who is surely gutted by his loss of his baby brother.
Proof Dog Aggressive Pits can be and do endanger human lives.
I am continually amazed at how ordinary human beings can delude themselves that those dogs make great pets. I know several ppl who have pits in house w/children. Young children running around screaming make for a dangerous situation, but “My dog would never! He loves those kids!”
Sure he does. Until he doesn’t.