Juanita Sanchez, 35-years old, was killed by two pit bulls in Fontana.
Pit Bulls Kill Woman
Fontana, CA - A 35-year old woman died on November 3 after being bitten in the neck by two pit bulls. The is the second fatal pit bull attack in San Bernardino County that occurred on November 3. A homeless man, still unidentified by police, was stabbed and mauled by pit bulls in Perris Hill Park in the city of San Bernardino on the same day. The news article reporting the death of Juanita Sanchez, 35, of Pomona, remains behind a paywall. But Reddit and the PressBee have published much of it.
Police and paramedics were dispatched to a home in the 13800 block of Jurupa Avenue around 3:00 am Sunday. Sanchez and another resident had been in the backyard when two of the pit bulls bit Sanchez in the neck, Sgt. Nathan Weiske said, a Fontana Police Department spokesperson. Two other people were injured trying to rescue Sanchez. "They were feverishly trying to pull them off her," Weiske said. The family had taken in four stray pit bulls some months earlier, Weiske said.
The family had later asked Sanchez, a family friend, to live with them. According to Weiske, there had been no problems between Sanchez and the dogs. Animal control officers euthanized both dogs, Weiske said. It's unclear if the other two pit bulls remained at the home. Investigators determined that no criminal charges were warranted. "They could tell it was just a tragic accident," Weiske said. Sanchez was pronounced dead after being transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
Victims Ages 30-49 Years Rising
Sanchez's death marks another rise of deaths in the 30-49 year old age group. In our data, dog bite fatalities in this age group have been rising since 2010, mainly driven by females. But ages 30-49 years has never rivaled ages 50-69 years. In 2024, the 30-49 age group is heavily driven by males. 80% of these men were Black or Hispanic, and 80% of these cases involved pit bulls. The Perris Hill Park homeless male victim is excluded because his age, race, and cause of death are unknown.
So far in 2024, deaths in the 30-49 years age group are dominated by male victims.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: California Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
11/05/24: Investigation: Homeless Man Dies After being Stabbed and Mauled by Dogs at City Park
08/25/24: 2024 Dog Bite Fatality: Man, 33-Years Old, Killed by Dogs on Chicago's West Side
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.
Do I feel bad for her she died knowing that pitbull are dangerous dog breed not really but it sad that she died after all she a human being. I don’t understand for the life of me why would she take stray dogs.especially pitbull most of them are dangerous no matter the effort you put in them.I’m really sick and tired the excuse this people come up with when a pitbull killed someone .we don’t know why he snap we don’t know what set him off its a mistakes it a tragic accident but please don’t blame the pitbull itself its never the pitbull fault.
An “accident”? Like falling off a ladder or slipping in the shower? No way. Don’t cut the pits any slack. Don’t these animals have a mind of their own? Nobody commanded the dogs to attack and kill this poor woman. Why is it when dogs do something good, the dogs are praised as heros, but when dogs do something bad, it’s an accident??
The “accident” refers to the manner of death — not the cause of death. There are only 5 manners of death: natural, homicide, suicide, accident, and undetermined. Virtually all fatal dog maulings are manner of death accident, even when there are felony criminal charges. Manner of death is about “human intent.” In the rare instance that a human being “sics a dog on a person,” instructing the dog to “attack/kill the person,” that would be manner of death homicide. (“Medical examiner rules death of 81-year-old man killed by pit bulls an accident” — Both owners pled guilty and were sentenced to 15 and 18 years.) Negligence and involuntary manslaughter can certainly result in criminal charges, but as the title suggests, “involuntary manslaughter” means the “intent of homicide” was not present.
I think at some point, the owners of these things should stop getting the benefit of the doubt and the manner of death / injury should be classified as homicide / assault. I think it is apparent that there is intent in many of these cases, the intent being the decision to bring pit bulls into the neighborhood in the first place.
I think that certain classes of dogs would have to be legally declared as vicious/deadly just based upon what kind of dog they are, otherwise owners can always claim they had no idea of the risk, and ill informed juries will believe them.
Passing laws that give whoever is in charge of the dog full responsibility for the harm they cause, as if the person had done it himself, might also work. Seems like attempts to pass laws like that end ups with huge loopholes such as “the dog was provoked.” Would the uneducated, apathetic masses allow such laws? The pro-pit propaganda machine is strong. Anyway we should keep trying. I need to start writing letters to politicians…
Here is a 2002 guideline to manner of death. There are interesting parts — and parts that are in continuous debate. It’s a combination of “how injury occurred” and “intent.” It states, “manner of death is an American invention.” The classification of Homicide is neutral — criminal intent is not required (that would be up to prosecutor), but criminal intent often is present. Check #7 Hunting accidents; #11 Motor vehicle fatalities; #16 choke holds by LEO; #21 Gross negligent medical care (aka Doctor Death); #24 Suicide by cop; #26 Child shoots child; #27 Traffic fatality, pedestrian killed; #38 Death of child (such as in a bathtub with water or being left in a locked car). In the realm of a violent dog being an “instrument of death”, such as a vehicle intentionally driven into a crowd or “aggravated assault with a deadly weapon” the classification of Homicide still does not fit without intent. It’s a difficult classification because death by dog mauling is a violent death. So is death by bear attack (classified as accident), but bears are wildlife and Accident makes sense. The same would be true with livestock (farm workers deaths). Seems all animal attacks fall into Accident. At the end of the day, all 50 states should have a felony dog attack law that applies to severe and fatal injury. Attorney Kenneth Phillips’ terminology is the most appropriate, “Canine Homicide.”
The best answer as to why a pitbull kills
is because it can. Everything can set them off, and they often require multiple pieces of lead in order to get them to relax permanently. Does that sound like a pet? If it does, every wild animal like a lion or a bear would make a great pet. So would a poisonous snake be a great
pet as long as you had the correct kind
of anti-venom? Pitbulls kill so many people now that it’s hardly newsworthy anymore. Yet the shelters still consider them great pets. Why not put lions and bears in shelters for adoption?
Interesting. I didn’t know that dog maulings are legally classified as accidents. They can’t be homicides (even though many dog owners considered their dogs to be children/people with 4 legs, and in some states pets are now “legal family members”.
“Caninicide”, death by canine, should be a classification.