Coroner: Dog Bite Injuries Inflicted After Death; Woman Found Dead in Brownsburg, Indiana

Lola Endres, an animal rescue advocate, discovered dead with dog bite injuries.

Bitten After Death
UPDATE 05/10/16: The Hendricks County Coroner said an autopsy showed that Lola Endres' heart stopped about 7 pm Sunday night. The coroner's report states that all of the dog bites were inflicted after her death. Thus, the bites did not contribute to her death. Each year in the U.S., via collecting media reports, we see a handful of people who suffer a fatal heart attack while trying to break up a dog fight. Bites inflicted post-mortem occur too, even severe ones, but are very rare.

05/09/16: Woman Found Dead
Brownsburg, IN - A woman was discovered dead in her home with bite injuries from one or both of her two family dogs. The Hendricks County coroner identified the woman as 61-year old Lola Endres. The attack happened at a home on the 3200 block of North County Road 800 East. The coroner described the scene as “horrific.” Her son found her body when he returned home around midnight. First responders said Endres had died “several hours” before her son found the body.

An autopsy was conducted Monday evening to determine the cause of death. The results are expected to be released Tuesday morning. Despite the "horrific" scene, police do not believe the dog attack killed Endres, but might have played a contributing role. Endres had a pre-existing heart condition. Police said she suffered bite injuries to her legs, buttocks and hip areas. Both dogs -- English bulldogs -- are being quarantined at the Hendricks County Animal Shelter.

When dog bites are a contributing cause of death and inflicted severe injury, the death is included in our dog bite fatality statistics. - DogsBite.org

One of the bulldogs had been with Endres for several years, police said. That dog had no history of aggression, according to police. The other bulldog was recently rescued and had only been with Endres for two weeks. That dog had a history of being aggressive, police said. The dog reportedly bit its previous owner. The victim's Facebook album shows more than two dogs, however all of these photographs are dated in 2010. So far there has been no information about additional dogs.

Evening Updates

In a late evening update, the IndyStar added new information along with a photograph of the two English bulldogs provided by the Brownsburg Police Department. As demonstrated on her Facebook page, which shows many dogs and horses, Endres was a longtime animal rescuer. She not only rescued dogs, but possibly also racehorses, according to one of her Facebook posts. When police arrived, they found Endres unresponsive and both dogs engaged in a "vicious fight."

The bulldog rescued 2-weeks earlier, named Bull, is suspected of being the main aggressor in the attack, Brownsburg Police Department Capt. Jennifer Pyatt-Barrett said. That dog had reportedly bitten or attacked its previous owner. The other bulldog, Tomahawk, had lived with Endres for 3-years. Investigators are trying to determine if any of the bite injuries on her body were inflicted by him. If bite marks can be matched to Tomahawk, both dogs will be euthanized, police said.

Police also said that two other dogs were in Endres' home when she was attack, but were caged.

9 thoughts on “Coroner: Dog Bite Injuries Inflicted After Death; Woman Found Dead in Brownsburg, Indiana”

The fatal flaw in dog rescue is accepting vicious dogs.

They can't be cured, they can't be loved out of it.

Wonderful, friendly dogs don't get homes and die because people are involved in a misplaced attempt to "fix" aggressive dogs.

They even put their loving pets, children, family members, themselves at risk.

It is time to face reality on this issue because everyone, human and canine, is suffering from this wrong idea

Concerned family members need to intervene.

But-but-but a RESCUE dog was involved! And RESCUE dogs are non-stop wonderful! So how can they possibly do such a horrible thing?

I was a bit surprised to see that these were actual English bulldogs, rather than "Olde English Bulldogges," another pit variant.

Most English bulldogs are so afflicted with health problems that engaging in real violence seems like it would be too difficult for them.

However, it obviously can happen, and this is yet another warning about bringing known vicious dogs into your home as a pity case. Despite what Best Friends says, no, we cannot "Save them All."

Well, I gotta say, this one was (for once on this blog) a real surprise for me. English bulldogs, of all dog breeds? These sadly malformed dogs can barely breath or walk. The ones I've met are sweet but pretty slow in the head, if you know what I mean. I'm sure there are bad-tempered ones out there (as this story demonstrates), but to my mind it's like being attacked by a pug or a Japanese Chin.

Weird. I wonder what happened.

Is there going to be an autopsy? It's not clear. The coroner seems to be calling this death due to heart attack.

Both of the update news reports quote the police captain as saying the bulldog attack was a "mitigating circumstance" to this woman's death. It seems a Freudian slip to me — betraying that the real thought was 'the woman is dead, but her heart attack is a mitigating circumstance for these poor bulldogs'. I wonder whether the police person is quoting the coroner. We're used to police covering up for bulldog killings, but it's much more serious if a coroner is doing that.

In any event, if the heart attack was triggered by a bulldog attack, then the bulldog attack remains the cause of death. Who cares if the coroner can't say it was exsanguination because the bulldogs had already made her heart stop?

In addition, the post-mortem mauling behavior remains abnormal. I've seen a few normal dogs react angrily (though not with mauling or killing anger) when another dog has an epileptic fit. I've seen lots of dogs examine dead dogs, cats, and other animals, including ones that had died on the spot just a second ago — but I have never seen any normal dog then attack that dead animal, tearing out chunks of flesh for the sheer glee of doing so.

I point this out because I expect the pit bull fanatics to come in saying 'but ANY dog could have startled her and caused a heart attack by biting at her'. That's true, but not ANY dog would have continued the aggression orgy after she was dead. Continuing to attack and maul after the victim has died is typical only of this class of genetic deviants that we're trying to get regulated or banned — and it is most certainly typical of them.

The pit bull fans will likely also celebrate this case as proof that 'any dog' will exhibit this behavior. But the English bulldog isn't 'any dog' — it's still a direct descendant of the bear- and bull baiting, pit-fighting bulldog. I hope this case will be a warning to those who think you can breed the pathological aggression out of these animals, or that changing their appearance will make the trait go away. Even after decades of selection, the trait remains unpredictably present and ready to suddenly surface.

If you want a pet dog, then for heaven's sake get a normal dog. Avoid anything with any bulldog ancestry at all.

This is an interesting case. Is the insinuation that the dogs did not contribute to this woman's death in any way?

I'm a bit skeptical. Versions of this narrative are used to absolve dogs and dog owners from the harm they cause. Essentially, picking nits with the cause of death: It wasn't the act that killed the person, it was the result of that act that caused the death. Ergo, the actor is not at fault.

For example, you and I are standing on a subway platform. A train is speeding through the station. I push you in front of the train, which crushes you to death. Now, would an affirmative defense of "the push didn't kill that person, the train did!" float with anyone?

The fact remains that English Bulldog attacks are rare and deaths almost unheard of; while pit bull attacks and fatalities are routine.

This breed was originally one of the progenitors of the American Pit Bull Terrier (a lot of breeding for show has made it look ugly and ungainly but it was originally a bull baiter).

Not a nice "soft" breed, the only reason we don't hear of more fatalities by them is because they are so unhealthy, ungainly and deformed that many do not have the fitness or the physical capability to kill.

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joelande on May 10, 2016 at 8:54 am said:

The fatal flaw in dog rescue is accepting vicious dogs.

They can't be cured, they can't be loved out of it.

Wonderful, friendly dogs don't get homes and die because people are involved in a misplaced attempt to "fix" aggressive dogs.

They even put their loving pets, children, family members, themselves at risk.

It is time to face reality on this issue because everyone, human and canine, is suffering from this wrong idea

Concerned family members need to intervene.
Your Quiet Neighbor on May 10, 2016 at 12:10 pm said:

But-but-but a RESCUE dog was involved! And RESCUE dogs are non-stop wonderful! So how can they possibly do such a horrible thing?
Packhorse on May 10, 2016 at 5:23 pm said:

I was a bit surprised to see that these were actual English bulldogs, rather than "Olde English Bulldogges," another pit variant.

Most English bulldogs are so afflicted with health problems that engaging in real violence seems like it would be too difficult for them.

However, it obviously can happen, and this is yet another warning about bringing known vicious dogs into your home as a pity case. Despite what Best Friends says, no, we cannot "Save them All."
Miss Margo on May 10, 2016 at 5:57 pm said:

Well, I gotta say, this one was (for once on this blog) a real surprise for me. English bulldogs, of all dog breeds? These sadly malformed dogs can barely breath or walk. The ones I've met are sweet but pretty slow in the head, if you know what I mean. I'm sure there are bad-tempered ones out there (as this story demonstrates), but to my mind it's like being attacked by a pug or a Japanese Chin.

Weird. I wonder what happened.
Liz Wheat on May 11, 2016 at 6:13 pm said:

Is there going to be an autopsy? It's not clear. The coroner seems to be calling this death due to heart attack.
Sputnik on May 12, 2016 at 8:29 am said:

Both of the update news reports quote the police captain as saying the bulldog attack was a "mitigating circumstance" to this woman's death. It seems a Freudian slip to me — betraying that the real thought was 'the woman is dead, but her heart attack is a mitigating circumstance for these poor bulldogs'. I wonder whether the police person is quoting the coroner. We're used to police covering up for bulldog killings, but it's much more serious if a coroner is doing that.

In any event, if the heart attack was triggered by a bulldog attack, then the bulldog attack remains the cause of death. Who cares if the coroner can't say it was exsanguination because the bulldogs had already made her heart stop?

In addition, the post-mortem mauling behavior remains abnormal. I've seen a few normal dogs react angrily (though not with mauling or killing anger) when another dog has an epileptic fit. I've seen lots of dogs examine dead dogs, cats, and other animals, including ones that had died on the spot just a second ago — but I have never seen any normal dog then attack that dead animal, tearing out chunks of flesh for the sheer glee of doing so.

I point this out because I expect the pit bull fanatics to come in saying 'but ANY dog could have startled her and caused a heart attack by biting at her'. That's true, but not ANY dog would have continued the aggression orgy after she was dead. Continuing to attack and maul after the victim has died is typical only of this class of genetic deviants that we're trying to get regulated or banned — and it is most certainly typical of them.

The pit bull fans will likely also celebrate this case as proof that 'any dog' will exhibit this behavior. But the English bulldog isn't 'any dog' — it's still a direct descendant of the bear- and bull baiting, pit-fighting bulldog. I hope this case will be a warning to those who think you can breed the pathological aggression out of these animals, or that changing their appearance will make the trait go away. Even after decades of selection, the trait remains unpredictably present and ready to suddenly surface.

If you want a pet dog, then for heaven's sake get a normal dog. Avoid anything with any bulldog ancestry at all.
Animal Uncontrol on May 12, 2016 at 1:27 pm said:

This is an interesting case. Is the insinuation that the dogs did not contribute to this woman's death in any way?

I'm a bit skeptical. Versions of this narrative are used to absolve dogs and dog owners from the harm they cause. Essentially, picking nits with the cause of death: It wasn't the act that killed the person, it was the result of that act that caused the death. Ergo, the actor is not at fault.

For example, you and I are standing on a subway platform. A train is speeding through the station. I push you in front of the train, which crushes you to death. Now, would an affirmative defense of "the push didn't kill that person, the train did!" float with anyone?
Ka D on May 14, 2016 at 3:36 am said:

The fact remains that English Bulldog attacks are rare and deaths almost unheard of; while pit bull attacks and fatalities are routine.
Lucu Lencia on May 20, 2016 at 12:45 am said:

This breed was originally one of the progenitors of the American Pit Bull Terrier (a lot of breeding for show has made it look ugly and ungainly but it was originally a bull baiter).

Not a nice "soft" breed, the only reason we don't hear of more fatalities by them is because they are so unhealthy, ungainly and deformed that many do not have the fitness or the physical capability to kill.