2011 Dog Bite Fatality: Pregnant Pacifica Woman Killed by Family Pit Bull

36 thoughts on “2011 Dog Bite Fatality: Pregnant Pacifica Woman Killed by Family Pit Bull”

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1. 30th Californian killed by a Pit Bull since the Legislature passed the pro breeding and bleeding BSL exemption in 1989.

   EPIC PUBLIC SAFETY FAILURE……..

2. photo of the victim

3. No other breed kills their owners with such regularity. This is totally bizarre behavior for a dog.

4. I count this attack as two deaths, but I grieve for only one.

5. She was 6 months along. A native Yakima, Washington girl — Yakima banned pit bulls in 1987 (because pit bulls murder and maul people). Guess she had to find this out for herself. Her and Greg had signs hanging from their home, BEWARE OF DOG. What a grand place for a baby to be born.

6. The flowers on the new SFGate article are lovely and sad. Gunner was apparently a 125 pounder; I can't imagine living with such a beast at 6 months pregnant. The sudden, violent death of a pregnant woman with a husband or boyfriend is always suspicious, the "criminal investigation remains open as they await autopsy results on Napora…" What's ironic is that this longstanding suspicion may not be applicable at all in this case. It was probably just a pit bull going off, and when they do, they kill.

   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/12/BAR51KMV1V.DTL#ixzz1Ussu32xo

   However, since Napora's family is essentially dead — outside of the husband Greg — this statement is interesting, "Napora's family reported that Gunner was well trained, never showed signs of aggression and was good around children." That's one oddity about Greg, he seems to have no family members (siblings, father or a mother). He also yanked the shared Facebook page he had with his wife after her death. The guy is into fast cars and pit bulls, according to some web searches on him.

7. DUBV…The other Pit Trait expressed here is taking down adults nearly as often as they kill children. With the other dangerous breeds, it is mostly the little ones targeted…ie Rottweilers.

8. When was the last time a "freak accident" like this happened to a pregnant beagle owner, or cocker spaniel owner? A BADRAP member killed by her own pit bull, raised from puppyhood with love, in her own home, and the family responds with advocacy statements and a promise to bury the dog's remains with the victim. Beyond creepy.

9. This is almost too…awful? bizarre? ??? to be real. I'm not sure of the word to use here, the situation is so messed up.

   The dog fatally mauls this man's wife and then he decides he wants the dog's ashes in with hers? What?

   What's it going to take to make these pit bull fanatics to realize that promoting and keeping a breed bred to maul and kill others is stupid and irresponsible? Here, not even the death of the pit nutter's wife and unborn child did it.

   What is wrong with these people? Exalting fighting dogs over human beings is just psycopathic.

10. Don't be so critical about the pit bull! According to one nutter it was protecting its owner from a stranger in its home.

    bay 7:12 AM on August 13, 2011

    Per abcnews: "Police would not comment on how far along Darla Napora was in her pregnancy. The Oakland Tribune reported that she was nearly six months along."

    Six months. The dog smelled a stranger in its home….
    …but don't blame the dog for trying to protect its owner."

    How fitting that Darla is buried with her protector/destroyer.

    Waiting for the lovely tribute to one of their own from Badrap

11. THIS MAN'S WIFE AND UNBORN CHILD ARE DEAD AND GREG NAPORA IS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT PROTECTING THE "REPUTATION" OF PIT BULLS? EXACTLY WHAT COULD ONE COMPARE THESE PRIORITIES TO? LET'S ASK PSYCHCENTRAL.

12. Good one truthbird! especially since the dog is an extension of himself. yep!

13. Well…Since they were card carrying members of BADRAP, we can rule out the "Bad/Irresponsible Owner" excuse.

    Wonder if this was a BADRAP rescue animal?!?

14. Glad you posted this article; I found it randomly on yahoo! or someplace and it made me want to throw up.

    I hate to be nitpicky, but there is an error in your writing:
    Recent Californian's Killed by Pit Bulls
    Should read: recent Californians killed by pit bulls…no possessive w/ the apostrophe.

    TY for your excellent website and blog.

15. The pit advocacy propagandists have loaded the boat with the dumbest of the dumb for a trip to Stupidville as evidenced by 4,000 ‘likes.’

    Cindy Marabito, “American Pit Bull Examiner,” appears to be at the helm of a complete fabrication and white wash to stop the truth about the pit bull murder of a pit bull advocate. In the most ridiculous foist of propaganda in modern history, the Pit Bull Examiner derides the media for diving in on the story and not reporting “the truth.” According to this classless imbecile, this death has nothing to do with a pit bull attack, but was the result of a head injury sustained by a fall from a ladder. The source for this claim? An unnamed, unknown “neighbor.”

    This outrageous lie is absolutely another story within this story. This is a stellar example of the pit bull advocacy at work – publishing a malicious contrivance to keep pit advocates stupid, to dismiss a killing by a pit bull, and to preserve the cult mindset through misinformation.

    http://www.examiner.com/american-pit-bull-in-national/pacifica-dog-mauling-what-really-happened-1

16. Considering that this woman was a PB advocate, I do think it's just to make her lie in her grave with the ashes of the dear-sweet-lovely-never-been-violent PB that killed her and her as-yet-to-come child.

    I suspect it may be a mercy that this child was killed in-utero instead of later, after birth, when it would have been able to fully and consciously experience being savaged alive unto death.

    We desperately need BSL. If not in the form of a total ban, then in the form of restrictions on who can keep these PB-type breeds of dogs. Criteria such as zero criminal record, zero domestic violence disturbance reports, excellent credit record, plus lots of other things I can think of…among which NO CHILDREN in the home.

    Ya know, if you want to have a PB-type dog, then dump your longing for a child, which shouldn't hurt much since they are — to the fans — anyway less important than having a PB-type dog.

17. My mouth is still hanging open on this one. Surely this is a joke, a bad one, but it must be a joke. The husband actually called her work place while they are trying to revive her to say she wouldn't be in that day? Geez, this makes pit nutters even more crazy than I thought.

18. So, who will protect society from the pit bull owners and advocates? Clearly, we cannot trust pit bull owners to correctly assess the potential dangerousness of their own dogs….so when the pit bull owner tells you how wonderful and friendly their dog is, its fairly meaningless.

    And when alleged pit bull "advocate" Greg Napora comes home to his dead wife, instead of being paralyzed with grief, he has the presence of mind to lawyer up and nuke his Facebook account within HOURS of finding his wife's body? Did he find time to wash the blood off first?

    And in his first and only public statement, he says nothing about his wife, and talks about how wonderful the dog was that killed her? And that he wants to bury that dogs ashes with her? And he seems more concerned with the reputation of the damn breed of dog than over the fact that his wife and unborn child died a gruesome, violent death?

    Anyone watch the show "Fatal Attractions", where people with mental illness become obsessed with keeping dangerous animals as pets….often with tragic results?

19. This was a huge pit bull! The ones I see in my area are at maximum around 80 lbs, with most only being about 50 or 60. They must be being bred larger intentionally, which would show incredible stupidity.

    The premise behind "Fatal Attractions" makes a lot of sense if applied to pit bull owners. I have watched that show trying to figure out exactly why someone wants a dangerous wild animal in their home.

20. i'm not convinced this pit bull in fact weighed that much. i consistently see people overestimate the weight of dogs. it is very frustrating.

21. In the update they mention the necropsy and they restate that the pit bull was 125 pounds, but it is not clear if they got the weight from the official report.

    That said, they do like to make big pit bulls in California and people do overstate weight. Greg, though, has tacitly affirmed he considered the dog a pit bull by spouting the pit bull apologist credo.

    Despite that, it seems that now that the ladder assertion has bit the dust, all they have to hang their hat on is the weight and testicles.

22. In his first public statement, Greg Napora identified his wife as a supportive member of BADRAP. There has been no public statement from BADRAP on this mauling death, not surprising. Darla Napora was doing exactly as BADRAP advocates, treating her pit bull like any other dog. The dog was raised with love by the Naporas, from puppyhood. "It's all in how you raise them" does not work.

    Pit bull apologists fabricated a story where the victim was not mauled but fell from a ladder, hitting her head, the dog pawing the body to wake her up. The phrase was used that Napora "died in the company of a pit bull." This story went viral on the pit bull blogs. It was a deliberate effort to deflect blame, the statement was made that "the media rushed to judgement, this is more of the media conspiracy to smear the reputation of this most loyal breed, another nail in the coffin of the breed." Where is the retraction on this blatant lie? Police reports clearly identify the Napora pit bull Gunner, as the sole cause of Darla Napora's death.

    Now we see the claim that "the dog was not a pit, far too large to be a pit." Please pass this newsflash on to the pit bull breeders advertising their UKC ADBA pits for stud. They list head measurements (huge) and weights in the 125 pound, and over range.

    It is disgusting when pit bull advocates throw the victim under the bus, this victim was one of their own.

23. GREG NAPORA WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!

    But not for the reasons he hopes. Greg Napora will not be forgotten for:

    1.) Burying his wife and unborn child with their murderer!

    How were Darla's last living moments? Seeing and feeling Gunner's jaws ripping into her flesh and SHAKING mightily. Darla likely did what most pregnant would do, FOUGHT LIKE HELL TO SAVE HER BABY. Greg Napora's actions are a TRAVESTY to these victims and morally offensive to ALL victims of violent crimes.

    2.) Allowing an unaltered male pit bull to "sleep in their bed"

    This is a set up for a DISASTER and look what happened? WHO PAID THE PRICE? A woman and her unborn child, neither of which had any capacity to fight off a 125 pound pit bull. Even dumbass pit bull owners know that allowing male pit bulls with balls to "sleep in their bed" heightens the alpha status even more.

    3.) FAILING MISERABLY to protect his family

    Napora could not protect his own family from his dog Gunner. No badges of honor for Greg Napora in this area, just a grand welcoming into Dante's HALL OF SHAME. Real men will always look at Napora as a WUSS who couldn't even manage his own dog. They will snicker under their breath at Greg's miserable failure to do the one thing God placed him here to do: Protect his family!

    4.) Now stands in a class of his own

    Greg Napora has been called out by Dogsbite.org as being in "a class of his own" when it comes to a pit bull owner loaded with callous and disingenuous statements following a deadly pit bull mauling. Moreover, Greg Napora was the HUSBAND in this case and the victim was his WIFE AND UNBORN CHILD.

    Good luck in your "future dating life", Greg Napora, without changing your damn name!

24. I have a very black sense of humor and I love irony, but try as I might (and believe me, I tried), I just could not squeeze one drop of humor from Napora intending to bury his wife with the ashes of the animal that murdered her.

    It is in such fantastically bad taste that I cannot imagine who could come up with such an idea, other than a psycho pit nutter. The Onion wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Even exile.ru, whose acidic mockery is utterly fearless, probably wouldn't dig this one.

    Thanks for covering this, dogsbite. It literally has to be documented to be believed. I can still barely wrap my mind around around; it feels like I'm hallucinating.

    sick, sick, sick. These nutters are so fucking sick. And then they LIE and DENY, which makes me even crazier. Why can't they just be honest? "I like having an evil dog that kills other animals and intimidates people (and sometimes kills them, too). That's just how I roll! The end."

    oh my god, I have to stop writing, I am about to freak out. Sorry for the disjointed post; this story provoked very intense and unpleasant emotions within me.

25. I cannot stop thinking about this particular attack….years ago, I was six months pregnant, walking with my two year old, when I was confronted by an aggressive, off-leash pit bull. I remember the panic I felt, the vulnerability. With one hand holding his, I put my son behind me, and reflexively put my arm across my abdomen. Being pregnant, I was off-balance, and kept thinking, "Whatever happens, I can't fall, I have to remain on my feet….I have to keep the dog away from my abdomen, and stay between him and my son". I was lucky…. the sociopathic owner reluctantly called the dog off.

    I think of Darla Napora, and what she went through that day. When the dog turned on her, did she, acting on maternal instict, put her arms across her abdomen to protect her unborn child? And did that dog, responding to a genetic code, bubbling up from someplace deep within its brain, sense an "opening"….an opportunity to "win" this fight by launching himself at her throat and face? The panic she must have felt, falling to the floor, knowing she was fighting for her life, for her child's life. Her desperate screams, hoping someone, anyone, would save her. The blood, everywhere, the dog dragging her, her fear and pain, as the dog kept attacking her, relentlessly. What is the attack style the pit bull fanciers admire so much in this breed? Grab, hold, and shake…her face, arms, throat….. grab, hold, and shake. What went through her mind as she lay on the floor, bleeding to death, losing consciousness, knowing her baby would die with her? As she felt her life ebb away, did she feel the child within her moving, its small form responding to the trauma, to the slow suffocation as her heart stopped beating?

    Did she die while still in the death grip of this dog? As her own eyes closed forever, did she look into the dogs snarling, blood covered face, wild-eyed and victorious, standing over his vanquished opponent, his tail wagging?

    If her husband had come home, and stabbed his pregnant wife to death, the public would be DEMANDING justice….most would want the death penalty. Instead, pit bull advocates mourn the poor, misunderstood dog, and accuse the dead victim of "provoking" him and somehow, deserving what she got. Humane activists shrug their shoulders and call it a "freak accident". And you can bet that, in the next few weeks, another innocent person will die a gruesome, violent death because somewhere, a pit bull is doing what he was created to do.

26. "Good luck in your "future dating life", Greg Napora, without changing your damn name!"

    Truthbird, there's a groupie for every psychopathic flavor. this will probably INCREASE his dating opportunities among the nutter population.

    "I like having an evil dog that kills other animals and intimidates people (and sometimes kills them, too). That's just how I roll! The end."

    Ro, great comment!

    Branwyne, powerful comment. for a moment i had sympathy for the nutter. no small feat.

27. Branwyne:
    That's the horrid reality. You put me right there.

    Ro is right this is disturbing in many ways.

28. Gotta wonder what was on the Facebook page that needed to be taken down so quickly?!?

    Gunnar hanging from a rope doing bite work?

    Gunnar smothering Darla with Doggie kisses?!?

    BADRAP talking points?

    Gunnar wearing a BADRAP tutu with his nails painted for a Pit Bull anti-oppression march?

    The Pit Community has failed to self-regulate themselves and live up to their responsibility to produce safe dogs in responsible numbers. If Cougars picked off this many Californians, the Governor would have the National Guard out blasting them…

    The Anti-BSL provision in the State Law has failed…It just gives the breeders Carte Blanche to produce maulers.

29. This is a HUGE GLARING problem. The spokesman for the Peninsula Humane Society urged compassion about the dog returning. Since when does compassion means 'I will forgo my safety and sense of well-being" for a DOG, no less.

    This man's judgment sucks! Why do the neighbor now have to rely on this man's judgment for their safety now?

    "Delucchi said that some of Napora’s neighbors in Pacifica's Vallemar District called the Humane Society after the dog’s release to say they were uncomfortable with the dog’s release, and were concerned the dog wasn’t safe.

    “But I also think of someone who loses his wife, unborn child and other dog in one day,” Delucchi said. “So maybe that second dog is all he’s got. So, we’re trying to think out it that way. I’m asking people to be compassionate.”

30. The UK tabloids are having a field day after learning about Darla's connection to Bad Rap:

    Pregnant woman who campaigned to show pit bulls are not dangerous is mauled to death by pet pit bull

    Darla, of Pacifica, California, was a member of the Bay Area Dog Lovers Responsible About Pit Bulls – a group that tries to convince the public that the dogs are just “gentle, misunderstood” animals. Amazingly, Mr Napora says he still believes the dogs are not dangerous. He plans to bury his wife with their pet.

    Pregnant woman mauled to death by family pit bull was in campaign group arguing that the animals are safe

    It has since emerged Napora was a member of Bay Area Dog Lovers Responsible About Pit Bulls, a group that does its best to convince people that pit bulls aren't really that dangerous.

31. There is a lot of talk about how these dogs are being carefully bred to cull the ones aggressive to people. I don't know what planet that is happening on, because it's not mine. I live in rural north central Florida. In my neighborhood if you want a pit, your sister's boyfriend's uncle will have a litter created by his un-spayed bitch being knocked-up by the un-neutered male from down the street. No thought is used in breeding.
    Even scarier, no thought is used when acquiring the animal. Children in the home? Containment of the animal? Vet care? Concern for the neighbors? They seem to put more thought into what brand of cigarette they're going to buy.

32. This man is truly scary. Too bad there are plenty of him around. Pit bull advocates don't care about human life. They see themselves through the dog no matter what the dog does (like kill your unborn child). I'd like to read a psychiatric evaluation of this bizarre man. In fact I'd like to read a psychiatric evaluation of the advocates of BadRap.

33. A few years ago two huskys killed a 25 day old baby in Rialto, CA. The mother had gone outside with the pest control man and left the two dogs, a breeding pair, with the baby asleep. Her husband took the female dog home after it was determined that the male was the one who killed the baby. This man's wife had to spend time in the psych ward and then had to come home to be greeted by this dog. Maybe these two husbands are related somehow.

34. Ms Napora is the third California Pit owner to be killed by their own animal in 2011. Unfortunately, she took her unborn baby with her.

    Thsi is no longer defendable, but somehow Pit Advocacy groups still proper in California.

35. The county animal control Director stated that the veterinary reports showed disloyal Gunnar's weight to vary between 68-75lbs.

    The 125lbs is just another disinformation tactic.

    San Mateo was one of the first counties in CA to enact MSN of Pits w/ an exclusion for pits papered by a registry. after a rash serious maulings…

    Why wasn't Gunnar neutered?!? Was he an ADBA a or UKC dog?

36. Update: Authorities have concluded the investigation on why Gunner Killed Mrs Napora. Gunner was found to be disease free and there was no apparent reason why Gunner went "Pit Bull".

    http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=8382855

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