Jayelin Graham, 4, was killed by a "monster dog" belonging to his mother's boyfriend.
Missing Bodies
UPDATE 05/29/11: Parts of this story continue to raise questions, such as: Where is the third dog, and where is Dread? Might the two be in the same place? On Friday, after one of Dread's dogs ripped the throat out of Jayelin killing him, news media outlets reported that there were three dogs at the family's home: a cane corso, pit bull and shepherd-mix. By Saturday night, news reports merged the cane corso and pit bull into one dog, the latter having vanished.
The alleged killer dog, which appears to be a cane corso-pit bull mix, is depicted on Dread's Facebook page, as well as in many news articles.
Today, the New York Post reported that the dog shown on the Facebook page is not the attacker. What we know is true, is that of the 200 fatal dog attacks DogsBite.org has reviewed, it is not unheard of for a dog -- especially a fighting dog or one of high breeding value -- to vanish after a fatal attack. Such dogs are capital goods and too valuable to be euthanized. So where is that third dog? And, if the Facebook dog is not the attacker than which dog is?1
According to the same Post article, the last anyone heard from Dread was Friday night: "Neighbors said Jones, who belongs to the motorcycle club Ruff Ryders, rode up to the scene at one point Friday, but peeled away at 11 p.m., and has not been seen since." So after Dread trained his dogs to kill, as he allegedly told a neighbor, and one of those dogs killed his step-son, Dread flees Dodge while the boy's mother undergoes hours of questioning by police?
Another area that raises questions is Dread's breeding activities and the time frame of the dogs being in the home. Robin Parkinson, 56, told The Daily News that the first time she saw Dread with "three of the scariest dogs in Brooklyn" was four years ago. At this time, Dread told her, "I breed monster dogs." This does not negate statements made by the mother who said the dogs had only been living in the home for three months, but where were the dogs before?
Suggested Hypothetical
Initially, we were concerned that the ASPCA -- a Manhattan-based pro-pit bull group -- would try to pull a fast one by mislabeling the breed. Our concern now is Dread, who has no "cane corso" friends on Facebook, but plenty of pit bull friends, primarily bully breeders. Craven Desires' aptly theorizes that Dread's corso-cross was used in bully kennel breeding operations. So where is that third dog? Where is Dread? Will any local news group investigate this further?
(It must also be noted that DogsBite is not used to the "flair and drama" of the mentioned New York daily newspapers. Operating in the Northwest and South, this style is new to us.)
05/29/11: Mother Speaks Out After Attack
In a new video, the mother of the dead child, Saquina Jubeark, said the family only had the 7-year old dog for 3-months (She did not say who sold her the mutant dog and told her, "It was good with kids" and "not aggressive.") She also said that there were only two dogs in the household. She said her husband was a "trainer" and that he wouldn't have taken the dog, named Machete, had he known it would have harmed someone in the home.
Clearly her husband to be, Damien "Dread" Jones, idolized the mutant; he used it for his Facebook profile image. In contrast, Saquina used one of her children for her profile image.
View Related video
05/28/11: The Breed Mislabeling Game
The ASPCA (or another pro-pit bull group) appears hard at work defending the pit bull breed. The attacking dog, once labeled as a pit bull, has transformed into a cane corso in a matter of hours. The old title, "Brooklyn boy mauled to death inside his apartment by 'violent' pit bull..." has shifted to "Brooklyn boy mauled to death inside his apartment by 'violent' mastiff..." The profile features of this dog appear strongly pit bull; its visual variances due to a mix.2
We expect the debate about this dog's breed to heat up. Given that the family also owned a pit bull, one cannot exclude the possibility that the wrong dog was photographed or that the family was sold a pit bull under the cane corso name. What is true is that both of these dogs, along with a shepherd-mix and a large snake in a home with three toddlers is like playing Russian Roulette. Molosserdogs.com offers more information on the Italian cane corso:3
Italian Cane Corso
The present-day Cane Corso exists in decent numbers, but because of reckless breeding and crosses with some bull-breeds, it is getting difficult to find a true representative of the breed. Although the initial efforts were focused on preserving the original farm dogs from Puglia and surrounding areas, a fair amount of English Bullmastiff and German Boxer blood was introduced in the early years of the revival programme to help expand the Cane Corso gene pool, but the use of these breeds unfortunately resulted in the appearance of certain physical traits which weren't associated with the Cane Corso Italiano in the past, creating some controversy concerning the proper breed type.
--snip--The unrelated breed known as the American Corso Dog is a modern creation, developed in the United States by crossing the Neapolitan Mastiff with the Rottweiler and various Bandogges. Even though this American breed is often times presented as the Cane Corso, it has no real ties with the Italian breed. Most American and Canadian fanciers of the Cane Corso Mastiff regularly import dogs from Italy and are committed to the preservation and promotion of the true type and purity of the breed, but some western lines have been enriched with the blood of other working dogs, namely the Presa Canario, American Pit Bull Terrier, Neapolitan Mastiff, Bullmastiff, Rottweiler, Boxer and the aforementioned American Corso Dog, resulting in a great variety within the breed in the United States, bluring the lines between the American-bred Cane Corso Italiano and the American Corso Dog breeds even more. (Molosserdogs.com)
05/28/11: Mother Says Dog "Ate My Baby"
Brooklyn, NY - In a developing story, NBC New York reports that Jayelin Graham, 4-years old, was mauled to death by a pit bull inside his home Friday night. The Daily News reported that the boy's mother screamed, "Help! He ate my baby! He ate my baby!" Neighbors attempted to storm the home, but police held them back. Kenny Rishar, a superintendent at the building, said, "People were scared of those dogs." This was a tragedy waiting to happen, he said.4
2The reported 100 lb weight of this dog does not remove it from being a pit bull. The class of 100 lb pit bulls is indeed 100% American pit bull terrier.
3The alleged cane corso appears too tight skinned beneath its neck to be a full corso. But as Molosserdogs.com states, the variances and out-crosses of the American corso run the gamut. The ear cropping style is more distinct to corsos.
4Expect the ASPCA, a New York-based pro-pit bull group, to run extreme damage control. Recently, they were accused of unfair and deceptive fundraising practices.
Related articles:
05/06/11: ASPCA Accused of Unfair and Deceptive Fundraising Practices in Complaint
04/26/11: Blogger Dissects Deceptive Online Pit Bull Identification Test, 'Find the Pit Bull'
11/15/09: ASPCA Euthanizes "Unpredictable" Pit Bull After Rehabilitation Fails
06/20/09: James Harrison's Pit Bull "Patron" is Up for Adoption Under New Breed Name
04/30/09: NYC Housing Authorities Ban Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and Dobermans
05/02/08: ASPCA Pushing Pit Bull Adoption: Adopt-A-Bull Contest
Photos: NYDaily.com
"The whole 73rd Precinct had to be out here," said a shocked resident, Shanna Stewart. Another resident said she witnessed one of the youths being pushed against the building door so hard his head went through a glass window.
—
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/dog_maul_horror_2IabdH5NweuMZSoSYvoBXM
But, but, his Facebook friends only breed pit bulls…(not corsos)
https://www.facebook.com/STYLEZ1000
http://absolutekennels.tripod.com/id2.html
http://www.myspace.com/tuffcitykennels
He's probably using corso blood to produce bullies — red nosed uglier than hell bullies.
Jayelin's grandmother, Amrett Graham, said several calls had been made to ACS. "A lot of people called," said Graham, 49. "I don't know if they actually came, but people pleaded to get the kids out of that house. [ACS] never did and now he's dead."Neighbors said the seedy first-floor home of the family was like a small zoo with the Cane Corso, a pit bull, a German shepherd, a parrot and a snake.
I'm struggling to understand how they managed to keep this "zoo" to themselves; the smell permeating from the place should have also caused phone calls. It seems the building managers knew that the dog(s) were dangerous too and did little or nothing. The AWOL husband to be and owner of the dogs, Damian "Dread" Jones apparently took off on his motorcycle last night. It's unclear what if anything will be done to him…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391816/He-ate-baby–Mother-watches-horror-family-s-pet-dog-mauls-year-old-son-death.html
Cane Corso…Yeah thats the ticket!
New York City had 815 Pit Bull BITING Incidents last year…Pits are in trouble there.
The discussion about breeds is a red herring. These dogs are all a single biological type. All the photos prove is that you can identify a biological genetic killer dog just by looking at it. Who cares what names the breeds clubs have thought up for their variations on this single theme?
This reminds me of the mislabeling of the pit bull, Prowler. Also, I've noticed that this "cane corso" looks nothing like the title. Especially since it lacks the loose jowls and completely black muzzle seen in the fawn and copper versions of this breed.
My best guess is that this dog is a mix. And my second best guess is that someone is either confused about the dog's pedigree, or is purposefully trying to deny that it's a pit bull.
Another death at a Pit Breeding operation……They are Breeding Mankillers.
US PITICIDE NUMBER 285.
Folks on the Corso boards are calling it a pit-mix. Leave it to the pit breeders to scar other close breeds. I think in the case of the American corsos it's a total lost cause. Whatever that breed is — corso, presa, pit bull, rottweiler, bullmastiff — all mixed together is a freakin' disaster.
Reply by Rocco 20 hours ago – Im disgusted.. was it a purebred? Alot of people in that area crossbreed with pit bulls, I get disgusted when an animal is mistreated and living in bad conditions, and now here comes a bad rap like the pits….
Reply by Tracy 19 hours ago – If that's the dog it certainly looks more like a pitbull than a corso. Just a very large pit which leads me to think it's crossed….
Reply by Rick 13 hours ago – Doesn't appear to have a black or gray mask. It definitely seems to be a cross of some sort, probably american pit bull terrier….
http://www.canecorso.com/forum/topics/brooklyn-boy-mauled-to-death?xg_source=activity
Jayelin Graham had his throat ripped out by the Cane Corso, known as ‘Machete’, at his home in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday.
Gee, another 'Machete'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1392110/Killer-dog-scared-neighbours-ate-familys-pet-rabbit-ripped-throat-Jayelin-Graham-4.html
He was like a big Scooby-Doo,’ Mr Jones told the New York Daily News. ‘He acted like a big kid and just wanted to play.’
Which is why the dog's name is 'Machete'
OMG — the gunpowder myth is back!
Jones wore a protective arm guard when training the dogs outside the family’s flat and claimed he fed his dogs ‘gunpowder and meat’, neighbours said
Hey BitByPit, my comment wasn't a reproach towards DBO. I meant it as a reproach to the kennel clubs and the aggressive breeds fans. You know, the ones who so often condescendingly explain to us sane people that the pit bull isn't a breed but a type of dog…then later they suddenly say that a 'Staffie', an 'Am Bulldog', etc aren't pit bulls. I understand that DBO, CD and others have to deal with this new form of deception, since the freaks have succeeded in planting it. I'm just trying to point out that the whole discussion is another one of their tactics to preserve at least some pit-bull type breeds in case pit bulls are banned.
The nutters want to be able to say (and have lawmakers believe) that the Presa Canario, the Cano Corso, Bull Mastiff, etc, are an entirely different story simply because of breed registration. Meanwhile, the freaks themselves refer to the entire group as 'bully breeds', which amounts to an admission that they are all basically the same. And the fans are correct in this. Genetically, these other breeds have all been developed by crossing in pit bull and bull dog genes. Genetically, they are all the same as far as relevant hereditary characteristics go: a body designed for killing (exaggerated size and muscle mass), which leads to behavioral conformation (mauling and killing feels good and right to do — see Coppinger and Coppinger 2001 section on behavioral conformation, and Semyonova 2009 her Myth 38), in addition to all being selected for the well-researched brain disorder that causes impulsive aggression.
It seems the nutters understood Lockwood's initial message better than he did himself — just move on to the next breed in the event of a pit-bull ban. What the freaks are hoping is that we sane people will have to fight this whole battle breed for breed. If the pit bull is banned, we can start all over again with whatever genetic pit-bull type these sociopaths choose next. When that breed is banned (after enough horrendous deaths have taken place), they can move onto the next breed that shares the same relevant genes. Meanwhile, the nutters will try to get back into the circle of 'See, it's not only pit bulls that kill people, all dogs do', using the other pit-bull type breeds as proof. You end up in a never-ending circle of deception.
So my objection to this breed battle is how it plays into the nutters' cards. Some countries (such as Denmark, Germany, France, Spain) have been wise enough to ban a whole list of pit-bull type breeds. The lists are always open for expansion when the freaks try some other pit-bull type breed (or some other non-pit type fighting breed, for example the Akita). This is the whole reason the freaks are so upset at the idea of a Canine CODIS (DBO post October 15, 2010). Once the specific genes for the brain disorder are identified, a whole range of dog breeds might well end up banned. By being so firey against the C-CODIS, the freaks have in fact already admitted that there are only a very few relevant genetic characteristics (which they DO NOT want identified), never mind what new 'breed' label the kennel clubs think up next.
My comments aren't a reproach to DBO (which I greatly admire for its honesty and tenacity), they're an attempt at public education. It's not so easy for sane people to espy which tactics socio/psycho-pathic minds are plotting or (in this case) already using.
I also knew that this was a horror that people on Pacific St. had been predicting since a man they nicknamed "Dread" arrived on the block with three of the scariest dogs in Brooklyn. A neighbor named Robin Parkinson recalled the first time she saw the dogs some four years ago. The owner warned her against even gazing at them.
It's possible that "four years" was meant as "four months" but this story just grows loopier by the day. That strange third dog appears again too (the pit bull), which appears to have gone AWOL since the attack. I think Dread is indeed part of a breeding OP. Heck, he admits it according to Parkinson, assuming she is believable. Parkinson is also a pit bull owner and has every reason to preach, "it's the owner not the breed" as well as to plain old lie.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/29/2011-05-29_dad_they_called_dread_i_breed_monster_dogs.html
Sputnik2009,
The truth for me is this. You have the molosser dogs. Then within that you have the gripping dogs. And within that you have the pit bulls. The pit bulls (of genetic similarity) consisting of the APBT, EST, and AST as well as the bully breeds. Although I've made this clearer here.
Indeed, the dissection of breed can be irrelevant. It's apparent that the most common type (molosser) has the most severe bites than any other breed type. Those other types being retrievers, signal, ground, scent, and herding groups. Within that type the most common breeds that maul or kill someone are bull and terrier mixes of decedents.
Sputnik,
Here's the thing about the Corso, Presa, and Bull Mastiff. Most of those breeds are very uncommon in the US. For that reason, their statistical bite record is unclear and somewhat unapparent compared to their bull and terrier cousins. They are all indeed related due to being molosser breeds. But those three are more closely related to each other than they are the APBT, EST, AST, BT, and BB. They were all bred with a similar purpose though. To either maim or kill.
The current problem I'm seeing is many of these dogs being crossed with pit bulls to make bigger and more aggressive dogs. At least this is more apparent in Europe. And so, if there ever were a ban event, I can see your hypothesis coming true on some level.
Here's what I suggest. Either regulate or ban any breed that is of a fighting origin and is known to cause more issues than the other breed types like retrievers and scent dogs. These dogs would be:
Alano Espanol
American Bulldog
Boerboel
Ca De Bou
Cane Corso
Dogo Argentino
Fila Brasileiro
Presa Canario
Great work finding the discussion on the cane corso boards!
All of the cane corso breeders of ICCF champion CC dogs show dogs large mastiff jowls. Some of have the classic cane corso look and some look like they probably have bully breeds mixed in them . But none look like the mix in the photo.
According to the Cane Corso Association of America breed standard:
1. Planes of the skull and muzzle are slightly convergent, they are not parallel illustrated on this logo.
2.The top and bottom muzzle plains are parallel and the nose and chin form a perpendicular line.
3. Bite: Slightly undershot (no more then1/4 inch) and level preferred, scissor bite is acceptable if parameters of the head and muzzle are correct. The incisors are firmly placed on a straight line.
4.The coat is short, stiff, shiny, adherent and dense with a light undercoat that becomes thicker in cold weather. (the Italian breed standard says their coat short and stiff like a cow's coat – it is not smooth)
The owner, Dread, supposedly said his dogs were "monster dogs" and "I breed monster dogs."
The interesting thing about the breed confusion to me is that it came up. According to nutters, this always happens but no one ever discovers the mistake or the media refuses to correct the mistake. This dog does not look like a pure bred cane corso and is most certainly a mix. That there is pit in the mix is more evident than any clear cane corso traits.
This story is incredibly loopy. "Dread" held the entire neighborhood hostage with these monsters and still they claim the dogs never acted aggressively. "Dread" abused the dogs and claimed to feed them gun power – that's from the punk ass street kid handbook on how to make a FIGHTING dog – not a protection dog. This is stupid even by idiot gripping dog owner standards.
And where is the third dog – the pit bull – and where is "Dread?"
snack sized dog,
I have noticed in this link that someone in the cane corso community seems to be a bit more truthful about the breed's (corso) nature than the pit bull community is.
Why can't they snow some level of this?
Speaking of Kennel Clubs…Did you know that in the Early 90's NYC actually put in place Pit Bull regulations?!?
The AKC sued on behalf of it's breeders and owners and successfully had the law overturned. Last year, NYC had a Serengeti-like 815 Pit Bull attacks. AKC does not indemnify victims and is somehow classified a taxexempt non-profit!
Thats the crazy thing about the dog lobby…no one is responsible for anything and nobody pays taxes.
REGULATE THEIR ASSES NOW!!!
What a hideous-looking beast this dog is! Awful! Who the hell would want to live with such a creature; most of these molassers look like monsters out of a Grimm fairy story!
I live in Manhattan and have been tracking this story since it broke. Previous posters have made excellent arguments about the usefulness and legitimacy of breed distinction within the Molasser group. Digger is right and I would also like to second Sputnik's assertion that you can identify a genetic killer "dog" just by looking at it. These are not ambiguous dogs! It frustrates me when I hear pit bull people say "The average citizen/shelter worker can't ID a pitbull! They ID lab crosses/boxers/misc. mutts as pitbulls!" What horseshit! NOTHING LOOKS LIKE A GRIPPING DOG BUT A GRIPPING DOG! A six-year-old could be taught to distinguish them. (tangentially–am I the only one who is amazed at the way pitbull genes seem to always completely dominate the non-pit genetic traits in pit mixes? I mean, have you ever seen a pit/golden retriever mix that looked more like a golden than a pit? I haven't! It's astonishing! Like the pit genes kill and dominate other dogs' DNA at the time of conception, or something).
Anyway…Cane Corso vs. pit bull…I think that this is a perfect example of a distinction without a difference…
The blogger discussing Cane Corso dogs thinks SIX WHOLE WEEKS of training classes are going to make a difference??? OMG…
It only took 20 magical days to cure Patron (the triple mauler). The secret must lie in "tummy rubs"?
https://blog.dogsbite.org/2009/06/james-harrisons-pit-bull-patron-is-up.html
Jones has a rap sheet with busts for weapons possession, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment, records show.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/30/2011-05-30_neighbors_tot_often_alone_with_killer_dog.html?r=topnews
truthbird, the link you supplied described the "cane corso" as a 65 lb dog. a 65 lb dog does not a cane corso make. the breed standard states 100-110 lbs for a male. that's a pit mix.
I noticed that too. We all saw that "thing" being carted away by the police. While it was sedated and lying down, no one's first guess would be 65 lbs. This is a crazy case indeed. DogsBite needs an FOI on this fatal attack. It is rife with missing and misleading information.