2010 Dog Bite Fatality: Dillon County Man, 25, Killed by Pet Pit Bull

Justin Lane, 25-years old, was fatally attacked by his pit bull named Smoke.

Victim Identified
Latta, SC - Dillon County Sheriff's Office reports that a man found dead in his home on Skillet Road was killed by the family pit bull. Justin Lane, 25-years old, lived in the home with his mother. Lane's body was discovered Wednesday, but he was killed Tuesday. Currently, investigators aren't releasing the exact cause of death, just that the death was caused by the dog. Police removed the one and a half-year-old pit bull1 from the home. The dog remains at an undisclosed location.

An update in the evening revealed that Lane's mother discovered him dead on the couch, covered in blood. Police determined he was fatally attacked by his pit bull named Smoke. According to several close friends of Lane's, he got the pit bull when it was just 6-weeks old. They said the dog was friendly and never harmed anyone, reports CarolinaLive. Tiffany Dalrymple, who lives nearby, said, "It was very scary that something like that could happen right here next door to my neighbor."

      Dillon County Coroner Randy Grimsley identified the victim as Justin Lane.
      Deputies removed a pit bull from the home during the initial phase of the investigation Wednesday afternoon.
      The dog is expected to be euthanized as soon as the legal process to do that is completed, Arnette said.
      The dog, which belonged to the family, did not have an apparent history of violence, Arnette said.
      While there are still a “few more things to look into,” Arnette said he doesn’t see any charges being filed as a result of the investigation, in which the State Law Enforcement Division has assisted. - SCNow.com, November 18, 2010

1Pit bulls reach maturity between the ages of 1.5 to 2-years old. This is when pit bull aggression usually begins to show itself. 1.5 years old is also the average age of pit bulls in U.S. shelters. 80% of these dogs are surrendered by their owners. They likely do so at this time because they have witnessed this aggression. Humane groups are well aware of this, yet they promote pit bull puppy adoptions and tell the new owner, "It's all in how you raise 'em!"

6 thoughts on “2010 Dog Bite Fatality: Dillon County Man, 25, Killed by Pet Pit Bull”

The original CarolinaLive.com article has been updated to include:

Neighbors say the pit bull mainly stayed outside chained up, but because of bad weather Tuesday night, Lane decided to bring him inside. According to a couple of Lane's close friends, Lane got the dog when it was just 6 weeks old. The pit bull is now two years old, and they say the dog was very friendly and never harmed anyone. They say Lane raised the animal in a loving way and taught it to be gentle and kind.

"The pit bull is now two years old, and they say the dog was very friendly and never harmed anyone. They say Lane raised the animal in a loving way and taught it to be gentle and kind."

How ridiculous in this.

Loving way by chaining the dog up outside? This dog was showing aggression, and this person tried to resolve that by chaining the dog outside, making a bad problem worse. Instead of doing what needed to be done and euthanizing a vicious dog.

This dog could easily have killed a neighbor.

Another person who bought a fighting dog without realizing that genetics overrules "training."

Pit bulls are not pets.

The victim isn't a defenseless child or infant, nor is the victim elderly, the victim is a 25 year old MAN! This is significant. A full grown man was unable to escape or fend off a dog. Amazing power and tenacity our white, English and Irish ancestors selectively and successfully instilled in this breed. How terrible! Pit bulls are remnants of a past time now illegal everywhere. BSL works.

I can tell you pretty much everything you need to know about this attack in these simple words: 2 year old pit bull.

It's the magical age. Sexual maturity, when the nature of the beast takes over, and the dog is no longer a puppy. There's a reason most pits don't survive past the age of 18 months. It's not because people are dog fighting.

Only a simple paragraph for this pit bull fatality — protect your own so to speak. 25-year old Justin Lane is gone, buried in some Dillon County drawer, I imagine on behalf of his family.

6th South Carolina Piticide since 2004…Of course there is no breed specific problem!

A little self-regulation from the Pit Breeding community please!

It is not wrong to breed away from explosive Dog Aggression.

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truthbird on November 18, 2010 at 11:58 pm said:

The original CarolinaLive.com article has been updated to include:

Neighbors say the pit bull mainly stayed outside chained up, but because of bad weather Tuesday night, Lane decided to bring him inside. According to a couple of Lane's close friends, Lane got the dog when it was just 6 weeks old. The pit bull is now two years old, and they say the dog was very friendly and never harmed anyone. They say Lane raised the animal in a loving way and taught it to be gentle and kind.
PitBullPushers on November 19, 2010 at 4:55 am said:

"The pit bull is now two years old, and they say the dog was very friendly and never harmed anyone. They say Lane raised the animal in a loving way and taught it to be gentle and kind."

How ridiculous in this.

Loving way by chaining the dog up outside? This dog was showing aggression, and this person tried to resolve that by chaining the dog outside, making a bad problem worse. Instead of doing what needed to be done and euthanizing a vicious dog.

This dog could easily have killed a neighbor.

Another person who bought a fighting dog without realizing that genetics overrules "training."

Pit bulls are not pets.
Don B. on November 19, 2010 at 2:04 pm said:

The victim isn't a defenseless child or infant, nor is the victim elderly, the victim is a 25 year old MAN! This is significant. A full grown man was unable to escape or fend off a dog. Amazing power and tenacity our white, English and Irish ancestors selectively and successfully instilled in this breed. How terrible! Pit bulls are remnants of a past time now illegal everywhere. BSL works.
Dark on November 19, 2010 at 11:26 pm said:

I can tell you pretty much everything you need to know about this attack in these simple words: 2 year old pit bull.

It's the magical age. Sexual maturity, when the nature of the beast takes over, and the dog is no longer a puppy. There's a reason most pits don't survive past the age of 18 months. It's not because people are dog fighting.
truthbird on November 29, 2010 at 10:43 am said:

Only a simple paragraph for this pit bull fatality — protect your own so to speak. 25-year old Justin Lane is gone, buried in some Dillon County drawer, I imagine on behalf of his family.
Anonymous on December 2, 2010 at 9:53 am said:

6th South Carolina Piticide since 2004…Of course there is no breed specific problem!

A little self-regulation from the Pit Breeding community please!

It is not wrong to breed away from explosive Dog Aggression.