Posted on July 31, 2019 by Colleen Lynn

Woman Nearly Killed by a Pit Bull While Volunteering at a Rescue Shelter in 2017 Shares Where She Is Today

Kylie Welch seen while hospitalized at a Pittsburgh trauma center after the dog attack.

The Vicious Attack
Meadowlands, PA - On April 9, 2017, Kylie Welch and her daughter survived a vicious dog attack while volunteering at Angel Ridge Animal Rescue, a no-kill rescue shelter that adopts out "special needs" and death row dogs. The male pit bull, "Dallas" had come to the rescue two days earlier and was placed in a pen labeled "friendly and playful." When Welch took the dog out for playtime, it unleashed a violent attack. Welch recently wrote into DogsBite.org to share her story.

Several months after the attack, the Observer-Reporter featured Kylie Welch and the man who came to her rescue in ExtraO-Rrdinary People.

Welch said at the time, "[The dog] didn’t just get hold of my arm. It was like when a dog plays with a rope toy, he was shaking his head, then regripping." Justin Killion, who rented a house nearby, rushed over and tackled the dog. He kicked and punched the dog and threw himself over Welch's body to shield her from the blood drenched canine. “He was relentless. He kept coming back," Killion said. Welch was bleeding so badly, Killion used his belt and a dog leash as tourniquets.

Welch was airlifted to Allegheny General Hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries for her extensive injuries, including massive muscle, tissue and tendon damage to her arms. One year after the attack, Welch spoke to WPXI. She recounted parts of the attack and said that Killion kept telling her, "Stay awake, stay awake. Don't die." Presently, Welch says that her physical condition has not improved over the last year and at times, the PTSD she suffers has been unbearable.

Dear Dogsbite.org,

I used to be a volunteer at an animal rescue, along with 3 of my 5 children. The rescue encouraged me to take photos of my children playing with the dogs, to show how friendly they were. On April 9, 2017, my daughters Emaly and Haylee (4 years and 8 years old) went with me to walk a couple of dogs in the evening. We chose to walk Dallas, a gray pit bull, and after playing with us for about 10-15 minutes, he jumped on Emaly, knocked her down, and opened his mouth on her face. He didn't get to bite down, because I was already pushing him off of her. So he latched onto my arm. The attack lasted approximately 20 minutes, until a neighbor saved my life. My daughters listened to my screams, and when I stopped screaming they thought Dallas had killed me.

That was just over 2 years ago. Emaly still has PTSD and issues stemming from that. She is absolutely terrified of dogs. Big or small, no matter the breed. She was terrified of a Teddy Bear PUPPY. Haylee puts on a brave face, but the second she's around a loose dog, you can see the horror and panic in her face. My PTSD has been unbearable at times. My friends and family have become frustrated with my lack of "improvement" since the attack, because I refuse to ever trust any dog, anywhere, ever.

Physically, I'm not doing any better today than I was last year. My arms feel tighter, like I have less mobility. I'm in pain 24/7 and it never gets better. I can barely bend my wrists forward or back, washing my kids hair in the bath is awkward and difficult, holding babies scares me because I never know when my left hand will stop working causing me to drop things. I work in a daycare, and had to give up working in the infant room because I refused to take chances. I have horrible scars, all over both arms, including a skin graft on my left arm. The children I care for ask me every single day what my scars are. They're only 18-24 months old, and have no idea what this kind of scarring is.

I am constantly ridiculed and made fun of. People who have pit bulls or love them call me evil, stupid, a terrible mother, a waste of human life, you name it and I've heard it. All because I never want to see anyone suffer through anything like this again. People with dogs try to convince me that I shouldn't be afraid of their dog because their dog would never hurt a fly. When I can't bring myself to be near their dogs, I get made fun of or people become angry and insulted. This attack has forever changed my life, and the lives of my daughters, and the lives of my entire family. No pit bull is worth that cost.

Thank you,
Kylie Welch

An unprovoked dog attack is life altering. The attack may only last a few seconds too. This was a relentless 20-minute mauling with the intention of mutilating and killing. Like Tina Pounds, who sacrificed herself to save her grandson from a brutal pit bull attack, Welch sacrificed herself to save her daughter, who was the dog's initial target. "Dallas" was later euthanized. The dog's "rescuers" also bear the responsibility of destroying the human-canine bond Welch once had.

The WPXI interview stated that Welch intended to file a lawsuit against Angel Ridge Animal Rescue. The dog should not have been in a pen labeled "friendly and playful." We hope the outcome of the lawsuit will provide Welch and her family with some degree of closure. Yet, no amount of money or passage of time can fully heal the destruction this savage attack caused: permanent disfiguring injuries, loss of limb use and enduring emotional and physical pain.

Present day photo of Kylie Welch's left arm (left) and right arm injuries while hospitalized.

Kylie Welch photographed with her young daughter who was also injured in the dog attack.

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Colleen Lynn

2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Mauled to Death by Pack of Dogs in Southwest Memphis

Mario Moore, 40, was killed by a pack of dogs early Thursday morning in Memphis.

Authorities Were Warned
UPDATE 07/23/19: On Friday, Nikita Fullilove described how four large dogs attacked her on Wednesday, the day before possibly the same roaming pack of dogs killed 40-year old Mario Moore. Fullilove pointed out the home where she believes the owner lives. “The owner, she know her dogs attack people,” Fullilove told Local Memphis. This week another resident, Sherry Pruitt, said loose dogs attacked her while she was walking in the same neighborhood back in May.

Pruitt said she emailed Memphis Animal Services (MAS) about the dogs three weeks ago. “I just feel it’s negligent, because I did my part and that’s why. I knew that those animals were going to kill someone,” she said. However, Pruitt did not reply to a follow up question from MAS, so her complaint could not be investigated. MAS released two photographs of the dogs involved in the fatal attack, a mixed breed, similar to the one seen in the Fullilove segment, and a pit bull-mix.

So far, MAS has captured 12 dogs in the area, though four are not suspected to be involved in the fatal attack. MAS continues to patrol the area and has traps set. It is unknown if Facebook commenter, Sharonica Palton, will speak to the media. After the dogs killed Moore early Thursday, she claimed the dogs had attacked 10 people within the last two months "and more before then." Palton also claimed that multiple people had called the pound, but nothing was ever done.

Fatal Pack Attacks and Men

From January 2005 to present, canines have killed 499 Americans. Only 1.6% (8) of these fatalities involved a pack of 4 or more dogs killing a man between the ages of 30 to 49 years old. Combined, pit bulls and American bulldogs were involved in at least 88% of these deaths. The 2009 death of Gordon Lykins, 48, who was killed by 11 dogs, including unknown breeds, is the only death under these criteria where pit bull-type dogs were not documented in news reports.

Moore's sister, Makisha Moore said her brother moved to Memphis a year ago. She said it was unimaginable that his life would end in a violent dog attack. “It’s unreal. I would’ve never imagine something like that happening to anyone, let alone my brother," she said. Mario also had children, who now have no father, she said. She wished that no one would ever have to suffer this way. "I wouldn’t want anyone else to have to suffer the way he did on that street by himself,” she said.

Two dogs involved in the fatal attack of a Memphis man, a mixed-breed and a pit bull-mix.

07/20/19: Pack of Dogs Kill Man
Memphis, TN - Late Friday, it was reported that a 40-year old man was killed by a pack of dogs near the intersection of Belle Haven and Meadowbrook in Memphis. The vicious attack occurred Thursday about 2:00 am. He was transported in critical condition to Regional Medical Center, where he later died. A family member identified the victim as Mario Moore. His death by a "pack of dogs" comes two weeks after a 45-year old man died a similar death in Lake Placid, Florida.

Kevin Woods was driving nearby when he saw a pack of dogs that he thought were fighting. Then he realized they were attacking a person. "I seen about seven, eight dogs," Woods said. "I thought they were fighting with each other. Then I seen legs rolling around and I said, they're jumping on a dude." Woods started honking his horn and dogs backed off him. Arriving police found “multiple aggressive dogs” across the street. Memphis Animal Services took custody of five dogs.

In October 2018, eight years after 71-year old William Parker was killed by two pit bulls near downtown Memphis (about 9 miles away), a lawsuit victory was announced for his family. The court awarded Gardenia Parker's family $2.5 million dollars. The Parkers sued the apartment's management, Epstein Enterprises, and the owner, Longview Heights Partners, who knew or should have known these same pit bulls had attacked or threatened other people too.

Earlier this year, there was a string of fatal pack attacks, all involving female victims, ages 50-years and older. The January mauling deaths of Dianne Reves, 70, in Grenada County, Mississippi and Lana Bergman, also 70, near Joshua Tree, California. In February, Angela Johnson, 54, died of injuries sustained by a pack of pit bulls in mid December. Also in February, Bessie "Jill" Peterson, 88, was killed by a pack of loose dogs in rural Pall Mall, Tennessee.

On February 27, one day after Peterson's death, Johnnie Garner, 88, was killed by a pack of pit bulls in Lubbock, Texas. Despite all of these dogs having owners guilty of their "pack of dogs" being at large and killing a person, only Garner's death resulted in criminal charges. Just two days before Courtney White's six pit bulls killed Garner, he tried to turn them over to Lubbock Animal Services, but was told he needed to "make an appointment." The earliest time slot was March 1.

Packs of dogs killing people is typically a problem in developing countries, primarily India, where there is little governmental control of the massive stray dog population, estimated to be 30 million, and it is illegal to cull dogs. Technically, our definition of a pack of dogs is four or more dogs. When three dogs are included in this category, and the attack was inflicted off the owner's property, nearly 30% (8 of 28) of fatal dog attacks in the U.S. this year involve this preventable scenario.

When a "Pack of Dogs" Kill

Everyone knows, including the courts, that a "pack of dogs" at large can be dangerous. Every single fatal attack involving this scenario, when the owner of the dogs is known, should result in felony criminal charges. The legal standard of having to prove that the owner "knew or should have known" of the dogs' vicious propensities (due to a previous attack) should be abolished in "pack attack" cases. It is adequate that the "pack of dogs" was at large and killed a person.

(2/2) Multiple aggressive dogs were located across the street. Officers were advised that those dogs were responsible for the attack.
The victim was xported critical to ROH where he later died from his injuries.
M.A.S. recovered 5 dogs. This is an ongoing investigation.

— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) July 19, 2019

A commenter on the WREG Facebook post complains of longterm problems with these dogs.

View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Tennessee Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.

Baseline reporting requirements:
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.

Posted on July 11, 2019 by Colleen Lynn

2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Pit Bull Kills Owner in Uniontown; Girlfriend Said Dog was Victim's 'Best Friend'

Homer Utterback, 52, died after his own dog brutally attacked him in Uniontown.

Dog Kills Owner
Uniontown, PA - A man is dead after his own dog brutally attacked him. Police identified the man as 52-year old Homer Utterback. Just before 1:00 am Thursday, Utterback's girlfriend heard something fall, police said. She got up to see what the noise was and found Utterback on the floor with the dog biting his neck. Police said by the time EMS arrived, Utterback was dead. Utterback's girlfriend told officers the dog was their pet for a decade and was Utterback's "best friend."

Broadcastify.com captures the Fayette County Fire and EMS feed. The attacking dog is basically identified as a pit bull on the feed. "Male, 50s, unresponsive and not breathing. He had a seizure and then his dog attacked him. Male's bleeding from the head. This is going to be a pit bull," states a man to the dispatcher. When the dispatcher calls EMS to the location, she states, "Patient had a seizure. As he was doing so, a pit bull attacked him. He has a hole in his head and his neck."

The brief WXPI article did not contain any dog breed information, nor did it need to. There have been a number of owner-directed fatal attacks inflicted by pit bulls in response to their owner suffering a seizure over the years -- as recently as last year. Of the 500 dog bite fatalities we have recorded since 2005, pit bulls have been implicated in every owner-directed fatal attack while the victim was actually, or purportedly, having a seizure, except for one case involving a rottweiler.

Owners killed by a pit bull during an alleged seizure include: Della Riley, 42-years old (Cleveland, Ohio, 2018); Jamie Owsley, 21-years old (Quincy, Illinois, 2017); Charles Hagerman, 44-years old (Chicago, Illinois, 2012); Tonia Parks, 39-years old (Rockford, Illinois, 2011); Kelli Chapman, 24-years old (Longville, Louisiana, 2008); Brandon Coleman, 25-years old (Morgantown, West Virginia, 2006); Lorinze Reddings, 42-years old (St. Louis, Missouri, 2005) and likely others.

Evening Updates

While we were trying to locate the victim's girlfriend on Facebook to capture images of the dog involved in the fatal attack of Homer Utterback, it appears WPXI was doing the same thing. We were able to confirm that a white pit bull named Petey -- AKA My Petey Pie -- seen on Wendy Baker's Facebook page, the victim's girlfriend, is the culprit. According to Facebook comments by Baker's daughter, the pit bull was a "rescue" and had "never attacked anybody until last night."

There were at least four other pit bulls in the home, all offspring of Petey, according to Baker's Facebook page. The dispatch audio feed also reflects a multi-dog household. "The dogs are on scene, but are locked in a separate room," the dispatcher relayed to en route EMS. When EMS arrived, Utterback was already dead. "There's a large laceration to the head and neck area. Nonresponsive," EMS states. It's unknown if the family will keep the "pack" of younger pit bulls.

2013 photos: A male rescue pit bull, named Petey, attacked and killed Homer Utterback.

2018 photo: The Utterback home had at least four more pit bulls, all offspring of Petey.

View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Pennsylvania Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

Posted on July 9, 2019 by Colleen Lynn

2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Sleeping Infant Killed by Family Husky in Hall County, Georgia

Home where a sleeping infant was killed by a family dog in Hall County, Georgia.

Dog Believed to be Attacker
UPDATE 07/13/19: We have located photographs of the 2-year old husky that bit a 22-day old baby on the head an undetermined number of times, killing the infant. A pair of littermate puppies (twin in appearance) arrived at the family's home in January 2017. We already know that the pure white husky was not confiscated by police nor was one of the black-and-white littermates. So, the attacker is presumably the other littermate. The huskies belong to a woman living at the home.

Notably, the woman refers to the black-and-white huskies as "My Wolves." We presume this is a referral to the Game of Thrones TV series, which heavily featured "Direwolves" and caused an explosion of huskies being bred and sold. Much has been written about this explosion, as recently as May 2019. Abandoned huskies are now showing up en mass at shelters across the US and UK. As early as 2017, the star of Game of Thrones urged the public to stop buying huskies.

We have also removed the term "mix" from the breed. The "mix" term is frequently appended by shelter employees to all dogs entering the facility even when the dog appears to be purebred.

The twin, 2-year old husky littermates (male and female), and one has a different eye color.

07/10/19: Police Identify Infant
Sheriff's deputies in Hall County have released the identity of an infant fatally mauled by a family husky Tuesday in Gainesville. The attack occurred at about 2:00 pm at home in the 2900 block of Gillsville Highway. Ruth Flores, just 22-days old, was severely bitten in the head by one of her family's huskies. She was immediately taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, where she later died. The infant was sleeping in a bedroom when the 2-year old husky attacked her.

Earlier today, CBS 46 posted footage of a reporter trying to speak to a person inside the infant's home. One can see three additional dogs in the front window of the home -- two huskies and a white dog with wavy hair. Deputies said when they arrived at the scene, they found the baby with serious trauma to her head. The dog bit the baby an "undetermined number of times," deputies said. The attacking dog continues to be held in quarantine at Hall County Animal Services.

07/09/19: Infant Killed by Family Dog
Gainesville, GA - An infant has died after being attacked and seriously injured by a dog, Hall County Fire Services confirmed. Firefighters responded to a home in the 2900 block of Gillsville Highway after a report of a dog bite to a 22-day old infant girl. "The incident occurred inside the home, in a bedroom where the infant was resting, according to initial information gathered by deputies on the scene," Hall County Sheriff’s Office 1st Lt. Chris Dale stated in a news release.

The baby girl was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Hall County Fire Services Capt. Zach Brackett said. The infant died of her injuries at the hospital. Hall County Animal Control and Enforcement took custody of the animal, which belonged to the residents of the home, the Gainesville Times reports. Officials said the family dog involved is a husky-mix. The name of the baby girl has not been released. The City of Gainesville is about 40 miles northwest of Athens.

CBS 46 News reports the deadly attack occurred about 2:00 pm. The infant's mother was home when the family's 2-year old husky-mix bit the child on the head. CBS 46 also spoke to Hall County Sheriff’s Office 1st Lt. Chris Dale, who said there were "other dogs in crates" at the family's home on Gillsville Highway. No other children were in the home at the time of the attack, Dale said. Further comments by officials are currently being withheld due to HIPAA restrictions.

Breed-Specific Traits

In our multi-year report of dog bite fatalities -- U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities: Breeds of Dogs Involved, Age Groups and Other Factors Over a 13-Year Period (2005 to 2017) -- we pointed out a breed-specific trait pertaining to huskies. "Of the 13 fatal attacks inflicted by huskies, 62% (8 of 13) were infants ≤11 months old and 92% (12) were ages ≤5 years old. The single adult death, a 22-year old female victim, was a multi-breed attack involving a female husky and a male pit bull."

Our statement was also footnoted with the following: "In comparison with the other top-six killing dog breeds, only 15% (3 of 20) of German shepherd victims were infants ≤11 months old, 13% (6 of 45) of rottweiler victims, 10% (28 of 284) of pit bull victims, 7% (1 of 15) of American bulldog victims, 0% of mixed-breed victims, and 0% of mastiff/bullmastiff victims were infants." Very often in the cases of husky-inflicted infant deaths, the baby is sleeping when the dog attacks too.

CBS 46 footage shows two additional huskies in the home the day after the fatal mauling.

A sleeping infant was killed by a family dog described as a husky-mix in Gainesville, Georgia.

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