Posted on January 28, 2019 by Colleen Lynn

2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Elderly Amarillo Man Dies Two Weeks After Vicious Dog Mauling

An 85-year old man died two weeks after a vicious dog mauling in Amarillo, Texas.

Man Dies After Mauling
Amarillo, TX - An elderly man died last week after being attacked by two vicious dogs earlier this month. Ed Stanley, 85-years old, died January 21, two weeks after the dogs mauled him on his own driveway. Stanley suffered injuries to his legs, face and arms, according to officials. Richard Havens, Director of Amarillo Animal Management and Welfare, said it wasn't just any attack, "it was definitely headed towards a fatality" if a brave citizen had not intervened to help him.

On January 7, Amarillo Animal Management and Welfare responded to a 911 call about an elderly man being attacked by two dogs in the 4400 block of Evelyn Street in Amarillo. "911 was notified that a citizen was being attacked. Police, fire, and EMS, as well as us responded," Havens told KFDA. "We we’re able to get out there, secure the dogs, and then start our investigation," Havens said. The victim was treated at the scene then transported to a local hospital for surgery.

A next-door neighbor heard Stanley's cries and rushed to help him. He used a rubber stick to ward off the attacking dogs, reports KFDA.

"His legs were attacked, his face was attacked, his arms were attacked," Havens said. "Not only did he have defensive wounds on him, but with the dogs going for the face, it was definitely headed towards a fatality had it not been for the tremendous nature of this citizen willing to put their life and limb at risk to save another." The two dogs, a pit bull-mix and a shepherd-mix, were taken into custody. Shelter officials are reviewing the case for a dangerous dog declaration.

Both dogs seen in quarantine at the Amarillo Animal Management and Welfare shelter.

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

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 January 17, 2019 by Colleen Lynn

2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Joshua Tree Woman Killed by Four Pet Pit Bulls Belonging to a "Guest"

Lana Bergman, 70-years old, was fatally attacked by four pit bulls in Joshua Tree.

No Criminal Charges
UPDATE 03/29/19: Prosecutors have declined to file charges after a woman was killed by four pit bulls in January. Lana Bergman, 70, died of her injuries at the scene. The pit bulls belonged to a couple that parked their broken down bus on her property two weeks earlier. Bergman had agreed that Stephanie Johnston and Daniel Nelson could stay for a few days, but a few days dragged into weeks. On the day of the fatal attack, Bergman had ordered the couple off of her property.

"Thursday, they are being pulled out, no matter if it is raining or what, they have to leave this premises. Joe told them that today in front of me."

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office said there was insufficient evidence to mount a criminal case. Johnston and Nelson lived with their four children on the converted bus, along with their pack of pit bulls. After the mauling, the bus was towed to a local campground. San Bernardino County Children and Family Services went to the site and determined the couple's children were healthy and were allowed to remain with them, according to the sheriff's department.

KESQ reports the couple could have been charged under Penal Code 399. "If any person owning or having custody or control of a mischievous animal, knowing its propensities, willfully suffers it to go at large, or keeps it without ordinary care, and the animal, while so at large, or while not kept with ordinary care, kills any human being," states the statute, is guilty of a felony. However, Supervising District Attorney Ronald Webster said the owners took steps to confine their dogs.

In February, Johnston told KESQ her pit bulls "are not aggressive" and speculated that a "coyote" inflicted the attack or that Bergman "self-harmed herself." Even after her four dogs brutally killed a person, Johnston claimed her pit bulls are "service dogs." Since the attack, the dogs have been in the custody of San Bernardino County Animal Care & Control. Johnston and Nelson want their pit bulls returned to them, thus a hearing will be held to determine the outcome of the four dogs.

Watch: The Vicious Animal determination hearing involving these four pit bulls

02/17/19: Questions Linger
A month after 70-year old Lana Bergman was mauled to death by four pit bulls, serious questions remain unanswered. The dogs belong to Stephanie Johnston and her husband. The couple and their four children live in a converted school bus with the dogs. Two weeks before the deadly mauling, the family parked their bus on Bergman’s property and began living there. Bergman also had a roommate, Joe Fairbanks, who is apparently "best friends" with Johnston’s husband.

Bergman had agreed the couple could stay for a few days, but a few days dragged into weeks. Bergman essentially had to evict them.

Johnston, described in earlier news reports as a "squatter," looks better today than she did six years ago (along with now living in an upgraded bus). During the interview, Johnston shows no empathy for Bergman and no remorse for the attack. She claims her dogs "are not aggressive" after they tore open Bergman’s throat, killing her. Police said all four dogs participated in the lethal attack. Even after brutally attacking a person, Johnston claims her pit bulls are "service dogs."

A voicemail message Bergman left her sister-in-law on the very day she was mauled and killed stated she wanted Johnston and her dogs off of her property right away. "I just wanted to let you know that everything is taken care of. Alan called Joe [Fairbanks] and told him to go get those people off my property NOW ... Thursday, they are being pulled out, no matter if it is raining or what, they have to leave this premises. Joe told them that today in front of me," Bergman said.

Johnston claims in the interview that Bergman never told her to pack up and leave. "What we were getting [from her] was the opposite," she said.

Leading up to the attack, Bergman had called Fairbanks twice, telling him the dogs were loose. While waiting for his arrival, she texted a friend: "Help, their dogs broke out and they woke me up." Bergman was concerned for her own dog, Hunter. "I had to get them away from Hunter and put the doggy door in, they all around my house. They are in my yard, called Joe twice. I am sooo scared," she wrote. When Fairbanks arrived ten minutes later, Bergman was already dead.

Like many pit bull owners after a violent attack, Johnston loads up on far-fetched excuses, such as speculating that a "coyote" was the culprit or that "somebody murdered her." Johnston blames the victim too, maybe "she self-harmed herself in a blackout." Johnston was apparently at a birthday celebration during the attack. The two people who found Bergman -- Fairbanks and Johnston’s husband -- would not go on camera. Johnston also wants her four pit bulls returned to her.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department’s investigation remains active and ongoing.

pit bulls kill joshua woman - Lana Bergman

The four pit bulls belonging to Stephanie Johnston that brutally killed Lana Bergman.

01/19/19: Conflicting Accounts
Over the last two days, storylines took a wild swing. The overstaying guests with four pit bulls -- who were strangers to Bergman -- were not parked on Bergman's property in a trailer. Instead, their colorful bus broke down and Bergman allowed them to "camp out" on her property. "Thursday they are being pulled out no matter if it's raining or what," Bergman said in a recent voicemail. "They have to leave the premises." But on Wednesday night, the pit bulls brutally killed her.

"Dead men tell no tales." The only people who can tell police conflicting accounts are alive, including the owners of the pit bulls, a couple from Oregon with four children who outstayed their welcome; Bergman's roommate, Joe Fairbanks, who discovered her body; Bergman's estranged husband, Alan; and her brother Jay Barnett, a Palmdale resident. Fairbanks was also named in her recent voicemail: "Alan called Joe and told him to get those people off of my property now."

This story has become so "bizarre" that at least one scenario claims Bergman (who is dead and cannot defend herself) "attacked the dogs with a sword." Bergman was a huge dog lover. She owned at least one Labrador at the time of the attack and had previously owned three others. The "bizarre" and the "baroque" frequently plays out when police do not identify the owners of the dog or provide identification photographs of the dogs. How is the community supposed to help?

At the very least, thanks to the media, the broken down bus belonging to the pit bulls' owners was depicted, which may be identifiable to residents.

Though facts continue to be murky, Barnett told The Press-Enterprise the time length involved -- a two day stay by the owners of the pit bulls turned into two weeks. This information is vastly different than the police press release, which stated that Bergman had helped care for the dogs "over the past year." Barnett is calling on residents to "call the Morongo Sheriff Station and demand that the owners of these dogs be held criminally liable for the death of my sweet sister."

Bergman also has two sisters, Ilene Cromer and Harriet Sagalow. One told the Hi-Desert Star the length of stay was only 1.5 weeks. Sagalow said the pit bulls had already attacked Bergman's Labrador and were supposed to be kept separate from Bergman and her dog while staying on her sister's property. "She never had any connection with those dogs," Sagalow said. "Just days before my sister was murdered, I have a recording of her saying that she wanted them gone."

The broken down bus belonging to the owners of the pit bulls seen on Bergman's property.

01/17/19: Pit Bulls Kill Woman
Joshua Tree, CA - A 70-year old woman is dead after being attacked by four pit bulls, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department stated Thursday. The fatal dog mauling occurred Wednesday in the 59000 Block of Sunflower Drive. Deputies from the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station responded to the home about 10 pm. Lana Bergman, 70, and her husband live at the residence with a male friend. Bergman allowed her friend to keep his four pit bulls at her home.

Bergman had been helping to care for the dogs over the past year, according to a release issued by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. At the time of the attack, Bergman was alone with the pit bulls. "She was mauled by all four of the animals," states the release. "She succumbed to her injuries a short time later." Animal control took all four pit bulls into custody. "There is no indication the dogs were neglected, as they appeared well cared for," states the release.

KESQ spoke to Bergman's brother, Jay Barnett, who said that Bergman is estranged from her husband, and had been living on the property alone for years -- until recently. Barnett said that Bergman allowed a couple with four pit bulls to park their trailer on her property for a weekend,1 but they never left, despite her objections. "These dogs were loaded guns," Barnett said. "They ended up killing my sister." He said his sister loved dogs, but was not friendly with these pit bulls.

"It's just a sad, violent way to end your life," Barnett told KESQ. "We are all heart broken. We feel guilty because we wish we could have done more, but she thought she could handle it. And people took advantage of her. Her husband took advantage of her," Barnett said. The version of events told by Bergman's brother differs drastically from the Sheriff's Department's version of events. The owners of the pit bulls, who outstayed their welcome, have not been identified.

DATE/TIME: January 16, 2019 10:11 p.m.
INCIDENT: Vicious Animal Attack
LOCATION: 59000 Block of Sunflower Drive, Joshua Tree
VICTIM: Lana Bergman, 70 years old, resident of Joshua Tree

On Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at approximately 10:11 p.m., deputies from the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station responded to a report of a vicious animal attack at the 59000 block of Sunflower Drive, in Joshua Tree. The victim and her husband live at the residence with an adult male friend. The victim allowed her friend to keep his four pit bull dogs at her home. The dogs were considered family pets, which the victim helped care for over the past year. On Wednesday, while the victim was home alone with the dogs, she was mauled by all four of the animals. She succumbed to her injuries a short time later.

Animal Control Officers responded and took custody of the dogs without incident. There is no indication the dogs were neglected, as they appeared well cared for. The reason for the attack is currently unknown.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Morongo Basin Station, at (760) 366-4175. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may contact We-Tip at 800-78-CRIME or www.wetip.com.

Lana Bergman, 70, was mauled to death by four pit bulls in the 59000 Block of Sunflower Drive.

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

1A notable coincidence since Joshua Tree only has a population of 7.4 thousand. A female rescuer with Facebook friends in common with Bergman owns four problematic pit bulls. On November 15, she was desperately trying to rehome them. She had been fostering them for about a year and kept her own animals "in a separate trailer" on her property. All four male pit bulls "do not get along with other dogs or each other," she wrote. She specifically bought a separate trailer to house the pit bulls. Combine "park their trailer on her property for a weekend," which turned into a longer stint, with the fact that this female rescuer specifically bought a trailer to house those pit bulls.

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Colleen Lynn

2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman Killed by Pack of Dogs in Grenada County, Mississippi

Dianne Reves, 70, was mauled to death by a pack of loose dogs in her backyard.

Fatal Pack Attack
Grenada County, MS - A woman is dead after being attacked by a pack of dogs, the Grenada County Sheriff’s Department said Friday. Sheriff Alton Strider identified the victim as 70-year old Dianne Reves, who was discovered Thursday afternoon by a neighbor in the 1600 block of Carpenter Road. Sheriff's deputies responded to the area at 3:30 pm. Investigators described her injuries as "several hundred dog bites." Seven mixed-breed dogs were seized from the scene.

"We’re talking about several hundred dog bites here ... we believe that the attack happened sometime Wednesday." - Investigator Josh Dale

"We believe that we have all of the dogs involved," Investigator Josh Dale told the Grenada Star. "We are having them all tested to get a better look at their involvement in the attack," Dale said. Investigators did not release the name of the dog' owner, who presumably lives nearby, or the specific location of the deadly attack (on the victim's own property or not). Reves was a mother and a grandmother. She worked as a nurse for many years in Grenada, reports the Star.

An evening update by WJTV said that locals are saying the dogs' owner is Phillip Sr Cross, the victim's neighbor on Carpenter Road, who is a long time dog hoarder and backyard breeder. Sheriff Strider told WTVA that Reves died in her backyard when the dogs attacked her. The dogs are currently being held at the pound. The dogs' owner has not been cited as the investigation continues, Strider said. A veterinarian is being brought in to analyze the dogs, Strider said.

According to a Monday update by the Grenada Star, the seven fatally attacking dogs, which weighed an estimated 80 pounds each, have since been euthanized, Sheriff Strider said.

The home of Dianne Reves, where she was killed by a pack of loose dogs in her backyard.

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Colleen Lynn

Nonprofit Obtained 50% of all Breed ID Photographs in 2018

Photographs of six fatally attacking dogs in 2018 obtained from multiple sources.

Jump down to view all 2018 breed identification photographs or read our analysis first.

DogsBite.org - In 2013, we began the tradition of publishing breed identification photographs of fatally attacking dogs when available through news reports, social media websites and law enforcement agencies. Of the 36 recorded U.S. dog bite-related fatalities in 2018, 50% (18) had identification photographs, down from 56% in 2017 and 72% in 2016. Pit bulls and their mixes represent 83% (15) of all breed identification images collected in 2018, similar to last year.

Of the 18 cases with identification photographs, 56% (10) were captured by news media, down from 73% last year, and 56% (10) were located on social media pages of the dog's owner or family members. Half of all identification images in 2018, 50% (9), were the result of DogsBite.org research and otherwise may have gone unpublished. Police/shelter agencies only released photographs in 2 cases, yet 67% (24 of 36) of all deaths involved dogs taken into quarantine.

42% (15 of 36) of all dog bite fatalities in 2018 involved one or more fatally attacking dog shot to death at the scene by police or its owner.1

In 2018, nearly a quarter of the breed identification photographs, 22% (4), involved rescued or rehomed dogs that killed a person, of which 75% (3) had been vetted by an animal agency prior to being adopted out. 75% of these same fatal attacks occurred within 3 to 14 days after being adopted. In 2018, 78% (14) of all identification photographs collected involved family dogs that killed a household member. Of this subset, 43% (6 of 14) involved the dog killing its owner.

28% (5) of dogs with breed identification photographs in 2018 had a known history of human aggression before killing a person. Another 28% involved dogs with a known history of animal aggression (some cases involved both). 28% of cases with photographs involved the dog or victim living in the home for less than 60 days prior to the lethal attack. Two of these deaths involved infants, just 6 and 8 days old, carried out by a pet pit bull and wolf-dog hybrid, respectively.

Breed Misidentification Conflicts

In 2018, there were three breed misidentification conflicts; taxpayer-funded animal shelter officials perpetuated all three. The alleged "sausage dog attack" of Tracy Garcia in Oklahoma, can only be seen as fraud carried out by two employees of the Ardmore Animal Shelter. The cheeky media reports went viral, despite a statement by a veterinarian disputing them, the only professional who had examined these dogs while they were alive. The largest dog in the pack is clearly a pit bull.

It was not only the breed that Dr. Aldridge disputed, it was the weight of the largest dog too, which Aldridge estimated to be 55-60 pounds.

The second misidentification conflict involved a dog that was picked up as a stray on February 23, 2018 by Pinellas County Animal Services and identified as a "pit bull mix type." By March 14, the dog was relabeled a "Retriever/Hound" mix and available for adoption. The dog's first documented bite occurred at the adoption center on March 26 when the dog first met and bit its adopter, Paul Maser. Five months later, the dog fatally attacked an infant while under the care of Maser's wife.

The third breed misidentification conflict occurred in October after a family pit bull of eight years brutally killed its female owner in The District. Chris Schindler of Humane Rescue Alliance, the taxpayer-funded animal control contracting agency in D.C., deliberately distorted the truth about this "obvious" pit bull, calling it a "very large breed mix dog—mixed-breed dog" on television while standing in front of an Alliance transport van covered with large, vivid photographs of pit bulls.

Read our letter in full to D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Police Chief Peter Newsham

Summary

With four public information requests still out at the time of writing this post, we believe that more breed identification photographs for 2018 will eventually be obtained. What stands out the most this year, as in the past, is the number of cases involving dogs taken into quarantine after a fatal attack (over 65% in 2018), but few police/shelter agencies released an identification photograph. We then can only rely on the news media being at the scene or images located on social media.

That 50% of all breed identification photographs in 2018 were the result of our research speaks volumes as well. Since "breed" is nearly always an issue after a fatal pit bull attack, and since a portion of taxpayer-funded animal shelter officials will lie to the media and the public to protect the pit bull breed, it seems fair that more law enforcement agencies should be releasing a breed ID photograph after a deadly attack, like the Citrus County Sheriff's Office did after a baby's death.

2018 Fatal Dog Attack Breed Identification Photographs

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Rylee Dodge, 3-years old, was killed by a pit bull in Duncan, Oklahoma that her father had acquired from a friend five days earlier. Rylee was under the care of her grandmother when the dog attacked. Her father raced home after getting an urgent call. He found his mother lying on top of the dog and Rylee lifeless.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Aurora Little, 8-days old, was mauled to death by her family's wolf-dog hybrid on March 7, 2018 in Lee County, Virginia. The dog fatally attacked the infant while she was in a bassinet. The family was also fostering two young children that had been approved by social services to live in their wolf-dog hybrid household.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Noah Trevino, 4-years old, was killed by a family pit bull-mix on March 25, 2018 in Converse, Texas. Noah had been playing alone in the backyard where the dog named Bam Bam was tied to a fence. When Noah entered into the "death radius" of its chain, the dog snatched him by the neck and shook him, killing him.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Hong Saengsamly, 49-years old, was killed by up to three family dogs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 25, 2018. Her son Jack conducted a well-being check after not being able to reach her. He found her dead on the kitchen floor and her black and white pit bull guarding her. He shot the hostile pit bull twice, killing it.

See: Summary | Full blog post | All images |

Tracy Garcia, 52 years old, was killed by a pack of dogs in Ardmore, Oklahoma on May 10, 2018. The breed(s) of dogs involved in her death became a national debate. Veterinarian Dr. Douglas Aldridge, the only professional who examined the dogs while they were alive, said at least one appeared to be a pit bull.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Georgia Morgan, 75-years old, was killed by two pit bulls after entering into the dog owner's yard in Gulfport, Mississippi on May 16, 2018. The owner of the pit bulls, Emily Craft, 32, was arrested after the attack on a 2017 warrant for two misdemeanor charges -- having a dog at large and a vicious animal charge.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Liana Valino, 9-months old, was killed by a family pit bull while under the care of her grandmother in Miramar, Florida on May 30, 2018. The grandmother told a Spanish-speaking 911 translator, "My son’s dog killed the 8-month-old girl," she said. "I locked the dog in the bathroom and the baby is dead in the living room."

See: Summary | Full blog post | Jenna Sutphin, 28-years old, was brutally killed by a dogo Argentino that she and her fiancé, Jason Hammer, who is a Prince George's County Correctional Center K-9 handler, had been breeding at their home in Huntingtown, Maryland on June 21, 2018. The fatally attacking dogo was an adult male named Rocky.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Jaevon Torres, 2-years old, was killed by three pit bulls belonging to his babysitter while under her care in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 1, 2018. Officers open fired through the doorway to reach the boy, who was "bleeding from his head, face, body, both arms and legs," Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Della Riley, 42-years old, was brutally killed by her own pit bull in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 22, 2018. In 2014, Riley was also attacked by a family pit bull and told friends afterward, "The dog is gone. I'm not going to get another dog." Riley had two dogs in her home when she died -- a pit bull and a rottweiler.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Robin Conway, 64-years old, was killed by a pit bull she had rescued from death row two weeks earlier. The pit bull, named "Snowball" (previously named "Bullet"), was pulled from the Logan County Pound in West Virginia by a rescue, transported to another location then given to Conway in Columbia, Maryland.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Teena Mawhorter, 74-years old, was killed by a family pit bull-mix in Siskiyou County, California on September 6, 2018. The brown and white pit bull-mix also attacked one of her daughters, who intervened to help save Mawhorter. An autopsy determined the cause of death was "severe blunt facial and head trauma."

See: Summary | Full blog post | Susan Sweeney, 58-years old, was fatally attacked by a dog her husband had adopted several days earlier from The Animal Foundation in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her husband of 26 years returned from work about 11:40 pm and found his wife dead. He told the 911 dispatcher, "she's chewed up bud" and beyond help.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Khloe Williams, 7-months old, was killed by a dog while in foster care on October 5, 2018. Clearwater Police Detective Jonathan Maser was her foster parent. Maser's mother was babysitting Khloe when her dog attacked the baby. The dog had been adopted from Pinellas County Animal Services in late March.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Angela Smith, 55-years old, was attacked and killed by a family pit bull inside her D.C. home on October 14, 2018. Smith and her husband, Rob Frazier, had owned the dog for 8-years and raised it since it was a puppy. "I just left out the house. It was 15 minutes, and I come back, she was dead," Frazier said.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Triniti Harrell, 1-year old, was killed by a family pit bull that was "slinging the child around in its mouth." A deputy shot the dog once, which did not stop the dog, then shot it again, killing it. The 911 dispatcher had instructed the mother to, "Cut [the dog] across the bottom of his neck. It's going to release his jaw muscles."

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Cecileigh Garris, 6-days old, was mauled to death a pit bull while under the care of her grandparents. A pit bull at her grandparent's home climbed into the baby's crib and attacked the infant while Pamela Garris, the infant's grandmother, was in another room, according to a Citrus County Sheriff's Office report.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Sharon Daniels, 77-years old, was killed by up to three family pit bulls in Big Prairie Township, Michigan on November 13, 2018. She was pronounced dead at the scene. "Multiple dog bites coupled with some underlying health issues" contributed to this being a fatal accident, MSP Lt. Matthew Kanitz said at the time.

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Post Publication Identification Photographs

Breed identification photographs discovered after the publication of this post on January 8, 2019. These photographs are not included in our overall analysis; they were unavailable at that time.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Bradley Cline, 62-years old, was brutally attacked by two male, neutered pit bulls belonging to his son on May 23 in Henderson, Nevada. He was rushed to Sunrise Hospital, where he died three days later. His son told police he adopted "Spike and Zeus" from the Henderson Animal Shelter eight months earlier.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Kristie Kelley, 44-years old, was horribly mauled by a solid white mastiff that her husband was breeding at their home on October 23. She was airlifted to a trauma center, where she died four days later. A report from the Hunt County Sheriff's Office showed this was not the first time Kelley had been bitten by this dog.

How We Track Photograph Sources

We track the identification photograph's original source. There also may be multiple images in one case, so multiple sources may be attributed to a single case. For instance, after the death of infant Khloe, the news media shot original images and through a FOIA, DogsBite obtained the original adoption listing images. Also, the news media can be an overlapping (dual) category because they often republish images provided by law enforcement that the public otherwise would not see.

What is easy to see in our tracking and analysis is the rising number of identification photographs located on social media, from only 16% (3) of all collected images in 2013 to 56% (10) in 2018. It is also easy to see the remarkably low number of law enforcement and shelters that release identification photographs after a fatal dog attack. They supplied just 11% (2) of the 15 cases with identification images and just 8% (2) of the 24 quarantine cases after a dog bite fatality in 2018.

Photograph Tracking Categories

News media supplied photograph and/or an important republished photograph
Social media website supplied identification photograph
Law enforcement or animal control department supplied photograph
Animal control allowed news media to take photographs inside shelter
Canines shot to death at the scene of a fatal dog attack
Canines taken into quarantine after a fatal dog attack

breed identification Human Rescue Alliance

Humane Rescue Alliance falsely labeled a pit bull that killed its owner a "mixed-breed dog."

1The number of cases involving dogs quarantined (67%) and dogs shot to death at the scene (42%) is greater than 100% because in some cases both occurred due to the attack involving multiple dogs.

DogsBite blog ::

Nonprofit Obtained 50% of all Breed ID Photographs in 2018

2018 Fatal Dog Attack Breed Identification Photographs

Post Publication Identification Photographs

How We Track Photograph Sources