Posted on January 18, 2017 by Colleen Lynn

2017 Dog Bite Fatality: Infant Killed by Family Dog in San Marcos, Texas

2-month old Skylar Dean Julius died after being attacked by the family dog.

Father Refused Tests
UPDATE 01/20/17: The San Marcos Police Department issued an update today. Investigators continue to await autopsy results from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office about an infant that was killed by the family German shepherd Tuesday. "Preliminary findings do not show old trauma, such as previous broken bones, bruising, or other injuries, that could be indicative of prior abuse, or other indicators of injury that would be suspicious to investigators," states the release.

The father would not consent to testing for drugs or alcohol. - San Marcos PD

"Police found that there was not enough probable cause to obtain a warrant for blood tests on the father for drugs or alcohol. The father would not consent to testing for drugs or alcohol," states the release, which certainly appears to be a huge red flag. Many people are wondering how the father slept through this horrible event. The investigation remains active and ongoing. The results of the investigation will be sent to the Hays County District Attorney’s office for review, states the release.

01/18/17: Infant Killed by Dog
San Marcos, TX - Police are investigating after a 2-month old baby was killed by a family dog. Authorities identified the baby girl as Skylar Dean Julius. Animal control officers impounded a German shepherd that was inside the home. On January 17, at about 1:30 pm, police and EMS were dispatched to the 1000 block of Sagewood Trail for a report of a baby with "numerous animal bites." She was transported to Central Texas Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

The father told police he fell asleep while the baby was sleeping in a bouncer bassinet next to him on the couch. He woke up about 20 minutes later and found her cold to the touch, unresponsive and on the floor. San Marcos Police Department Commander Kelly Earnest said 911 dispatchers helped the father administer CPR over the phone. The dog bites were mainly concentrated in her abdomen area, Earnest said. The family had owned the German shepherd for more than 8-years.

Earnest said the baby's mother was not home when the fatal attack occurred; she was at work. The infant's death continues to be an active investigation. Autopsy results from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office in Austin are expected in the coming days. Child Protection Services is also investigating her death, which is routine when a child this young dies in a home. There were no other children living in the home. The family had recently moved to the area, Earnest said.

CBS Austin shows the news conference given by Earnest. The family had raised the male dog since it was a puppy, she said. The family told her it did not have a history of aggression. Police had never been called to the home before and they did not find anything suspicious at the scene, she said. When asked by a reporter how a father could sleep through this event, she said, "Still very new. Those are questions we would love to know, but they are unanswered at this point."

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 16, 2017 by Colleen Lynn

"Just Lean On Me" - Cleveland Heights Police Officer

Caution dog attack victims! This video may cause you to relive your attack.

Raw Bodycam Video
DogsBite.org - Nearly one year ago today, on January 24, 2016, a Cleveland Heights police officer rescued a young woman who had just been attacked by a vicious pit bull. Prior to reaching the victim, the officer shot and killed the violent animal. Several days later, the Cleveland Heights Police Department released this dramatic bodycam video showing how this officer came to her aid. The young woman is not gravely injured, and surely is partly why they chose to release it.

This video is not intended for dog attack victims. It is for victims to send to friends and family who do not understand the gravity of your attack.

The immediate and stunning raw footage shows the first three minutes after the attack. The young woman is in shock and believes she is dying. Nearly all victims of serious dog attacks believe they are dying; that is how violent these attacks are. The police officer tells the victim she is going to be okay. "Stay with me, look at me, look at me, stay with me. You're okay," he says. He quickly tells her too that the life-threatening event is over. "The dog's right there. It's dead. I had to shoot it."

An officer arrived and saw the dog biting the woman's arm. The dog then jumped on the woman and tried to bite her neck.
The officer pushed the dog off the woman. The dog charged at him, and he fired a shot that hit the animal's neck, the report says.
The dog backed off before trying to attack the officer again. The officer fired a second shot that hit the dog below its eye. The dog collapsed. - Cleveland.com, January 29, 2016

After we watched this video last year, and cried a thousand tears, we wrote to the Cleveland Heights Police Department, thanking them for releasing it. At that time we did not place it on the blog, fearing too many of our readers who have suffered a serious dog attack would react the same way. That fear still holds true today. This video is so tactile that it may cause victims to relive their own attack. We mean that too. It could unleash a torrent of powerful emotions and tears.

The video shows the vulnerability of a traumatized victim and the comforting words of this officer, "Just lean on me." That is truly how it happens and what first responders do every second of every day in our country when responding to life-threatening emergencies. In this instance, the officer arrived just in time too, shooting the pit bull and averting additional injuries. But arriving just in time is not always possible and is another reason why some cities regulate this dog breed.

The video also shows how the officer helps the victim breath. "In your nose, out your mouth. In your nose, out your mouth," he says while placing his hand on her shoulder to stabilize her. "Stay awake for me. The ambulance is coming," the officer says. At this time (about 2 minutes and 20 seconds in), more police officers arrive and a siren is faintly heard in the background. The officer quickly explains to the others what happened. The bodycam video ends when the firemen arrive.

Portion of our letter to Cleveland Heights Police Chief:
There are two extremely jarring, but heavenly moments in a violent dog attack. The moment you realize you are not dead, and the moment you realize you will be okay. That is exactly what that video showed and the part of my own attack experience that came back to me. The victim had not reached this point yet, but the officer had and the viewing audience had too. We knew she was safe and was going to be okay.
Watching the officer help this young woman was just sheer powerful awesomeness! Up close, intimate and hands on. The way it really goes down!
Thank you and God bless the Cleveland Heights Police Department! - Colleen Lynn, Founder of DogsBite.org, January 29, 2016

A day after the news media aired the raw footage, Chante Pray, 22, spoke with Fox 8 Cleveland. She describes the attack as the media cuts back to the video. "I'm dying, that's all I could think was, that I was dying," she said. The dog was "clamping down tighter" as she struggled to get away, she explained. Pray was amazingly able to call 911 and shout out the address. Moments later, Cleveland Heights police officer Everett Haworth arrived on scene and shot the pit bull.

Holding back tears, Pray says, "I really appreciate the officer saving me, because if he wouldn't have saved me, I wouldn't be with my daughter. My daughter would not have a mom." At the time of the attack, the pit bull was "supposed" to be in quarantine after biting a child on January 13. Pray knows the dog's owner and believes the false myth, "It's all how they're raised." After Pray was attacked, police cited the owner for keeping a vicious dog and failing to have insurance.

This story is not over. Several days later, Pray thanks Officer Haworth in person at the police station, where she runs into an unexpected event.

On February 2, Pray and her mother went to the Cleveland Heights Police Department bearing gifts. They brought him balloons, stuffed animals, a photo of Pray with her daughter and a box of chocolates. At about one minute into the sweet reunited video, a police K-9 passes behind Pray with an officer. Like a sudden rogue wave, a blanket of fear engulfs her. She lets out a long breath. Pray said it was the first contact she had with a dog since the pit bull attack on January 24.1

Pray's mother thanked Officer Haworth as well. "You were there, pretty much almost stroking her hair, telling her everything was going to be okay. You were there when I couldn't be," Michelle Augustine-McClendon said. Officer Haworth replied that he did what he thought she needed. "She'd just been through something pretty traumatic," he said. Now Pray and her mother call Officer Haworth a "guardian angel." He says he was simply keeping his oath to protect and serve.

Marginalizing Victims

Many parts of our society marginalize victims of dog attacks and their injuries, even times family members and friends. Some go beyond marginalizing them by blaming them too, because in their minds, a dog cannot be a bad actor. This societal influence is so strong that even some victims cannot call a vicious dog a bad actor -- like Pray, who blamed the dog's owner for its actions. Pray also stated the pit bull "was not letting go," a trait the dog was selectively bred to perform.

Our call to action for victims is to share this blog post with those who marginalize or fail to grasp the gravity of your traumatic dog attack.

We know of only three groups who will not marginalize dog attack victims in any way. The first are the emergency responders who arrive at the scene, just like this video shows. The next are the medical doctors who treat the victims' injuries, which may include a long list of doctors with different specialties. The third are the personal injury attorneys who take their case -- assuming a case exists at all. Many dog bite victims have no case because the dog's owner lacks insurance.

The Power of this Video

In the 9 years of DogsBite.org, we have never seen a video as powerful as this one. It took us a full year before we were able to write about it too. This is the reality, in real time, showing what happens when first responders arrive to a 911 call about a vicious dog attack. In this case, after Pray was able to scream into her cell phone the location of the attack. Do not forget to look at the snow tracks and blood below either, which shows the struggle and violence during this attack.

Editorial note: We greatly thank Fox 8 Cleveland for following up and showing the full version of this honest and heartfelt story. Very seldom does a pit bull attack have a happy ending in this way. We again thank the Cleveland Heights Police Department for releasing this powerful video, and for the valor and amazing care by Officer Everett Haworth. We cried another thousand tears writing this post; they were bittersweet tears of pain and relief. As Chante Pray nears the first anniversary of her attack -- which is the hardest one of all -- our hearts go out to her. We hope she is surrounded by loving family on this day.

1On may truly have to be a dog attack victim to understand the magnitude of fear and the expression on Pray's face when the police K-9 passes by. This response would be to any medium or large-sized dog independent of breed.

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Colleen Lynn

72% of All Dog Bite Fatalities Had Breed Identification Images

Photographs of six fatally attacking dogs in 2016 obtained from multiple sources.

Jump down to view all 2016 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. Of the 29 dog bite fatalities recorded in 2016 -- 3 additional cases remain pending -- 72% (21) had identification photographs, up from 46% last year. Pit bulls and their mixes represent 76% of the images collected in 2016. Their close relatives, American bulldogs, represent 10%.

Combined, pit bulls, American bulldogs and their mixes represent 86% of all breed identification images obtained in 2016 after fatal dog attacks.

Of the 21 cases with breed identification photographs, 62% (13) were captured by news media, up from 44% last year. 43% (9) were located on social media pages of the dog's owner or family members and 10% (2) were supplied by animal control or sheriff's departments, down from 38% last year. Animal service departments in California, Florida and Connecticut did allow news media to photograph the dogs while quarantined in 5 other cases, raising that number from 10% to 33%.

Of all cases with breed identification photographs, 90% (19) involved dogs taken into custody and quarantined and 14% (3) where shot and killed on scene.1 Images of two dogs shot were located on social media pages of their owners. Of all 29 recorded dog bite fatalities, 24% (7) involved a pack attack of four or more dogs. Photographs of nearly all of the involved dogs were obtained in 71% (5) of these cases, indicating that even dogs in pack attacks can have identification images.

Breed Mislabeling Debate in 2016

In 2016, there was one instance where an animal control official deliberately manipulated breed information to confuse the public and protect pit bulls. Deputy Director Dan DeSousa of San Diego County Animal Services, long known for his pit bull sympathies, did so after a neutered pit bull-mix was rehomed by the San Diego Humane Society then killed a newborn baby. DeSousa first labeled the dog an "American Staffordshire terrier-mix" then later, a "great dane-terrier mix."

The other high-profile "breed confusion" debate in 2016 also occurred due to decisions by an animal control officer. After the horrific mauling death of Jocelyn Winfrey, 53, New Haven Animal Control Officer Joseph Manganiello initially refused to allow news media to view the two dogs that early reports stated were pit bulls. The media eventually got their way and clarified to the public the dogs were American bulldog-mixes (a pit bull-type dog) belonging to Dr. Hamilton Hicks.2

Photographs Are Supplemental

Identification photographs are a supplement to the hundreds of multi-sourced news reports that we collect each year for U.S. dog bite fatality victims and are listed on our Dog Bite Fatality Citations pages. Though we are still collecting news reports for 2016 -- criminal trials and more -- so far we have recorded 700 citations for 29 victims. That is more than last year, which had 34 fatality victims. Please glance over our 2016 Dog Bite Fatality Citations page to review its length.

News reports pertaining to fatal dog attacks -- with or without identification photographs -- are nearly always multi-sourced. This means that multiple parties have identified the dog's breed including, but not limited to: animal control officers, police officers or sheriff's deputies, other public safety officials, the dog's owner or family members, witnesses and even veterinarians. The images are often greatly helpful, but are also just one component of the overall information available.

Summary of 2016 Photo Trends

In 2016, the news media did an outstanding job in obtaining breed identification photos -- thank you! Of the four highest profile cases this year, only one, the death of a 7-year old boy, required extensive research by DogsBite.org to uncover an image of the dog, along with explaining the dynamics of an intrafamily backyard pit bull breeding operation. Of the 21 cases with identification images in 2016, DogsBite uncovered 29% (6) that otherwise were not published in the media.3

90% (19) of the cases with identification photographs involved dogs taken into custody and quarantined, yet in only 10% (2) of these cases were images directly supplied by animal control departments. It should be standard protocol after a fatal dog attack for officials to release photographs of the dogs when quarantined. The public should not have to rely on news media or social media websites for identification images after these dogs have been taken into custody.

More photos of larger sizes are often available at the indicated full blog post link for each victim.

2016 Fatal Dog Attack Breed Identification Photographs

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Tyler Trammell-Huston, 9-years old, was killed by his half-sister's three pit bulls after she left him alone with the dogs in a small trailer on January 3, 2016. Alexandria Griffin-Heady, 24, had hoped to "rescue" Tyler from the foster system.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Aiden Grim, 3-days old, was fatally bitten on the head by a family dog on February 7, 2016. Officials said the labrador-shepherd mix that belonged to the mother's brother tried to pick the baby up from a laundry basket causing fatal brain injuries.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Suzanne Story, 36-years old, was brutally killed by a pit bull-mix on February 10, 2016. Story had acquired the dog about two weeks earlier from a newspaper ad in The Virginian Pilot that said the dog was "very good" with kids and people.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Gladys Alexander, 92-years old, was attacked by up to four large dogs after entering a neighbor's home to give her a newspaper on March 8, 2016. She was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, where she later died.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Bessie Flowers, 86-years old, was killed by her daughter's two pit bulls on March 28, 2016. At the time, she was visiting her daughter's home. While in the home, Flowers slipped on the dog bed and the pit bulls fatally attacked her face and neck.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Sebastian Caban, 3-days old, was killed by a pit bull-mix while lying in bed with his parents and the dog. When his mother coughed, the dog attacked the baby. The couple adopted the dog from the San Diego Humane Society 5-months earlier.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Manuel Mejia, 49-years old, was killed by a pack of dogs in Miami-Dade County on April 24, 2016. The dogs, an American bulldog and nine Belgian malinois-bulldog mix offspring, belong to his employer, the owner of a Dragon Fruit farm.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Adonis Reddick, 45-years old, was killed by his own pit bull on May 9, 2016. The dog attacked his neck causing fatal injuries. Reddick had developmental disabilities and is remembered as a powerful advocate for others living with disabilities.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Earl Stephens Jr., 43-years old, was killed by a pit bull and its two younger offspring while visiting the owner's home on June 4, 2016. Officials described Stephens' injuries as "massive." Deputies shot and killed the main aggressor, an adult male.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Hunter Bragg, 7-years old, was brutally killed by a pit bull while visiting his father at the owner's home on June 4, 2016. Hunter was playing in the yard with two other children when the chained male pit bull fatally attacked his throat and face.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Erin McCleskey, 36-years old, was killed by up to six dogs while serving civil papers to a home on June 15, 2016. A judge ordered all six dogs put down. "She didn’t deserve to die, and these animals don’t have a license to kill," stated the judge.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Jocelyn Winfrey, 53-years old, was brutally savaged by two pit bull-type dogs while visiting the dog owner's home; she died on June 27, 2016. Dr. Hamilton Hicks, the owner, was a resident in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Susie Kirby, 3-days old, was killed by two dogs on June 27, 2016. Both dogs were thought to be tied up outside, but that was untrue. One of the dogs with a history of aggression came into the home, snatched the baby and drug her outside.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Elizabeth Rivera, 71-years old, was killed by up to four family pit bulls in her southwest Detroit home on July 16, 2016. Several years earlier, Rivera was severely bitten in the face by a different pit bull owned by the same family members.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Crisencio Aliado, 52-years old, was killed by two pit bulls on July 29, 2016. The dogs belonged to the owners of ContainerLand, a local business, and "somehow" escaped the fenced warehouse. Both dogs were later returned to their owners.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Michelle Wilcox, 30-years old, was fatally attacked by a male pit bull belonging to her boyfriend on August 1, 2016. Wilcox had studied pre-veterinary medicine at Gainesville State College and animal science at the University of Georgia.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Derion Stevenson, 9-years old, was attacked by a pit bull-mix while visiting the dog owner's home on August 17, 2016. The male dog attacked him in the throat and face killing him. 3-weeks earlier, the same dog attacked a neighborhood dog.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Michael Downing, 83-years old, was killed by a pack of dogs on August 19, 2016. The dogs escaped their yard through a hole in the fence, attacked the man then dragged him back through the hole. He was discovered dead and dismembered.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Susan Shawl, 60-years old, was mauled to death by her two family pit bulls on August 29, 2016. The dogs belonged to her son, who was also attacked by his dogs while trying to save Shawl. The family had owned the pit bulls for at least 8-years.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Piper Dunbar, 2-years old, was killed by two pit bulls on September 24, 2016. The dogs belonged to a family friend who was temporarily staying at Piper's home. A search-and-rescue team found Piper mauled to death in her front yard.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Isaiah Franklin, 6-years old, was mauled to death by a family pit bull at his home in Huntington on December 2, 2016. The dog attacked him in the head and neck, causing fatal injuries. The male pit bull belonged to his mother's boyfriend.

Post Publication Identification Photographs

Breed identification photographs discovered after the publication of this post on January 9, 2017. These photographs are not included in our overall analysis; they were unavailable at that time.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Daisie Bradshaw, 68-years old, was killed by two dogs belonging to her daughter; the trio had been living in the basement of her Staten Island home for the past five years. Daisie entered the basement that day and the dogs attacked her.

See: Summary | Full blog post | David Fear, 64-years old, was attacked by a police officer's "retired" attack-trained K-9 after it escaped its owner's property. The dog first attack Betty Long. Fear intervened to save her life and suffered critical injuries causing his death.

1In one of these cases, the main attacker was shot on scene and its two offspring, also involved in the attack, were taken into custody and photographed. Thus, the mauling death of Earl Stephens Jr. counted in both categories.
2The 20-year fatal dog attack study (Breeds of Dogs Involved in Fatal Human Attacks in the United States Between 1979 and 1998) co-authored by CDC, AVMA and HSUS members and published in 2000 did NOT separate American bulldogs from the pit bull category. This study specifically called the pit bull category "pit bull-type." DogsBite.org has always tracked American bulldogs and pit bulls in separate categories.
3Specifically the cases involving the pit bull mauling deaths of Adonis Reddick, 45-years old of Missouri, Hunter Bragg, 7-years old of Maine, Crisencio Aliado, 52-years old of Hawaii, Michelle Wilcox, 30-years old of Georgia, Piper Dunbar, 2-years old of Kansas and Isaiah Franklin, 6-years old of West Virginia.

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Colleen Lynn

How a Pit Bull Fulfills its Destiny: Breed-Specific Traits

Family pit bull named "Scarface" mauls family after owner tries to put a sweater on it.

Family Pit Bull Berserks
Tampa, FL - In a story that has gone national now, we remind readers of breed-specific traits. Last Friday, WTSB reported that a family pit bull named "Scarface" attacked three family members after its owner tried to put a sweater on it. Brenda Guerrero, 52, went outside to put a sweater on the dog, when it began attacking her. When her husband, Ismal Guerrero, 46, intervened, the dog attacked him too. Their 22-year old son also intervened, stabbing the dog in the head and neck.

All three fled the house, leaving the pit bull in the backyard. Police and animal control responded to the bloody scene. Animal control officers shot the dog with a tranquilizer gun, but the pit bull was still able to get back into the home where two children were present. Police used a Taser and a bean bag gun on the dog before finally catching it. Guerrero's granddaughter, Tina Harris, said she underwent surgery Friday and is recovering from her injuries at Tampa General Hospital.

Breed-Specific Traits

Any other dog breed objecting to being handled for a sweater fitting would have barked or at best, nipped. The hold and shake bite style, which caused Guerrero serious injury, is a pit bull specific behavior, as is repeatedly attacking. The dog continued its assault after being stabbed in the head and neck, shot with a tranquilizer and Tasered. "When they Tased the dog the dog was still pulling away and was able to release the prongs from the Taser," Officer Eddy Durkin told ABC 7 News.

DogsBite blog ::

2017 Dog Bite Fatality: Infant Killed by Family Dog in San Marcos, Texas

Bodycam Video Shows First 3 Minutes After Pit Bull Attack; Police Officer Rescues Victim and Provides Comfort

"Just Lean On Me" - Cleveland Heights Police Officer

Pit Bull Named 'Scarface' Mauls Family Members After Owner Tries to Put a Christmas Sweater on the Dog

How a Pit Bull Fulfills its Destiny: Breed-Specific Traits