DogsBite Blog

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Colleen Lynn

Fatal Pit Bull Attack in Penobscot County, Maine

Hunter Bragg, 7, was killed by a pit bull while visiting the dog owner's home in Corinna.

Medical Examiner's Report
UPDATE 08/25/16: Local newspapers obtained a copy of the state medical examiner’s report for 7-year old Hunter Bragg. On June 4, Hunter was fatally attacked in the throat and face by a male pit bull while visiting his father at the home of Gary Merchant Jr. at 207 Moody’s Mill Road in Corinna. Hunter’s father, Jason Bragg, was living in a camper on Merchant’s property, states the report. Bragg was still trying to revive his son through CPR when first responders arrived.

Hunter died of “sharp and blunt force wounds of the neck” and “multiple blunt and sharp force injuries of [his] head,” states the medical examiner’s report. Injuries to his head and face included “sharp and blunt force wounds” inflicted on the boy’s face and scalp. The pit bull repeatedly attacked the boy until it executed the killing bite. Our hearts go out to Hunter’s father, who will live with witnessing the horrific destruction this pit bull inflicted on his son for the rest of his life.

The 1.5-year old male pit bull, named Koda, belonged to Merchant. The dog previously belonged to the daughter of Merchant’s wife since a puppy. Amber, who lives in Vermont, returned the pit bull to the Merchants in early 2016 after it attacked another dog in her home multiple times. Koda was the product of an intrafamily backyard pit bull breeding operation. Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton said the "thorough investigation" into the boy's mauling death "remains active."

View the state medical examiner's report of Hunter Bragg – finalized August 17, 2016

06/11/16: Bite Report Obtained
The Morning Sentinel obtained the dog bite report. Information in the report verifies all that we have written about since this fatality was first reported and more. The dog's name is indeed "Koda," as stated on the bite report, and is described as a brindle and white male pit bull, specifically as a "brindle with white face." The age of the dog is 1.5 years old, states the bite report. The dog we originally posted on June 5 along side Amber's comments is the killer.

The bite report contains additional information, including that the dog fatally bit Hunter in the throat, the boy had been left unattended at the time, and that Koda had previously "attacked [Amber's] other dog several times." The Sentinel also interviewed animal control officer Charles Gould who said the pit bull was chained in the yard when he arrived on scene. Gould said there were adults in the yard at the time of the attack, but he was unsure if they witnessed the attack.

Intrafamily Backyard Pit Bull Breeding Operation

To help readers navigate this "complex" case, we created a chronology of the screenshots captured while researching the pit bull involved in the mauling death of Hunter Bragg. What we discovered while researching was a classic intrafamily backyard pit bull breeding operation. In this case, there is also a strong possibility that the litter that produced Koda in October 2014 also bore two pit bulls that were legally declared vicious before the age of 1. Genetics is real and it matters.

In 2013, two bullmastiff-pit bull mix littermates killed two different people less than 10 miles apart within a 5-month period in Central Arkansas.1

In the chronology, we call to attention the widespread false and dangerous belief that dog aggression never translates into human aggression. Koda did not only have aggression toward male dogs when smelling a female in heat (the classic reason to neuter male dogs). Koda had breed-specific aggression, which is why Bandit was killed. Interdog aggression, generally, means aggression toward dogs, not killing another dog, which pit bulls were purpose-bred to do.

Oct. 13, 2014 - Amber's mother Stacey shows her the new puppy that is later named "Koda." Danielle, who is Stacey's half sister, also tells Amber, "Stacey pups are perfect for you." Stacey's Facebook page had many litters dating back years.
Oct. 13, 2014 - Amber is also shown backside. Some of the main players have just been introduced. Danielle, a pit bull owner and breeder, is part of this intrafamily pit bull breeding operation. One of her dogs/offspring was possibly part of this breeding.
Nov. 16, 2014 - Stacey posts a status update about her female pit bull, Star, that broke free of its chain. The family laughs at this behavior. Stacey adds: "Ya our male pit has broken a lot of chains... we finally had to buy a tow cable. Haha."
Nov. 17, 2014 - Amber posts a photo of her pit bull puppy, Koda, that is a week away from being released by the intrafamily breeders. Amber states, "Koda bout 1 more week cant wait" [sic] then tags her husband. Koda is likely 7-weeks old now.
Aug. 13, 2015 - Photo showing Koda at less than 1 year old. That's a large pit bull for this age. Danielle specializes in breeding larger pit bulls. In one comment she writes that Koda "looks like his momma" -- which implies one of her own stock.
Aug. 24, 2015 - Amber's brother Andrew posts three updates after his two pit bulls are declared vicious by the Village of Morrisville, Vermont. His dogs likely came from the October litter too, making them less than a year old and already gaining a vicious designation. So far, potentially, there is one killer and two vicious dogs from the same litter. Anti-social attitudes and denial of responsibility stand out as well, particularly by aunt Danielle who replies, "want aunti and Lokie to come show 'em what a mean motherfuckin dog looks like?" [sic] They are proud of their aggressive pit bulls.
Sep. 17 2015 - Amber posts about Koda attacking her beagle, named Bandit. It takes a baseball bat to break up the fight and requires a $353 vet bill. She admits that Koda has already been bred once before the age of 1 year old and that his aggression began earlier. "He used to do it before he even had sex," she states.
Nov. 18, 2015 - Photo showing Koda just over 1 year old. This is one month after the nonfatal attack on Bandit and a month before Bandit is killed. We also provided this in the chronology because it is the main image that we point to for Koda.
Dec. 26, 2015 - On Christmas Day, Bandit is killed. Amber posts, "I lost a special part of my life last night … I love you to pieces Bandit baby." She does not explain how and asks friends to "PM me" in comments. We believe Koda was the culprit.
Jan. 6, 2016 - Ten days later, Amber states that she is getting rid of Koda. "I can no longer keep him around I am proud of the good boy he has become (minus the bad side he does have)." This clearly regards his serious dog-aggression.
Jan. 7, 2016 - The next day Amber posts a status update stating, "it breaks my heart to see how much can change in one year! RIP Bandit!" The Timehop photo shows all three of her dogs sitting on the couch together one year earlier.
Feb. 5, 2016 - Koda is first seen (as an adult dog) on Stacey's page. Koda is next seen on March 25 in a wire crate kennel. Certainly by March 25, Koda has been returned to the Merchants. It is unknown if there were additional rehoming plans.
Apr. 15, 2016 - On U.S. Tax Day, Stacey is seen selling pit bull puppies on her Facebook page. Stacey writes, "They for sale." When asked, "How much are you asking for?" Stacey replies: "200." Her husband Gary Merchant Jr. is seen as well.
May 12, 2016 - Amber and her brother are "excited" as the buyer delivery date for this latest round of pit bull puppies gets closer. "Just can't wait," Andrew says (whose two other pit bulls were declared vicious). Amber says, "Me either!!!"
May 21, 2016 - Amber shows off one of her two new pit bull puppies. On June 1, both are seen in her car, just three days before Hunter is killed by Koda. It must be expressed that Amber did not just want one new pit bull, she wanted two.
Jun. 4, 2016 - While 7-year old Hunter Bragg is visiting the Merchant's home at 207 Moody's Mill Road in Corinna, Koda executes the killing bite. Koda attacks Hunter in the throat, killing him. It is unknown if the dog was chained at the time.
Jun. 5, 2016 - Stacey posts about her guilt after Hunter's death. "The guilt that is building up inside" is heart wrenching, she writes in part. "I don't know how to say I am sorry to my entire family..." The next day, she privatizes her Facebook page.
Jun. 5, 2016 - Another Bragg family member posts about the loss of Hunter to his public Facebook page. When asked in comments, "What happened?" He states: "Our cousin Stacey's dog attacked him." He adds the dog was a "pit bull."
Jun. 5, 2016 - Amber posts about her guilt in a status update, "All I can do is feel guilt! Everything bad that has happened seems to have came back to me, wether it was nobodys fault I still feel responsible! I wish I could turn back time…" [sic]
Jun. 5, 2016 - Amber starts publicly broadcasting on the WABI Facebook thread that she formerly owned the dog that killed Hunter and that she rehomed the pit bull-boxer mix because the dog "did not get along with other small male dogs."

View the redacted bite report of Hunter Bragg - Town of Corinna Animal Control.

06/09/16: More Information Released
Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton released new information about the pit bull involved in the mauling death of 7-year old Hunter Bragg on June 4. As suspected, the pit bull had originated from the Merchant home at 207 Moody's Mill Road and was recently returned to them for reasons Morton has still not released. "That is a major part of the investigation," Morton said. "Who returned it, when was it returned, where had it been and was there any issues while it was gone."

The Bangor Daily News reports that under state kennel rules, Gary Merchant's ownership of 8 dogs qualifies him as a kennel, but he is not required to register with the town. If more than one puppy is sold in less than a year’s time, Merchant would be required to register as a vendor, according to state law. Serena Bemis-Goodall, the town manager of Corinna, said Merchant does not have business license registered with the town and does not know if he is a dog breeder.

“A person may not advertise for sale, sell or exchange for value more than one cat or dog under the age of 6 months in a 12-month period unless that person has a valid animal shelter, kennel, breeding kennel or pet shop license or a valid vendor’s license." - See full state requirements

The Morning Sentinel reports additional details. According to Animal Control Officer Charles Gould, the pit bull that killed Hunter was named Dakota -- the suspected dog, named "Koda," may be a shortened version of this name. Early on, a daughter of Merchant named Amber claimed it was her male, 1.5 year old pit bull that killed the boy in public Facebook comments. Amber's own Facebook page show's that Koda was part of an October 2014 litter from the Merchant family.

Sheriff Morton said that he would not provide any details about why the dog had recently been returned to Merchant after he had owned it previously, reports The Sentinel. Morton also would not comment on who else had owned the dog. "We do have some of those answers, but we’re not prepared to release them," Morton said. Other key information that has not been released is the color-type of the dog (another way to verify Koda) and if the dog was tethered when it attacked.

Key Tips Sent In By Reader

To summarize events so far, details about the dog that attacked and killed Hunter Bragg are generally lining up with Amber's claim of being the former owner of Koda and that he was the aggressor in the attack. Amber is the daughter of Stacey Merchant -- who is married to Gary Merchant Jr. (from this point forward, simply called "the Merchants"). Amber did return Koda to the Merchants after we believe the dog killed her beagle, named Bandit, on Christmas Day 2015.

A week later, Amber posted that she could no longer keep the dog. Koda begins appearing on the Merchants' Facebook page in early February.

On Tuesday, a reader sent in tips that strengthen this scenario further. In September 2015, just a few months before Bandit was killed, Koda viciously attacked Bandit. The fight had to be broken up with a baseball bat and cost $353 in veterinarian bills. In the post, Amber admits that by the age of 1 year old, Koda had already had been bred once and that his dog aggression started even earlier. Amber's veterinarian knows about the September attack, possibly the Christmas one too.

The Sentinel is trying to obtain the bite report about the fatal dog attack that has been completed by animal control. The report includes the name, age and breed of the dog; the name of the victim; and a summary of the attack, along with other information such as whether the dog was up to date on shots and who its veterinarian was, accord to animal control. The last part is essential -- the veterinarian -- which should lead to the veterinarian records and answer critical questions.

As of this update, Amber has privatized her Facebook page. See more discussion in comments.

06/06/16: Child Identified by Sheriff
The 7-year old boy struck down by a pit bull has been identified as Hunter Bragg of Bangor. The adult male pit bull that killed him has been euthanized, Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton said at a news conference Monday. On Saturday, Hunter was playing in the yard with two other children at the home of Gary Merchant Jr. at 207 Moody's Mill Road when the attack occurred. The child's father, Jason Bragg, and Merchant were at the residence at the time, Morton said.

The pit bull belongs to the Merchant family. Town Manager Serena Bemis-Goodall said that Merchant has eight dogs on his property. All were registered except for the pit bull that killed Hunter. Bemis-Goodall told the Portland Press Herald, “My understanding is that (Merchant) took the dog in for someone else just within the last couple of months. It was not registered, otherwise we would have known about it.” Thus matching the account of the dog's previous owner.

The "breeders" from our earlier coverage are Gary and Stacey Merchant, husband and wife, who reside at 207 Moody's Mill Road.

The Press Herald also reports that Patrick Faucher, the president of the board of directors of the Maine Animal Control Association, said that it has "probably been years" since a dog bite fatality occurred in Maine. However, the 2011 mauling death of 7-month old Annabelle Mitchell received extensive media coverage. The child's mother was also charged with a Class D misdemeanor for endangering the life of a child. Faucher apparently was unaware of this local fatal dog attack.

Sheriff Morton stated that additional details of the attack are "sensitive" and are not being released at this time. The incident remains an "active investigation," Sheriff Morton said. The Press Herald also spoke to Joshua Eldgridge, who grew up near the Merchant home. Eldgridge said the home has a number of dogs, including a pit bull that he has seen outside. Eldgridge said he heard there was a chance that another child at the home witnessed the attack, which deeply upset him.

If the dog had ever attacked before, or if it was tethered at the time, are being withheld pending the results of the investigation. - MPDN.net2

The Bangor Daily News adds that in 2012 Hunter lost his mother. The boy's aunt, Jennifer Mcclure, set up a GoFundMe page to help Hunter's family with funeral expenses. She states on the page, "He was taken from everyone at such a young age, but we all know that his mom is now with him and looking after him up in Heaven." Bragg was a student at the Down East Community School in Bangor. School officials were notified of his death by the sheriff's office, Morton said.

Sheriff Morton said he did not know if Merchant was breeding pit bulls or even the relationship between Merchant and Bragg, reports the Daily News. He would not answer further questions about the investigation, including if the pit bull was part of any previous incidents involving law enforcement -- citing "this is a sensitive, complicated investigation." The breeding evidence, however, was clear on Stacey Merchant's Facebook page, which has since been privatized.

Of the screenshots we did take of Stacey's Facebook page -- our main focus was Koda, not the other litters posted to her page -- the last round of pit bull puppies by the Merchants was produced in late March or early April and ready for delivery in mid May. Amber Morin took two of these puppies, despite having "returned" Koda to them in January due to dog-aggression; the pit bull that would later kill Hunter. The household was not limited to the breeding of pit bulls either.3

06/05/16: Child Was Visiting
In an email Sunday evening to the Portland Press Herald, Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton said that more details will be released Monday. “I can appreciate the interest in this incident; however, it is a complex incident and we believe in providing accurate information,” Morton wrote. His answer came in response to questions from reporters about the dog's breed and the child's relationship to the dog. “We plan on putting out additional information tomorrow,” Morton wrote.

"He is not a student from our district. He was there visiting a student from our district (when the dog attacked him)." - Interim superintendent Raymond Freve

Raymond Freve, interim superintendent of Regional School Unit 19, which includes the towns of Corinna, Dixmont, Etna, Hartland, Newport and several others, said Sunday evening the victim did not attend classes in his district. The student the 7-year old boy was visiting attends Corinna Elementary School, Freve said. Grief counselors will be available on Monday at the elementary school for students or staff members who might need to talk to them, reports the Press Herald.

06/05/16: Boy Dies in Dog Attack
Corinna, ME - On Saturday, deputies responded to a dog attack at a home on Moody's Mills Road in Corinna at 5:15 pm, states a release issued Saturday night by Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton. When deputies arrived at the scene, they found the 7-year old boy had died as a result of the attack. No one else was injured, and the dog was put down, states the release. Additional details were not provided, including the victim's name. An investigation into the attack is ongoing.

The Dog's Former Owner

Earlier today, on the WABI TV Facebook thread, the former owner of the suspected dog, Amber Morin, spoke freely. "Hey i can tell you right now that the dog was my dog before i rehomed it, i have a 2 year old boy and he never showed agression to any person, i will also inform you the boy he killed was my cousin!" [sic] she wrote. The dog is a brown and white pit bull-mix, named Koda. In January of this year, Amber gave the dog back to its breeders due to it being dog-aggressive.

Amber, the breeders and the boy appear to be related. The boy may have been visiting or staying at the breeders' home when the deadly attack occurred. The breeders' had a new round of pit bull puppies as recently as April. On a November 2014 post, they talk about how their dogs frequently break their chains. "Ya our male pit has broken a lot of chains...we finally had to buy a tow cable haha." [sic] Koda appears in Facebook photos on the breeders' page starting on February 5, 2016.

There were other dogs at the breeders' home, but given Amber's comments and open guilt, it seems likely that Koda was the attacker. Another family member also called the dog a pit bull and named the breeders, "Our cousin Stacy's dog attacked him." Amber's Facebook page shows many photos of Koda growing up with her son. Koda was 1.5 years old, when the breed reaches sexual maturity and aggression often first appears. However, Koda was already dog-aggressive.

Commenter Lisa pointed out the Freudian slip Amber made above: "most harmful big baby ever."

1Woman, 75, Killed by Bullmastiff in Arkansas Gated Community, by DogsBite.org, January 1, 2014.
2Barbara Cariddi, "June 6: Dog Attack that Killed 7-Year-Old Boy Remains Under Investigation," Maine Public Broadcasting, June 6, 2016 (www.mpbc.net)
3There are/were multiple dog breeds in the Merchant household, each showing litters on Stacey's Facebook page. There was at least one kitten litter too. Our hearts go out to Hunter's family members and relatives. There is, however, an issue with animal breeding at the household of 207 Moody's Mill Road that should be addressed, since it is convincing clear at this stage that one of their "breedings" produced a pit bull that killed a boy. Whether authorities can require a kennel license or mandate that animals in that household be spay or neutered is unknown.

Related articles:
07/16/11: 2011 Dog Bite Fatality: Frankfort Girl Mauled to Death by Pet Rottweiler

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Colleen Lynn

More Failures with Dallas Animal Services

Nancy Lewis was attacked by two dogs in North Dallas in September 2014.

Victim Left in the Dark
Dallas, TX - After 52-year old Antoinette Brown was killed by loose dogs in South Dallas earlier this month, Dallas Animal Services (DAS) and other city officials have come under fire for "communication gaps," a failure to identify patterns of behavior, a failed loose dog enforcement policy and more. Within this crisis, another Dallas dog attack victim has come forward, Nancy Lewis, whose story deepens the failed priorities at DAS and how this affects dog attack victims.

In September 2014, Lewis was attacked by two dogs in North Dallas. There was communication with DAS regarding vaccination information while she was being treated at the hospital, and correspondence about 3-weeks after the attack, when Lewis requested her mysterious bite report. She was never told then of a 2012 incident involving the same dogs that bit off a woman's finger, nor was she told of her right to file a sworn affidavit to initiate a dangerous dog investigation.

Lewis first learns of these vital issues for victims about 19-months after her own attack, which was just a few weeks before Brown was killed. Seemingly out of the blue, a DAS investigator contacted Lewis about a new incident involving the same dogs that attacked her. During that communication, DAS informed her of the 2012 biting incident and that Lewis did have the option to file a sworn affidavit. Finally knowing all of this now, over a year later, Lewis is rethinking her whole scenario.

Unraveling the Confusion

Lewis has been a hairdresser for 35-years and was dropping off a client at her home when the attack occurred. As soon as she "put the key in the front door, the dogs came out and viciously attacked me," Lewis told KDFW-TV. Her arm injuries required stitches and reconstructive surgery. She also suffered nerve damage. While at the hospital, DAS was in correspondence with her husband about vaccination and impoundment information; one dog had been picked up.

It was also communicated by DAS at that time that not much else could be done, because, "Well, every dog is allowed one bite," Lewis said.

KDFW-TV also spoke to Fort Worth-based animal rights attorney Randy Turner, who represents dog owners in dangerous dog hearings and municipal animal ordinance issues. Even Turner was embarrassed that DAS told Lewis' family that "every dog is allowed one bite" while Lewis was getting stitched up at a hospital. "It really surprised me when you told me what the animal control officer said," Turner told KDFW-TV. "That an animal control officer would actually think that."

Now the same dogs have been involved in four attacks; at least one could have been prevented if DAS had given Lewis accurate information about the 2012 incident and the option to file a sworn affidavit. City officials told KDFW-TV that the reason why the dogs were never seized is because three of the victims did not file sworn affidavits. Turner disagreed. He said that DAS could have initiated the dangerous dog investigation too; an affidavit from a "victim" is not a requirement.

"Any person" can file a sworn affidavit, which includes animal control officers, according to the Texas Municipal Courts Educational Center.1

Last month, a dangerous dog hearing or an administrative procedure was finally held for the dogs. Though a decision has not yet been rendered, reports KDFW-TV. As seen in the footage, the two dogs are still at the owner's home. What is unknown is how this hearing came about. It could not have been initiated by any of the victims, according to the city's own response. This is just one more puzzle piece in the fractured, confusing system for dog bite injury victims like Lewis.

Another Bomb Drops

To add another twist with even more confusion, on the related KDFW-TV Facebook post, the "spouse" of Dallas Dangerous Dog Coordinator Carlos Juarez, responded to the news story. Carlos Juarez is the officer that contacted Lewis a few weeks before Brown's death and first told Lewis of the 2012 attack, when one of the dogs bit off a woman's finger. Juarez's wife disputes this news report and apparently has information that the media and Lewis do not have access to.2

Juarez's wife does not stop there. She also chimes in about the mauling death of Antoinette Brown with "breed" information that has not yet been publicly confirmed by any city department to our knowledge and is irrelevant to the failures by DAS after Lewis was attacked in September 2014. Hartsock-Juarez comments, "Oh another news error -- not all of the dogs that attacked Ms. Brown were pit bulls."3 So pit bulls were involved, again, expressing details that are not in the public eye.

In Summary

The longstanding loose dog problem in South Dallas and failed enforcement policy by DAS is what led us to Lewis' story. DAS did not provide her critical information about a previous bite incident nor was Lewis informed of her right to file an affidavit to initiate a dangerous dog investigation. We do not know how widespread these protocol failures are for dog attack victims in Dallas, but we know in this case, after 20-months, Lewis has still been unable to obtain her bite report from DAS.

All of this, including the public remarks by Juarez's wife, indicates a department riddled with communication problems and other failures. Frankly, it was a fluke that Lewis found out about the 2012 biting incident and later attacks at all. It just so happened that over a year later, Juarez was investigating a recent attack by the same dogs and came across Lewis' contact information somehow. Currently, Lewis is communicating with her city council member about these issues.

Our nonprofit is working with Lewis. We will keep readers updated about any future outcomes.

View: DogsBite.org's Letter to Councilmember Lee Kleinman - May 29, 2016

1Animal Hearings in Municipal Courts, by the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. What we don't know is if Texas cities can limit this, as Dallas has, to "any person of an incident," which limits the filing to victims. See how Houston ("any person") and Lubbock ("any person, animal services officer...") do not make this same limitation.
2If you feel like this has become a "guessing game," due to lack of access to information, you would be right.
3We did find a reference to this in a May 10 story in Google Cache, but like nearly all breaking fatal dog attack media reports, information is updated, as this report was as well, to simply reflect a "pack of dogs." It has been obvious since day one that pit bulls were involved in Brown's death (and to all of our readers and likely most of Dallas too), but the city is also facing the broader and longstanding issue of loose dogs in the southern sector. So "breed" has not been a focal point in the now over 115 pages of news articles we have collected about the attack.

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Colleen Lynn

Rejection Rate Grows to 90% Since January 2014

DogsBite.org - During the first 5-months of the 2016 legislative season, state preemption bills barring local governments from enacting breed-specific legislation were introduced in eight states. As of May 13, six states have rejected these bills and two remain pending. So far in 2016, this is a 100% success rate for municipalities retaining local control. These states are: Missouri, Kentucky, Washington, Georgia, West Virginia and Idaho. Bills in North Carolina and Michigan are pending.

Municipal associations, mayors, constituents and grassroots health and safety advocates made these victories possible. Great job!

Our 4.5-year trend document shows that since 2012 -- the start of Wave II preemption legislation -- lawmakers in 13 states have rejected 76% (19) of these bills. Over the last 2.5-years (2014 to present), the rejection rate increased to 90%. The chief instigators of these bills, Utah-based fighting dog advocates, Best Friends Animal Society, and dog breeder interests, have a 0% success rate since April 2014, when grassroots efforts truly began organizing to fight them.

4.5 Year Trend (2012 to May 2016): State Legislators are Largely Rejecting State Preemption Bills that Prohibit Local Governments from Adopting Pit Bull Laws
State Preemption Laws: For an in depth understanding of this issue, including the two Waves of anti-BSL state laws, please see our Primer on State Preemption Laws.
Action Page for Advocates: Find background and support materials on our State Preemption Laws page, including statistics, charts, graphs and reading materials.

In this year's legislative update, we offer brief highlights on all six states starting with Missouri. Next we review Kentucky, emphasizing the first time a fiscal impact estimate has ever been added to an anti-BSL bill. Committees in Washington and Georgia each produced a curious "substitute" bill. In West Virginia and Idaho, both bills had short lives. In 2017, we expect these same preemption bills to return to these four states: Missouri, Kentucky, Washington and West Virginia.

Second Victory in Missouri

Of all of the states facing preemption legislation this year, Missouri was by far the most at risk. Over 80 jurisdictions in Missouri have breed-specific ordinances. The passage of HB 1811, preventing local governments from regulating pit bulls, including cities under home rule authority, would have been a horrible loss for these cities. Many people and pets currently protected from violent pit bull attacks would have seen this protection instantly vanish upon the bill's passage.

In 2014, a hotly contested preemption bill failed in Missouri. That bill was sponsored by State Rep. Ron Hicks and backed by Utah-based Best Friends. Hicks introduced this same bill in 2016. HB 1811 passed the House on April 14, but soon began to unwind in the Senate. On April 21, it was assigned to the Senate Agriculture committee. It was rendered dead on April 27 after chairman Sen. Munzlinger cancelled the bill's hearing, causing the bill's backers to have a clinical meltdown.

"Just talked to Munzlinger's office staff in person, They told us as of now HB 1811 has been PULLED. The reasoning is there has been too many phone calls and emails OPPOSING THE BILL." - STOP breed specific legislation in Missouri, 04/27/16

The meltdown was an implosion of rage and confusion, causing the bill's local supporters to flood Munzlinger's office with demands to reschedule the hearing. So much so that Munzlinger even posted to their Facebook page a confusing alternative that is not a valid way to challenge BSL. Section 67.140 of the revised statutes only pertains to the legal "relationship between persons and domestic animals." That relationship is defined as an "owner" not a "guardian," for instance.

"Robo emails are not recommended. They just get deleted ... Best Friends is one of the organizations that was pushing for the bill to go to Sen. Munzlinger in the first place. They hired a couple of the lobbyists that got us into this mess." - STOP breed specific legislation in Missouri, 04/29/16

The rage and confusion only grew over the next 48-hours as Best Friends had previously told local supporters not to contact Senate committee members. Then, in desperation, Best Friends turned around and issued one of their infamous "robo emails" on the 29th that local backers had warned against. Finally on May 2, locals mistakenly believed the hearing for HB 1811 had been rescheduled by the chairman for May 4, only to learn later this was a clerical error -- the bill truly died on April 27.

After HB 1811 passed the House in mid-April, the media began publicizing the legislation. We usually see this as favorable, as this alerts mayors, city council members and constituents to the bill. A week before the hearing was abruptly cancelled, killing the bill, the mayors of Florissant, Palmyra and Fenton all spoke out forcibly against HB 1811. Certainly their opposition was communicated to Senate committee members. Bravo to mayors for mobilizing to defeat the bill!

Kentucky Local Mandate

In Kentucky, SB 116 was introduced -- the same aggressive preemption bill that was introduced in 2015 and failed. In a "Kentucky style" rerouting this year, SB 116 was "recommitted" to the Senate State and Local Government committee, instead of going to the Senate floor for a vote and died on February 18. Best Friends managed to get the same bill introduced in the House chamber as HB 510 about 8 days later. That bill died on March 3 in the House Local Government committee.

Notice the committees the bills died in. The Kentucky municipal associations are robust and fight hard to preserve local control and ensure that home rule remains hearty. In a first-ever fiscal impact statement for this type of preemption bill, the Kentucky Association of Counties, Kentucky League of Cities and the County Judge Executive Association, provided data for a powerful one for SB 116. Again, a "fiscal impact" estimate has never before appeared on an anti-BSL bill.

Local Mandate Fiscal Impact Estimate
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission
2016 Regular Session - SB 116
The fiscal impact of this bill is expected to be minimal. There will be minimal costs associated with revising some existing ordinances. However, it is possible there could be other costs. There could be costs associated with litigation related to dog attacks by certain breeds no longer covered (controlled) by revised ordinances. There could conceivably be costs associated with insurance premiums or claims related to dog attacks similarly not covered by ordinances. There could be costs associated with the concept of “illegal taking” if all dog breeds were covered by ordinances, thus restricting the conditions of ownership for all breeds.

It is important to also point out just how aggressive the preemption bills in Kentucky were. Preempting home rule jurisdictions was not nearly enough for Best Friends in this case. Pay close attention to the words "regulation or policy," which presumably would apply to any breed-specific shelter policy and any breed-specific housing policy ("housing authority" pet policies being one area) operated or owned by any of the local governments described in the bills' language.

Senate Bill 116 - Kentucky
(1) For the purposes of this section:
(a) "Dog" means any breed of canis lupus familiaris; and
(b) "Local government" means any city, county, consolidated local
government, urban-county, charter county, unified local government, special purpose government entity, or other local governmental unit created by or pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly or Constitution of Kentucky, or any department, agency, or authority thereof.
(2) On or after the effective date of this Act, a local government may pass any ordinance, regulation, or policy concerning dog safety and welfare or public safety, so long as that ordinance, regulation, or policy is not specific to the breed of the dog.
(3) This section shall override any ordinance, regulation, or policy which is specific to the breed of dog. On and after the effective date of this Act, any existing ordinance, regulation, or policy that is specific to the breed of the dog shall be void and unenforceable.

Washington & Georgia "Substitute" Bills

This year, an irregular set of events happened in Washington and Georgia. Preemption bills in both states, carried over from 2015, had been languishing in House committees then in 2016 mutated into unusal "substitute" bills. In Washington, HB 1018, morphed into a bill that would allow a dog to be exempt from breed-based regulations if the dog passed an AKC Good Citizen test, a test that would need to be performed every two years to maintain this exemption.

Restricted dogs that failed the test would be allowed to "retest" any number of times for any number of years thereafter.

How would a jurisdiction with a breed-specific ordinance manage this? Note Auburn for instance. The bill would have added new administrative layers to already heavily underfunded animal control departments and seriously undermined the very point of breed-specific legislation. The substitute would also prohibit any new cities or counties from adopting breed-specific ordinances. Washington state has an exceptional dog law chapter. The substitute bill would have poisoned it.

Take a moment to consider this "spin" language and how in conflict it is with the Supreme Court of Washington's decision in American Dog Owners Ass'n v. Yakima (1989), which upheld the constitutionality of Yakima's pit bull ban. This fallacious language was not based on any court proceeding that requires a formal evidentiary process; it was based on oral storytelling by Rep. Appleton whose only "evidence" was incorrectly citing a SCOTUS decision from 1920.

Substitute HB 1018
Sec. 1. (1) A number of local jurisdictions have enacted ordinances prohibiting or placing additional restrictions on specific breeds of dogs. While the legislature recognizes that local jurisdictions have a valid public safety interest in protecting citizens from dog attacks, the legislature finds that a dog's breed is not inherently indicative of whether or not a dog is dangerous and that the criteria for determining whether or not a dog is dangerous or potentially dangerous should be focused on the dog's behavior.
(2) The legislature further finds that breed-specific ordinances fail to address the factors that cause dogs to become aggressive and place an undue hardship on responsible dog owners who provide proper socialization and training. The legislature intends to encourage local jurisdictions to more effectively and fairly control dangerous dogs and enhance public safety by focusing on dogs' behavior rather than their breeds.

Washington advocates, there was no reason to put this section in the bill, except to add the flawed "opinion" of a few legislators and to create state statute amounting to a Pit Bull Bill of Rights. When we say this language will "poison" Washington's exceptional dog law chapter, we mean it.

What happened in Georgia this year borders on mysterious. SB 184 began as a straightforward anti-BSL bill in 2015 that passed the Senate chamber and landed in the House Governmental Affairs committee. In 2016, SB 184 emerged from that committee as a substitute with no anti-BSL clause. The bill instead carved out "entitlements" to AKC, UKC hunting dog groups, classifying them as "hunting dogs" and able to receive the same lower licensing fees as sterilized dogs.

Essentially, any dog used for hunting purposes would be exempt from any city our county differential licensing ordinances. Such ordinances require the owners of unsterilized dogs to pay higher licensing and registration fees as an incentive to spay and neuter with the goal of lowering unwanted breedings. SB 184 was a win for the hunting dog lobby and a loss for struggling animal control departments across Georgia. Governor Nathan Deal signed the bill into law on April 26.

How the Georgia anti-BSL bill morphed into completely different legislation that carved out "entitlements" for hunting dogs is unknown.

West Virginia & Idaho - Short Lived Bills

In West Virginia, HB 4508 was introduced on February 11 and died two weeks later, failing to make the House crossover deadline. The bill barred cities and counties from enacting breed-specific regulations. Backers of the bill, the West Virginia League of Humane Voters, promised to be back next year perpetuating more distortions and untruths about pit bulls. Currently, only a handful of jurisdictions in the state have breed-based ordinances to protect citizens and their pets.

The shortest-lived anti-BSL bill this year came out of Idaho. HB 470, sponsored by Rep. Mike Moyle, survived just 7-days before being killed. HB 470 overhauled portions of the state vicious dog law and included an anti-BSL clause buried within (Section: 25-2812). A journalist at The Spokesman-Review caught the implication immediately causing a flurry of debate. The bill was quickly resurrected as HB 525 without the clause. It passed both chambers and became law.

What happened in Idaho shows how an anti-BSL clause can frustrate and even kill a long overdue overhaul of a state's vicious dog law. In this case, the bill provided stronger protections for citizens, stiffer fines for the owners of loose dogs and a new designation of "At-Risk Dogs" (a step below the "Dangerous Dog" designation) when bites do not cause serious injury. Legislators in Idaho recognized this and omitted the anti-BSL clause that otherwise may have stalled or killed the bill.

Summary

Legislators in six out of eight states during the 2016 legislative season rejected preemption bills barring local pit bull ordinances. Of these states, Washington and Georgia lawmakers rejected these bills 3-years in a row, Kentucky 2-years in a row and Missouri, twice since 2014. The two pending bills in 2016 are North Carolina, whose session ends in July and Michigan, whose session ends in December. The last time an anti-BSL bill passed in a state was March 2014.

As mentioned earlier, preemption bills will be returning in at least four states in 2017. We also expect the 2015 anti-BSL bill to be revived in Montana next year, once again pushed by Utah-based Best Friends. We know that advocates get tired of this incessant broken record, but each year we learn more about the legislative process and how to better fight these bills. Your hard work is reflected in the map below! Thank you for your dedication, and pace yourself!

4.5 Year Trend (2012 to May 2016): State Legislators are Largely Rejecting State Preemption Bills that Prohibit Local Governments from Adopting Pit Bull Laws
State Preemption Laws: For an in depth understanding of this issue, including the two Waves of anti-BSL state laws, please see our Primer on State Preemption Laws.
Action Page for Advocates: Find background and support materials on our State Preemption Laws page, including statistics, charts, graphs and reading materials.

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Colleen Lynn

Some of the dogs that viciously attacked Manuel Mejia, 49, on April 23 in Miami-Dade County.

FOIA's Submitted

UPDATE 11/14/16: Today we submitted two public records request to learn more information about this case. We submitted a request for the police report from Miami-Dade County Police and the animal control report from Miami-Dade Animal Services. While local media did the initial fact-finding and gained the autopsy report, there were never any follow-ups. Questions also linger about the breed identification of the mother dog as the video did not show the dog's full body.

05/19/15: Attacking Dogs Finally Seized
Nearly one month after a man was mauled to death by a pack of dogs, Miami-Dade Animal Services (MDAS) finally seized the animals. During the transition in obtaining the dogs, one of the dogs threatened an officer. The officer shot and killed it. Thus, a total of 9 dogs were seized, including the pack's mother, described as an American bulldog by MDAS, indicating that the MDAS "breed labeling game" is back in action and again headed up by Kathleen Labrada.1

Four people have been killed by variances of Miami-Dade's "breed labeling game," primarily American bulldog-mixes, since August 2014.

After the pit bull mauling death of Javon Dade Jr., Labrada and MDAS used at least four different breed labels for the other dogs involved in the vicious attack, none being a pit bull-mix, including: labrador-pit bull mix, American bulldog-Labrador mix, terrier-boxer mix and terrier-mix. As we have stated multiple times on this website, the first breed listed in a mix is the primary. In this case, this point is moot, except to note that MDAS is on record again claiming another "American bulldog."

We are sick to death of Labrada and MDAS (and Dan DeSousa-types) blatantly misleading the media and public about this issue when it is their duty to uphold the Miami-Dade pit bull ban -- thus ordered by the voting public in August 2012. But let's get back to why we are here. The vicious mauling of 49-year old Manuel Mejia on April 23 that went unreported to the public for nearly 3-weeks in Miami-Dade County. It only became public at all because local media investigated.

The Attacking Dogs

The Belgian malinois-bulldog mix offspring are 8-months old and are now being housed at an undisclosed location.2 Pamela Babineau, Mejia's girlfriend who witnessed the attack and called 911, told police three dogs instigated the attack and up to seven others joined in. This indicates that all 10 dogs may have been involved, including the mother dog, who is tough to rationally argue is not a pit bull-mix. It is unknown if the sire dog is in custody or if it was part of the attack.

We can only speculate as to the farm owner's motive of crossing the two breeds,3 but it seems he desired a fierce guarding breed. In the 1940s, pit bull lines were mixed into U.S. "war dog" lines, whose purpose was not to sniff out bombs, but to kill. Still, the primary function of a nonmilitary guarding breed is to bark to alert the owner when something is amiss; the primary function is not to deliver the death penalty, as animal behaviorist Alexandra Semyonova comments below:

Any guard dog (or group thereof) should function mostly to bark and indicate there's something weird going on, so the property owner can come and deal with the situation appropriately. Instant mauling / killing attack is not appropriate guarding. Even in Western nations that still have the death sentence, the intent is that this sentence is dealt out only for the most serious of crimes and only after careful consideration by a court of law. It cannot be that any citizen who owns one or more dogs is entitled to let the dogs deal out a death sentence for a misdemeanor, a minor crime or even no crime at all. - Alexandra Semyonova

Editorial note added June 14: This post was updated on June 14, 2016 to reflect that Manuel Mejia died on April 24, about six hours after he was airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center. We gained this knowledge by requesting an Autopsy Summary and Cause of Death report from the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office. As of today's date, no additional information has been reported by the media.

05/13/16: Clarifications & Autopsy
More clarifications have been made since last night. Miami-Dade Animal Services (MDAS) released a statement that in part said the dogs' owner is "fully cooperating" with authorities. However, his pack of dogs -- now said to be 11 of them -- have remained on the owner's property since the man's death nearly 3-weeks ago. Manuel Mejia was attacked by a group of these dogs on April 23. He died the next day. This information was not released to the public until May 12.

Autopsy Report Released

WPLG Local 10 obtained a copy of the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's autopsy report. Manuel Mejia, 49-years old, suffered serious bite injuries to his head, neck, chest, back and legs, fractured ribs and more. "The wounds were quite severe. They were all over his body," Darren Caprara said, the ME's director of operations. "So what we see is indicative of a very vicious attack." A witness told police that three dogs started the attack and up to seven more joined in.

The autopsy report was completed April 25, about a day after his death. County authorities knew early on that Mejia died of a dog mauling.

Caprara told Local 10 that his office only sees about one fatal dog mauling case a year.4
This means that in the last 11.5 years of tracking U.S. fatal dog bites, Miami-Dade County has seen about 11 cases. We only have 5 tracked in the county since 2005, 4 of which occurred since 2014. That is very troubling information then add to it that county authorities failed to acknowledge this man's death until reporters began investigating over 2-weeks after he was killed by these dogs.

Mejia and his girlfriend lived and worked on the dragon fruit farm owned by Reynaldo Torres, who also kept the dogs there. It is unclear if the attack occurred on the owner's property -- inside the farm's fenced area -- or if they got loose and attacked Mejia while he was off the owner's property.

NOTICE: WPLG Local 10 pulled this story sometime before 8:15 pm CST. Then reinstated it by 8:45 pm CST with changes. The new language adds that the victim died of his injuries just hours after the attack. The man's death went unreported to the public for nearly 3-weeks.

05/12/16: Man Dies After Dog Mauling
Homestead, FL - Nearly 3-weeks ago, a man was brutally mauled by a pack of dogs and county authorities released no information to the public. On April 23, Manuel Mejia was savagely attacked by four or more dogs owned by Reynaldo Torres, who owns a dragon fruit farm. Police say the owner has been uncooperative during the investigation. Miami-Dade Animal Services is working to gain a court order to have the 4 to 5 Belgian malinois-bulldog mixes removed from the home.5

Mejia's death marks the third dog mauling death in Miami-Dade County since September 2015. The fourth dog bite fatality since 2014.

Local 10 obtained the incident report showing that the victim's girlfriend, Pamela Babineau, called 911 to report that Mejia was being attacked by the dogs. "Mejia had multiple dog bites all over his body and open flesh wounds. A piece of skin was also missing from his left tricep area," states the report. He was airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center and died on an unknown date. Mejia was a caretaker at the dragon fruit farm. Police are now investigating the case as a homicide.

Background Information

On Monday, we reported this attack to Local 10 (at that time his death was only "alleged") after a blogger on Examiner.com, a content farm, wrote about it.6 In the past, pit bull defender bloggers at that website have deliberately published outright lies (the ladder story) to advance rumors in social media and to confuse the public. The most notorious was Cindy Marabito.7 In February, the Examiner fired Marabito and unpublished her whole archive after she wrote a fake rescue story.

1In late December -- just 5-months ago -- we wrote an extensive post calling out Miami-Dade County Animal Services for their Interchangeable Breed Labels. We showed multiple examples of dogs available for adoption by MDAS that clearly should fall under the pit bull ban ordinance, but do not. We also explained in that post the actual ordinance language, how MDAS refuses to enforce the "pit bull-mix" portion of it and how our nonprofit tracks American bulldogs in our statistics. Currently at the MDAS adoption website, pit bulls and their mixes continue to be adopted out to the public under the "breed labeling game," which omits "pit bull" in the breed identification.
2Although these dogs are only 8-months old, the "bulk" indicative of an American bulldog is simply not present.
3Some Belgian malinios, despite their extensive use in law enforcement, also have genetic-based aggression issues ("glazing over" behaviors, episodic biting behaviors, and general loss of clarity). This has been studied and validated only in the Belgian malinois breed. An owner can have his dog tested to see if it has the genotype.
4Like everything about this case, this part is confusing too. The video states the ME's office sees dog mauling deaths about "one to two" times per year on average (about 16 deaths since 2005). The print version states "about one per year" (11 deaths since 2005).
5Strike area indicates that this information was also removed from the first edition of the news report.
6We do not link to any of the "pet" bloggers at the Examiner.
7Read the original "ladder story" after the pit bull mauling death of Darla Napora. Darla was 6-months pregnant at the time -- the deadly attack killed her baby too. Learn more about Cindy Marabito on the Craven Desires blog.

DogsBite blog ::

2016 Dog Bite Fatality: Pit Bull that Killed Boy Had a History of 'Dog Aggression'

Fatal Pit Bull Attack in Penobscot County, Maine

Intrafamily Backyard Pit Bull Breeding Operation

Same Dogs in North Dallas Involved in Four Separate Attacks; One Victim Shares Her Story

More Failures with Dallas Animal Services

2016 Legislative Highlights: Local Control Dominates Again; Six States Reject Preemption Bills Prohibiting Pit Bull Laws

Rejection Rate Grows to 90% Since January 2014

2016 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Mauled to Death by Pack of Dogs in Miami-Dade County

FOIA's Submitted