Posted on January 30, 2015 by Colleen Lynn

2015 Dog Bite Fatality: 7-Year Old Boy Killed by Two Family Dogs in College Springs, Iowa

Malaki Mildward, 7-years old, was killed by two dogs in College Springs, Iowa.

Previous Bite, Mother of Litter archived
UPDATE 01/30/14: On Tuesday, the Omaha World-Herald published new information about this fatal dog mauling. A 10-year old boy living at the home of Jeremiah Hicks had been bitten by at least one of the four dogs at the home on September 12. Four months later, two young dogs in Hicks' home will fatally attack 7-year old Malaki Mildward. There were three children living at his College Springs home each with different mothers; two shared the same biological father, Hicks.

For clarification, these children were Malaki, 7-years old whose mother is Amber Braymen and biological father is Xavier Mildward. Braymen is Hicks' current relationship and brought the male pit bull, Shipper, into Hicks' home. The mother of a teenager living at the home left a female pit bull, Road, at Hicks' home last February. Road is the mother of the litter that produced two fatally attacking dogs. The third child is the 10-year old boy that was bitten by Road in mid September.

The 10-year old boy's mother, Talana Auten, told the World-Herald that her son had bite marks and bruises on his left leg on his knee and thigh areas. Auten's husband reported the bites to Afton Police Chief John Coulter. The chief then referred the couple to the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS). Auten said she then filed a report with DHS and took photos of her son's injuries. Unfortunately, these cell phone images were lost when her phone stopped working.

Auten said that a Page County DHS representative subsequently told her that the bite report had been classified as unfounded. Thus, there was no follow through by any government agency afterward. On Monday, Sheriff Lyle Palmer told the World-Herald he was still conducting interviews about Malaki's mauling death and was previously unaware of the September biting incident. The investigation into the biting incident is still ongoing and there could be future developments.

Auten said her son was one of several family members that discovered Malaki in the yard after the deadly attack. Others close to the case added more details. The boy and several family members had been returning from the library when they saw Malaki's body lying in the yard. The two pit bull-mixes had destroyed the boy and stripped away nearly all of his clothes in the attack. Auten told the World-Herald that her son has been extremely traumatized by what he witnessed.

"At this point in time, he doesn’t want to close his eyes. He doesn’t want to think,” she said. “To hear him talk about what had happened in great detail, just made me physically sick to my stomach.” - Talana Auten

The Household Dogs

At the time of the biting incident and deadly attack four months later, there were four dogs in the Hicks household, two adult pit bulls, Shipper and Road, a male and female respectively, and two younger dogs, Two Face and Satan. Both younger dogs were 8 or 9 month old pit bull-mixes from Braymen's August puppy post. People close to the case say that Road and her two fatally attacking offspring were put down after Malaki's death. Shipper still remains in Hicks' home.

The Hicks household had inherited the two adult pit bulls through different maternal relationships. As noted earlier, Shipper came with Hicks' current relationship with Braymen. Road was inherited through the teenager's mother, Jo Anna Wentworth Parrott. The dog was named Road because it was found on the side of the road and taken in by Parrott. Last February, Parrott left Road and a python snake at the Hicks home with a note, apparently unable to care for them any longer.

So what happened to the alleged "Pitbull English bulldog pups" that Braymen advertised for sale in August that produced at least eight puppies, two of which killed Malaki? It turns out that Parrott had two dogs, Road and a male English bulldog. Road may have been pregnant when it was left at Hicks' home in February, or there was a planned breeding between the two or there was never an English bulldog involved in the mating. The mating was simply between Shipper and Road.

Finally, Auten and her son had nothing to do with the four pit bulls in Hicks' home. Hicks also has custody of the boy. It was Auten and her husband that alerted authorities to the September biting incident. For reasons that are still unclear, the bite report was classified as unfounded and no follow up proceeded. Now, after being bitten by Road and witnessing the traumatizing sight of Malaki dead in Hicks' yard, Auten's son must return to this same home where Shipper remains.1

01/24/15: Relationships Begin to Clarify archived
Despite a dizzying array of family relationships -- some of which have now been clarified by the Omaha World-Herald and help from the British media (kudos to the Daily Mail!) -- we have learned much more information about the most recent U.S. fatal dog attack. On Thursday, 7-year old Malaki Mildward was viciously attacked and killed by two young family dogs at his home in College Springs, Iowa. The types of dogs involved should no longer be in dispute after this update.

The first place we looked after this fatal dog mauling was Page County property records to uncover the owner of the home where the attack occurred at 709 Glen Avenue. The owner is Jeremiah J. Hicks. Next the array of different relationships emerged on Facebook that had many of us scratching our heads. The World-Herald clarified that, "Malaki lived with his older sister, his mother, Amber Braymen, Jeremiah Hicks and Hicks’ son at Hicks’ home in College Springs."

The mother's name had been the missing link, without it, she could not be located on Facebook. Once learned, the Daily Mail scoured her page and found an August 5, 2014 post announcing that she had, "Pitbull English bulldog pups" for sale. Within the comments of this post, Braymen also posted a photograph of the dogs. "Wanna buy one?" Braymen asked. The age of the two attacking dogs, allegedly 6-months old, are more likely 8 or 9 months old and came from this very litter.

There is no indication on Braymen's Facebook page that English bulldogs were roaming around the Glen Avenue home or an indication of this on the father's page, Xavier Mildward. Both pages, however, did have photos of Malaki with a pit bull named Shipper posted in 2012 (See Braymen's and Mildward's separate photographs).2 Notably, Xavier was also selling pit bulls in 2011. His "starting" price was $400, according to his Facebook post. They were a pit bull oriented family.

In 2014, at least the mother had a breeding as well. That litter of at least eight puppies was born in late May or early June. Braymen's August 5 post shows the puppies at about 8 to 10 weeks old and ready to sell. It is a grave distortion that this litter of dogs are not pit bull-mixes. Not even Braymen lies about it: "Have Pitbull English bulldog pups got shots and ready to go message me for details and pics," Braymen states. The lies about the breed of dog start after the boy's death.

Who propagated the lies to Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer that the dogs were not pit bulls or even pit bull-mixes? That is open to speculation, but we could not ignore one Sue Hicks Mullins either (unknown if she is related to Jeremiah Hicks). A female friend tagged Mullins on the August puppy post Saturday, asking, "Sandy Hicks Mullins here is an ad for the puppies that the mother of the boy who passed away from the pups advertised. Even says they are pit bull mix pups?"

Then we had to view Mullins' page, where things take a nose dive. On Saturday Mullins posted to her Facebook page, "Prayers to the family of Malaki Mildward my grandson was a friend of his in preschool, He died yesterday after being attacked by two family owned 6 month old NON pit bull pups. EVERYBODY, PLEASE give the family time to grieve and remember it doesn't matter the breed or the animal, ANYTHING with teeth can bite." (Kudos to the friend that called her out!)

Mullins was not finished, however, and next posted an even more disturbing post. "This is bitter sweet in Iowa right now but true, just remember as I used to say when asked at the zoo does it bite? Anything with a mouth can bite, be careful especially around strange animals, even the family pet can have a bad day. Thinking about you "M," she writes. Mullins also links to a video about why "dogs make the perfect babysitters," in the post. We will not link to this unsafe video.

In Summary

The evidence is convincing that Malaki was killed by two dogs from the August puppy post. It was a pit bull, English bulldog pairing by the mother's own words and sales routine. The caveat is that both DogsBite.org and Animals 24-7 have few cases on record of 6-month old dogs, pit bulls or otherwise, maiming or killing unless acting as accomplices in a pack of attacking adults.3 9-months old is more believable, but is still unusual. Malaki was also 7-years old, not an infant or a toddler.

01/22/15: Family Dogs Kill Boy
College Springs, IA - The Page County Sheriff Office's reports that a 7-year old boy was killed by his two family dogs. Deputies were called out to 709 Glen Avenue in College Springs at 4:53 pm. On arrival, deputies found Malaki Mildward unresponsive and EMS from Clarinda and College Springs were administering CPR. The boy had been mauled by his family's two 6-month old dogs. He was transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center where he was pronounced dead.

In the last 10-years, January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2014, three fatal dog attacks have occurred in the state of Iowa. In 2013, Jordyn Arndt, 4-years old of Prairie City (Jasper County) was viciously attacked by her babysitter's pit bull. In 2011, Vanessa Husmann, 3-years old of Hopkinton (Delaware County) was savagely killed by her grandfather's two champion rottweilers. In 2010, Shirley Lou Bird, 79-years old of Ida Grove (Ida County) was killed by her pet German shepherd.

1This may be the most complex update, family relationship and household dog-wise, we have ever done in the history of DogsBite.org. We did receive multiple confirmations on the dogs from people close to the case.
2The boy's real father is Xavier Mildward. The two may have still been together at that time.
3Young dogs have attacked and even killed infants in the past, such as the case of 2-month old Zane Earles in 2008 when the family's 8-week old lab-mix killed the baby. But infants are a unique and separate category. DogsBite.org was able to locate one recent fatality, the death of John Harvard in 2014, involving a 5-year old boy and 8-month old pit bull as this post was being prepared. Animals 24-7 was able to locate two pit bull puppy mauling cases in their files on short notice as well. The case of Martina Jennings involving a 4-year old boy and 3-month old pit bull in 2008 (Ohio) and the case of Annette Rojas involving an 8-year old girl and 8-month old pit bull in 2005 (California).

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Colleen Lynn

2015 Dog Bite Fatality: 18-Month Old Boy Killed by Family Dogs in Brooksville, Florida

Declan Moss, 18-months old, was killed by his grandfather's two pit bull-mixes.

Images Released
UPDATE 01/23/15: The Hernando County Sheriff's Office released still images of both fatally attacking dogs to their Facebook page yesterday along with a message to so-called "animal lovers" who are upset that the sheriff's office also allowed the media to capture video footage of the dogs. Max and Thumper, both male pit bull-mixes, attacked and killed 18-month old Declan Moss on Monday. Quickly afterward, his mother Sheila Moss defended the breed of the dog.

We greatly thank the sheriff's office for releasing the images. Doing so provides an excellent public service. Also, to clarify the "animal lover" language, the vast majority of Facebook users complaining to the sheriff's office were pit bull advocates, upset that images identifying the breed of dog were released to the public at all. They do not want another damning fatal attack stacked onto the breed's horrific track record, which kills more people than all dog breeds combined.

There has been a lot of discussion about our recent Facebook posting that included the video of the dog(s) involved in the fatal attack on Declan Moss. The posting came after several members of the media requested to obtain still and video images of the dogs for their continuing coverage of this terribly tragic event. Our intent was not to offend animal lovers. We, on the contrary, have a long history of supporting the appropriate adoption and treatment of domestic animals. We did feel, however, that including the video on our Facebook page would be an opportunity to provide a public service. We all like to think that something like this could never happen in our home. We believe that we can pick out a vicious dog when we see one. Unfortunately, as you can see from the videos, it would be impossible to predict a tragic attack like this based solely on the temperament or demeanor of the dog, especially when interacting with adults under normal circumstances. It is for this reason that we want every parent and guardian to be aware that medium and large size dogs can be unpredictable around young children and can inflict considerable damage in a short period of time. Whether a dog attack is motivated by jealousy, frustration, a pack mentality or a “killer instinct,” doesn’t matter after an event like this. The only option is for parents and guardians to be hypervigilant in keeping small children out of harms way. - Hernando County Sheriff's Office

01/19/15: Pit Bulls; Mother Defends Breed
A hot tipper just sent in a YouTube video link that captures Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis speaking with Fox 13. We believe this clarifies the breed of the attacking dogs, as well as the mother of the dead child's position on this matter. Nienhuis said, "I did unfortunately get to talk with the mother earlier and she was obviously devastated -- she was not here when it occurred. But she was even talking about 'defending the dogs' and 'it's not necessarily the breed of the dog.'

Watch Nienhuis closely. He appears to be "struggling" as he speaks those underlined statements. Why is that? Because it is outrageous that a devastated young mother would ever say these things -- rushing to defend the breed of dog and piling on pro-pit bull propaganda -- in the immediate wake of her own child's vicious dog mauling death. How will the veterinarian rule on the breed of the dogs? Perhaps an Alapaha Blue-Blood Bulldog or other known pit bull mislabel?

In a separate video, neighbor Charles Shorey breaks down on camera. "He was a beautiful kid. I feel sorry for the mother. She's single. She's fighting and struggling," Shorey said. It is unclear if it was Shorey or another neighbor who told News Channel 8 the dogs were pit bulls and had killed smaller dogs in the past. The grandfather was babysitting when he saw his grandson was in trouble, the segment states, "but he couldn't get the dogs off the baby and off of each other."

01/19/15: Family Dogs Kill Toddler
Brooksville, FL - Two family dogs attacked and killed an 18-month old boy on Monday. When authorities arrived at the home at 16251 Cherokee Road, they found Declan Moss1 deceased from injuries inflicted by the dogs. Michael Terry, spokesman for the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, said that Declan had been playing on the home's porch while his grandfather, Gregory Moss, 51, watched him. The grandfather was home alone with the child and witnessed the attack, Terry said.

"Our technicians are out here interviewing the grandfather and trying to get the details from him, but he's obviously pretty shaken up." - Michael Terry

The Sheriff's Office is unsure of the breeds of the two attacking dogs, calling the animals "mix-breeds" temporarily as they await additional information from a veterinarian (The Daily Mail reports that neighbors described the two dogs as pit bulls.). The attacking dogs, ages 2 and 6, were seized and removed from the home. Two other dogs owned by the family were not involved in the attack and were left at the family's home. Detectives are still on scene investigating.

Last year, Florida had five fatal dog attacks. The only state to outnumber it was Texas with seven.

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

1Early news reports misspelled his name as "Declin" Moss.

Photos: Facebook.com, Hernando County Sheriff's Office and WTSP.com

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Colleen Lynn

Attacked While Taking Down His Christmas Tree

Adopted from Rescue
UPDATE 01/08/15: New information has been released about an elderly man mauled to death by his pet pit bull while taking down his Christmas tree. The fatally attacking dog was a 4-year old neutered male pit bull that Eugene Smith and his son adopted from an unnamed rescue organization in May. The pit bull was not a stray as earlier reports claimed. Police officials continue to look into the dog's background. Animal control euthanized the pit bull after the deadly attack.

WUSA 9 interviewed Smith's co-workers at Clouse trucking in Frederick. At the age of 87-years old, Smith still drove an 18-wheel tanker truck hauling milk for the company. His co-workers said Smith was an animal lover who adored his adopted rescue pit bull. "The dog would at times climb up in bed with him and sleep with him at night," said one female co-worker who was not named. "This is not anything we ever would have expected," she continued, "not ever in a million years."

Officials Describe Dog Attack in Video

The Frederick News-Post published a video today as well with Deputy First Class Amanda Hatcher detailing the dog attack and police response. Hatcher states that when police and animal control officers arrived on scene -- they arrived at the same time -- the dog was still attacking Smith inside the home. Officers were able to disengage the dog from Smith and quickly contain the animal. Smith was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital with severe injuries where he died.

The News-Post has a recent history of being "extremely" pit bull apologetic. The News-Post, however, is hardly alone in Maryland. Many other state media outlets also swooned, cooed and knelt down for "pit bull kisses" after the landmark 2012 Maryland Court of Appeals ruling, Tracey v. Solesky, that declared pit bulls "inherently dangerous." The News-Post called the Court's ruling "narrow-minded" and "shortsighted" and "an ill-thought-out precedent" among other falsehoods.

Now an animal loving elderly man is dead, horrifically mauled to death in an unprovoked attack by an adopted pit bull rescue that formerly slept in his bed. The failure of the News-Post, who never bothered to interview the Solesky family or their attorney or to grasp the depth of the Court's ruling pertaining to actual Maryland "precedent," is now party to this man's preventable death. Smith clearly believed the false mantra that only "mistreatment or intentional training" creates a killer.1

View Related video

01/07/15: Family Pit Bull Kills Owner
Frederick, MD - In a developing story, an 87-year old man is dead after being critically mauled by his family's pit bull while taking down his Christmas tree. The attack occurred on Wednesday at about 2:30 pm at his home on Stonehouse Road in Frederick. According to deputies, Eugene W. Smith was in the process of taking down his Christmas tree when his family's large pit bull viciously attacked him. Smith was transported to a local hospital and later died of his injuries.

Smith lived in the Stonehouse Road home with his son and his son's fiancée. Deputies say the family had taken in the pit bull as a stray last May.2 Frederick County Animal Control euthanized the animal. In a separate holiday-related tragedy, 40-year old Edward Cahill was mauled to death by his pet pit bull of eight years on Christmas Day in Portage, Indiana. That fatal dog attack was "so obvious," according to Porter County Corner Chuck Harris, that an autopsy was not required.

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

1Smith and his son literally adopted this dog one month after Governor Martin O'Malley signed Senate Bill 247 into law muting the Court of Appeals of Maryland's decision in Solesky.
2Other news outlets report the dog was a pit bull rescue, which usually means the family adopted the dog from a rescue or shelter. If true, this is quite a different scenario than "taking in a stray."

Photos: WUSA9

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Colleen Lynn

Most of the Expected, Longtime Killing Culprits

Photographs of six fatally attacking dogs in 2014 obtained from multiple sources.

Jump down to view all 2014 breed identification photographs or read our analysis first.

DogsBite.org - Last year we began the tradition of publishing breed identification photographs of fatally attacking dogs when available through news reports, owner supplied or social media websites. Of the 42 total recorded deaths last year, 24 fatalities, 57%, had breed identification photographs.1 Take a good look at these dogs, as they dominate attacks resulting in human fatalities and include the predictable culprits: pit bulls, rottweilers, mastiff-types and their mixes.2

Of all dog bite fatalities with identification photographs, 58% (14) were provided by the news media, 46% (11) were located on social media websites of the dog's owner or family members and 8% (2) were supplied by the dog's owner. Three attacks also had photographs in two categories (news media and social media).3 Florida had the most photographs (4) followed by North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, each with three -- the same four states that overshadowed all fatalities in 2014.

Are All "Large Breeds" Equal Killing Machines?

Not all large dog breeds are equally as likely to kill, which is why Labradors, Standard Poodles and 50 plus others are not represented below. Dog breeds that disproportionately kill people in the U.S. and across the world are medium to large-sized molosser dogs -- mastiff-type guard dogs and war dogs, the types that were used to create "baiting" bull breeds and fighting breeds. Form follows function, thus the group shares visual similarities in their weighty jaws and head shape.

We point out the "large breed" issue after KIII-TV failed the citizens of Texas and the American public by refusing to name the dog breed(s) involved in the death of Rita Woodard who was fostering 17 dogs on her property when she was attacked. Woodard's extensive Facebook page showed that 90% of the dogs she fostered were pit bulls. Failure to report dog breed in cases of human fatality, or hedging it under the "large breed" scenario, is dangerous and incompetent.4

2014 Fatal Dog Attack Breed Identification Photographs

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Christina Bell, 43-years old of Houston, Texas, was brutally killed by two loose pit bulls on January 5, 2014. Seven months later, Harris County prosecutors charged two of the dogs' owners under the Texas state felony dog attack law.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Kara Hartrich, 4-years old of Bloomington, Illinois, was savagely killed by at least two of her family's pit bulls on January 17, 2014, her 4th birthday. Her mother, Roxanne Miller Hartrich, later gave a heartfelt interview about that horrific day.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Klonda Richey, 57-years old of Dayton, Ohio, was brutally killed and stripped naked by her neighbor's two mastiff-mixes in front of her own home. Prior to her death she had made numerous complaints to city agencies about these vicious dogs.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Braelynn Coulter, 3-years old of Highpoint, North Carolina, was killed by one of her family's two pit bulls on February 24, 2014. Just a few months earlier, both pit bulls had broken through a fence and attacked a dog being walked by its owner.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Kenneth Santillan, 13-years old of Paterson, New Jersey, was killed by a bullmastiff that leaped over its owner's fence and attacked on February 28, 2014. At the time of the incident, he had been walking home from school with his best friend.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Raymane Robinson, Jr., 2-years old of Killeen, Texas, was killed by a bullmastiff while walking home from a playground with an adult and 8-year old girl. The animal charged out its owner's garage, attacked the 8-year girl and killed Raymane.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Mia DeRouen, 4-years old of Houma, Louisiana, was killed by her family's 130 pound pit bull on March 25, 2014. Police categorized the dog as a "monster" and were forced to gun down the aggressive animal by firing 13 shots into it.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Christopher Malone, 3-years old of Holmes County, Mississippi, was mauled to death by two pit bulls owned by family members. The dogs had been secured in a chain-linked pen, but somehow escaped and fatally attacked the boy.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Dorothy Hamilton, 85-years old of Kaufman, Texas, was killed by her son's two pit bulls that he kept inside the home they shared. Her son usually kept them locked in a room, but the dogs broke through the door and fatally attacked his mother.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Jessica Norman, 33-years old, was discovered dead with her clothes stripped away in a ditch on her property in Sebring, Florida. Canine bites were a contributory cause of death. Police concluded that her neighbor's pit bulls inflicted them.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Katie Morrison, 20-years old of Smiths Station, Alabama, was viciously attacked by three pit bulls on April 28, 2014 while visiting the home of the dogs' owner. The dogs ripped off her whole scalp in the attack. She died of her injuries on May 3.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Nyhiem Wilfong, 1-year old of Caldwell County, North Carolina, was brutally killed by a chained rottweiler in front of his 5-year old cousin while visiting his grandfather's home. His grandfather had only had the rottweiler for three weeks.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Kasii Haith, 4-years old of Kent County, Delaware, was mauled to death by three pit bulls while visiting a friend with his mother on May 7, 2014. The boy had been around the dogs "numerous times in the past" without incident, police said.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Rita Pepe, 93-years old of Branford, Connecticut was viciously attacked by a loose pit bull-mix while walking near her home on April 13, 2014. The Branford Animal Shelter had recently adopted the dog out. Rita died 6-weeks after the attack.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Johnathan Quarles, Jr., 7-months old, was mauled to death by his babysitter's pit bull while visiting Dayton, Ohio with his family on July 20, 2014. The dog had previously attacked a neighborhood dog and charged a letter carrier.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Craig Sytsma, 46-years old, was brutally attacked and killed by two loose cane corsos while jogging down a rural Metamora Township road. Prosecutors subsequently charged the dogs' owners, a husband and wife, with second-degree murder.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Cindy Whisman, 59-years old of Middletown, Ohio, was brutally killed by her daughter's pit bull while babysitting her 2-year old grandson. Her daughter, grandson and the male pit bull had moved into Cindy's home two months earlier.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Joel Chirieleison, 6-years old, was killed by two pit bulls while visiting his aunt's home in Fanning Springs, Florida on August 7, 2014. The babysitting arrangement with his aunt had been in place for weeks and Joel was familiar with the dogs.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Javon Dade Jr., 4-years old, was killed by up to six family dogs -- one pit bull and five pit bull-mixes -- while visiting his father's home in Goulds, Florida. Miami-Dade authorities later charged his father and his father's girlfriend with manslaughter.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Logan Meyer, 7-years old was killed by a protection-trained rottweiler belonging to his parents in Dodge County, Wisconsin. The boy's stepfather had formerly been a trainer at a celebrity kennel for police dogs, Vohne Liche Kennels.

See: Summary | Full blog post |

Alemeaner Dial, 83-years old of Rowland, North Carolina, was attacked and killed by her granddaughter's four pit bulls. Other family members had repeatedly called authorities about the dogs concerned about the elderly woman's safety.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Stella Antanaitis, 91-years old of Stratford, Connecticut, was viciously attacked by her own dog. Both of her arms were mutilated in the attack, according to news reports. She died four days after being transported to the hospital with critical injuries.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Christopher Camejo Jr., 2-years old, was mauled to death by up to four of his grandfather's rottweilers while staying at his home. Citrus County authorities later arrested the boy's parents and charged them both with manslaughter and child neglect.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Edward Cahill, 40-years old of Portage, Indiana, was attacked and killed by his pet pit bull of 8-years named FatBoi on Christmas Day. The Porter County coroner said the canine attack was "so obvious" that an autopsy was not required.

Post Publication Identification Photographs

Breed identification photographs discovered after the publication of this post on January 7, 2015. These photographs are not included in our overall analysis; they were unavailable at that time.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Jose Robles, 62-years old, was killed by up to 15 dogs belonging to Daniel McCollum while walking down McCollum Road. The dog pack included: 3 blue and red heelers (Australian cattle dogs), 6 Australian shepherds and 6 hounds.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Rita Ross-Woodard, 64-years old of Corpus Christi, died after being attacked by four pit bull-mixes she was fostering on December 15, 2014. The Nueces County Medical Examiner's office said multiple dog bites contributed to her death.

See: Summary | Full blog post | Deriah Solem, 22-months old, was viciously attacked by a 10-year old family pit bull, "Martel," on August 7, 2014 in St. Charles County, Missouri. She died two days later. Her parents, Derek Solem and Sharon William, were charged with multiple felonies.

1Of the 43% (18) without photographs, at least 28% (5) were shot dead by police on scene and 22% (4) continue to be unknown breeds at the time of the publication of this post.
2Wolf-like northern breeds, predominantly huskies, were notably missing this year.
3The three photographs falling in two categories produces a total of 112% instead of 100%.
4KIII-TV was on scene when the dogs were confiscated. They also stated, "There was at least one animal that came out with blood it. We chose not to show the video of it because of its graphic nature." That is understandable, but does not remove the reality that they witnessed the dogs being seized, mainly shot footage of pit bulls being seized, yet still failed to state any breed name in all of their coverage. KIII-TV "should" be aware that Texas leads all states in fatal dog attacks and has for over a decade. KIII-TV "should" be aware that Texas has a much higher rate of pit bull fatalities than most other states and the national average. KIII-TV "should" be aware that Texas doctors now lead the nation in medical research about fatal pit bull attacks. Finally, KIII-TV "should" be aware that accurate reporting -- not hedging or withholding information -- will help save Texan lives and elevate this issue statewide.

DogsBite blog ::

2015 Dog Bite Fatality: 7-Year Old Boy Killed by Two Family Dogs in College Springs, Iowa

2015 Dog Bite Fatality: 18-Month Old Boy Killed by Family Dogs in Brooksville, Florida

2015 Dog Bite Fatality: Maryland Man Mauled to Death by Adopted Rescue Pit Bull

Attacked While Taking Down His Christmas Tree

2014 Fatal Dog Attack Breed Identification Photographs

Most of the Expected, Longtime Killing Culprits

2014 Fatal Dog Attack Breed Identification Photographs

Post Publication Identification Photographs