DogsBite Blog

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Colleen Lynn

A Powerful Story of Humanity and Survival

Monica Garza recounts the violent pit bull attack along with her rescuer on The Doctors.

Houston, TX - On the last day of Canine Victims Awareness Week 2014, we share the story of a mother of two children who was brutally attacked by two pit bulls while jogging and rescued by a 63-year old man she did not know. Earlier this year, the two appeared on The Doctors TV show and shared their stories of survival and the magic and boldness of human triumph when faced with unbearable odds. These two courageous individuals from Texas will forever be in our hearts.

The Horrific Dog Attack

On March 5, 2014, 35-year old Monica Garza was viciously attacked by two loose pit bulls while jogging on the South Belt hike and bike trail in Southeast Houston. A retired couple heard an alarming sound behind their home. Sharon Jordan asked her husband to take a look and what he saw was horrific: Two pit bulls were clamped onto the jogger and playing tug-of-war with her body. Charles Jordan, 63-years old, ran to her aid and jumped on top of her covering her body.

The dogs did not want me. The dogs were fixated on her. - Charles Jordan

Two months later, Monica Garza shared her story of survival with KHOU in an emotional interview. "I think about my children," she said. "I don't want God to take me at this time, my children are young. She said the dogs, "ruined my life for a little while, but they are not going to ruin it forever." Monica spent 37 days in the hospital after the vicious attack. She had 350 staples and 54 lacerations and bite marks covering her body. By June she had undergone two skin grafts as well.

The Doctors TV Show

In September, The Doctors aired the story of Monica and Charles. The episode involves a re-enactment of that day, both recounting the terrifying attack, and the life saving actions of Charles. After the pit bulls finally ceased their relentless attack, Charles held her close and said, "Nothing bad else is going to happen to you today. I am going to make sure that you are okay from here on out." We hope that Charles is awarded a Carnegie Medal for his extraordinary heroic act.

"I consider Monica my hero. She is the most courageous person I have ever seen. She never quit fighting. She never gave up. We met, strangers. In one special moment in your life, you put your arm around somebody, and they lean on you. They touch your heart. And that moment is going to stay with me for the rest of my life." - Charles Jordan

Both cried while watching the re-enactment. Monica said she continues to have a lot of anxiety around dogs, especially the larger and aggressive types. She shows the doctors how her right leg is healing. The doctor explains her injury to the audience and future surgical procedures. When asked about his selfless act, Charles said, "There was really no thought process to it, no fear to it. When you see a woman in distress, you have to stop it." The audience roared with applause.

After the Violent Attack

Three weeks after the vicious attack, Monica's father, Jeff Mack, stood before Houston City Council nearly in tears. The police veteran shared the story of his daughter, and how her daily jog turned into a nightmare of horrific injuries inflicted by two loose pit bulls. At that time, Monica was still hospitalized. Mack was shell-shocked that the owner of one of the pit bulls was merely issued a class-C ticket. (Readers recall Harris County and their shabby history of felony charges?)1

"It's pit bulls. It's all you hear about. They were originally bred to be very aggressive. And yet I would say the dogs are responsible, and the owners are responsible. This is unreasonable that we cannot get some criminal charges filed in this case." - Jeff Mack

Mack is a retired Houston Police Department officer with 25-years of service. He has written to legislators and hopes to change the felony dog attack law in Texas -- which currently has One Bite codified into it (prior knowledge of vicious propensity) -- so that criminal charges can more easily be brought. Mack will file civil charges, which are also governed by the one bite rule in Texas, but at least in civil court, they won't face the high standard of "proof beyond a reasonable doubt."

This blog post is part of a special series DogsBite.org is running for the first ever Canine Victims Awareness Week, November 9-15, 2014. Learn more by visiting the AVOCA website.

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1It is unclear if the other pit bull owner was ever located. Regarding Harris County, which leads all Texas counties in fatal dog attacks, pursuing criminal charges after the mauling death of Christina Bell in January is either the first time by Harris County prosecutors or a long overdue second case since Lillian's Law was passed in 2007.

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Colleen Lynn

Letter Released During Canine Victims Awareness Week

Open Letter to HuffPost
East Troy, WI - Today a national ad hoc coalition, Awareness for Victims of Canine Attack (AVOCA), releases an open letter to Arianna Huffington, the chair, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, which includes The Huffington Post. The letter urges Ms. Huffington to reconsider her publication's stance on the promotion of pit bulls as family pets and comes in response to The Huffington Post's "Pit Bull Week" that was featured at the end of July.

AVOCA releases the open letter to Arianna Huffington -- signed by over one hundred parents, survivors of vicious dog attacks and victims' advocates -- during the first-ever Canine Victims Awareness Week. On Monday, the same group released its first in a series of Public Service Announcements titled, "Won't Back Down," that features dozens of photos of family members, dog attack survivors and safety advocates holding up signs with the hashtag #WontBackDown.

The open letter to Arianna Huffington outlines the emotional and physical devastation experienced by canine attack victims, as well as the overwhelming financial cost of medical treatment, according to the group's press release. Thus, "as a support and advocacy network of victims' of dangerous dogs," states the release, AVOCA "cautions The Huffington Post that encouraging the proliferation of fighting breeds as family pets is ill-advised and even potentially deadly."

The open letter, "An Open Letter to Arianna Huffington Regarding the Promotion of Pit Bulls" is located on the Daxton's Friends website at the following URL: www.daxtonsfriends.com/open-letter-huffpo. We encourage all DogsBite.org followers to read it in full. DogsBite.org (Texas), Daxton's Friends for Canine Education and Awareness (Wisconsin) and Citizens for Canine Attack Prevention (Illinois) are all participating in Canine Victims Awareness Week with AVOCA.

Read full new release: Victims of Canine Attack Issue Open Letter to Arianna Huffington

Portions of the Open Letter

DogsBite.org has selected a portion of the open letter to show readers just how reckless The Huffington Post's, "pit bull advocacy" has become. The HuffPost has been on our radar for a number of years, beginning in 2009 when we responded to a pro-pit bull piece by Carrie Pollare (See: I'm Tired of "Pit Bulls Before People"). In 2010, we began calling the publication, "PuffPo" after editors removed a male, unaltered, chained pit bull from their 9 Most Dangerous Pet list.

We never would have imagined, however, that by July of 2014, HuffPost would have a dedicated "HuffPost Pit Bulls" section of their website, promoted a special "Pit Bull Week," specifically designed to rebrand pit bulls as safe family pets, and finally, strongly promoting a children's book about pit bulls that author Douglas Anthony Cooper states, "no conventional publishing house will go near [the book]." We were told: "You might as well write a children's book about meth."

The Huffington Post has become a premier outlet for the rebranding of pit bulls. On “Pit Bull Awareness Day” last year (October 2013), your publication posted, “Your Kids and Pit Bulls Love Each Other.” Readers were invited to submit photos of their children hugging and kissing their pit bulls. Over a hundred photos appeared in the slideshow, but one in particular caught our eye -- that of poor little Nephi Selu who’d been mauled to death by his “best friend”, a pit bull named Kava. In the photo, sweetly smiling Nephi hugs Kava around the neck. We were horrified to see that photo in the slideshow and alerted your publication to this grievous error. Your photo editors quietly removed the picture, offering no apology. Such a misstep, however, did not deter HuffPost’s pit bull promotion team from boosting their efforts. With the creation of “Pit Bull Week,” the editorial team ramped up the propagandizing even further, devoting an entire new section of your website (“HuffPost Pit Bulls”) to the pushing of this “misunderstood and maligned” breed that kills more people than all other dog breeds combined.
-- snip --

So very seductive is this false concept that pit bulls and children belong together that novelist and HuffPost blogger Douglas Anthony Cooper felt compelled to write a children’s book (and accompanying essay for parents) called Galunker, which is due for release later this year, about the eponymous “misunderstood but lovable” pit bull. The Huffington Post serialized the storybook in May of this year in a post entitled “Children Need Pit Bulls: A Picture Book” which, no doubt, helped Mr. Cooper’s Kickstarter campaign to quickly earn $62,000 (over double its original target). In an opinion piece for Animals 24-7, National Post columnist Barbara Kay reviewed HuffPost’s advance copy of Galunker and concluded, “To imply that a real-life Galunker would be ‘about as dangerous as a marshmallow’ is a stunningly -- one might reasonably say a dangerously -- misleading statement."

Download full letter: Open Letter to Arianna Huffington Regarding the Promotion of Pit Bulls

This blog post is part of a special series DogsBite.org is running for the first ever Canine Victims Awareness Week, November 9-15, 2014. Learn more by visiting the AVOCA website.

Photo: Arianna Huffington by David Shankbone / CC BY 3.0

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Colleen Lynn

Family Pit Bull Suddenly Kills Innocent Child

Please click an image to play the video. From left: Roxanne Hartrich and Angela Rutledge.

DogsBite.org - On the fourth day of Canine Victims Awareness Week, we have selected two powerful videos of mothers who have lost a child in a sudden, vicious family dog attack. Roxanne Hartrich of Bloomington, Illinois lost her 4-year old daughter after the family's two pit bulls brutally attacked her in January. Angela Rutledge of Fulton County, Georgia lost her 2-year old son after her family pit bull of 8-years, Kissy Face, suddenly attacked and killed him at their home last year.

Each of the videos touches upon the unexpected nature of the attack and the tremendous violence of it. Both fatal attacks involved well-raised and cared for family pit bulls -- raised from puppyhood -- that had previously played with the child countless times. Both mothers have shared their painful stories to prevent this from happening to another family and to offer a warning to other parents about the dangerousness of pit bulls. "Had I known then what I know now," Roxanne reflected.

Roxanne Hartrich - Bloomington, Illinois (2014)

The raw, emotional account of Roxanne will pain the hearts of viewers. She begins by saying that the day of the horrific attack was her daughter Kara's 4th birthday. The family owned three pit bulls, two males and one female. At the time of the attack, Kara and her younger sister were at the family home being watched by Roxanne's mother. After Kara put a toy away, she came into the room with her grandmother and sister and said, "Brody knocked me into the wall. Brody hurt me."

Roxanne said that her mother picked up Kara and said, "I'm sure Brody didn't mean it Kara ... are you okay?" Roxanne said she had barely gotten that out when "Brody came flying from the playroom, and jumped into the air, and attacked my mom and my daughter. He attacked her out of my mom's arms," Roxanne said. Despite her mother's efforts, Brody continued to attack. "He initially went straight for the jugular. He also bit her face, her head, everywhere," she explained.

I got out of my car. I was met by my husband, my mom and police officers and the firemen. They said you need to go to BroMenn. Go to BroMenn now ... And the doctor came in and he said, "Your daughter is gone. There is nothing we can do for you, for her." And he said, "Prepare yourself, the damage is going to be excruciatingly painful to see." We have three dogs ... Brutus was two, Brody was one, Bella was in her crate ... In retrospect, if I could turn back the clock, had I known then what I know now, you are absolutely correct, we should not have had them around our kids. My little girl is gone because we were, in essence, ignorant ... The ones that are attacking are the family dogs... - Roxanne Hartrich

Angela Rutledge - Fulton County, Georgia (2013)

Another raw, emotional account features Angela Rutledge speaking with State Rep. Keisha Waites. In April 2013, Angela's 2-year old son Beau was savagely killed by his family's pit bull at their home. Neighbors who saw the attack scene said it was "like a horror movie." The family had owned the female pit bull, named Kissy Face, for 8-years without any aggression issues. That suddenly changed that day in April, when Angela left her son momentarily to go to the bathroom.

She begins by telling Rep. Waites how stealth and fast the vicious attack happened, and how she did not hear any noises. "When I came downstairs, it wasn't because I heard anything," Angela said. "It wasn't because I heard a scream or any banging. I don't even to this moment understand how I did not hear anything. There was no music playing in my house. It was so quick," she said. "I walked down those stairs not expecting anything other than to cook lunch for my son," she said.

My son had puncture wounds in his neck. Gashes in his head. And he laid there, and I screamed so loud ... I ran upstairs to go get my cell phone so I could call 911. I couldn't even call 911 because I kept slipping in the blood, and I kept dropping my phone ... The reason why I am supporting this legislation is to undo the lie ... There's a horrible rumor out there saying that nature will submit to nurture. It's almost like if you were to get a lion as a cub -- They are very innocent and very sweet, but there comes a point ... They are ticking time bombs. You cannot reach into their minds to know what is going to click on that detonator and set them off ... I believed that if you loved these dogs... - Angela Rutledge

Many more videos of victims sharing their histories are located on the Victim Videos page.

This blog post is part of a special series DogsBite.org is running for the first ever Canine Victims Awareness Week, November 9-15, 2014. Learn more by visiting the AVOCA website.

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Colleen Lynn

Dog Mauling Victims Recount Brutal Attacks

Please click an image to play the video. From left: Robbie Nelson and Michael O'Neill.

DogsBite.org - On the third day of Canine Victims Awareness Week, we have selected two powerful videos of adult men who survived a life-threatening dog attack. Robbie Nelson, 49, of Sydney, Australia had such severe chest injuries from the attack that arriving paramedics could see his heart through his wounds. Michael O'Neill of Nederland, Colorado speaks frankly about sinking a knife into the attacking pit bull to stop the animal from ripping out his femoral artery.

Each of the videos touches upon the unexpected nature of the attack and the tremendous violence of it. Both videos involve loose aggressive pit bulls in public spaces, demonstrating that these attacks can occur at nearly any time and anywhere. Robbie had been jogging in his neighborhood and Michael had just finished hiking when the attacks occurred. We have chosen to highlight adult victims and parents during this week because they often receive less attention from the media.

Robbie Nelson - Sydney, Australia (2013)

The vivid and personal account by Robbie Nelson will leave many readers feeling vulnerable to a vicious attack. Robbie was savagely mauled by three pit bulls while jogging in his neighborhood. It started with just one pit bull and then he realized -- as if in a dream -- there were two more. He recounts his attack as if still in a dream-like state, the very way many victims experience a violent dog attack in real time. He even talks about the "serenity" that sets in when close to death.

Robbie also talks about his emotional injuries, but as if he does not know that he is describing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. "I have visions when I fall asleep of them attacking me, you know like the actual reoccurrence of what happened? And I still lay there trying to figure out why, looking for some sort of answers," he said. "It's really, what's the word for it? Put my life in a different stance, a different approach? It's strange," he said, "like a bad wake up call that you didn't want."

I felt like a bump on the left-hand side of me and I looked down and saw one dog, a pit bull. I thought she was playing around then I realized she had my left hand in her mouth pulling me back … My brain did not fathom what was going on … I did not even know there were two other dogs, another one latched onto this side of my arm and … Now one had each of my arms … They were trying to pull me down and I knew if I went down I was in big trouble … I couldn't tear my arms out of the dog's mouth because it already had chunks -- I could see the meat coming off my bones … There was a moment there where the pain was like a 'serenity' type of thing? I don't know, I was on my way to passing… - Robbie Nelson

Michael O'Neil - Nederland, Colorado (2011)

Michael O'Neill and his wife were just finishing a hike in the forest north of Nederland when a pit bull suddenly flew up over the hill in a "flat-out sprint," knocked him to the ground and began ripping into his flesh. "It's not that he nipped me. It's not that he bit me. He mauled me," Michael said. "He tried to kill me, and that's a whole different thing." He spoke to the Daily Camera a month after his attack because he wants people to understand that pit bulls are a dangerous breed.

"I feel like I have a responsibility to the community," he said. What is uncommon about Michael's attack is that he was armed with a knife and was able to defend himself. He saved his own life. Part of the PTSD that victims experience after a violent dog attack is that they could do nothing to stop the dog. The massiveness of this vulnerability, which Michael mainly escaped, is haunting. "There's only one thing that saved me," Michael said. "I had a knife and knew how to use it."

There is no question in my mind that the dog was intent on killing me. From what the doctors tell me, that bite right at my femoral artery, if she had managed to rip that out, there is no question that I would have bled out. Last year, I lost my dog to a big cat, we live up in the mountains. Since that time, when I go out in the forest country, I have carried a knife with me -- ready to defend myself in the case of a cat attack, I never expected to have a dog attack ... As he was ripping at the area over my femoral artery in my leg, I was able to sink the knife into him pretty deeply ... From everything I understand, pit bulls are not easy to give up their bite once they have something in their mouth. I was fortunate... - Michael O'Neill

Many more videos of victims sharing their histories are located on the Victim Videos page.

This blog post is part of a special series DogsBite.org is running for the first ever Canine Victims Awareness Week, November 9-15, 2014. Learn more by visiting the AVOCA website.

DogsBite blog ::

Texas Woman and Her Rescuer Describe Savage Pit Bull Attack on The Doctors TV Show

A Powerful Story of Humanity and Survival

Canine Attack Victims' Group Releases Open Letter to Arianna Huffington

Letter Released During Canine Victims Awareness Week

Video: Two Mothers Share Their Tragic Stories of Losing a Child in Family Dog Attack

Family Pit Bull Suddenly Kills Innocent Child

Video: Two Men Share Their Stories of Surviving a Life-Threatening Dog Attack

Dog Mauling Victims Recount Brutal Attacks