Posted on December 17, 2012 by Colleen Lynn

2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Rescue Pit Bull Kills 2-Year Old Girl; Nearby Restrictions Lifted in 2010

Savannah Edwards, 2-years old, was killed by a rescue pit bull near Topeka.

Past Law Clarification
UPDATE 12/16/12: A Sunday article by the Topeka Capital-Journal clarifies the history of Shawnee County. The county has never had a breed-specific ordinance, though the City of Topeka, which is the county seat of Shawnee County, once did. Topeka repealed the ordinance in 2010 and now boasts a "behavior-based" ordinance rather than a "breed-based" one. Savannah Edwards was killed by a "rescue" pit bull in Shawnee County, outside of Topeka city proper.

The child was visiting a relative with her mother on Thursday at a home on Cross Street when a rescue pit bull belonging to a tenant of the residence attacked. Savannah was rushed to a hospital in Topeka, but did not survive. There is still no information about how long the pit bull had lived at the residence or what shelter it came from. The family has requested the media not contact them. As of Sunday, the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office also has not released this information.

12/14/12: Dog-Aggressive "Rescue"
WIBW.com shows footage of the red-nosed rescue pit bull being directed into the county animal control vehicle and interviews several neighbors. Ruth Courville, who is new to the neighborhood, told the news group she had only seen the dog one time and it appeared amicable. Neighbor's who did not want to appear on camera, however, told WIBW that the owner warned them that his "rescue" pit bull was dog-aggressive and that it would attack other dogs if given the chance.

Exactly in what neighborhood is a dog-aggressive pit bull -- "would attack other dogs if given the chance" -- appropriate? Your neighborhood? Your mother's neighborhood? The shelter or rescue that adopted out this dog-aggressive pit bull has still not been named, but it hardly matters given that there are hundreds of these entities across the U.S. that do the same thing everyday. Such groups have "zero" concern about the dangerousness these dogs pose to neighborhoods.

In this case, the "neighborhood suitable" dog-aggressive pit bull was also human-aggressive and struck down the life of an innocent young child.

It's bad enough to place a neighborhood's beloved pets at risk with these types of dogs, which by default also places their owners at risk who will and do receive serious and sometimes fatal injuries trying to save their pet when under attack. This risk shoots off the charts when it comes to dog-aggressive pit bulls, a breed of dog already artificially engineered through selective breeding for explosive dog aggression for the sole purpose of attacking and killing dogs in a fighting pit.

After publishing this post Friday night, the WIBW news story was updated to include the identification of the victim. Savannah Edwards, 2-years old of Topeka, Kansas is the 207th American killed by a pit bull since the CDC stopped tracking deaths by dog breeds in 1998.

12/14/12: Pit Bull Kills Child
Topeka, KS - A 2-year old girl who was attacked by a pit bull on Thursday has died from her injuries. Earlier reports said the child was airlifted to a Topeka hospital with life threatening injuries. The little girl and her mother were visiting a tenant when the tenant's dog suddenly attacked the girl. The tenant is related to the child's mother. Authorities said the dog is a 6-year old male "pit bull-mix."1 The dog was adopted from a shelter, according to one official on the scene.

In September 2010, Topeka repealed its pit bull ordinance in a 9-0 vote2 -- a vote that included current Mayor Bill Bunten. The previous ordinance declared pit bulls "dangerous" and required owners to adhere to special licensing, leashing, confinement, microchipping and insurance requirements. (See: Sections 18-153 through 18-179 of the ordinance). Our guess is, a landlord while under the previous ordinance would not have allowed a "tenant" to harbor a pit bull.3

1Calling this red-nosed pit bull terrier a "pit bull-mix" is totally inaccurate.
2Included in the repeal was a "loosening up" of how shelters adopt out pit bulls picked up by the city.
3We learned Friday (12/14) that although the address of the dog owner, 5831 SE Cross St, lies in Topeka, this area is under the jurisdiction of Shawnee County, not the City of Topeka.

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Colleen Lynn

2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Fresno County Man Mauled to Death by Pack of Pit Bulls

Esteban Alavez, 34, and one of the four pit bulls that mauled him to death.

Victim Identified
UPDATE 12/14/12: The Fresno County Coroner's Office has identified the man who was mauled to death by four pit bulls on Tuesday. Esteban Alavez, 34-years old, of Selma, California died due to multiple dog bites, including a bite that punctured his jugular vein, according to Fresno County Coroner David Hadden. The Thomas-Robinson Funeral Home website obituary states that he was a Farm Laborer. Rosary will be prayed on Wednesday at 6:30 pm at the funeral home chapel.

12/13/12: Backyard Breeder
An autopsy confirmed that the unidentified Hispanic man was mauled to death by dogs. The Fresno County Coroner's Office said the man died due to multiple dog bites. Authorities believe four pit bulls are to blame. A total of 12 dogs were seized from the owner's home, including 7 pit bull puppies about 8-10 weeks old. One neighbor, in fear of retaliation from the owner of the dogs, did not go on camera, but believes the same dogs killed her pet boxer last month.

"We didn't want to cause any problems and stir up any more problems, we just took him to the vet and he didn't make it."

Now a man has lost his life in one of the most brutal ways possible -- bitten, ripped and torn apart by a pack of pit bulls. Another neighbor said the dogs killed his dog just 10 days ago. The coroner's office is trying to locate the victim's family before releasing his identity; the victim may be from Mexico. The Fresno County District Attorney's Office will determine if charges will be brought. Also, the woman who discovered the victim's body is a relative of the dogs' owner.

12/12/12: Four Pit Bulls to Blame
The Selma Enterprise reports the victim was mauled to death by four pit bulls in the driveway of a Selma-area home Tuesday night, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives worked the case late into the night and are still trying to identify the victim. Deputy Chris Curtice, spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said a woman turned into the driveway of her home on South Highland Avenue when she discovered the body of a man lying on her property.

She got out of her car and after seeing that the man suffered obvious "traumatic injuries," she ran next door, where it is believed family relatives live, Curtice said. Homicide detectives reported to the scene on Highland. Detectives quickly determined what happened. Paw prints were all around the body, Curtice said. Authorities located four pit bulls at a nearby residence, where they found blood evidence on the dogs, Curtice said. The dogs were taken to Liberty Animal Control.

12/12/12: Man Found Dead
Fresno County, CA - In a developing story, on Tuesday evening Fresno County sheriff deputies began investigating the death of a Hispanic man mauled to death by a pack of pit bulls. Just after 7 pm, the man was found dead on the lawn of a home on the 12000 block of South Highland. Deputies found a number of dog tracks around the body and followed them to a home in the area. Deputies said the dogs still had blood on their mouths. Animal control seized the dogs.

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

Photos of the dogs first appeared in September 2014 (abc30.com), after the criminal trial.

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Colleen Lynn

2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Bristol-Kendall Fire Department Firefighter Killed by New Dog

Dog New to Home
UPDATE 11/14/12: Police Lt. Pat Gengler said that an autopsy found that Brown died from dog bites to her neck from a 140 pound mastiff. She was discovered by her husband at the bottom of the basement stairs in their home. Gengler said the couple took in the mastiff about a week ago from a family member.1 He added that four animal control handlers were needed to contain the animal. The couple's two other dogs, a boxer and pit bull-mix were uninvolved in the attack.

Bristol Kendall Chief Michael Hitzemann noted that that the mastiff was having trouble getting along with one of the other dogs (which is perhaps why it was in the basement?) "I'm not sure we're ever going to find out," Hitzemann said, referring to what prompted the deadly attack. John Ciribassi, a veterinary behaviorist at Chicagoland Veterinary Behavior Consultants chimed in with typical garbage stating that fatal dog attacks are rare, "especially against adults."2

Adults Comprise Nearly Half of All Fatal Dog Attack Victims

So far in 2012, 51% of all fatal dog attack victims have been adults. Just days ago, a 30-year old California woman was killed by one or more dogs. In the 7-year period of 2005 through 2011, 213 Americans were mauled to death by dogs. 54% (116) of these victims were ages 14 and younger. The remaining victims, 46% (97), were adults ages 20 and older. Of the adult category, 16% were ages 20 to 39, 33% were ages 40 to 59 and 51% were ages 60 and older.

View Related video3

11/14/12: Woman Killed by Own Dog
Big Rock, IL - A firefighter found dead in her home on Monday was killed by her dog. Kane County Sheriff’s police Lt. Pat Gengler said an autopsy completed Tuesday showed that Dawn Brown, 44, died from injuries inflicted by one of her dogs, a mastiff. At the time of the incident, Brown was home alone with the mastiff and her two other dogs, a boxer and a pit bull-mix. She was discovered by her husband about 4:15 pm in their home on the 400 block of Jefferson Street.

Brown, along with her husband, was a volunteer firefighter with the Big Rock Fire Protection District -- the same department that responded to the call. Brown also worked full time with the Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District in Yorkville.

1To avoid the dog from being put down. Such a wise choice?
2Quoting "experts" like Ciribassi guarantees the propagation of false data, as his comment was clearly one of a personal belief with zero documentation supporting it.
3Video names dog breed a bullmastiff.

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Colleen Lynn

2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Yadkin County Infant Mauled to Death by Family Dog

A "cart-pulling" rottweiler from Deep Creek Kennel.1

Details Released archived
UPDATE 12/05/12: The Yadkin County Sherifff's Office has finally released details about the mauling death of Dixie Jennings. The child was killed on November 9 at 11:30 am at Deep Creek Kennel in Yadkinville, which is owned by the infant's grandmother, Robin Jennings. The infant's mother Sarah Jennings also works at the kennel and was with her child in the office area when a customer came in with a dog to board -- a door separates the office and kennel areas.

Sarah Jennings took the dog and its owner into the kennel area, but the door behind her failed to latch properly. A rottweiler belonging to Robin Jennings subsequently pushed through the door and entered into the office where the child was located. When Sarah and Robin came back into the office, they found the rottweiler standing beside the bitten child. Sarah Jennings rushed her daughter to Hoots Memorial Hospital in Yadkinville. The baby did not survive her injuries.

Despite an earlier report that suggested the rottweiler was killed on the kennel property quickly following the incident, Robin Jennings took her dog to a local veterinarian and had the dog euthanized, according to Sheriff Ricky Oliver. After the investigation into the child's death was completed, Yadkin County prosecutors reviewed the findings. The investigation found no evidence of negligence or criminal wrongdoing. No charges will be filed in the death of Dixie Jennings.

11/20/12:
Dog Dead on Arrival archived
Rumors about the death of this young child keep brewing as the Yadkin County Sheriff's Department continues to withhold "standard" details about the attack to the public, now 11 days after the fatal dog biting incident. The most recent news (from last Wednesday) came after the Winston-Salem Journal reported that Anna Hamby, the county's animal control director, said that the AC officer arrived on scene and met the dog owner whose animal was "deceased."

Hamby told the Journal she did not know how the dog died.

N.C. Leads 2012 Dog Bite Fatalities

Despite California and Texas2 each having nearly three times the population of North Carolina or more, this southeastern state leads fatal dog attacks in 2012 with 4 dog bite-related fatalities. North Carolina might not keep this grisly title through the end of December. Victims include: Eugene Cameron, 65-years old (Person Co.), James Hudson, 10-months old (Perquimans Co.), Mary Jo Hunt, 53-years old (Robeson Co.) and Dixie Jennings, 3-months old of Yadkin County.

At least 3 of these 4 North Carolina fatal dog maulings involved a pit bull.

11/13/12: No Dog Breed Named archived
Yadkinville, NC - In a developing story, a 3-month old girl from Yadkin County was killed Friday after a family dog bit her multiple times in the head. Dr. Donald Jason, the Forsyth County medical examiner, said Dixie Jennings died from head and brain injuries due to dog bites. Jason also speculated that the dog might have mistaken the child's "multicolored knit cap" on her head for a ball. Yadkin County Sheriff Ricky Oliver declined to provide any details of the fatal incident.

Oliver also would not say whether the dog was euthanized. He declined to release the incident report to a Winston-Salem Journal reporter late Tuesday. Oliver told a reporter that he wanted to protect the family.

There is no N.C. statute that protects public documents related to accidents or the names of victims or witnesses from being accessible to the public, according to N.C. Press Association general counsel Amanda Martin. Only information related to criminal investigations can be withheld in certain circumstances, she said.

The Journal has received numerous calls from Yadkin County residents who had heard rumors about the death since Friday and were concerned that they were getting no information on the dog attack in their area. (Michael Hewlett and Jennifer Young, Winston-Salem Journal)

Go Get 'em Winston-Salem Journal!

This is a United States fatal dog mauling and protocol violations may be at hand. Journalists Hewlett and Young also turned up Robin Jennings, who is related to Dixie Jennings, and owns Deep Creek Kennel. Jennings has been training and showing rottweilers for 28 years and is a former president of the Yadkin County Humane Society and animal-cruelty investigator, according to the kennel's website. Jennings declined comment to the Winston-Salem Journal.

Citing this was a "private family matter."

View the DogsBite.org Google Map: U.S. Fatal Rottweiler Attacks By State

1Presumably the "cart-puller" is a rottweiler named Atlas, as explained on the Deep Creek Kennel website. It is unknown if Atlas, also an AKC Champion, is the same rottweiler that killed the infant.
2California and Texas each have 3 fatalities thus far in 2012.

DogsBite blog ::