Posted on April 20, 2012 by Colleen Lynn

2012 Dog Bite Fatality: 2-Month Old Child Killed by Family Dog

Aiden McGrew was killed by his family's recently adopted golden retriever-mix.

Father Charged
UPDATE 05/02/12: The infant's father, Quintin H. McGrew, has been charged with unlawful neglect of a child. An affidavit accompanying his arrest warrant stated that McGrew "placed a 2-month-old infant at unreasonable risk by placing the infant in the living room by himself while the defendant slept in the bedroom. The infant was left in the separate room with a dog that was new to the residence for over an hour resulting in the disembowelment and death of the minor child."

04/23/12: 911 Call Released
A description of the 911 call made Friday morning offers new details about the tragic death of 2-month old Aiden McGrew. In the call, the baby's mother, Chantel McGrew, told the operator, "I believe my 2 and 1/2 year old got the baby out of the swing. I believe the dog went after my son, because the dog has blood all over him." She added about the attacking dog: "He's put in the bedroom away from the baby because he tried to go after the baby again when I got home."1

04/23/12: Death Ruled Homicide
Dorchester County Coroner Chris Nisbet ruled the death of 2-month old Aiden McGrew a homicide. He announced Monday that the child died from blood loss after being severely mauled by the family's dog. Nisbet said parental neglect contributed to the boy's death. Aiden was discovered Friday morning after being badly bitten and dismembered by his family's newly adopted dog. At the time of the incident, his father was sleeping in an adjoining room.

04/21/12: Killed While Father Slept
News agencies report that the family had two dogs. One was apparently asleep with the father at the time of the attack. The offending golden retriever-mix, named Lucky, had recently been adopted by the family. The dog's previous owner was not named. The deceased boy's parents, Quintin and Chantel McGrew were questioned Friday. The couple's other children, ages 7 and 3, were taken into protective custody by the state Department of Social Services.

Knight said Quintin McGrew was sleeping in a bed with the 3-year-old child and the family's other dog, and Chantel McGrew was taking the 7-year-old to a doctor's visit, when Aiden was attacked.
"The child was in a small swing and was asleep,” Knight said. "I'm not sure who put the child in the swing."
Knight said the family adopted Lucky a few weeks ago, but their other dog has been with them for years. He said the McGrews "dog sat" for Lucky previously and decided to keep the dog when its previous owners wanted to give it up.

The Death of Zane Alen Earles

In 2008, the mauling death of 2-month old Zane Alen Earles by the family's Labrador puppy horrified the American public. The boy's mother found him dead in an infant swing about 10:30 am that morning. Up until that point, she had been sleeping. The nature of the baby's injuries were "so sensitive" that Tulsa police did not release any details other than that the infant had been bitten to death. Months later, a police affidavit stated that the dog "ate the two-month-old victim."

Authorities charged the baby's mother with second-degree manslaughter.

04/20/12: Infant Killed by Family Dog
Ridgeville, SC - In a developing story, Dorchester County Coroner Chris Nesbit stated in a news release that a 2-month old child was bitten numerous times and dismembered by a dog in his family's home about 11 am Friday. Aiden McGrew's father was asleep at the time of the attack and his mother was not home. Two other children in the home were unharmed. An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday to determine if the boy was dead prior to the dog dismembering him.

The Daily Mail reports that the dog was a recently rescued retriever.

1Apparently, "Lucky" is the name of the family's other dog, not the offending animal.

Related articles:
11/04/08: 2008 Dog Bite Fatality: Tulsa Infant Killed by Labrador Puppy

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Colleen Lynn

Malden Councillor Clarifies Pit Bull Ordinance and Confirms 'Rational Fear'

Answers Critics
Malden, MA - Last week we reported on a pit bull ordinance passed by Malden City Council. Part of the blog post addressed Dr. Amy Marder who claimed that "a leash will prevent dog bites as well as a muzzle" when being quizzed by Councillor Neil C. Kinnon. The post also noted that the "hollering pit bull owners" attending the meeting failed to grasp the language of the ordinance, which grandfathered in existing pit bull owners if they registered their dog prior to May 1.

On Wednesday, Councillor Kinnon answered critics of the pit bull ordinance in a letter to the editor of the Malden Advocate. It is a fantastic letter that clarifies the pit bull ordinance, offers city dog bite statistical data, zings the "good Doctor" further by stating that her "evidence lacked credibility, as no scientist would ever claim a sample size of ten" and concludes with a statistical comparison that powerfully confirms the rational fear persons maintain about the pit bull breed.

Dear Editor, Malden Advocate, and Malden’s Citizens:
This past week the City Council passed a Pit Bull Ordinance which will take effect on May 1, 2012 (provided the Mayor signs it). It will exempt current pit bulls which are licensed by that time with some reasonable stipulations. Hopefully this letter might clarify what is in the Pit Bull Ordinance, the reasons for it and why some of the information opponents are spinning is simply misinformation or untrue.

Snippets taken by DogsBite.org:

"According to Animal Control fifty-seven dog bites were recorded from 2009-2011. Eighteen of the bites were committed by pit bulls. The next closest breeds that bit were German Shepherds, Bull Mastiffs and Dobermans, which recorded only two bites each. The data broken down in its simplest terms means pit bulls account for approximately 6.7% of our registered dogs and committed 31.6% of the dog bites."

"The ordinance requires pit bulls to be spayed or neutered in order to get an exemption from the muzzling law. The advocates who spoke to the Council also advocate spaying and neutering of pit bulls as part of any plan."

"The ordinance the Council passed requires a fence if one wishes to let their dog out in the yard without a muzzle. PittBullLovers.com states for those looking to own a pit bull "you should have a six foot privacy fence"

"The ordinance passed by the City Council will guarantee high license compliance for pit bulls, which all advocates say is needed, as it exempts, from the muzzle ordinance, all current pit bull owners who reside in Malden as long as they come in to register for a license and provide the proper spay and neutering documentation."

"The pit bull advocates continue to claim that BSL (breed specific legislation) does not work and yet over 600 communities in America have adopted it. The Marine Corps and the Army have gone so far as to adopt total bans of pit bulls and their close relatives on all their bases in the last few years."1

"When the Doctor was asked how many dogs were in her study and how many had some American Staffordshire, her answer was her study included ten dogs and she didn’t know how many included some American Staffordshire. Her evidence lacked credibility, as no scientist would ever claim a sample size of ten was a real study and after stating that DNA didn’t contain Staffordshire in many instances, she didn’t know how many contained some Staffordshire in the sample."2

"The pit bull advocates continue to state it will be impossible to enforce a muzzle law and that we should instead focus on licensing and strong leash law enforcement of all dogs. One can only conclude from all actual evidence that it would be just as easy for an animal control officer or other law enforcement officer to enforce a muzzle law as it is to enforce a leash law. Is it harder for a dog officer to see if a dog is on a four foot leash or muzzle?"

Councillor Kinnon saved the whopper comparison for his conclusion that illustrates just how dangerous pit bulls are and that fears about the breed are rational:

If there were as many pit bulls in Malden as people, and bite incidents were classified as aggravated assaults, the average rate of aggravated assault by pit bulls in the last three years would have been over 1,500 per year. If one calculated the same math on all other dogs, during that span, the average aggravated assault level each year would have been approximately 220. In the last three years the actual average number of aggravated assaults in Malden, by humans, has been 169. Therefore pit bulls per capita commit almost 10 times the aggravated assaults as do humans. The person who discriminates when seeing a pit bull walking down the street does not do so out of an irrational fear but does so because they are 10 times as likely to be attacked by the pit bull. (Neil Kinnon, Ward Six City Councillor, Malden Advocate, April 11, 2012)

Kudos Councillor Neil Kinnon!

1Underline and bold emphasis by Councilor Kinnon.
2Kinnon is presumably referring to a study by Dr. Amy Marder. Initially, we had thought Dr. Voith's study (Comparison of Adoption Agency Breed Identification and DNA Breed Identification of Dogs) to be the culprit, but it uses a sample pool of 20. We then found a short piece by Marder and Voith that references an "unnamed" study by Marder, "In a separate study, Amy Marder and colleagues analyzed DNA samples from dogs visually identified as "pit bull mixes." (The American Shelter Dog: Identification of Dogs By Personality). Marder's "unnamed" study is also referenced in a March 2009 blog post.

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Colleen Lynn

2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Elderly Oklahoma Man Killed by Two Pit Bulls

James Hurst, 92-years old, was brutally killed by his neighbor's two pit bulls.

DNA Confirmation
UPDATE 08/17/12: DNA results show that blood found on two pit bulls captured at the mauling scene matched the victim, according to Sheriff's Investigator Nathan Calloway.1 James Hurst died shortly after arriving at the hospital due to his grievous injuries. The two pit bulls had a history of escaping their yard a few houses down from the Hurst home. District Attorney Emily Redman was informed of the DNA results Thursday. The owners of the dogs have since left the jurisdiction.

04/10/12: Killed in His Front yard
Mead, OK - In a developing story, a Bryan County man was mauled to death by two pit bulls in his front yard. James Hurst, 92-years old, was discovered badly mauled and bleeding on his property Monday afternoon. Neighbors say the same dogs had been aggressive in the past. Bryan County Undersheriff Kenneth Golden said Hurst was working in his yard when he was attacked by the dogs. Golden says of all the dog attacks he has seen, he has never witnessed one this bad.

"Both feet, his face, his ears. His lips were gone. He didn't even look like the same person ... They eat him up real bad." - Neighbor Levi Duncan

Hurst also suffered "extensive injuries to his feet" -- both may have been torn off -- and was taken to a Durant hospital where he later died. Neighbor Judy Boone told reporters, "It's terrifying to know that you can't come out on your own front porch or stand in your own yard without being mauled and attacked." Neighbor Ryan Matlock, 11-years old, said that he had an encounter with one of these pit bulls -- "It crawled through a hole in the fence and got a hold of my leg."2

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

1It is great to see that small jurisdictions, such as Bryan County, OK and Person County, NC, are reaching out to DNA labs to prove culpability in the instances of fatal dog attacks.
2A subsequent news article indicates that Ryan's bite was not reported.

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Colleen Lynn

Pit Bull Ordinance Passes in Malden City, Massachusetts

Pit Bull Muzzle Law
Malden, MA - On Tuesday, Malden City Council approved a measure requiring pit bull-type dogs to wear a muzzle in public. The city now joins a growing number of municipalities in Massachusetts to place restrictions on the notorious breed, including: Boston, Lowell, Lynn, Worcester and others (See: Full list). The 7-4 vote follows three years of discussion and debate and represents a legislative victory for Councillor Neil C. Kinnon who has fought for the pit bull muzzle law.

At one point during Tuesday's meeting -- packed with hollering pit bull fans -- Kinnon questioned three "animal experts" who advocate against breed-specific laws. Ethics sell-out Dr. Amy Marder,1 director of the center for behavior and training at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, said: "A leash will prevent dog bites as well as a muzzle." Obviously that is entirely untrue. Who knows? Perhaps Kinnon even read the anniversary post written by the founder of DogsBite.org?

Notably, the new muzzle law will not effect existing pit bull owners who register their dog before May 1. The ordinance only applies to pit bulls obtained or brought into the city after this date and to current owners who fail to register their dog. The question is, how many so-called responsible pit bull owners in Malden City will follow through with registration by May 1? This overly generous grandfather clause was apparently missed by the hollering pit bull owners Tuesday night.

1Amy Marder is an "adviser" to the Jane Berkey owned pro-pit bull propaganda machine. Also, the "enforcement of leash laws" as the solution to preventing dog bites is the default position of the American Kennel Club (AKC).

DogsBite blog ::