Posted on November 18, 2010 by Colleen Lynn

2010 Dog Bite Fatality: Dillon County Man, 25, Killed by Pet Pit Bull

Justin Lane, 25-years old, was fatally attacked by his pit bull named Smoke.

Victim Identified
Latta, SC - Dillon County Sheriff's Office reports that a man found dead in his home on Skillet Road was killed by the family pit bull. Justin Lane, 25-years old, lived in the home with his mother. Lane's body was discovered Wednesday, but he was killed Tuesday. Currently, investigators aren't releasing the exact cause of death, just that the death was caused by the dog. Police removed the one and a half-year-old pit bull1 from the home. The dog remains at an undisclosed location.

An update in the evening revealed that Lane's mother discovered him dead on the couch, covered in blood. Police determined he was fatally attacked by his pit bull named Smoke. According to several close friends of Lane's, he got the pit bull when it was just 6-weeks old. They said the dog was friendly and never harmed anyone, reports CarolinaLive. Tiffany Dalrymple, who lives nearby, said, "It was very scary that something like that could happen right here next door to my neighbor."

      Dillon County Coroner Randy Grimsley identified the victim as Justin Lane.
      Deputies removed a pit bull from the home during the initial phase of the investigation Wednesday afternoon.
      The dog is expected to be euthanized as soon as the legal process to do that is completed, Arnette said.
      The dog, which belonged to the family, did not have an apparent history of violence, Arnette said.
      While there are still a “few more things to look into,” Arnette said he doesn’t see any charges being filed as a result of the investigation, in which the State Law Enforcement Division has assisted. - SCNow.com, November 18, 2010

1Pit bulls reach maturity between the ages of 1.5 to 2-years old. This is when pit bull aggression usually begins to show itself. 1.5 years old is also the average age of pit bulls in U.S. shelters. 80% of these dogs are surrendered by their owners. They likely do so at this time because they have witnessed this aggression. Humane groups are well aware of this, yet they promote pit bull puppy adoptions and tell the new owner, "It's all in how you raise 'em!"

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Colleen Lynn

2010 Dog Bite Fatality: Western Iowa Woman's Death Attributed to Dog Bite

Shirley Bird, 79-years old, was attacked and killed by her German shepherd.

Victim: Shirley Bird
Ida Grove, IA - Earlier this week, 79-year old Shirley Lou Bird of Ida Grove was found dead in her home. An autopsy was conducted by the State Medical Examiner on Tuesday in Ankeny. Bird’s body had several bite marks including a deep wound on her arm. Ida County Sheriff's officials believe the victim was bitten by her German shepherd several times and subsequently died from blood loss. Her death has been ruled accidental and the dog has been euthanized.

      Authorities in western Iowa now say an elderly woman’s pet dog was apparently responsible for her death earlier this week. Seventy-nine-year-old Shirley Lou Bird of Ida Grove was found dead in her home.
      The Ida County Sheriff’s Office asked for assistance from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation to determine if a crime had been committed. An autopsy was conducted by the State Medical Examiner on Tuesday in Ankeny. Bird’s body had several bite marks including a deep wound on her arm.
      It is believed that she was bitten by her German Shepherd several times and went to the bathroom to stop the bleeding. She subsequently died from blood loss. The death has been ruled accidental and the dog has been euthanized. - Iowa's Radio News Network, November 18, 2010

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Colleen Lynn

2010 Dog Bite Fatality: Pack of Dogs Kills 5-Year Old East Alabama Boy

Cason Bryant, 5-years old, was killed by a pack of mixed-breed dogs.

Funeral Arrangements Set
UPDATE 11/17/10: Russell County Sheriff-Elect Heath Taylor says his office determined that five of the 12 mixed-breed dogs attacked the child. All of the dogs were euthanized. All but one of the dogs belonged to the victim's neighbor; the other belonged to the victim's family. “We’re not going to charge anybody at this point,” Sheriff-Elect Taylor said, who did not identify the owner of the dog pack. “What I feel like has happened is that the dogs got into a fight and the child was in the middle of it.”

"Taylor said an investigation revealed that 11 dogs “slipped under” a fence behind the house at 84 McElvey Road in rural Russell County and got into a fight next door with a dog owned by Cason’s family. All 12 dogs were euthanized, and Taylor said investigators have since determined that only five of the dogs were involved in the fatal attack." - The Ledger-Enquirer

Sheriff-Elect Taylor said the evidence suggests that Bryant's dog got into a fight with the neighbor's dogs and the child was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Somehow in that fight the child was either in the middle of them when they started fighting or had tried to get his dog off of them and that's how eventually the dogs turned on the child," Taylor said. The autopsy determined that Bryant died from Hypobolemic Shock due to the severity of injuries including loss of blood and swelling.

11/16/10: Boy Killed by Dog Pack
Phenix City, AL - A 5-year old East Alabama boy was killed by a pack of dogs, authorities said. Russell County Coroner Arthur Sumbry identified the child as Cason Bryant, who may have been killed by as many as 12 mixed-breed dogs. The attack occurred after 1:00 pm in the family's yard on McElvey Road, Russell County Sheriff-Elect Health Taylor said. The boy was pronounced dead at 2:32 pm. Bryant's body will be sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science for an autopsy.

"Taylor said investigators still are considering whether to file charges in the case. He said the boy’s family owns an outside dog, but that several of the dogs involved in the attack belong to a neighbor. “Technically, you’re responsible for your dogs, but if they break under your fence, is that your fault?” Taylor said, adding the case will likely be handed over to the district attorney’s office." - The Ledger-Enquirer

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Colleen Lynn

2010 Dog Bite Fatality: Moreno Valley Woman Killed by Neighbor's Two Dogs

woman mauled to death by pit bulls
53-years old, was savagely killed by her neighbor's two pit bull-mixes.

Criminal Charges Sought
UPDATE 11/17/10: Police said today that they are seeking charges against the owners of the two pit bull-mix dogs that killed a woman who had been in the midst of moving out after the dogs repeatedly broke through her fence. Police Sgt. Jaime Briones said investigators intend to present the case to the Riverside County district attorney's office seeking involuntary manslaughter or neglect charges against the dogs' owner.

11/16/10: Police Confirm Dog Mauling Death
SWRNN.com reports that Sgt. Jaime Briones confirmed the victim's death was due to canine bites in a press release issued today. Briones also stated that a forensic dentist confirmed that the two dogs, described as pit bull-weimaraner mixes, owned by neighbors are the culprits. In addition, the specialist concluded that the victim’s small collie did not cause any of the injuries. The owners of the dogs are not being identified at this time.

11/16/10: Mauling Victim Identified
Moreno Valley, CA - It was reported Monday that Christina Casey, 53, was found dead November 2 at her house in Riverside County. The victim's brother, Bill Casey, said she had complained in the past of two dogs, a pit bull-mix and the other described as "part akita," repeatedly breaking through two fences into her yard. The victim was in the process of moving partly due to the dogs. "In two more days, she'd have been completely out of there," Bill said.

"The detective told us that apparently, sometime during the night, the (neighbor) dogs dug a hole under the fence and got into her yard ... attacked her and killed her," Casey said. "I got the impression from speaking to the detective that they were going to chalk this up to a tragic accident."
His sister had once reported the dogs to city animal-control authorities because they had broken into her yard, Bill Casey recalled. And she had repeatedly phoned the dogs' owner to retrieve the dogs from her yard and to repair the fence, Casey said. (Richard Brooks, The Press-Enterprise)

Another American dead due to horribly insufficient and inept dangerous dog laws.

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

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