Posted on September 28, 2008 by Colleen Lynn

2008 Dog Bite Fatality: 5-Year Old Girl Killed by Pet Pit Bull in Simi Valley

Katya Todesco, 5-years old, was killed by a pit bull-mix while visiting a friend's home.

Police Contradict Initial Statements
UPDATE 10/10/08: The Simi Valley police did not release information about Katya Todesco until six days after she was attacked and three days after she was pronounced dead. It appears the department failed to follow standard protocol in this matter. When police finally did release the information, they told the Ventura County Star newspaper:

"Police Capt. Roy Jones said animal control was the agency investigating the fatal attack, and that police did not report it partly because they did not find any criminal conduct in the matter and wanted to be sensitive to the grieving parents."

Last week, DogsBite.org sent a letter to the Mayor, City Council and Police Chief of Simi Valley requesting an investigation. It appears that police and animal control departments failed to follow customary practices in the investigation of a wrongful death. This includes, but is not limited to, the failure to follow standard protocol in releasing press announcements about the wrongful death and the early indications of a fatal pit bull mauling.

On October 9th, the Ventura County Star reported that the police reversed its earlier statements. The police now say that "during the early stages" of the investigation -- prior to making statements to the media -- they immediately expanded their investigation to determine if criminal culpability was involved. This statement is in direct contrast to the department's earlier "reasoning" of not issuing a press announcement in the first place.

"Information obtained during the early stages of the inquiry into this incident resulted in an immediate expansion of this investigation to determine any criminal culpability by the person(s) involved," police said in a news release.

Various Simi Valley residents have contacted DogsBite.org since the death of Katya Todesco. They have many questions and concerns just as we do. We recommend that these residents contact city council members and ask why the fatal mauling of a child was reported so late, why the police issued conflicting statements and most importantly -- given that animal control is in charge of this investigation -- why this agency appears to have no role in the confusion.

09/30/08: Visiting Friend's Home
The pit bull that killed Katya reportedly bit her in the face and neck. Initial reports indicate that Katya lived at the home were the attack occurred, but her mother, Katia Todesco, said the attack occurred at a friend's house. Todesco said her daughter entered the backyard with the friend's 13-year-old daughter, and the dog attacked when Katya "bumped into it."

Todesco was inside when she heard screams and ran out to find her friend wrestling with the dog, which had latched onto Katya, she said. "It was a horrible attack," Todesco said. "With my own hands I was pulling the dog's jaw." According to county Animal Regulation Director Kathy Jenks, after the attack, an official went to the home and found the dog in a kennel.

Katya was a first-grader at Crestview School in Simi Valley. "She was an extraordinary girl fun, loving and just a beautiful girl," her mother said. "We are devastated." Strangely, she said she doesn't blame anyone for the attack. "It was a terrible accident that should never have happened." She said the dog belongs to someone other than her friend, who was taking care of it.

On the night Katya was attacked, a different pit bull killed another dog on Lysander Avenue in Simi Valley, and yet another pit bull bit a woman on her legs on Ballard Street, Jenks said. Both dogs were taken to the animal shelter, and the owner of one immediately agreed to have it destroyed. Simi Valley police did not report any of the attacks to the media.

During the 2007-08 fiscal year, 117 pit bull bites were reported to county animal control, the most of any breed. A total of 1,185 dog bites were reported in that period. Then the article quotes Jenks again. In her following statements, she attempts to excuse this breed's horrific conduct since the mid 1980's -- if only she could make a couple hundred deaths and countless maulings vanish.

Jenks, however, said pit bull attacks are reported much more frequently than those by other breeds of dogs.
Jenks and officials from the Humane Society of Ventura County said the lesson is that it's not safe to leave young children with any breed of dog.
"The greatest myth we have perpetuated in this county is that children and dogs belong together," Jenks said. "Dogs, no matter what breed, do not see children as humans."

If all dog breeds did not see children as humans, how many dead children would be reported every 24 hours? Jenks is clearly a pit bull apologist. Even in the wake of a 5-year old's face getting ripped off and killed because she "bumped into" the dog, the director of the Ventura County Department of Animal Regulation would have the public believe that dogs of all breeds are as deadly as pit bulls.

09/29/08: Mauling Victim Identified
The victim was identified as Katya Teresa Todesco, said Los Angeles County Coroner’s spokesman Capt. Ed Winter. She was reportedly in her back yard when the dog attacked. Kathy Jenks, director of the Ventura County Department of Animal Regulation, said dog lived at the home but belonged to a man who did not live there. The dog is being held in quarantine by the animal regulation department during the investigation, Jenks said. It will likely be euthanized.

09/28/08: Child Dies Due to Injuries
Simi Valley, CA - A 5-year-old girl who was bitten by her family’s pet pit bull last week has died. The attack happened on September 23, at the girl’s home on Appleton Road in Simi Valley, said Lt. Paul Fitzpatrick of the Simi Valley Police Department. After she was bitten, the girl was transported to Simi Valley Hospital then transferred to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Fitzpatrick said. The girl died at the hospital Friday. No action has been taken against the child’s parents.

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Colleen Lynn

2008 Dog Bite Fatality: 3-Day Old Infant Killed by Family Husky

Kylie Daum, 3-days old, was pulled from her crib and killed by the family husky.

Death Ruled Accidental
UPDATE 09/25/08: An Ohio medical examiner has ruled the infant's dog mauling death was an accident. Kylie Mae Daum, 3-days old, had been home from the hospital only one day when the family's Siberian husky attacked and killed the newborn. Warren Township police Lt. Don Bishop said the baby's father left the room briefly and when he returned, he discovered the dog had attacked the baby, which was in a bassinet. Police do not anticipate filing criminal charges.

      The baby had been home from the hospital only one day when the family dog, a Siberian husky, pulled her from her baby bed in the parents’ bedroom and dragged her into another room, police said ...
      Dr. Germaniuk said the baby suffered injuries to nearly all of her body, including chest, back, arms, legs and face. The baby weighed a little more than 5 pounds.
      The baby had a pulse when paramedics first arrived but died either en route to or at the hospital, Dr. Germaniuk said. - Ed Runyan, The Vindicator, September 24, 2008

09/23/08: Newborn Killed by Husky
Warren, OH - A newborn baby has died after being attacked by the family Siberian husky. Warren Police Lt. Don Bishop said the 3-day old baby suffered bite marks and scratches all over her body from the dog and was pronounced dead at Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital. Bishop said the infant's father left the room briefly and discovered the attack when he returned. Fire Chief Kenneth Schick said the baby was in full cardiac arrest when the rescue squad arrived.

Posted on September 18, 2008 by Colleen Lynn

2008 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bulls Fatally Maul 4-Month Old in Las Vegas

No Charges Filed
UPDATE 10/21/08: There will be no criminal charges after a baby girl was violently killed by two family pit bulls. District Attorney David Roger said his office couldn't find that the family members of the child had intentionally placed her in harm's way. "There were no significant prior actions of the dogs that would suggest that these dogs would be dangerous to human beings," Rogers said. Despite the well-documented fact that pit bulls routinely unpredictably attack and kill people.

"No authority had ever declared these animals vicious," Roger said. "There were no significant prior actions of the dogs that would suggest that these dogs would be dangerous to human beings."

The decision by the district attorney brings to a close one of the most vicious animal attacks in the valley in recent memory. - Lawrence Mower, Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 21, 2008

09/13/08: Dogs Force Way into Home
Chief Joseph Forti told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the dogs were in the backyard of the home near Cheyenne Avenue before the attack. The pit bulls entered the home -- possibly by bursting through a screen door -- Forti said, and began attacking the baby as she lay in her stroller. "They just went right for the little girl," he said. The grandmother took the baby and escaped into a room. When she tried to close the door, one of the pit bulls forced its way in and the other followed.

The pit bulls then started to viciously attack the little girl again, reports the Review-Journal. At that point, the grandmother called 911. When officers arrived, they found the baby girl laying on the bedroom floor. She was dead from her injuries. Forti said he was told by police officers the little girl suffered "very severe bite and head wounds." The attack was so horrific that all officers and medical personnel who responded to the scene are being offered counseling services, Forti said.

The 4-month-old girl mauled to death by two pit bulls Friday has been identified as Cendi Kia Carey of Las Vegas, the Clark County coroner's office said today.

Officers found the infant laying on a bedroom floor. Paramedics pronounced the baby dead from the attack, police said.

The infant girl's grandmother had been babysitting the baby in a home in the 1700 block of Eagle View Way in North Las Vegas, according to North Las Vegas police. - Mary Manning, Las Vegas Sun, September 15, 2008

09/12/08: Family Pit Bulls Kill Child
Las Vegas, NV - A 4-month old girl was mauled to death by her family's two pit bulls. Capt. Cedric Williams of the North Las Vegas Fire Department said the grandmother, who was babysitting the child, was also injured when she tried to save her. "Somehow the dogs got inside the house," he said. He added that the pit bulls "were the family pets." Williams said that when police arrived to the home in the 1700 block of Eagle View Drive, they were forced to shoot both pit bulls.

Parts of 911 Call

Dispatcher: "What is your address? Where are you at? Is she conscious at all?"
Grandmother: "No, she is dead."
Dispatcher: "Can you put him outside or something where he is not going to hurt anybody else?
Grandmother: "No, he has bitten my hands."
Dispatcher: "Where?"
Grandmother: "He has bitten on my hands and my arms."
Dispatcher: "You are all bit up too?"
Grandmother: "He is running around the living room with the other one.
There are two of them. I can hear sirens, would that be them?"
Dispatcher: "That is them."
Grandmother: "Oh, God."

View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Nevada Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Colleen Lynn

2008 Dog Bite Fatality: Luna McDaniel, 83-Years Old, Dies from Pit Bull Injury

Luna McDaniel, 83-years old, was mauled to death by three loose pit bulls.

Legislation Passes
UPDATE 06/24/09: After the mauling deaths of Luna McDaniel and 4-year old Michael Blaise Landry, state Rep. Rickey Hardy proposed House Bill 155. The legislation, known as The "Luna McDaniel and Michael 'Blaise' Landry Act," would allow prosecutors to charge all dog owners with negligent homicide -- a crime that carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. The Louisiana legislature passed the new bill unanimously in both chambers in June.

The City of Ville Platte, which already had an ordinance that declared pit bulls "vicious," increased penalties after Luna's death as well. The new law requires owners to carry more liability insurance, and gave officers the right to immediately impound a dog without a hearing if the animal was deemed "vicious." Strong urging on the part of McDaniel's family helped pass both state and local legislation, showing the important role a victim's family can play in advancing new laws.

05/25/09: Trial Set for Pit Bull Owner
The day after Luna McDaniel died, charges against the dogs' owner, Theo Doucet, were increased to negligent homicide. According to The Advocate, Doucet is scheduled for trial June 4, 2009. Following Luna's death, the McDaniel's family helped support House Bill 155, statewide legislation that would broaden powers for prosecutors, allowing them to charge all dog owners with negligent homicide after a fatal dog attack, as well as stricter local laws within the City of Ville Platte.

09/09/08: Ville Platte Woman Dies
Ville Platte, LA - Several days after a person providing updates about Luna's condition reported that she had died, it was confirmed in the news. KATC.com, a local news source, confirms that Luna McDaniel, 83-years old, died of her injuries September 4th, 2008. The devastating attack occurred August 24th while she was taking an innocent morning walk. Of her many injuries, she suffered a leg amputation, severe arm injury and both of her ears were badly damaged.

One of the three pit bulls was shot dead at the scene by a police officer. The surviving dogs were later euthanized. The owner of the dogs was given nine citations for 1.) allowing the dogs to run at large 2.) improper confinement and 3.) having no liability insurance (each charge was multiplied by 3 due to 3 dogs). Six of these charges were possible, the latter two, because the City of Ville Platte declares pit bulls as "vicious" and requires these owners to adhere to stiffer requirements.

09/04/08: Commenter Update
Our commenter reports that Mrs. McDaniel died this morning, September 4, 2008. The hurricane is hampering efforts to gather family together for the funeral. The thoughts and prayers of DogsBite.org and all of our readers are with Luna's family. Luna McDaniel will not be forgotten.

08/29/08: Commenter Update
Another unverified report has been left. The person writes that Luna now has pneumonia and has endured a fever for about 24 hrs. Doctors say she is rapidly declining, and family members are being told to say goodbye. She has been brought out of the induced coma and her responses are not what they had hoped. More injuries are also being discovered, including possible eye damage.

08/28/08: Commenter Update
A commenter left an unverified report of Luna's condition. The person wrote that both of Luna's ears were injured in the attack; her leg was amputated just below the knee and one arm was severely injured as well. She faces about 20 surgeries. She added that Luna did not lose consciousness during the attack, a comment that was also echoed by Jennifer Lowe's family.

08/27/08: Woman Attacked by Pit Bulls
Ville Platte, LA - An elderly woman was severely injured after being attacked by three pit bulls while taking a walk Sunday morning, reports KLFY News, Neighbor Kaura Ardoin, who witnessed the vicious attack, was left visibly shaken. "We seen three dogs...attack a lady," Ardoin said. When police arrived to the scene, the three pit bulls bolted toward the officer. He shot and killed one of the dogs and injured another. The surviving two pit bulls were detained and will be euthanized.

The owner of the pit bulls, Theo Doucet, was given three citations by Ville Platte Police: Allowing his dogs to run at large, improper confinement of pit bulls, and no liability insurance for pit bulls, both are breed-specific requirements in the City of Ville Platte. The victim, 83-year old Luna McDaniel, remains in I.C.U at Opelousas General Hospital in serious condition. According to witnesses, one of her feet was nearly severed. Our hearts go out to Luna and her family.

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