Posted on September 26, 2021 by Colleen Lynn

2021 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman Killed by Pit Bull She was Dog Sitting in Myrtle Point, Oregon; Dog Had History of Attacks

Coos Bay Man Found Guilty of Criminally Negligent Homicide

Amber LaBelle died after being attacked by a pit bull-mix at her Myrtle Point apartment.

Coos Bay Man Sentenced
UPDATE 11/12/22: Just over one year after a woman was killed by a dog that was under the care of her boyfriend, the man was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in connection to her death. On September 24, 2021, Amber LaBelle, then 42, was viciously attacked by a large dog that Jeremy Robertson had left at her home while he ran errands. On October 27, 2022, Robertson was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide, a Class B felony, for the attack.

The dog, a male 120-pound pit bull-American bulldog-mix, had a history of violence, including attacking two children several months earlier in Springfield, a city over 100 miles away from Myrtle Point, where the dog attacked LaBelle, killing her. On November 10, Robertson was sentenced to two years and two months in state prison, to be followed by three years of probation upon his release. Robertson was also ordered to pay $1,750 to pay for the cost of LaBelle's funeral.

09/27/21: History of Aggression
The large dog that attacked and killed 42-year old Amber LaBelle was a 120-pound pit bull-American bulldog-mix, according to Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier. A police officer shot and killed the dog after the animal tried to attack him while he performed first aid on LaBelle. Both of LaBelle's daughters, ages 5 and 8, witnessed the vicious attack, Frasier said. This was not the first time this particular dog had attacked an individual either, according to the district attorney.

"We have received information that this is not the first incident where this particular dog had attacked other individuals," Frasier said. "It is our understanding that this dog attacked two minor children in Springfield in July of this year." Investigators have so far determined the dog was owned by Sara Nicholes of Springfield. "For some reason yet to be determined, she had placed the dog in the care and custody of a person named Jeremy Robertson," Frasier explained.

On the day of the attack, Robertson left the pit bull with LaBelle to run errands -- Robertson and the dog had spent the previous night at her apartment. "The dog had been put in a bedroom with the door shut and secured," Frasier said. Then LaBelle's ex-husband dropped off their children for visitation. LaBelle opened the bedroom door "and was promptly attacked by the dog," Frasier said. "The attack was witnessed by the two children." One was able to leave the apartment to get help.

Shuffling Dangerous Dogs

Though we have not commented on this issue in some time, the above scenario is quite common for dangerous dogs/dogs with bite histories. Nicholes placed her 120-pound biter into the care "and custody" of Robertson, LaBelle's boyfriend. Robertson couldn't leave the biter at his own home, he had to bring the biter to LaBelle's apartment, where she would also be taking care of her two young children the next day. The dog had previously bitten two minor children in July.

The only aspect missing from the story is which shelter agency adopted the biter out to begin with? According to Frasier, Nicholes resides in Springfield, which is 125 miles from Myrtle Point. Springfield is also in the greater Eugene area. The dog could have come from a number of Eugene animal shelters or rescues. The dog could, and probably did have, multiple owners prior to Nicholes as well. Dogs with bite histories often cycle through multiple owners and jurisdictions.

The hulking pit bull, with a hulking prong collar, that fatally attacked Amber LaBelle.

09/26/21: Woman Killed by Dog
Myrtle Point, OR - A 42-year old woman is dead after being violently attacked by a dog. The attack occurred Friday, September 24, at about 10:00 am in the woman's apartment in the 1700 block of Spruce Street. Police identified the victim as Amber LaBelle. Police said the dog was known to LaBelle, and it was not a random attack. The Reddit thread contains a screenshot of comments left on one of the news article threads, which strongly indicates the fatal attacker was a pit bull.

"Another neighbor was holding a huge pit bull back from trying to get at Amber more." -- Pit bulls typically "repeatedly" attack their victims.

"I immediately went to Amber," the commenter writes, "she was laying on the floor unresponsive. Blood was everywhere, I tried to locate all her injuries to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. An officer came and he and I carried her outside," the commenter writes. "I did everything I knew how to do from all of my training. The paramedics and officers, everyone worked together to help Amber." LaBelle was airlifted to the medical center at RiverBend, where she died of her injuries.

Audio dispatch log files from Myrtle Point Fire do not contain breed information, but they do portray a scene of chaos. God bless the police officers and fire crews who respond to these horrific life-threatening dog maulings, largely carried about by pit bulls. "I don't know if the dog is contained at this time," the dispatcher states. One person in the background yells, "This is insane!" An explosive, unprovoked attack by a pit bull is "insane," yet these attacks occur routinely.

Evening Updates

A late Sunday update by KEZI states the attack was perpetrated by a grey pit bull and that LaBelle was home with her two daughters at the time. Josef Dieckman, LaBelle's ex-boyfriend and the father of her children, spoke to KEZI. "One thing that I would want people to know is the very last thing she did on this Earth was save the lives of her children," Dieckman said. "I will be eternally grateful for that." LaBelle yelled for her girls to get out of the house when the dog first attacked.

According to neighbors, LaBelle did not own the pit bull. She was watching the dog for its owner, marking the fourth person to die under these conditions this year. In April, Jayden Henderson, 7, was killed while caring for her neighbor's two pit bulls in North Carolina. In June, Rebecca McCurdy, 28, was killed by two pit bulls while house sitting the owner's home in Oklahoma. Last month, Rhoda Wagner, 60, was killed by three pit bulls she was dog sitting in Pennsylvania.

Amber LaBelle killed in dog attack - Myrtle Point

The fatal dog attack occurred at this apartment building in the 1700 block of Spruce Street.

Listen to part of the audio dispatch log files from Myrtle Point Fire from Broadcastify.com.

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

Baseline reporting requirements:
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Colleen Lynn

2021 Dog Bite Fatality: Phenix City Man, 70, Dies After Brutal Pit Bull Mauling

Area on dirt driveway where a man was severely mauled by a pit bull in Phenix City.

Man Lost Limbs
Phenix City, AL - An elderly man is dead after being mauled by a pit bull early Tuesday morning. Frank Cobb, 70-years old, was found lying in a dirt driveway with severe dog bite injuries when police arrived. Cobb was first transported to Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital in West Georgia, then transferred to Grady Health in Atlanta, "where they tried to re-attach his limbs," family members said. Cobb died in the intensive care unit at Grady Health on Tuesday night.

An aggressive large black dog was seen in the area where police found the victim. One officer attempted to Taze the dog. A canine matching the description of the attacking dog was later found dead on US Route 431 after being struck by a vehicle, according to police. That dog's body was sent to a lab for testing. Cobb's body was transported back to Alabama, where an autopsy will be performed. Police have not identified the owner of the pit bull and no arrests have been made.

On September 21 at about 2:00 am, Phenix City police were dispatched to the 100 block of 17th Avenue in reference to a dog attack. Arriving officers found Cobb on the ground with serious injuries. Witness Kenny Bo spoke to WTVM. "I heard someone say help," Bo said. "It was blood everywhere. I was devastated, I mean flabbergasted. I tried to help Red. I grabbed the dog by its neck and by his nose and I took off running down the street so he could chase me," Bo said.

Phenix City lies in both Lee and Russell counties on the border of Alabama and Georgia. The only thing separating the city from Georgia is the Chattahoochee River. Multiple people have been killed by dogs in Phenix City over the years, including, Katie Morrison, 20, in 2014, Cason Bryant, 5, in 2010 and Richard Adams, 47, in 2006. The population in Phenix City is only 36,000. There have now been four fatal dog maulings in a population this small over a 16-year period.

Kenny Bo had just left the Big Cat when he saw the pit bull attacking Cobb on 17th Avenue.

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

Posted on September 9, 2021 by Colleen Lynn

2021 Dog Bite Fatality: Elderly Woman Dies in Hospital After Being Attacked by Three Pit Bulls in Rural North Carolina

Mahaffey Lane - killed by dogs
Mildred Vaughan died nine days after being attacked by three dogs on Mahaffey Lane.

Woman Dies in Hospital
Wilkes County, NC - An elderly woman hospitalized after being attacked by three dogs near her home died on August 30 at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Mildred Vaughn, 89-years old, had walked to her mailbox on August 21, when three dogs from a nearby property attacked her. EMS was dispatched to 211 Mahaffey Lane at 2:21 pm. Vaughn was airlifted to the hospital in Winston-Salem, where she was initially listed in critical condition.

Wilkes County Animal Services Director Steve Rhoades said his department impounded three dogs involved in the attack, a female pit bull and her two offspring, not yet fully-grown pit bull-mixes. All three dogs were euthanized after they were determined to be dangerous, Rhoades said. The owner of the dogs did not appeal the decision to declare the dogs dangerous, Rhoades said. The Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene and conducted an investigation.

Her obituary states that she "was a very independent and active woman who was full of life. She had a passion for gardening and loved her pets. Mildred was happy and proud of the home she made in Union Grove." The Journal Patriot reports that Mahaffey Lane is a dead-end, unpaved road less than a fourth of a mile long that intersects with Ridgeline Road at the Wilkes-Iredell county line. Police did not identify the owners of the dogs. No other information was released.

Area in southeastern Wilkes County where Mildred Vaughan was killed by three dogs.

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

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Colleen Lynn

2021 Dog Bite Fatality: Elderly Puna Woman Dies After Multi-Victim Dog Attack, Spurring New County Law

Dolores Oskins, 85, died of injuries sustained from a vicious dog attack in mid-August.

Dog Attack Victim Dies
Puna, HI - On August 14, a pack of four dogs described by a dispatcher as "pit bulls and bulldog-mix dogs," attacked three adults, two men and one woman. The 85-year old woman suffered critical injuries, she was "bitten about the head, neck, and arms, receiving multiple puncture wounds and lacerations," according to Hawaii Police Department Captain Scott Amaral. She was transported to Hilo Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries on Sunday, September 5.

Family members identified her as 85-year old Dolores Oskins. She died Sunday at the Hilo Medical Center -- three weeks after the attack.

Back in August, Amaral said, "This is one of the worst dog bite cases that I’ve seen in 20 years." According to HPD, the attack occurred on 12th Avenue in Hawaiian Paradise Park at around 5:43 pm. The 85-year old woman had been searching for her lost dog, when the dogs escaped from a partially fenced yard. The two men, 89 and 88-years old, attempted to fend off the dogs. Both were treated for their injuries at a hospital and released. Authorities took two dogs into custody.

The most recent update on September 7 reports that the 89-year old man bitten was the victim's husband and the other male victim in his 80s was a family member. The vicious attack was classified as a dangerous dog incident under the Hawaii County Code 4-31, Amaral said back in August. Police have “no prior documented reported incidents of these dogs from that residence being loose in the area, and we don’t know what provoked the dogs to attack," Amaral said.

Breeds of Dogs

Audio dispatch logs from Hawaii County Police and Fire (East) located on Broadcastify.com described the dogs as "pit bulls and bulldog-mix dogs." There "is blood everywhere," the dispatcher states. "Active dog attack. Three patients, four dogs, will be on 12th Avenue, that's off Paradise," she states. "There will be a pit bull on scene, a bulldog and another big dog. Unknown who the owners are," the dispatcher states. No media articles contained breed information.

Listen to part of the audio dispatch logs from Hawaii County Police and Fire East.