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.

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 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.

Three adults were attacked by vicious dogs on August 14 near Paradise and 12th Avenue.

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Colleen Lynn

2021 Dog Bite Fatality: 91-Year Old Woman Killed by a Pet Rottweiler While Living at Her Daughter's Home

Sally Rogers, 91, was killed by a pet rottweiler in Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

Case Background

UPDATE 11/08/21: On September 2, a pet rottweiler savaged a 91-year old woman to death. The dog ripped off her entire scalp and tore gaping wounds in her upper arms. The destructive bites fractured her shoulder bones and damaged her face. The victim, Sally Rogers, lived with her daughter Susan, who was also her caregiver. Susan had acquired the rottweiler in March of 2021. Her other daughter, Ann Marie Rogers, has been featured on this website as a safety advocate.

On the day that a rottweiler named "Ben" detonated like a bomb inside a Bloomfield Township home, Susan had left her mother alone for a short period with Ben and "Wren," a female rottweiler that was also Ben's litter mate. Susan had acquired Wren at the age of 10-weeks old. She did not acquire Ben until he was 14-months old. Ben had initially been sold to a family, who started the dog in Schutzhund training. The family later determined they wanted a Belgian malinois instead.

The dog flunked Schutzhund training, according to the original owner. Ben was "too soft" after having had three lessons in the protection sport.

When Susan learned that a litter mate of Wren was available, she obtained Ben from the family. She remarked to Ann Marie then, "that he had a wonderful temperament, as the owner's children were crawling all over him, and he appeared to enjoy it." In April, a month after Susan acquired Ben, he snapped at Ann Marie when she tried to hold his collar. The dog stopped the behavior after being corrected. Ann Marie warned her sister this would happen again and it could be worse.

In May, Ann Marie was informed that her mother's small dog, a shih tzu named "Monkey," had been attacked. Though the attack was not witnessed, the puncture wounds were from large teeth. Ann Marie determined the attacker was Ben based on the size of the puncture wounds. Ben had also shown dominant behaviors towards the other male dog in the family's household, "Mattie," a miniature poodle, also belonging to her mother. Monkey had to be put down due to his injuries.

On September 2, when Susan returned home after picking up a friend from the hospital, she found her mother on the back deck still conscious after the vicious attack. She quickly called 911. "Even I am shocked that the dog detonated to the level he did," Ann Marie told us. Sally was transported to St. Joseph-Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, where she later died of her injuries. Both Ben and Wren were seized and euthanized. Because the attack was unwitnessed, Wren could not be excluded.

Ben was neutered and vaccinated shortly after Susan acquired him. Neutering did not prevent the ensuing animal or human aggression.

A Legacy of Rottweilers

Ben and Wren were the product of a Sire named "Bam Bam" from Kimm McDowell of Der Hagen Rottweilers in Wayland, Michigan and a Dam named "Lilly" from Rachel Wolters of Nightguard Rottweilers in Hudsonville, Michigan. These were not the first rottweilers Susan had owned. In June of 2018, Susan had also acquired a rottweiler named "Gunnar" from Wolters. Gunnar's Sire was "Jax" of Der Hagen Rottweilers, and his Dam was the same Lilly of Nightguard Rottweilers.1

"Gunnar was strange from the beginning, and I urged Susan to put him down or bring him back to the breeder," Ann Marie told us. "He would pull his head back when I went to pet him, he was shy, stand-offish and this indicated to me he could be a fear biter or have behavioral issues in the future." Eight months later, in February of 2019, 10-month old Gunnar attacked Sally, who was then 89-years old, nearly biting off her finger. At Ann Marie's urging, that rottwelier was euthanized.

It is unclear why Susan, who paid $2,000 for Gunnar, would return to these same breeders to obtain Wren two months later. Interestingly, all three dogs -- Gunnar, Wren and Ben -- shared the same Dam, belonging to Wolters. Three rottweilers from the same breeders, the same Dam, all euthanized for aggression, two euthanized for human killing aggression. That Dam, Lilly, should be sterilized -- stricken from ever reproducing again -- as should her entire collection of offspring.

From 1996 to 2006, Ann Marie was involved in rottweiler rescue. During that time, her sister Susan developed a love for rottweilers. Ann Marie gave Susan a male named "Sully" who had an ideal disposition and lived to be 11-years old. Their mother Sally, who suffered from dementia at the time of her mauling death, also loved the rottweiler breed. In 2017, Susan lost a 13-year old male rottweiler, also a rescue, due to age. That rottweiler did not have aggression issues either.

When Susan and Sally had rottweilers with good temperaments, they often remarked how "safe" they felt with a rottweiler in the house, Ann Marie told us. "My sister felt safer while walking with a rottweiler and my mother felt safer being alone in the home," she said. "Maybe when owners have a rottweiler with a good disposition, they mistakenly think all of them are that way," she said. "This is certainly a case that proves it is genetics, not abuse that makes a dog turn," Ann Marie said.

Lilly, Dam of killer rottweiler - Killed by a Pet Rottweiler

Lilly, Dam of the fatally attacking rottweiler, owned by Rachel Wolters of Nightguard Rottweilers.

Serbian Rottweilers

Lilly was bred from a Serbian line. Her Sire, Lucky of Kinders Royal Rott, has the Serbian snout. Her Dam, Froggy Dark Night, appears to be a German line. The breeders were Brian Beard of Black Onyx Rottweilers and Stephanie Lubbers of Quarterwoods Rottweilers. Serbian lines lack the strict breeding standards of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler-Klub (ADRK) that govern the German bred lines and are known to have poor temperaments due to indiscriminate breeding.

Lilly's show name was "Black Onyx Cowboy Take Me Away" of QuarterWoods. She was born on September 6, 2015. We found this fall 2015 breeding of the two dogs on the QuarterWoods Facebook page. QuarterWoods was "Excited about our Lucky and froggy puppies!! [sic]" That were "due in September." Notably, the German breeders have little tolerance for the myriad of American and Eastern Bloc rottweiler "mutt" breeders that fail to conform to ADRK standards.

The sire and dam of Lilly - Killed by a Pet Rottweiler

The 2015 breeding announcement of Lucky and Froggy that produced Lilly in September.

Top Killing Dog Breeds

Since the 1990s, rottweilers have maintained the position of the second top killing dog breed in the U.S. In 2000, the CDC made the following statement: "The data indicate that rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted for 67% of human DBRF in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities."

In modern times -- 2005 through 2020 -- pit bulls accounted for 67% of dog bite fatalities. Rottweilers accounted for 9%. Combined, the two breeds accounted for 76% of human deaths inflicted by dogs. Statistically, pit bulls comprised about 5.5% of the total U.S. dog population over this 16-year period and rottweilers comprised about 1.6%. Thus, two dog breeds, which only make up about 7% of the total U.S. dog population, are carrying out the vast majority of killings.

In terms of dangerousness, these two dog breeds have been the topmost consistent killers for over 30 years. While pit bulls kill in every single age group, and kill more adults (>18 years) than children (59% vs. 41%), most rottweiler victims, 76%, are children 11-years and younger. Of those children, the majority, 72%, are ages 4-years and younger. Only 5% of rottweiler victims are ages 82-years and older in our data set of 121 rottweiler-inflicted deaths from 1978 through 2019.

Extreme Damaging Bite

Rottweilers have long been known to deliver gravely damaging bites. Some of the most predatory attacks our nonprofit has researched have been inflicted by rottweilers, like the death of Marcos Raya, Jr. and the mauling of a child by an alleged "service" rottweiler owned by a "dog whisperer." Multiple rottweiler-inflicted fatalities have also come from "championship" bloodlines, like the deaths of Dixie Jennings (Deep Creek Kennel) and Vanessa Husmann (Husmann Rottweilers).

Several rottweilers that have killed a person have also been trained in Schutzhund, bite and apprehension work. These dogs are regularly used for protection and for the purposes of guarding. At least 143 jurisdictions in the U.S. regulate rottweilers, as well. In countries around the world, rottweilers routinely appear on dangerous breed lists, right alongside pit bulls and other fighting breeds. This is true even in parts of Germany, where the rottweiler breed originated.

Guilt and Impossible Odds

Ann Marie said that her sister and mother adored each other. The two had a close relationship. Susan was her fulltime caretaker as well. That day, when Susan left her elderly mother briefly in her home with two adult rottweilers, she returned to find her mother dying with life-threatening injuries on the back deck. She called 911 then Ann Marie. The guilt Susan will now live with for owning this high-risk breed will be devastating and lifelong. No dog breed is worth this risk.

With 45 fatal dog maulings per year in the U.S., about 1 in 7.3 million Americans are killed by canines each year. The odds of any person knowing one of these victims is very small. Ann Marie isn't just any person either. She has dedicated most of her life to animal welfare, animal control and public safety advocacy. "We do victim advocacy work to educate and raise awareness in an effort to save lives," Ann Marie said, "but I couldn't save my own mother. I am devastated."

Ben, the fatally attacking rottweiler, bred by Der Hagen Rottweilers and Nightguard Rottweilers.

09/03/21: Woman Killed by Rottweiler
Bloomfield Township, MI - An elderly woman is dead after being attacked by a rottweiler. The attack occurred on September 2 at about 6:30 pm. Police and fire were dispatched to a home in the 2000 block of Berry Drive due to a dog attack. When they arrived, they found a 91-year old woman unresponsive and suffering from "significant injuries" by a rottweiler living in the home. She was transported to St. Joseph-Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, where she later died of her injuries.

Bloomfield Township Police Captain James Gallagher said the victim lived with her daughter's family. No other injuries were reported. The dog was confiscated and taken to the Bloomfield Township Animal Shelter. The investigation remains open. "We don't know the circumstances around" the attack yet, Gallagher said. "But the dog -- I don't know, male or female -- will be in our custody until this investigation is over. If it's determined and court ordered it will be put down."

Fatal Rottweiler Attacks

This elderly victim marks the fourth fatal dog attack inflicted by a rottweiler this year. All of the other victims have been children, ages 4-years old and younger, including: Elliot Sherwin, Malia Winberry, and Ryan Foster. There were no reported deaths inflicted by rottweilers in 2020. Of the 121 fatal rottweiler attacks recorded from 1978 through 2019, 76% (92) of victims were children ages 11-years old and younger. Of these children, 72% (66), were ages 4-years old and younger.

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

1Jax's show name was Derhagen-N-Ivoss Can't Break Me. The dog was bred by McDowell and owned by Wolters.

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Colleen Lynn

No-Kill Eats Their Own: When the 'Badge of Honor' to Keep Serial Biters Alive Causes Rescuers to Devour Their Own

In her zeal to keep serial biters alive, a no-kill rescuer attacks larger no-kill agencies.

No-Kill Meets Mad Max
Austin, TX - Recently, we were alerted to a post by Promoting Integrity in No Kill Sheltering, which is penned by Eileen McFall. The post features two central players in "no-kill," which is the private-public partnership of Austin Pets Alive (APA), a 501(c)3 organization, and Austin Animal Center (AAC). The city of Austin has a 95% save rate initiative (5% above the no-kill baseline). We commented in 2012 that after the city of Austin adopted no-kill, bites quickly increased by 35%.

We point out the post because it contains comedy of a Mad Max nature. Essentially it is no-kill eating their own. The partnership between APA and AAC involves APA taking the overflow of dangerous dogs -- dogs riddled with behavior issues -- from AAC so that the city can maintain their precious no-kill status. Then APA recycles these dogs back into communities, generally in the 5-county region of Central Texas. Both agencies also sent dogs to fraudster Steffen Baldwin.

The problem is, there are "so many dangerous dogs" in shelters today, in this instance at AAC, that not even APA can keep up the gambit. Here McFall complains that APA is "failing dogs and people" by refusing to accept two dogs with severe bite histories, "Braker" and "Boss." In the 2020 edition of terms for shelter dogs, we discussed the behavior euthanasia protocol for APA: "offensive aggression to humans, unpredictable aggression to humans and uninterruptible drive."

APA only euthanizes -- or refuses certain cases from AAC, which forces the city to euthanize -- when the behavior is extreme. When the dog is a "major liability" dog. Thus, it's comical for McFall to play the "one-upmanship" routine with APA in who can be the "most understanding of maulers" and allowing the homeless and poor to have dangerous dogs. APA declined "Boss" due to the "frequent practiced territorial behavior resulting in more than one notable multi-bite incident."

McFall is so delusional, she states that Boss has only had four incidents in 15 months, thus for 446 days out of 450 days, he's had good coping skills. Recall that a $21 million dollar lawsuit against Los Angeles Animal Services resulted after a pit bull with an undisclosed bite history had one bad day in 99 days, a similar ratio. McFall asks, "Where is the compassion in Austin's no-kill shelters?" McFall fails to recognize how unsustainable, reckless and dangerous her plea is.

AAC is required to provide notification to rescuers when a dog is at risk of euthanasia. The notice for "Boss" was sent on August 24. In a three-month period, with each biting incident escalating, "Boss" attacked four different people. The third bite involved the dog biting the victim four times in four different areas. "The dog owner threw a water bucket at the dog to get him off the victim but hit the victim in the head instead." The first three bites, were all designated as unprovoked.

The fourth bite was also a multi-biting incident. According to AAC's notification, the victim was arguing with the dog's owner when the owner told "Boss" to "sic him" and let go of the leash for "Boss" to attack. The victim was bitten on the face and twice on the right arm, requiring multiple stitches. That biting incident was designated as "provoked" and resulted in the dog's first impound. It's unclear why none of the first three biting incidents resulted in the city impounding "Boss."

McFall also criticized APA for their mid-Covid launch of Human Animal Support Services (HASS), which in our minds is a marketing sham. HASS seems to be a dressed up effort, all funded by Maddie's Fund, to keep dogs in homes and out of shelters. After all, the no-kill model is based on lowering intake (the lower the intake, the lower the euthanasia rate). HASS was also "crafted" to help illustrate that the "white, female face" of the US humane movement is somehow "diverse."

Unsustainable and Stupid

Public funds are being spent on this insanity in Austin and in many cities driven by no-kill policies. Whenever APA turns down a dog with a multiple attack history that is a clear public safety risk, the city sends out the euthanasia notice so that rescuers like McFall can take the dog. That alone is insanity because McFall-types have no duty to keep the public and their pets safe from maulers. Boss would simply end up in an Austin neighborhood at the home of a "unicorn foster."

Again, there are so many dangerous dogs clogging up shelters today that even a large-scale nonprofit like APA can't handle the volume from a single city shelter. Rescuers like McFall are being forced to take APA's "overflow" of dangerous dogs and are complaining about it. The sane solution is euthanasia for behavior -- what the public falsely presumes is occurring for public safety purposes, but often is not. There is no neighborhood in any city where "Boss" could safely live.

keep serial biters alive and badge of honor

When the "badge of honor" to keep serial biters alive causes no-kill rescuers to eat their own.

Promoting Integrity in No Kill Sheltering

August 27, 2021

The City of Austin and its shelter system and partnership with Austin Pets Alive are failing dogs and people.

In the past few weeks, we've seen the tip of an iceberg of callousness regarding homeless people and their pets, in the cases of Braker and Boss.

On Monday, August 23, the rescue I founded, Final Frontier Rescue Project, picked up Braker from Austin Animal Center, where he would have been killed if we had not rescued him. Braker belonged to a person who was homeless for at least several years, and over a year and a half from 2017 to 2018, he got into several arguments that led Braker to bite the person who was arguing with his owner. In a couple of those incidents, Braker was kicked and stabbed. Braker was impounded again this summer, this time with what appears to be a perineal hernia that will need surgical repair. In the shelter, he was an easy dog. Austin Animal Center asked Austin Pets Alive to rescue him, APA said, "no," and AAC gave him a deadline. We were able to rescue him Monday thanks to a promise of help with the cost of surgery, and thanks to a foster.

The next day, August 24, AAC sent out one-week notice on another dog who lived in homeless camps, Boss. Like Braker, Boss has several bites on his record, bites that stem from protecting his owner during arguments and possibly protecting his space from "intruders." In the shelter, the only notes are that night staff say he seems docile. It looks like no one has taken Boss out; if they have, they have not entered any notes.

The notification for Boss says that he is available for foster, adoption, or rescue, but I couldn't find him listed as available. There are no photos, except a tiny image in the corner of his record. Boss's estimated Date of Birth is September 7, 2020, more than four months later than the first bite incident listed in the rescue plea. Despite accounts of three bite incidents prior to the one that resulted in this impound and plea, Austin's open data shows this is the first time Boss has been impounded at Austin Animal Center.

The rescue plea says that "Boss was pled to Austin Pets Alive on July 28, 2021 and they declined on August 19, 2021. APA declined, 'due to the frequent practiced territorial behavior resulting in more than one notable multi-bite incident...'." There is no indication that anyone at APA met Boss.
Austin Pets Alive, a private organization, has every right to decline any individual dog. But in giving their reason, they pronounced a death sentence without ever meeting him. And they did so to an animal who lived without a home for well over a year, while promoting their expertise in an effort called Human Animal Support Services.

Austin Animal Center has killed 19 dogs for aggression/behavior this year, and they've only sent out the required notification on 6 of those dogs. My rescue was only able to rescue two of those.

Now Boss, who has only known life on the streets, life that appears to have been fraught with violence and threats, is under deadline, with no attempt to help him or even to observe his behavior. He had four incidents in 15 months, which means he lived in a scary, unstable environment without incident for about 446 out of 450 days. It seems to me he probably has some pretty good coping skills to last as long as he did with only those four incidents. I think he deserves compassion, and he deserves a chance.

Where is the compassion in Austin's No Kill shelters?

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Case Background