Posted on June 29, 2020 by Colleen Lynn

2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Pit Bull Escapes Yard, Kills Toddler Who Wandered from Home in Hunt County, Texas

Jonah Jellison left his enclosed yard and was killed by a loose pit bull in Hunt County.

Pit Bull Kills Child
Quinlan, TX - A toddler is dead after being attacked by a dog, according to the Hunt County Sheriff's Office. On June 29, about 11:10 am, Hunt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 9900 block of Private Road 3820 in the Easy Living addition of Hawk Cove for a dog bite. The first deputy at the scene observed a toddler in the roadway who sustained major trauma due to a severe dog attack. The deputy began CPR until American Medical Response (AMR) arrived.

In the audio dispatch logs from the Hunt County Fire Department Dispatch on Broadcastify.com, one hears the AMR paramedic unit asking dispatch, "Do we know if this is a single bite wound? A multiple bite wound? Do we have any more information on this patient?" Dispatch responds, "It's a 2-year old male, bitten from head to toe. He's not breathing effectively at this time." The AMR paramedic unit then responds, "Let's go ahead and put a helicopter on standby please."

The child was transported to Hunt Regional Medical Center in Quinlan, but did not survive his injuries. Preliminary information from Hunt County Sheriff's investigators show the toddler had gotten out of an enclosed yard unnoticed by his family and walked down the gravel road. The dog, described as a pit bull, was in its yard enclosed in a four-foot chain link fence (an insufficient height for a pit bull). The dog was able to escape the yard and attacked the child in the roadway.

A family member has organized a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs.

A similar tragic scenario occurred many times in fatal dog attacks during the 80s and 90s. A young child "wandered away from the home" and back then, entered into the "death radius" of a chained pit bull. The "wandering toddler" scenario is no longer common in dog bite fatalities. The most recent deaths occurred in Texas in 2012 and Arkansas in 2009. Both attacks involved boys, ages 2 to 4. In 2010, a chained sled dog in Alaska killed a 3-year old girl under similar circumstances.

The Hunt County fatal pit bull mauling did not involve a chained pit bull, but the concepts are similar. A chained dog in a yard accessible to children -- particularly a chained pit bull, rottweiler, sled dog or wolf-dog hybrid -- is a recipe for disaster. Attempting to confine a pit bull or other powerful, athletic dog breed with a four-foot fence is irresponsible. Even a six-foot fence is not meant to be a barrier "between life and death," but certainly might have better secured this dog.

comment, pit bull kills toddler hunt county

A commenter on the Herald-Banner News Facebook post left this comment.

The same commenter left these comments on the Hunt County Scanner Facebook post.

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

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Colleen Lynn

Family Dog Characterized as 'Docile' Kills Newborn Twins in Brazil; The Baby Girls Were 26 Days Old

Newborn twins, just 26-days old, were killed by a family dog in the city of Piripá.

Throughout this post we are linking into Portuguese news articles. If you are using Google's Chrome browser, it will automatically translate for you. In any browser, you can paste the URL into this left box. Then in the right box hit the open icon (a small box with an arrow pointing upward).

Family Dog Kills Twins
Salvador, BR - The Civil Police of Bahia are investigating the circumstances of the death of newborn twins attacked by a family dog in the Bahian city of Piripá, about 637 km from Salvador. The 26-day old twin sisters, Anne and Analu, were mauled to death on June 23. Media reports indicate the mother went to talk to a neighbor at a gate. When she returned inside the home, she found the dog on top of the babies. There are conflicting reports about the dog breed involved.1

The newborns were rushed to Municipal Hospital Maria Pedreira Barbosa. One infant arrived lifeless. The trauma team attempted to revived the other infant, but she did not survive her injuries. The babies, who were born premature by cesarean section, were scheduled to be buried the same day as the attack. The city of Piripá lies in the Northeast Region of Brazil with a small population of 11,000. City officials released a message to the public on their Instagram page.

The Piripá City Hall expresses its deepest regret at the death of the children Anne and Analú, which occurred on Tuesday, June 23.

In the face of this priceless loss, we express our condolences and sympathize with parents Elaine and Régis, their family and friends, in this moment of deep sadness and pain. May God comfort your hearts and give you the strength to transform all the pain of this irreparable loss into faith and hope! - June 24, 2020

The Brazilian newspaper, Estadão, reports that a social media profile for the mother Elaine states she loves horseback riding and describes herself as "in love with animals." Her Instagram page (which we have yet to find) shows the mother sitting on the floor, while she is still pregnant, petting two dogs. The dog that killed the newborns had been with the family for five years and had not previously shown aggression. It is unknown what became of the dog after it killed the twin girls.

Double Fatal Dog Maulings

Double fatal dog maulings are rare in the U.S., and have only occurred twice since 2007. In September of that year, in Iosco Township, Michigan, a pack of American bulldog-mixes escaped their owner's property and brutally killed Cheryl Harper, 56, and Edward Gierlach, 91. The attacks occurred in such a short time span that authorities could not determine which victim had been attacked first. The dogs' owner, Diane Cockrell, was later sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

Two years later, Sherry Schweder, 65, and Lothar Schweder, 77, a husband and wife, were killed by up to 16 "mongrel dogs" being fed by a neighbor in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. It is believed that Sherry had gone for a walk that evening. When she did not return, Lothar took the couple's car and drove down the road looking for her. When he discovered her, he got out of his car and the dogs attacked him too. Both bodies were found lying next to the car the following day.

Infinite Anthropomorphism

The killing of twin newborns by a family dog is no surprise to us. This was just a matter of time. The anthropomorphism seen on social media today is quite literally being trademarked. Long Bois and the House Hippos is a trademarked business name. The most recent addition to their home with five large dogs is an infant (watch the father bathe the infant in a kitchen sink). The couple not only anthropomorphizes their dogs, but posts many pit bull-infant propaganda photographs too.

In 2018, we were sent one of the most disturbing social media posts we had ever seen. In it, a young mother is planning to buy a canopy for the baby's room (the baby has not yet arrived) and placing the dog's bed beneath it. "I have a 4.5 year old pit bull-mix and the nursery is currently her bedroom, so I'd like to incorporate her," she writes. "Both me and my BF are 100% comfortable with a shared nursery. We've had Roxy since she was 4 months, so we KNOW her." [sic]

We named that photograph file, "No more pendulum," because the nature of a pendulum is to at some point reach a peak of resistance and swing in the opposite direction. In this case, the direction back toward common sense infant and dog safety. Unfortunately, our prediction for greater anthropomorphism in societies, and acts like "incorporating" large dogs into an infant's nursery, is infinity. There are no boundaries or friction. The trajectory is simply limitless.

1One translation states pit bull breed. Another states a "mix of Labrador and American hunter." Possibly a good translation is that an "American hunter" is an American pit bull terrier. Pit bulls hunt more Americans than all dog breeds combined. So far, local police officials have not released the breed or mixed-breed of dog involved.

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Colleen Lynn

2020 Dog Bite Fatality: 72-Year Old Woman Killed by Her Daughter's Two Pit Bulls Near Mandeville, Louisiana

Barbara Cook, 72, died after being attacked by her daughter's two pit bulls near Mandeville.

The Dogs' Owners
UPDATE 06/28/20: On Friday, multiple news articles clarified that the two pit bulls belonged to one of the victim's daughters, Janell Callender. She and her husband Cody Callender also lived at Cook's home on Nancy Street. Cody has a long history with the law, starting over a decade ago. As recently as July 2019, he was charged with a parole violation, simple battery, at 635 Nancy Street. On June 25, Barbara Cook was brutally attacked and killed by the couple's dogs.

According to Cook's other daughter, Charlotte Guidry, this was not the first time the pit bulls had attacked Cook. In fact, there had been more than one previous attack. "They bit her in the face and throat, on the lip, gave her a black eye," Guidry said of the previous attacks. "One time the excuse was that she was bending down to kill a roach and the dog thought she was going after Janell." It is unknown if the previous dog bite incidents were reported to local authorities.

It is unlawful in St. Tammany Parish to fail to report a dog bite, especially if it caused serious injury. It is the duty of the owner "immediately to notify the parish department of animal services, and surrender said dog of animal to any representative of the parish department of animal services" after a bite. "Any law enforcement officer or animal control officer may take possession of any animal that bites a person or is reported to have bitten a person within the limits of the parish."

We also learned that Cook had been trying to protect her 10-year old grandson from the dogs when the dogs attacked her. This grandson is the son of Cook's youngest daughter (neither Janell or Guidry). After the 10-year old tried to stop the attack, he ran next-door to get help, where Cook's daughter-in-law lives. The daughter-in-law and her son rushed over and tried to break up the attack. The daughter-in-law is the person who called the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office.

Note: Six days after Janelle and Cody's two pit bulls killed Barbara, Janelle began selling the recent litter of puppies from the two pit bulls on Facebook. One person asked her, "You are selling puppies that will carry genetics/traits from the poorly bred pit bulls that killed Barbara? And posting this on Facebook with none of that information being passed on?" Janell claimed the puppies were "Staffordshire terrier and Razor edge blue" and her asking price for each puppy was $100.

06/26/20: Pit Bulls Kill Elderly Woman
Mandeville, LA - An elderly woman died at the hospital after being attacked by two family pit bulls Thursday at her home, authorities confirmed. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office (STPSO) responded to a home around 2:15 pm in the 600 block of Nancy Street. Both pit bulls were still attacking the victim when deputies arrived. When deputies intervened to stop the attack, the dogs turned on them. The deputies open fired on the dogs, killing one. The other dog fled the home.

After applying a tourniquet to the woman and providing other medical aid, the deputies located the second pit bull in a nearby yard. The dog charged them, and once again, deputies opened fired, this time killing it. A child at the scene, who also tried to stop the attack, received superficial injuries from the dogs. The victim was transported to a local hospital in critical but stable condition. Late last night, one of her niece's posted a photo of her. She is identified only as "aunt Barbara."

A neighbor also sustained bite wounds and was treated by paramedics at the scene. "This is very sad," Sheriff Randy Smith said. "My thoughts and prayers go out the victim’s family and to the neighbor who was injured trying to help her. I also thank the deputies who responded and provided medical care in an effort to try and save this woman's life." Barbara marks the third victim -- all females, 60-years and older -- killed by family pit bull-type dogs in Louisiana this year.

Afternoon Updates

The victim has been identified as Barbara Cook. At the time of the attack, she was babysitting her 10-year old grandson at her home on Nancy Street. According to one of her daughters, Charlotte Guidry, after one of the pit bulls snapped at the child, Cook placed herself between the dog and the boy to protect him. Both pit bulls then viciously attacked Cook, biting her on the arms, throat and face. Cook died Thursday night, as doctors were preparing to do surgery, Guidry said.

Guidry said Cook had been attacked by these dogs before, which belong to Janell Callender, another daughter of Cook who lives at the home. "They bit her in the face and throat, on the lip, gave her a black eye," Guidry said of the earlier attacks. "One time the excuse was that she was bending down to kill a roach and the dog thought she was going after Janell." Guidry's daughter, Naquisha Forstall, warned Cook that if she did not get her aunt out, these dogs could kill her.

Forstall also confirmed the pit bulls had recently had a litter of puppies.

Pit bulls routinely kill family members and their owners. Pit bulls belonging to a son or daughter that kill their mother is common too. This occurred as recently as June 3, when Katie Amos, 70, was killed by her son's four pit bull-cane corso mixes. This scenario also occurred in the Shreveport attack in February, when Geraldine Hamlin, 64, was killed by her son's two pit bulls. Cook's death is especially egregious, given that Janell's dogs had previously attacked Cook.

Police should seriously consider filing elderly endangerment charges in these cases.

The male pit bull belonging to Janell Callender; one of two pit bulls that killed Barbara Cook.

WDSU obtained video of deputies arriving at Cook's home in the 600 block of Nancy Street.

View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Louisiana 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 June 18, 2020 by Colleen Lynn

The City of Aurora, Colorado Dog Bite Statistics by Breed and Intake, Euthanasia Data Over a Three Year Period (2017-2019)

Aurora, Colorado dog bite statistics over a three year period: 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Virtual Town Hall
Aurora, CO - Aurora city officials recently announced that a public hearing would be held regarding the Restricted Breed Ordinance, Aurora's longstanding pit bull ban. "Do our residents wish to retain the ordinance or repeal the ordinance?" The announcement asks. The virtual town hall is June 18 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm Mountain time. Any person can watch the archive here. In 2014, during a first ever general election vote, Aurora citizens upheld the ban by a 64% to 36% margin.

In February, when the adjacent city of Denver was also debating a ban repeal, we analyzed Denver dog bite statistics by breed and injury severity. Despite banning pit bulls, the breed appeared among the top three biting breeds in Level 4 and 5 bites, the most severe bites. We stated then, "Pit bulls have a small population in Denver because of the longstanding ban, but this did not stop them from achieving the title of a top-biting breed." The same is also true in Aurora.

Aurora Dog Bite Statistics

The Aurora ban is specific to dogs that meet the definition of an American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier and Staffordshire bull terrier. As a caveat, there is also a "Pit bull" category in the raw data we obtained from Aurora. Thus, we show two views of our data. The "Pit bull (restricted)" category contains the three breeds in the ordinance and the "Pit bull (all)" category includes the "Pit bull" group -- dogs, apparently, that failed meet the definition of the ordinance.

View: Aurora Dog Bite Statistics Graphical Charts (2017-2019) | Raw Data

Among the top-biting breeds, the "Pit bull (restricted)" group nearly tied for second place, inflicting 104 bites. This breed group followed Labrador retrievers (121 bites) and German shepherds (105 bites). When combined into the "Pit bull (all)" group, pit bulls catapulted to the lead with 151 bites. Although Aurora has a reduced pit bull population due to the decade plus ban, the "Pit bull (restricted)" group is already biting as frequently as German shepherds, which are not regulated.

Of the total dog bites reported during the 3-year period, over 100 different dog breeds inflicted 1180 bites. In the "Pit bull (all)" group, the 10 top-biting breeds inflicted 60% of all bites. The "All others combined" group contained 90 different dog breeds, which inflicted 40% of all bites. The top-biting breeds are in part a reflection of the population of the breed in the community and the breed-purpose. Notably, Cane corso made the list, a mastiff-type with paltry population numbers.

If the Ban is Repealed?

Data from our report, Biting Incidents Across U.S. Cities and Counties, shows that without regulation, the "Pit bull (all)" category, which currently inflicts 13% of all bites, will quickly rise to 25% and over twice as many as any other breed. Depending upon how fast the pit bull population grows in Aurora, pit bulls could rise to 40% to 50% of all bites and four times more than any other breed. The latter is true in Kansas City, despite having a mandatory pit bull sterilization law.

If Aurora's pit bull ban is repealed, there will no longer be a "restricted breed" category. There will only be the "Pit bull (all)" group, which includes a sizable number of unqualified pit bulls. As one can see, this already significantly impacts how Aurora top-biting breed statistics are viewed. This even further impacts pit bull intake and euthanasia. All three areas are relevant to the ban. A pit bull ban reduces the pit bull population, whereby lowering pit bull intake and pit bull euthanasia.

Aurora Intake & Euthanasia Data

On a national level, pit bulls and their mixes average about 33% of all shelter intake, but in large cities, the numbers are as high as 40% to 65%.1 In Maricopa County, Arizona, pit bulls comprise 75% of kennel space. In a hard to refute estimate by Pet Smart Charities, pit bulls comprise 40% to 45% of kennel space at shelters nationally. As you will soon see, this is over four times higher than pit bull intake in Aurora. Intake of the "Pit bull (all)" group in Aurora is 10% of the total intake.

View: Aurora Intake, Euthanasia Graphical Charts (2017-2019) | Raw Data

If one pairs this down to only the "Pit bull (restricted)" group, intake falls to 6%. This is similar to Denver, whose pit bull intake over the same period was 4%. These adjacent cities have had uninterrupted pit bull bans for 15 years. Despite modest enforcement of their bans, both city shelters benefit enormously from the reduced intake of unwanted pit bulls. Remember, "Laws can have a beneficial effect, even when there is little enforcement and some people flout the law."2

Pit bull euthanasia percentages are twice as high in Aurora (133/629, 21%) as in Denver (195/1959, 10%). It is unclear why. Denver may have a more robust rescue network that can place more pit bulls outside of the county.3 During the 3-year period, Denver's total dog intake was twice the number of dogs as Aurora (14716 vs. 7116). In Aurora, the "Pit bull (all)" group euthanasia percentage is 37%, five times higher than the next closest dog breed, American bulldogs, 7%.

When reviewing all outcomes for dogs within the "Pit bull (all)" group over the 3-year period, which is a different measurement, 40% (306 of 766) of pit bulls were released, 30% (231) were euthanized, 16% (122) were adopted, 10% (77) were transferred and 4% fell into other categories, such as field release or died. Thus, of all dogs euthanized, the "Pit bull (all)" group accounted for 37%, and among pit bulls held by the shelter during this period, 30% resulted in euthanasia.

If the Ban is Repealed?

In 2017, Dr. Emily Weiss of the ASPCA analyzed data from the ASPCA Animal Stats Database and bluntly stated, "Looking at euthanasia rates, we see an incredibly sharp contrast, with 40% of all canine euthanasia being of pit-type. The sharp, and I mean sharp, drop for the next breed type of 9% for Labradors is compelling." That ASPCA Pro post has since been removed. The data used in Weiss' analysis is from 68 shelters across the country that submitted their data to the ASPCA.

Unlike Denver, Aurora's pit bull euthanasia data nearly reflects the estimated national average. Whether using Aurora's 21% or 37% euthanasia data, both appear to be an increase from 2014, when Cheryl Conway, a former spokeswoman for the animal care division, stated, "Euthanasia of pit bull dogs is down 93 percent" since the ban was enacted. "Of those few that are put down, they are primarily those that come in as strays and their owners don't come to claim them," she said.

If the ban is repealed, which will remove all pit bull breeding restrictions, pit bull intake will triple, just to get started. Using numbers from the "Pit bull (all)" group, the current intake percentage of 10% will rise to 30% to 65%. Kennel occupancy could rise to 80% in 15 months too, just like it did in Cincinnati after they repealed their longstanding ban. There will not be enough homes to adopt this surplus of pit bulls to and the Aurora Animal Shelter will be stuck with a glut of these dogs.

Summary

Although Aurora does not track injury severity, we can look to Denver for this information. Despite having an uninterrupted pit bull ban for 15 years, pit bulls are among the top three biting breeds in Denver for Level 4 and 5 bites, 5 being the most severe, and classified by a recent scientific medical study as a "mauling injury."4 In Aurora, lacking injury severity data, the "Pit bull (all)" group is the number one biting breed and the "Pit bull (restricted)" group, ties for second place.

If Aurora repeals their longstanding pit bull ban, severe injuries and maulings inflicted by pit bulls will rise. There are now 14 Level 1 trauma center studies across all major geographical regions in the country that confirm this. As the founder of DogsBite.org told the Sentinel in November 2019, when Aurora first began discussing a ban repeal, "I don't know why you would like to become like the rest of the U.S. where these injuries are staggering and growing," Colleen Lynn said.

If the ban is repealed, the most conservative outlook is that bites inflicted by pit bulls will double to 25% of all bites and over twice as many compared to other breeds, according to our review of jurisdictions in 20 states. According to estimated national shelter statistics, pit bull intake in Aurora will increase from 10% to 30% and, shelter occupancy of pit bulls will grow to 40% to 45%. A responsible city council would not invite these well-identified maladies upon the public.

Aurora can prepare for the following:

"There were 6683 dog bites reported to Harris County Veterinary Public Health between the years of 2013 and 2016 ... Pit bulls had the greatest frequency of bites (25%) ... Pit bulls tended to bite multiple body parts more often than other breeds." In bites recorded as "severe" or "mauling" ... "pit bulls had the greatest frequency of severe injuries (49.57%)," nearly four times higher than the next closest breed. - A look at the incidence and risk factors for dog bites in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, USA, by Hasoon B, Shipp A, and Hasoon J, Vet World, 2020 Mar; 13(3): 419–425.

1This statistic is unsourced, but can be found in abundance on the Internet. It seems few people would argue it. Also, the 2015 shelter survey from Animals24-7.org shows pit bulls account for 32% of all intake nationally.
2David Hemenway, While We Were Sleeping, Success Stories in Injury and Violence Prevention, University of California Press, 2009 (Pg. 10).
3Data from 2015 to 2018 shows a sudden doubling of pit bull euthanasia in Aurora, indicating that more residents may be flouting the ban. Quincy Snowdon, "TOTAL BULL? Aurora looks at ending breed ban, allowing forbidden ‘pit bulls' back in," Sentinel, November 10, 2019 (sentinelcolorado.com)
4"Mauling injuries were recorded when 3 or more bites occurred over 2 or more distinct regional anatomic areas, typically the craniofacial region, back, torso, and extremities." | Khan K, Horswell B and Samanta D, Dog-Bite Injuries to the Craniofacial Region: An Epidemiologic and Pattern-of-Injury Review at a Level 1 Trauma Center, J Oral Maxillofac Surg, [2019 Nov 14, Epub].

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