11/17/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, US // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan

Phenix City, AL—A child died after as many as a dozen dogs attacked him in East Alabama Monday afternoon, November 15, 2010. According to information provided by WTVM, the 5-year-old boy suffered fatal injuries after being mauled by the pack of dogs, which are not believed to be wild, at a Phenix City home after 1 p.m.

Russell County Coroner Arthur Sumbry said he believed the group of 12 dogs might have escaped from a fenced-in area prior to the brutal attack. Cason Bryant, 5, reportedly suffered numerous bite marks when the pack of aggressive dogs approached him at a home on McElvey Road.

The young child was rushed to an area hospital, though his severe wounds proved fatal shortly after. Bryant was sadly pronounced dead around 2:30 p.m.

Sarah Baxter, a friend of the victim’s family, said the boy’s mother, Jennifer Bryant is heartbroken by her loss. “She says she just want to wake up and just be a dream. The father is beyond grief right now,” Baxter contended.

Sumbry stressed the importance of keeping a watchful eye on children, particularly in households where pets are present. “I have a child myself, 6-years-old, and I have dogs… It just makes you be more aware of your child or children around pets,” Sumbry said.

“They’re pets, but never should any pet be left unsupervised anytime. My heart goes out to that family,” the county’s coroner added.

The dogs were all captured and taken to Auburn University, where they were expected to be used for research and then euthanized.

Additionally, the Cason Bryant Memorial Fund was set up in commemoration of the young boy. Donations are accepted and appreciated at any Wells Fargo or Columbus Bank and Trust.

Investigations into the fatal dog attack continue.

via Phenix City AL Animal Attack: Boy, 5, Dies After Being Mauled by Pack of Dogs | Justice News Flash | JusticeNewsFlash Release.

11/17/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, US // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan

Phenix City, AL—A child died after as many as a dozen dogs attacked him in East Alabama Monday afternoon, November 15, 2010. According to information provided by WTVM, the 5-year-old boy suffered fatal injuries after being mauled by the pack of dogs, which are not believed to be wild, at a Phenix City home after 1 p.m.

Russell County Coroner Arthur Sumbry said he believed the group of 12 dogs might have escaped from a fenced-in area prior to the brutal attack. Cason Bryant, 5, reportedly suffered numerous bite marks when the pack of aggressive dogs approached him at a home on McElvey Road.

The young child was rushed to an area hospital, though his severe wounds proved fatal shortly after. Bryant was sadly pronounced dead around 2:30 p.m.

Sarah Baxter, a friend of the victim’s family, said the boy’s mother, Jennifer Bryant is heartbroken by her loss. “She says she just want to wake up and just be a dream. The father is beyond grief right now,” Baxter contended.

Sumbry stressed the importance of keeping a watchful eye on children, particularly in households where pets are present. “I have a child myself, 6-years-old, and I have dogs… It just makes you be more aware of your child or children around pets,” Sumbry said.

“They’re pets, but never should any pet be left unsupervised anytime. My heart goes out to that family,” the county’s coroner added.

The dogs were all captured and taken to Auburn University, where they were expected to be used for research and then euthanized.

Additionally, the Cason Bryant Memorial Fund was set up in commemoration of the young boy. Donations are accepted and appreciated at any Wells Fargo or Columbus Bank and Trust.

Investigations into the fatal dog attack continue.

via Phenix City AL Animal Attack: Boy, 5, Dies After Being Mauled by Pack of Dogs | Justice News Flash | JusticeNewsFlash Release.

ROBBINSVILLE, N.C. — Graham County police say a 2-year-old boy remains in critical condition after being mauled by pit bulls that belonged to his grandmother.

Sheriff’s Capt. Joseph Jones said Monday the boy was bitten on his neck, stomach and legs while he was playing in his yard where several of the dogs were running free Saturday.

Police have quarantined five pit bulls at the Haywood County animal shelter and they likely will be killed. Jones said the family kept the dogs as pets and were not breeding them.

The boy’s grandmother told investigators she had been trying to give the dogs away.

Jones says no charges have been filed.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that a deputy shot one dog at the scene.

via NC toddler in critical condition after dog attack :: WRAL.com.

ACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A newborn baby is dead after being attacked by a pit bull in a Jacksonville home.

The newborn died at a hospital. Authorities have not released the baby’s name.

Department of Children and Families spokesman John Harrell says the state agency and police are investigating whether the baby was being supervised and whether the dog previously showed aggressive behavior.

City animal control officials say the young dog has been euthanized.

In a separate case Monday night, Manatee County deputies fatally shot a pit bull that charged them after attacking a 5-year-old boy in Bradenton. Authorities say the boy tried to climb a tree to get away but the dog bit into his arm and tried to pull him down.

Neither the boy’s name nor condition were released.

via Fla. newborn dies after pit bull attack at home – Florida AP – MiamiHerald.com.

An elderly Vincent woman is in critical condition after she fell outside her home Monday, was mauled by a wild dog or coyote, and not found until 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks said the woman’s small dog was found attacked and killed outside the home at 2250 Moody Ridge Road, Vincent.

The homeowner, Julia Stevens, 75, was transported by Little Hocking Volunteer Fire Department squad to Camden Clark Memorial Hospital after she was found by a home-health aide.

“It appears her health concerns are more from exposure than from any of the bite marks,” Mincks said.

An officer’s report indicates the woman had bites on her lower left leg and her upper body. Police believe she may have fallen from her mobility scooter when it became stuck in a rut outside her home.

Mincks said the woman likely spent the entire night outside in the cold and rainy weather. The temperature early Tuesday dipped down to 41 degrees.

Washington County Dog Warden Steve Strahler said deputies are expected to follow up with Stevens to learn more about the incident, which will help him determine what his role will be.

“My understanding is that she was unconscious and unable to tell anyone exactly what happened,” Strahler said. “If we are able to determine it was a coyote, we’ll contact (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) and assist them in trapping it.”

Strahler said there have been no reports of dogs at large in the area of the attack.

“We had a few a while back, but those have all been taken care of,” he said.

Strahler said he asked officers to describe the bite marks.

“It sounds like a coyote,” he said. “The measurement between the canines (teeth) was about an inch, and anything an inch or smaller is usually a coyote. Dogs are usually an inch-and-a-half to two-inches (apart).”

The police report did not indicate the breed of the dog that was killed.

“I wasn’t out there, but my understanding is that it was a small dog,” Strahler said.

via Woman in critical condition after wild animal attack – MariettaTimes.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Ohio, Community Information – The Marietta Times.

Williamsburg, MO (KSDK) — Even if there are a few scrapes between them, John Reynolds insist his dogs are friendly. All 17 of them. All pit bulls.

“They were like best buddies,” Reynolds says of his father the 84 year old Rev. John Reynolds and one of the pit bulls. “My dad would sit there and feed him off his spoon. They slept together.”

Reynolds says no one knew his dogs’ nature more than his father who owned the home and property where John raises the dogs.

Which makes what he found on Wednesday night, October 13th, even harder to understand.

“I could see that he’d been attacked by something,” Reynolds recalls.

He came home that night and found his father on the ground in the pen with severe bite marks. He did not survive the attack.

The sheriff’s department says the dogs were on the loose but, with the exception of one dog who was wounded, showed few signs of an attack given the severity of Rev. Reynolds’ injuries.

“They think that my dad might have been out here and they might have been playing or rough-housing and it got out of control,” Reynolds says of his conversations with investigators. “But I just can’t, I don’t believe it.”

He admits it’s only speculation, but Reynolds believes stray dogs or possibly even a mountain lion may have attacked his father and his pit bulls.

While extremely rare, the Sheriff says deputies have taken reports on, and had sightings of, mountain lions in Callaway County. The official report on Rev. Reynolds’ death only says his injuries were consistent with an animal attack.

“I know that there [are] a lot of people out there that are dead set against pit bulls and I’m sure they’re going to try to use this to get their point across,” says Reynolds, defending his dogs. “I know he wouldn’t like it,” he says of his late father.

The investigation is ongoing, but the Sheriff says there won’t be any charges since the property owner has passed away. The dogs won’t be seized because the county doesn’t have the resources to handle that

via Rev. John Reynolds found dead with severe bite marks | ksdk.com | St. Louis, MO.

Williamsburg, MO (KSDK) — Even if there are a few scrapes between them, John Reynolds insist his dogs are friendly. All 17 of them. All pit bulls.

“They were like best buddies,” Reynolds says of his father the 84 year old Rev. John Reynolds and one of the pit bulls. “My dad would sit there and feed him off his spoon. They slept together.”

Reynolds says no one knew his dogs’ nature more than his father who owned the home and property where John raises the dogs.

Which makes what he found on Wednesday night, October 13th, even harder to understand.

“I could see that he’d been attacked by something,” Reynolds recalls.

He came home that night and found his father on the ground in the pen with severe bite marks. He did not survive the attack.

The sheriff’s department says the dogs were on the loose but, with the exception of one dog who was wounded, showed few signs of an attack given the severity of Rev. Reynolds’ injuries.

“They think that my dad might have been out here and they might have been playing or rough-housing and it got out of control,” Reynolds says of his conversations with investigators. “But I just can’t, I don’t believe it.”

He admits it’s only speculation, but Reynolds believes stray dogs or possibly even a mountain lion may have attacked his father and his pit bulls.

While extremely rare, the Sheriff says deputies have taken reports on, and had sightings of, mountain lions in Callaway County. The official report on Rev. Reynolds’ death only says his injuries were consistent with an animal attack.

“I know that there [are] a lot of people out there that are dead set against pit bulls and I’m sure they’re going to try to use this to get their point across,” says Reynolds, defending his dogs. “I know he wouldn’t like it,” he says of his late father.

The investigation is ongoing, but the Sheriff says there won’t be any charges since the property owner has passed away. The dogs won’t be seized because the county doesn’t have the resources to handle that

via Rev. John Reynolds found dead with severe bite marks | ksdk.com | St. Louis, MO.

Orion Township — An Orion Township man bitten by an eastern massasauga rattlesnake, Michigan’s only venomous snake, is recovering after being treated with anti-venom at a local hospital and released Friday evening.

The unidentified man was walking with his beagle in the woods behind his home around 6:45 p.m. when he was bitten, according to Sgt. Mark Buffa of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Beaumont Hospital spokeswoman Karen LeDuc said the man was brought in shortly after the bite.

“He was treated by an anti-venom we received from the Detroit Zoo, and released,” she said.

Buffa said the man’s dog was bit first. When he “came up to investigate, he got bit,” Buffa said.

The dog’s condition was unclear late Friday.

The eastern massasauga rattlesnake is found in a variety of wetlands and woods throughout the lower peninsula.

It is the only Michigan snake with segmented rattles on the end of its tail and elliptical (“cat like”) vertical pupils in the eyes. The neck is narrow, contrasting with the wide head and body, and the head appears triangular in shape. It usually feeds on small rodents and frogs, and adults can grow to 2

to 3

feet long.

Friday’s incident marks the third snake bite involving an eastern massasauga rattlesnake in a month.

A dog was bitten by one in late September and also treated with anti-venom from the Detroit Zoo.

via Man recovering after rattlesnake bite | detnews.com | The Detroit News.

DELAWARE, Ohio — The actions of a neighbor may have saved the life of a 67-year-old man who was attacked and mauled on Tuesday by a group of dogs.

Family members said James Bright was walking to his aunt’s house, as he does each day, when four Cane Corsos began attacking him.

Louis Clegg said he came upon the scene and saw the dogs tearing away at Bright, 10TV’s Kevin Landers reported.

“(His) pants were tore apart, legs chewed up (and) the back of his head was mangled,” Clegg said.

Clegg said he jumped in his car and used the vehicle to scare the dogs away.

“I was a foot away from the man,” he said.  “I backed up, honked the horn and charged to scare them off.”

It was enough to stop the dogs from mauling Bright.  The owner of the dogs appeared a short time later and corralled the animals, Landers reported.

The owner, Virgil Mitchell III, has not been charged in connection with Tuesday’s attack, but court records showed he had been cited eight times from 2002 to 2008 for violations that included allowing his dogs to run at large and failing to immunize them for rabies, Landers reported.

Mitchell could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The dogs were being held at the Delaware County Animal Shelter.

Each of the dogs involved in the attack was being kept in a separate cage, 10TV’s Shayla Reaves reported.

The county’s assistant dog warden could not comment on the case, but police said animal control officers were finishing paperwork in connection with the attack.

Charges were filed against the dog’s owner on Wednesday afternoon,  Reaves reported.

Bright, who was airlifted by helicopter to Grant Medical Center in Columbus after the attack, was expected to survive his wounds. He was recovering from skin grafting surgery Reaves reported.

Bright’s son told 10TV News that he spoke with his father, and his father expressed relief that it was him and not a child that was attacked.

“When I talked to my dad that’s the first thing he said, ‘Thank God it wasn’t a kid,’” said John Bright.

via Delaware Man Uses Car To Stop Dog Attack | WBNS-10TV, Central Ohio News.

MCMINN COUNTY (WRCB) –  An 85-year old woman is dead Saturday after being mauled by the family pet.  According to police it took bullets from 2 deputies and a neighbor to finally subdue the dog.

“It jumped out of the car and I actually helped her get it back in the car,” says neighbor Brandon Russell, describing an encounter he had with the dog.  “It was a real friendly dog.”

But Saturday at 151 County 492 in McMinn County, a pit-bull that had been part of the family for 9-years attacked and killed.

“I talked to the family members today, and the woman who owns the home,” says Russell.  “I told her I was very sorry about what happened.”

It was the 85-year-old mother of the woman who owns the home that was attacked.  Family members told Channel 3 off camera that she lives at the home.  However, the dog is usually kept outside so the elderly woman was not used to being around the pet.

Family members told police they were working in the yard Saturday morning when the attack happened inside.

“The daughter of the deceased came running out and got a neighbor,”  says detective, Eric Allman, with the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office..  “She gave him a gun and told him to shoot the dog.  All that did was back the dog away a little.”

Family members say they believe noise from construction work to the roof is what caused the dog to become aggressive enough to attack.

“When the first deputy arrived he went inside,” says Allman.  “The dog was still aggressive at that point.  He fired on the dog.”

It took two police officers and many rounds to finally kill the animal.  Russell says when he talked to family members soon after the incident they were beside themselves with grief.

“The daughter said she blames herself but it wasn’t her fault,” the neighbor says.

Police say every effort was made to rescue the 85-year-old, but she had already succumbed to her injuries.

The McMinn County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.  Detective Allman says he doesn’t expect any charges to be filed.

——————————————

MCMINN COUNTY, TN (WRCB)– McMinn County Sheriff’s Officers responded to a tragic incident Saturday morning after an 85-year-old female was killed by a family-owned pit bull.

Police say Mattie Daugherty was killed after her nine-year-old pit bull attacked her inside her home around 11:45. The family told police that the dog would not allow anyone to approach Daugherty and that a neighbor had attempted to shoot it.

Officers Randy Gabrel and Tim Davis entered the home and also fired their weapons several times in attempt to rescue the victim.

Officer Gabrel risked his own safety and was able to remove the victim from the animal, and additional shots were fired by Officer Davis to finally subdue the dog.

Although every effort had been made to rescue the Daugherty, it was apparent that she had already passed away due to her severe wounds.

MCSO officers and detectives secured the scene and investigated the incident. No charges have been filed.

“This is a sad and tragic incident that bears little explanation,” says Sheriff Guy. “It was an unfortunate accident involving an animal that the family had owned for many years and had never had problems with. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they go through this difficult time.”

via McMinn County woman killed in pit bull attack – WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports.

A 4-year-old boy was critically injured in a dog attack inside a house where he was staying overnight in Kansas City.

The boy’s mother was staying at the house in the 3500 block of Terrace Street to clean it and she brought her son.

She told police she was sleeping about 2:30 a.m. when the sound of dogs barking inside the home woke her up. She went to see what was causing the barking and found two large Rottweiler dogs surrounding her son. At least one dog was biting her son. She pushed the dogs away and forced them outside. She then picked up her son, who had suffered bite marks over his entire body, and ran to a neighbor’s house, where she called 911.

An ambulance took the boy to a hospital, where he was listed in critical, but stable condition. A doctor told police it was the worst animal attack injuries he had ever seen.

Police were still investigating what caused the dogs to maul the boy. Police could not reach animal control officers in Kansas City so animal control officers from North Kansas City took the dogs away.

via 4-year-old critically hurt in dog attack – KansasCity.com.

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) – In the front row of Lake Grove Missionary Baptist Church Saturday morning, relatives held each other and wept as 71-year-old William Parker was memorialized.

“I just don’t want to see them close the casket,” said Parker’s daughter, Gardenia. “I don’t want them to close the casket.”

Gardenia Parker was overcome by emotional and physical pain after losing her father.  She was among the injured on July 20th, when two lose pit bulls attacked her, her father and two paramedics.

Gardenia survived, but William Parker went into heart failure and died.

Days after the attack, city officials moved controlling vicious and stray animals to the top of their priority list.

“Clearly we think it’s a problem,” city CAO George little said earlier this week. “It’s a problem we’d like to move forward on.”

City government is considering a number of animal control ordinances, including mandatory spay and neutering, and a finder’s fee for citizens who capture stray animals.

But changing animal control laws won’t reverse the Parker’s family tragedy.  Still, family members said knowing that William Parker didn’t die in vain will help them heal.

If you want to help William Parker’s family, you can make a contribution at any Bank of America branch. The official name of the account is “The William Alvin Parker Memorial Fund.”

via Family says goodbye to father killed in pit bull attack – WLBT 3 – Jackson, MS:.

CONCORD, Calif. (CBS/AP) A California man was arrested Thursday afternoon on suspicion of felony child endangerment and possession of mischievous animals after three of his pit bulls attacked and killed his step grandson.

The 2-year-old victim, Jacob Busbee, was at home Thursday morning with his grandmother, uncle, and 4-year-old brother, when he walked into the garage and was attacked by the family dogs, reports CBS affiliate KPIX. The boy died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Authorities say that the three dogs involved, as well as the family’s two other dogs, were all euthanized hours after the boy’s attack.

The Step-grandfather, Steven Hayashi, 52, was being held on $250,000 bail.

via Pit Bull Owner Arrested for Fatal Dog Attack on 2-Year-Old Step-Grandson – Crimesider – CBS News.

CONCORD — A man whose pit bulls fatally mauled his 2-year-old stepgrandson expressed deep regret Friday about keeping the animals despite past violent behavior that included the killing of a family Chihuahua a year ago.

Steven Hayashi, 52, of Concord, spoke from jail about the death of Jacob Bisbee, who ambled into the family’s garage on Trailcreek Court on Thursday morning and was attacked by three of the family’s five pit bulls. Jacob died that morning at a hospital.

Hayashi was booked on suspicion of child endangerment and possession of a mischievous animal that causes a death and is being held on $120,000 bail. Prosecutors are expected to review the case early next week. All five of the dogs have been euthanized.

Hayashi’s wife, his 19-year-old son, and Jacob’s brother were at the house during the attack. Jacob’s father, Hayashi’s stepson, was at work.

Hayashi, who said he is not currently employed, was out with his 13-year-old son before coming home to the sight of police cars.

“I come home, my grandson is dead, and my dogs were responsible. I’m in jail, and my family might be persecuted or looked upon different than before,” he said, pausing and then adding, “I love children, especially my own grandkids.”

When he talked about Jacob, Hayashi’s eyes welled up and he started sobbing.

“He was a fun-loving boy. He liked playing with cars. That last (time) I saw him he came up to me and gave me a hug when I was cooking,” he said.

Hayashi said he and his wife looked after Jacob and his 4-year-old brother because the children’s father worked long days.

Although Hayashi said he made a tragic mistake keeping the animals around the two young boys, he doesn’t believe he should be jailed.

“I made a bad decision about keeping the dogs,” Hayashi said from an interview room at County Jail in Martinez. “I don’t take responsibility for Jacob’s death. However, I am responsible for not getting rid of those dogs when I should have.”

Hayashi said one or more of the dogs had killed his Chihuahua, Ruby, last year when he lived in Antioch.

“The reason I kept them is I didn’t have the heart to euthanize them” after Ruby’s death, he said.

A short time later, he relocated to Concord with his wife and two sons. About the same time, his stepson moved in, bringing along Jacob and his brother. The stepson is separated from the boys’ mother.

Until Thursday, Hayashi said he did not see anything wrong with having the animals — 1-year-old pups Max and C.J.; Kiwi and Jake, both 18 months old; and their mother, 3-year-old Sadie — living in the same house with small children.

He said all of the dogs except Kiwi, which he described as the aggressive one, were friendly around Jacob and his brother.

“Kiwi, that’s the one I didn’t trust,” Hayashi said, adding that he kept the children away from that dog.

Only Sadie, the dogs’ mother, was spayed. Hayashi said that he did not intend to own five pit bulls but that when he got Sadie from a pound in Lake County, neither he nor the staff knew she was pregnant.

Hayashi said he kept Sadie, Kiwi and Jake in the garage and let Max and C. J. roam free in the backyard. He let each dog free, one at a time, in the front yard, saying he was able to control them one-on-one without a leash.

He acknowledged neighbors’ claims Thursday that some of the dogs approached them aggressively, saying he did allow the animals to “explore” for a few minutes at a time when they were outside the house.

Hayashi said he is still trying to sort out exactly how Jacob got into the garage, which was usually locked with a deadbolt out of the boy’s reach.”Both me and my wife do not understand how he ended up in the garage,” Hayashi said. “This is the first time ever in the one year they stayed with us that Jacob has ever, ever gone inside the garage.”

The experience has left him with no affection for dogs of any kind. He said he once thought that owning the pit bulls, as long as he was careful, would not be a danger to his family. He has abandoned that thought.

“I used to think that way, too,” Hayashi said. “That’s what got me into this mess. Thinking they’re like regular dogs.

“I can understand a dog biting or nipping, but to maul somebody until he is dead, to tear out somebody’s face” shows pit bulls are particularly dangerous.

He said that is why he did not try to reclaim the animals after they were taken by animal services, effectively assuring that they would be euthanized.

via Stepgrandfather of mauled 2-year-old Concord boy: ‘I made a bad decision about keeping the dogs’ – San Jose Mercury News.

MEMPHIS, TN— Police still have not charged anyone connected to a deadly pit bull attack. William Parker, 71, died after two pit bulls attacked him while he was walking home from the store. His wife, Bessie, says her husband had a heart attack while being attacked by the dogs.

Memphis police have confirmed an officer was called to the apartment complex where the attack happened on July 18, 2010. The officer responded to a “dogs on the loose” call. Police say the viscous dogs had a person trapped inside a car. A spokesperson for the Memphis Police Department said animal control was never called to pick up the dogs because the owner was able to get the dogs back in the apartment.

The dogs belong to Bernard Humphrey. When police responded to the dog call, they discovered Humphrey was a sex offender who failed to register his new address. Humphrey was arrested for violating the sex offender registry law and the dogs were left at the apartment.

In addition to Parker, four others were injured. One was Gardenia Parker. She was attacked trying to save her father. “These little cuts and bruises is nothing. I can get over that part. I can’t get over losing my daddy,” said Parker. “I ain’t ever going to get my daddy back. I think justice needs to be done.”

Bessie Parker thinks Humphrey needs to be criminally charged. “The way I feel right now, they could give him the death penalty because he killed my husband,” said Parker, “I miss my husband. I can’t bring him back.”

The dogs are now at the animal shelter under quarantine.

The Parker’s had been together for more than fifty years. Bessie Parker now has to come up with the money needed to bury her husband. The couple had no insurance. Parker said, “I try to be strong for my daughter and my grand baby, this is all I got left now.”

via Wife Talks About Pit Bull Attack That Killed Her Husband|myEyewitnessNews.com, Memphis News, Entertainment, Videos, Business Search and Shopping.

Lincoln Park — A 5-year-old boy was found dead this morning in his home in the 1500 block of Empire, believed to have been mauled to death by a dog or dogs in the home.

Police Chief Thomas Karnes said the mother of Kyle Holland called police around 9:30 a.m. today when she found her son dead in an upstairs bedroom. The mother, Karnes said, told police she put her son to bed around 10:30-11 p.m. Sunday. He is believed to have been deceased for several hours before police arrived. Authorities described his wounds as “significant.”

“It was sometime during the night that this had taken place,” Karnes said. “It appears the child was attacked by an animal.”

Authorities took two dogs from the home — a 35-pound Labrador mix and the other, a 90-pound male dog described by the owner as a husky/German shepherd mix. The dogs belong to the live-in boyfriend of the boy’s mother.

“It’s been described as a wolf hybrid, but the owner denies that,” Karnes said.

Police have ruled the death a homicide. An autopsy will be performed Tuesday. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (313) 381-1800.

via Dog attack suspected in 5-year-old boy’s death | detnews.com | The Detroit News.

A Chihuahua died Sunday afternoon in the jaws of two pit bulls after they entered its south Richmond home and approached its owner’s newborn child, police say.

“The pit bulls apparently entered the residence through an open front door and approached a 22-day-old infant, whom the mom had been feeding,” said Dan Barrett, deputy director of the Contra Costa Animal Services department. “The family has a Chihuahua that confronted them. Of course, they focused their attention on the small dog.”

The larger animals seized the Chihuahua in their jaws and carried it out of the house, on the 300 block of South 7th Street. Authorities later found it dead nearby.

Richmond police officers responding to several 911 calls about the attack beginning at 4:35 p.m., and tracked the pit bulls to a home on the 300 block of South 4th Street, Sgt. Bisa French said. No people were hurt.

The owner did not surrender the dogs for euthanization, meaning Animal Services will conduct an investigation and may hold a hearing in a future to decide what to do with them.

County ordinance allows owners of animals accused of violent behavior an administrative hearing before the agency imposes fines, monitoring requirement or euthanization.

The family of the Chihuahua could not be reached for comment.

via Chihuahua died defending newborn from pit bulls in Richmond – San Jose Mercury News.

This is a strange story.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Officials say a Hinds County grand jury reached no conclusion on assigning guilt in the Feb. 12 mauling death of 5-year-old Anataisa Bingham of Terry.

Hinds County Sheriff’s depuites say Bingham died two days before her 6th birthday after a pit bull dog attacked her near the house where she lived with her grandparents.

DNA testing on a pit bull discovered at the scene showed the the dog did not attack the young girl.

Acting on a confidential tip, investigators also recovered the remains of a dead pit bull from a ditch near the area, but deputies say DNA testing on the animal was inconclusive.

The Clarion-Ledger reports no one has claimed ownership of the dead animal.

via Probe of Miss. fatal dog attack inconclusive – WDAM – Channel 7 – Serving Hattiesburg, Laurel and the Pine Belt.

LAKEVILLE — A Helen Street home was a horrific scene Wednesday afternoon, when a vicious pit bull attack left a 5-year-old boy and his babysitter seriously injured.

The boy, who lives next door to the 38-year-old babysitter, was reportedly in the woman’s living room shortly before 5 p.m. when her pet pit bull attacked him. When the woman tried to pull the dog off of the boy, the animal reportedly turned on her. After police arrived at the scene, an officer fired multiple rounds at the pit bull, killing the animal, neighbors said.

The boy and woman were both flown to hospitals by MedFlight helicopters.

via Boy, woman hospitalized after pit bull attack – Taunton, MA – The Taunton Gazette.

A newborn baby is dead after being attacked by a dog, Quebec provincial police say.

The attack happened in Saint-Barnabé-Sud, Que., on Monday afternoon.

Police said they received a call about the three-week-old girl around 3:30 p.m. ET.

Neighbours said the baby was in the home on Rang Bas-Saint-Amable with a pair of huskies — a male and a female.

The dogs did not belong to the family, but to a couple visiting the home, they said.

For an unknown reason, one of the dogs, believed to be the male, attacked the baby, said police.

A baby died in a dog attack in Saint-Barnabé-Sud, 60 kilometres east of Montreal. (CBC)”The investigation is just starting. What happened exactly, we will learn more over the coming hours,” said provincial police Sgt. Claude Denis.

The incident has shocked members of the small community and many people gathered outside the home where it happened, Radio-Canada's Jean-Philippe Cipriani reported from the scene.

Both of the dogs were taken away by humane society officials, who said tests would be done to confirm which of the animals was responsible for the attack and whether it was suffering from any problems, such as rabies.

“They are not aggressive dogs,” said Claude Dionne of the St-Hyacinthe SPCA. “They are just territorial dogs.”

Dionne said it was likely the dog responsible for the attack would be euthanized.

Since 1990, there have been 28 fatalities related to dog attacks in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. Of those killed, 85 per cent were children under 12 years of age.

Saint-Barnabé-Sud is about 60 kilometres east of Montreal.

via CBC News – Montreal – Dog kills Quebec newborn.

A nine-year-old girl from Kokomo, Indiana, has died of dog bite wounds five days after her family’s pit bull attacked her in her own home. According to reports, Savannah Gragg was letting the family dog out of the front door when the animal lunged at her, brought her to the floor, grabbed her neck, and shook her violently. While the girl’s grandmother, who witnessed the attack, tried to free the girl, she was unsuccessful. The deadly dog attack too place on Saturday, May 29, 2010.

She was rushed to Indianapolis and admitted to Kokomo's Howard Regional Hospital. She was then transported by Life Line helicopter the Riley Hospital for Children, where she underwent surgery in an attempt to repair her mangled neck and trachea. Although she survived the surgery, she continued to be listed in serious condition on Sunday. The young girl died on Thursday afternoon, almost a week after the attack, according to Howard County Sheriff Marty Talbert.

The child suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain when her trachea was torn by the dog. She was declared brain dead on Thursday afternoon. The Gragg family told police that the dog had never shown aggressive behavior in the past.

The pit bull has been quarantined at a local animal control office as deemed by Indiana dog bite laws and will be put down in the near future. The fatal Indiana dog attack is still under investigation by Howard County authorities. Savannah was a third-grade student at Taylor Intermediate School in Kokomo this fall.

via Kokomo, Indiana, Girl Dies After Pit Bull Attack | Keller and Keller.

A 4-year-old boy is in the hospital after being attacked by a pit bull at a relative's house this morning, San Bernardino police said.

The boy and his mother, residents of Taylor, Mich., were visiting family members in the 1500 block of West Windsor St, Lt. Jarrod Burguan wrote in a news release. The child was in the backyard when he picked up a toy and, without warning, the dog attacked, Burguan wrote.

The boy suffered severe bite injuries to his head, back, arms and hands. His mother, 35, and another resident, 72, also were bitten while separating the dog and child, police said. None of their names were released.

The dog is in custody of San Bernardino Animal Control, according to the release. No charges or arrests have been made.

via 4-year-old suffers severe bites in pit bull attack in San Bernardino – PE.com – Daily News Digest.

SAINT-HYACINTHE, Que. — A stunned teenage mother was charged with manslaughter Tuesday, one day after her three-week-old daughter was mauled to death by a dog.

On her way out of the Quebec courtroom, the distraught 17-year-old locked eyes with her boyfriend, the newborn baby's father, who was still in disbelief himself.

“I know that it's not really her fault,” the 19-year-old man told reporters before the young woman's youth court appearance.

“She's an excellent mother.”

Police say a dog turned on the newborn after she had been left unattended with two huskies at the couple's home in the village of St-Barnabe-Sud, about 65 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

The baby's father says the mother told him that everything happened quickly at the residence they share with another couple.

He says she went outside to join her mother — the baby's grandmother — for a smoke and she wasn't even a few metres from the girl. Within a matter of seconds, she heard something from inside the house.

“She (the baby) was in a little rocking chair and she was rocking gently,” he said.

“She (the mother) hadn't even closed the door when she heard (a) noise. She went back into the house. And the dog had jumped on the child.

“It was a moment of inattention.”

The huskies, a male and a female, belong to the couple's housemates, the newborn's father said. He described them as “super-affectionate,” obedient pets.

“We never thought this could happen,” he said.

Police also arrested the baby's 37-year-old grandmother Monday, but did not press charges against her.

Andre Williams, the lawyer for the 17-year-old girl, said the manslaughter charge laid by the Crown came as a surprise, especially so soon after the baby's death.

“She's destroyed,” Williams said of the mother, who shuffled into the courtroom wearing track pants and a grey T-shirt.

“She lost her child yesterday. She's 17 years old, so you can imagine how she is (right) now.”

Williams contends the charge of manslaughter, which carries no minimum or maximum sentence, will be very difficult to prove. He had expected a charge of criminal negligence causing death.

“I'm quite surprised that they've already laid charges against a young girl who is in fragile state, on top of which they also detained her (on Monday night),” he said at the St-Hyacinthe courthouse.

The teenager, who cannot be identified because she's a minor, returns to court on Aug. 31 after her release Tuesday.

As part of the conditions of the girl's release, Judge Viviane Primeau told her she is not allowed to look after children under the age of 12.

“We had the proof that we needed this morning, so that's the reason why we have made our decision,” prosecutor Caroline Fontaine said of the manslaughter charge.

One neighbour in the rural community of St-Barnabe-Sud, which has a population of about 900, said he's seen the two dogs running around wild, not appearing to obey orders from their master.

“I live in the country and I'm not comfortable with the idea of having dogs running around on my property without being supervised,” Guy Vaillancourt, himself a grandfather of a three-year-old girl, said in an interview.

Vaillancourt recalled that the animals once approached his own dog but appeared friendly.

“I didn't have any problems with them,” he said. “I petted them and they did not show any aggressiveness.”

The teenage father, wearing a faded, tattered AC/DC T-shirt, said he took anti-depressants to help cope with the shock of the previous 24 hours.

The man said he appreciated all the support he's received from family and friends, several of whom were in the courtroom Tuesday.

“I have a funeral for this child to take care of and right now I don't make any money, so it's going to be very difficult,” he said.

“I'm trying to sort things out however I can.”

via CTV Montreal – Mother charged with manslaughter – CTV News.

A 17-year-old mother and a 37-year-old grandmother have been arrested and will be charged with criminal negligence causing death, after a three-week-old baby girl was mauled to death by a husky dog.

Quebec provincial police were called to a home in Saint-Barnabe-Sud, about 65 kilometres northeast of Montreal, Monday afternoon.

They found the lifeless child, the two women, and the two husky dogs at the scene.

According to Surete du Quebec Sgt. Ronald McInnis, the baby was left in a car seat on the floor while the mother and grandmother went outside.

While they stepped out of the house, one of the dogs attacked and killed the infant.

The mother and grandmother were taken to hospital to be treated for shock, and both were arrested after they were released.

The 37-year-old woman is scheduled to be arraigned at the St. Hyacinthe courthouse Tuesday afternoon, and her daughter will make an appearance in youth court.

via CTV Montreal – Mother, grandmother arrested after fatal dog attack on infant – CTV News.

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Tragic.

A 2-year-old boy, mauled by a pet pit bull as he played in the backyard of his home, died Friday, becoming the second toddler in four months to die in San Bernardino County from a pit bull attack.

Nathan Aguirre was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center with severe head and neck injuries after he was attacked Thursday night and died several hours later, said San Bernardino police Sgt. Gary Robertson.

Nathan lived with his dad, Raul Aguirre Ramirez, mom, Kitziha Navarro, 8-year-old brother and the two pit bulls, he said.

Nathan had been riding his tricycle and playing with his dad in their fenced in backyard for about an hour, Robertson said.

“Dad went into the house for a few minutes to check on something. Mom, who was in the house, came out to check on the child. She found the child in the pit bull’s mouth. The mom yelled and the pit bull just dropped the child. Mom grabbed the child and ran into the house and notified authorities,” Robertson said.

He said he hadn’t talked to the parents, but the officer who did described them as extremely distraught.

Nathan was attacked by only one dog but both were taken by city animal control officers and will be quarantined for 10 days before a decision is made on what to do with them, Robertson said.

“We talked to family and neighbors in the area and there had been no previous incidents of aggression at all,” Robertson said. “It was just an unfortunate and tragic accident.”

Police have never been called to the house for any kind of problem, he said.

The family has had the year-old male pit bull for about three months. They got him from a person in Muscoy, he said. The other dog was older and bigger but not involved, Robertson said.

There were bowls out for the dogs, both for food and water, and there was food in at least one of the bowls, Robertson said. “We are not seeing any criminal culpability on the part of either parent,” he said.

The boy’s death is the latest in a string of dog attacks in Southern California in recent months.

In January, 3-year-old Omar Martinez died from injuries he sustained when being mauled by his family’s pit bull at his Apple Valley home, about 40 miles north of San Bernardino. In that case, authorities said the dog was aggressive toward responding firefighters so it was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies.

In February, a pack of five dogs escaped from their yard in Fontana, attacking three children who were walking by. Five-year-old Destiny Colon had a punctured lung and was put on life support for a while; 6-year-old Hector Perez needed 235 stitches in his legs; and 7-year-old Princess Colon needed 18.

Police shot and killed one of the dogs, the rest were euthanized. Investigators said the dogs included two pit bulls, a mastiff and two smaller breeds. Charges were filed against the dogs’ owners.

In April, in neighboring Riverside County, a 6-month-old boy was mauled in his carrier by two dogs at the home of a family friend. The pit bull and pit bull mix tore the infant’s diaper off and bit his scrotum. Carrie McKinney, 22, of Point Loma, lost custody of her son and her friend’s dogs were quarantined before being euthanized.

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BERLIN — Four attack dogs killed a 3-year-old toddler in eastern Germany and badly injured the girl’s great-grandmother, who had tried to rescue the girl, police said on Saturday.

Prosecutors opened an investigation for negligent homicide against the dogs’ owner, the girl’s aunt, police spokeswoman Jeanette Schwahn-Witzenhausen said.

The girl and her 70-year-old great-grandmother had been visiting the girl’s aunt Friday evening in Oldisleben-Sachsenburg in Thuringia state when the Staffordshire bull terriers attacked the girl while she was in the house, police said.

The great-grandmother tried to stop the dogs, each weighing between 65 and 90 pounds (30 to 40 kilograms), but only the aunt rushing in from the garden was able to pull them away, police said.

The girl died on the scene, about a week before her fourth birthday. She lived in the same village and had visited her aunt previously, prosecutor Sandra Bock said, adding that authorities had yet to question the 44-year-old woman.

Veterinarian Gunter Wolf said the dogs had bitten the girl’s head “very aggressively” until moments before her death, German news agency DAPD reported from nearby Nordhausen. Wolf said that while the animals’ behavior was abnormal, but they did not have rabies.

The dogs were killed by authorities with the aunt’s consent, police said.

They were not registered with authorities, as is required in Germany for dogs deemed potentially dangerous, DAPD quoted police officer Michael Becker as saying.

In a similar tragedy less than a month ago in Germany, a Husky killed an 8-week-old baby in Cottbus, in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

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Her 32-year-old uncle was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the incident at around midday on Saturday.

Sussex Police’s major crime branch was investigating the girl’s death. Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Bowles, who is leading the inquiry, said: “It is very early in the investigation but we are working extensively to try and establish how this tragedy occurred.”

The dog suspected of killing the girl was being held by police. The animal is believed to be a mastiff-type breed.

A police spokesman said: “A man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a one year old female was attacked and killed by a dog at an address in Crawley.”

The arrested man was not at the address when the attack happened, but is understood to have been arrested when he arrived at the property shortly afterwards.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said that he believed the man involved owned two dogs and was often seen walking them in the area. “The bloke himself is absolutely spot on, the dogs are well looked after, I don’t know what type they are, all I know is that they are big. I am surprised this is what has happened, my little one strokes his dogs,” he added.

The death is the latest in a series of incidents in which dogs have attacked and killed, or seriously injured, young children.

Last month, a two year old girl, Taylor Leadbeater, suffered severe injuries to her jaw, nose and mouth, and required reconstructive surgery, after being attacked by her family’s dog, in Eltham, south east London.

The animal was stabbed to death by the girl’s father, Gareth Sim, who had been playing with the family pet when it turned on his daughter.

In another incident last month, a gang member who used a dangerous bull terrier to attack a rival before stabbing him to death, became the first person to be convicted using DNA evidence taken from the crime scene and matched to his dog.

Chrisdian Johnson, 22, killed Oluwaseyi “Seyi” Ogunyemi, 16, by setting his dog Tyson on him before stabbing him six times as he wrestled with the animal on the floor.

Last year 5,221 people, a quarter of them children, were admitted to hospital in England after being attacked by dogs, compared with a total of just over 3,000 a decade ago. Thousands more were treated as outpatients.

In London alone, the number of dangerous dog cases going to court increased from 35 in 2002-3 to 719 in 2008-9. Adults attacked include railway engineer James Rehill, 78, who was “dragged like a doll” through the street in a fatal attack by his own dog in January last year.

Other cases include that of John-Paul Massey, a four-year-old who died at his grandmother’s house in Liverpool last year after suffering “massive injuries” inflicted by a dog later found in tests to be a type of pit bull, a breed banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

In February last year, Jaden Mack, three-and-a-half-month-old was killed by a Staffordshire bull terrier and a Jack Russell at his grandmother’s home in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales.

The Dangerous Dogs Act was introduced in 1991 – and amended in 1997 – in response to various incidents of serious injury or death resulting from attacks by aggressive and uncontrolled dogs, particularly on children.

It is now illegal to own any “Specially Controlled Dogs” without specific exemption from a court. Four dogs – including the pit bull terrier – were identified as being banned under the Act, which also bans the breeding, sale and exchange of such dogs.

The Government is currently considering further amendments to the Act. It has been reported that an increasing number of people are keeping dangerous dogs as “status symbols” to intimidate others.

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LEE COUNTY, South Carolina – Authorities said Ethel Mae Horton, 65, was killed in a dog attack on Thursday morning in the town of Lucknow in Lee County.

The coroner confirmed that the victim died Thursday from injuries she sustained in the attack.

According to Maj. Daniel Simon with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the attack took place at around 11:45 a.m. in the backyard of the victim’s home located on West Stokes Bridge Road.

Simon said that the woman’s husband named Jerry, was also injured and brought to a hospital in Hartsville. He would have to undergo surgery to treat his injuries.

The coroner said that Brutus, a 10-year-old dog was tied up, and that the couple may have been trying to feed the dog when the attack occurred.

According to investigators, the victims kept several dogs in a backyard pen of their residence. Apparently, the dog in question belonged to the couple’s nephew and it is uncertain if he would face any charges. Authorities said Brutus has been quarantined and will be euthanized prior to a rabies test.

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SVENSEN, Ore. – The 4-year-old granddaughter of Jay Browning and step-daughter of Jesse Browning from The History Channel’s series “Ax Men” has died after family said she was attacked by their pet Rottweiler.

Around 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, deputies responded with fire and medical personnel to the home of Jesse and D’ette Browning at 42921 Hillcrest Loop Road, Svensen, Ore., just east of Astoria.

Jesse Browning called 9-1-1 with the frantic news that his 4-year-old daughter, Ashlynn Anderson, had been attacked by one of the two family Rottweilers. Paramedics tried to save the girl’s life and a LifeFlight helicopter landed in a nearby field to transport Ashlynn to Oregon Health and Science University hospital in Portland. The girl was pronounced dead on arrival.

Though Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin said only one of the two family dogs mauled the girl, both were taken from the home at the request of the family. The couple also has another child living in the home, a 1 year old.

Deputies transported the dogs to the Clatsop County animal shelter where they are quarantined.

KATU has uncovered reports that the family contacted the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office about four months ago to report a third dog “showing aggressive signs” who, according to the Associated Press, bit an adult family member. That dog was reportedly destroyed.

Clatsop County Medical Examiner Dr. Joanne Stefanelli will be involved with the autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Clatsop county detectives will conduct a follow-up investigation “after the family has time to grieve,” said Tom Bergin, Clatsop County Sheriff, in a prepared statement Monday. At this time, no criminal charges are being issued.

“This was a sad set of circumstances,” Bergin said, “and a very unfortunate death.”

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OCALA, Fla. – A 3-year-old girl who was attacked by a bulldog outside her Ocala-area home has died.

According to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, the girl was playing outside while her mother cleaned a dog pen Saturday. She got tangled in a dog chain when her mother went inside the home.

That’s when a male dog attacked the girl, whose name wasn’t immediately released.

The Ocala Star-Banner reports that four dogs were outside the home at the time of the attack, but investigators believe just one of the animals was involved. All the dogs were taken by county animal services officials.

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In what is believed to be the first fatal dog attack in Philadelphia in more than a quarter-century, a pit bull sank her teeth into the neck of a 38-year-old Fishtown woman and killed her yesterday.

The victim, Christine Staab, had been arguing with her mother in their Oxford Street rowhouse and fell backward. At that point, the dog leaped on Staab, said her mother, Barbara Erb.

Erb, 59, said she tried frantically to pull off the dog, Jade, but could not get the pit bull to relax her grip on Staab’s throat.

The dog “was in some kind of protection mode,” Erb said.

After struggling with the dog, Erb let go and darted to confine her other dogs and call police. Arriving about 7 a.m., officers shot and killed Jade. They then shot and killed Bear, a second pit bull that lunged at them after he jumped over a barrier that had penned him and four other pit bulls in the kitchen.

The four surviving dogs were taken to the SPCA’s Animal Care and Control Team shelter on Hunting Park Avenue and quarantined.

Erb said she would like them back. “It was just a horrible, horrible incident,” she said.

Detectives in the East Division are investigating.

Erb said no one had suggested to her that she might face arrest.

A spokesman for the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office said the death was being investigated as a fatal dog attack. An autopsy is to take place today.

Despite about 70 million dogs in the United States, fatal attacks are relatively rare.

According to the organization Dogsbite.org, dogs killed an average of about 30 people a year nationwide over the last three years. According to a review of Inquirer archives, the previous fatal attack in Philadelphia occurred in 1981, when Mary Logan, 81, was killed by several of the mongrel pets she kept in her house in Northern Liberties.

Dogsbite.org advocates breed-specific legislative action to control violent dogs. According to the group, pit bulls make up only 5 percent of the dog population in this country, but account for more than 40 percent of deadly attacks.

Erb spoke with an Inquirer reporter yesterday as she stood on her street moments after police gave her clearance to return to her home.

According to Erb, her daughter – the mother of a teenage son who lives with his father – had long fought a battle with drugs, shaking her addiction only to succumb again. Staab came into their house about 6:30 a.m. and appeared to be high, Erb said.

“I said to her, ‘I can’t deal with that anymore. You have to go,’ ” Erb recounted. “She was telling me where was she supposed to go?”

She said the dispute had not escalated into a physical fight and that their voices had not been raised.

As they argued, Erb said, her daughter took a step back and tripped over a mirror on the floor. She fell back, taking a lamp down with her. Erb said she was clutching at Staab’s sleeve as she fell.

This enraged Jade, who went “nuts” and attacked, Erb said. “I couldn’t get her off.”

At some point, Erb said, she rounded up the other five dogs and put them in the kitchen, blocking the doorway with a three-foot-high barrier. She called police.

Erb said she found the attack hard to explain because Jade, 6, knew her daughter well.

“I never had a problem with a dog,” she said, describing the six pit bulls as “house dogs” that were well cared for and even had microchips installed for identification.

“They were spoiled rotten,” Erb said. “They were not neglected in any way.”

A neighbor agreed, saying, “The dogs were very sweet. They never had a problem with them.”

The door of the house had one sign that read “Beware of dog,” and another saying that in the case of fire, rescuers should save the six dogs inside. It listed their names: Paige, Peaches, Maggie, Satan, Bear, and Jade.

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A Far South Side woman came home to find her father covered in blood, apparently killed by a pack of dogs she was raising in their home, police said.

After evaluating the pets on Monday, animal control officials said four adult dogs found at the scene would most likely be euthanized. But they were uncertain what would happen to two puppies that were also there.

“Dogs don’t normally attack people in their own homes, so there’s a lot to investigate,” said Cherie Travis, animal care and control commissioner.

Johnny Wilson, 56, was found late Sunday with numerous bite marks on his body in the living room of his home in the 10200 block of South Aberdeen Street, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Other sources said he suffered extensive head, chest and upper body injuries.

The medical examiner’s office on Monday ruled that Wilson died of hemorrhaging from injuries from a dog attack. The examiner concluded that Wilson’s death was accidental.

Police said the dogs were pit bulls. Travis said they’re mixed-breed, but she couldn’t name the breeds until further evaluation.

Animal behaviorist Suzanne Hetts said fatal dog attacks are typically caused by factors such as the personality of each dog involved, how they interact with one another, whether the dogs were spayed or neutered, and their relationship with people in the home.

Dogs in a group can act differently than each would individually. When one dog acts, the others tend to “jump in and do the same thing,” said Hetts, an expert with Animal Behavior Associates Inc. in Littleton, Colo.

She added that a dog’s breed isn’t the most important factor.

“Usually it’s a perfect-storm situation, with a lot of things that lead up to the attack,” Hetts said.

Avantis Smith, 31, a neighbor, said he found it hard to believe that the dogs had attacked Wilson.

“She had them under control,” said Smith, who has lived next door for 20 years. He said the daughter and her family stayed in his home Sunday night. Smith said she was stunned and couldn’t explain what had happened.

Smith added that he had seen Wilson walking the dogs in the past.

“They always obeyed him. I don’t see any reason for them to attack him,” said Ruffin Davis, 62, another neighbor.

A niece of Wilson’s said he worked for the post office and his wife died within about the past year.

Tracy Wilson, 38, who lives in Virginia, said she came to visit Chicago relatives around Christmas but couldn’t see her uncle because he was working too much.

“And I never gave him a hug. I’m just heartbroken right now,” Wilson said.

She described him as caring and generous. “He’d give the shirt off his back, that’s just how he was,” she said.

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Authorities say a 3-year-old boy has died after his family’s pit bull attacked him at a home in San Bernardino County.
The county’s Sheriff-Coroner Department said in a statement Sunday that 3-year-old Omar Martinez was declared dead at Saint Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley.

Authorities answered a 911 call Saturday afternoon, saying a boy was not breathing after a dog attack.

Paramedics found the boy unresponsive and took him to the hospital, where he was declared dead about two hours later.

Authorities say the dog was aggressive toward firefighters when they arrived at the Apple Valley home, and a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the animal.

The coroner’s office says an autopsy will be conducted on the boy, and sheriff’s deputies and animal control officials are investigating the attack.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/10/state/n175715S56.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0dEyDpMfm

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UNION, W.VA. — Monroe County police plan to file more charges in a dog attack case now that the 70-year-old victim has died from his injuries.

Sheriff Michael Gravely says Lindside resident Lowell Bowden died in a Roanoke, Va. hospital on Friday.

Bowden was attacked by four or five pit bulls near his home last month. Four of the dogs have been euthanized, while police are determining if a fifth animal was part of the attack.

Four people were charged with misdemeanors stemming from the attack last week.

Gravely says Bowden’s death means police will soon file additional charges.

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KSDK — An elderly Flora, Illinois woman died Monday as a result of injuries sustained in a dog attack earlier in the day.

The incident took place just before 2:20 p.m. on Austin Avenue. The victim, identified as 85-year-old Rosie L. Humphries, was walking her dog when she was attacked by a pit bull.  The attacking dog mauled Humphries and her dog, a poodle.

Authorities said the pit bull broke free from its collar and attacked.  They had not received any complaints about the dog prior to the attack.

Police officers and residents administered first aid to Humphries until paramedics arrived.  Humphries was pronounced dead at the scene.  It was earlier reported she died at a hospital.  Humphries’ dog was also killed.

The attacking dog’s owner and police were able to contain the animal until Clay County Animal Control arrived to take the dog away.  The dog was later euthenized.

The owner of the pit bull could face charges.

Flora, Illinois is located about 100 miles east of St. Louis.

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Killer dog was banned pitbull breed

The dog that savaged John-Paul Massey to death was an illegally-held pitbull-type dog banned for being too dangerous to keep, it has been revealed.

The four-year-old boy was attacked by the dog in the early hours of Monday morning at the home of his grandmother, Helen Foulkes, 63, in Liverpool.

The animal, called Uno, also savaged her as she tried to protect the boy she was babysitting at her home on Ash Grove in the city’s Wavertree area.

Merseyside Police admitted they were told months ago that a banned pitbull-type dog had been seen at the house.

A forensic examination was carried out on the animal and the dog was confirmed as being an illegal breed, said the force.

Deputy Chief Constable Patricia Gallan, of Merseyside Police, said on Tuesday: “Following extensive examinations and a post-mortem, an independent expert has confirmed that, in his opinion, the dog involved in the incident in Ash Grove, Wavertree, yesterday is a pitbull terrier-type dog which is classified as a dangerous dog under the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991).

“Our thoughts remain with John-Paul’s family at this time following his tragic death. A child’s life has been lost and it is essential that we determine the exact circumstances surrounding the attack. Investigations into the incident are continuing.

“Ascertaining the type of dog involved in this attack has been a complex issue. It has taken some time to complete the examinations and post-mortem before we have been able to confirm that it is an illegal type of dog. We are conducting a criminal investigation.

“On behalf of Merseyside Police, I am deeply concerned and very disappointed that our policy was not followed in February when we received a call alerting us to the possible breeding of pitbull terriers at the house where the attack took place.

“This is clearly unacceptable and we are sorry that Merseyside Police did not take the appropriate course of action at that time. Given the seriousness of this situation, and our failure to follow our own procedure, we have referred this case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, who will be carrying out an independent investigation.”

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A 2-year-old Prescott boy dies after being mauled by a pit bull. It happened Wednesday morning just after 9 a.m. off Bemis Road. The city of Prescott is Southwest of Little Rock.

Family and friends wouldn’t go on camera, but say the toddler saw a puppy and chased it to a backyard where the larger pit bull was. They know this because his 3-year-old brother followed him and than rushed home to alert the family.

Families, police and emergency personnel are distraught over the events that occurred Wednesday morning. Neighbor Bridgette Monroe recalls, “A lady came running from this way screaming, my baby, my baby.”

Monroe was in the process of moving and ran with the woman. She continues, “I was down there with the baby rubbing his arms and legs telling the baby it’s going to be ok.”

Monroe says the chained pit bulls hid in their dog houses. Her account of the scene is disturbing. “The babies’ jugular, throat was bitten and from his mouth up to his eye was bitten.”

Chief Brian Russell says, “It’s a 2-year-old baby and each of us have our own children; it destroys you and he’s not here because of something like this.”

Chief Russell says police and emergency crews arrived within minutes and he was airlifted to St. Michael’s where he was pronounced dead.

“There very well could be charges either way. We’ll just have to see where the investigation goes from here,” Chief Russell adds.

Richard Ray Smith points, “The dog attacked the kid right there.”

Smiths’ mother owns the dog; she was home when the incident happened. He says, “She stood over the baby until the ambulance got here.”

Smith continues, “The dog has been raised with us and all the kids have played with the dog. It’s not a violent dog, we don’t know what happened. I have grief for the family.”

But two doors down where the kids were staying, Kevin Taylor and Christy Godwin say they were afraid of the dogs and told the owners they were vicious.

Smith concludes, “We don’t want the family to be mad at us, it’s just an accident that happened.”

After our interview with Bridgette Monore, she found out she’s related to the toddler.

Animal Control is holding two adult pit bulls until the investigation is over; the puppy has not been caught.

Chief Russell says the owners were in compliance with the dog ordinance and the State Police is involved.

The sibling’s age 8-months, two and three-years-old stayed with Kevin Taylor and Christy Godwin while their mom worked. Godwin says they are like family.

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A young life was cut short Friday morning when an infant boy was fatally attacked by his babysitter’s pit bull, the Merced County Sheriff’s Department said.

The mauling happened in the 9000 block of Donovan’s Way at about 9:30 a.m., sheriff’s spokesman Tom MacKenzie said.

The 17-month-old boy was mauled by a 65-pound pit bull while he was being watched by a babysitter, a woman whose name isn’t being released by authorities.

According to MacKenzie, the babysitter called 911, screaming hysterically just after 9:30 a.m.

When the line went dead, deputies drove to the home to make sure everything was all right.

When they arrived, there was blood on the doorstep and no one home, MacKenzie said.

The boy was located after other deputies in the area pulled over the babysitter’s car for driving erratically near Swanson and Merced avenues in Delhi.

The babysitter stopped the car, jumped out and handed the bloodied boy to Deputy Joey Cardenas, Sheriff Mark Pazin said.

The woman told Cardenas she was babysitting the boy when her 65-pound pit bull and Akita mixed-breed dog bit the child’s throat and dragged him around the yard.

She was able to rescue the baby after stabbing the dog with a fork several times.

She called 911 during the attack, but hung up to drive to the hospital.

After the traffic stop, paramedics took the child from the side of the road to Turlock Emanuel Hospital.

He was later airlifted to Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, where he died soon after landing, MacKenzie said.

There were no other children at the house during the attack.

The boy’s parents have been notified.

Animal control arrived at the home before noon and took the pit bull into custody.

The dog is at the Merced County Animal Shelter and is being held separately from other animals and people there, Merced County spokeswoman Katie Albertson said.

County and sheriff’s officials couldn’t confirm whether the animal had a history of violent attacks.

No charges have yet been filed. The sheriff’s major crime unit continued investigations in and around the home late Friday afternoon.

“A 17-month-old toddler is dead — that’s the bottom line. Any death, we’re going to investigate to bring closure to that family,” Sheriff and Coroner Mark Pazin said. “We’re going to collect all the facts and submit them to the district attorney. It’s a tragedy, but we do have to investigate it.”

It remains unclear whether the babysitter was related to the child.

Cardenas and Deputy Micah Brawley, who also tried to help the child on the side of the road, finished a critical incident debriefing for Merced County officials late Friday afternoon.

The deputies were shook up, Pazin said, but did “a yeoman’s job in trying to save that toddler’s life.”

The death marked the second vicious pit bull attack in Delhi this month.

On Oct. 1, a 28-year-old Delhi woman was attacked by a 60-pound pit bull at Shanks Road and Letteau Avenue, less than a mile away from Friday’s attack.

The woman was treated for several lacerations at Turlock Emanuel Hospital, and her own dog recovered from a bite to its neck.

The pit bull in that case, believed to be a three-year-old named Daisy, was taken into custody that day and has since been euthanized.

Albertson said “the health and safety of the general public are foremost in our minds and that will weigh heavily” on any decision whether to euthanize the animal that attacked on Friday.

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The Hardy County Sheriff’s Dept. is continuing its investigation into a Saturday pit bull attack that killed a three-day-old boy.

Deputy Melody Burrows with the Hardy County Sheriff’s Departments says the boy’s mother was getting ready to feed her newborn when she left the bedroom to answer the phone.  After she returned to the room, the family pit bull named Nila and a mixed-breed German Shepherd came into the room and began sniffing close to the baby.

“Nila, the pit bull, attacked the infant grabbed the infant from off the bed, grabbed the infant by the head,” Burrows explained. “(It) began to shake the infant as though it was a toy or prey.”

The dog dropped the child, but picked it up a second time. The mother told police she choked the dog, but it wouldn’t let go of her son.

A teenage daughter then came into the room, cornered the dogs and forced them out an open window.

Police say the mother tried to help her son until emergency crews arrived. He died on the way to a helicopter-landing zone.

Deputy Burrows says the mother had spent the afternoon showing her newborn off to friends and family members after bringing him home from the hospital earlier in the day.

The family could be charged with harboring a vicious animal. Deputy Burrows says the family had only had the pit bull since May when a the victim’s uncle had to leave the area.

“I need to wait and speak with the agency where the dog is from to see if they had any complaints,” Burrows said.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — A father was frantically calling 911 to report his missing newborn when he spotted the baby, bleeding from the mouth and clutched in the mouth of a family dog who had carried him from his crib to the heavily wooded backyard.

Four-day-old Alexander James Smith was rushed to the emergency room at University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington, where he was listed in critical condition Tuesday with two collapsed lungs, a skull fracture, broken ribs and various cuts and bruises.

His father, Michael Smith, said doctors were optimistic the boy would survive, but a day earlier they braced the family for the worst and had to use resuscitation paddles to get a heartbeat.

“They took us straight to a consulting room with a pastor and gave us pretty much what was the last visitation,” Smith said in an interview with The Associated Press from a hospital waiting room.

Smith said he and his wife, Chrissie, had just put Alexander James (or A.J.) in his crib Monday afternoon in their Nicholasville, Ky., home and were preparing for a baby shower. When Chrissie returned to the bedroom minutes later, one of the doors was ajar and both the baby and their Native American Indian dog — a breed that looks similar to a husky — were gone.

Michael Smith initially headed to the backyard, knowing that Dakota, a mixed breed with wolves in its ancestry, had a reputation for stealing household items like cups and wallets and depositing them there. He spent 10 minutes looking among the trees and bushes in the two-acre fenced backyard before finding the dog and child about 200 yards behind the house.

“When you’re running through the backyard and you can’t find him, every worst fear comes through your head,” Smith said. “We had to try to stay positive, try and find him. My guess is five more minutes and he wouldn’t be here.”

Jessamine County chief deputy sheriff Allen Peel said no charges had been filed, but the case remains under investigation.

“It’s unreal,” Peel said.

Smith, who is the owner of a security company where his wife also works, said the dog was treating the baby as a puppy and wasn’t being vicious.

But he expects that Dakota, who was taken into custody by animal control, will be destroyed. The 4-year-old was one of three dogs the family had owned since they were puppies and had no history of aggression, even when playing with Smith’s two other children from a previous marriage, he said.

“It wasn’t a vicious dog attack,” Smith said. “She had A.J. for 10 minutes on her own, and if you look at A.J.’s belly, there’s about 100 little marks. All the dog had to do was one bite and A.J. wouldn’t be here.”