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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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Through the doggie door! Wow, that would be such a surprise.

SALIDA, Colo. (AP) - Colorado Division of Wildlife says it has euthanized a mountain lion after it entered a Chaffee County home and killed a dog.

DOW says officers tranquilized the lion, but it appeared to be malnourished, and they decided to euthanize the animal.

The lion chased a small dog through a pet door of a home near Salida Thursday afternoon. Michelle Bese took her 5-year-old and hid in a bedroom where her 2-year-old was sleeping. Chaffee County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and helped the family escape through a bedroom window.

DOW officers arrived shortly after and tranquilized the lion. They say it was about 20 pounds underweight for its age.

The family had five dogs. One pup died and two were seriously injured.

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Not sure why they had to euthanize the bear… couldn’t they return it to a wild area? Or if that wouldn’t work out, a zoo?

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The N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife Bear Response team tranquilized a black bear that was tracked to the back porch of a home on Fox Hill Drive.

In recent days, he’d become almost a familiar sight, trudging the street, checking trash cans for easy snacks.

“He’s been around here for a long time,’’ said resident John Rondi. “He hasn’t been aggressive. He’s been curious. He’s been taking garbage.’’

Until Wednesday, the bear hadn’t caused any harm in the suburban neighborhood he’d made his home.

But that changed fatally after nightfall, when he wandered into a fenced yard a few blocks away on Lyle Avenue after 11 p.m. and killed the 16–year border collie-Corgi mix — coincidentally named “Bear.” The attack prompted a police hunt through neighborhoods off Preakness Avenue the next day, put residents on alert and kept the township’s elementary school children inside for recess.

The search ended after police officers Robert Franco and Jack Belanger traced bear tracks through the snow from Lyle Avenue to 4 Fox Hill Drive, where residents had reported seeing the animal the night before. They found the bear asleep under the deck, Capt. Paul Ireland said.

Authorities notified members of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife Bear Response team who were in town looking for the bear. The wildlife staff tranquilized the bear as police stood guard with shotguns. Wildlife staff member Chuck Sliker said the bear was awake when he approached, but was not alarmed by people. Sliker shot the tranquilizer dart at the bear, which then fell asleep.

Six officers helped state staff carry the bear from the yard around 2 p.m. and load it into a pickup to be taken to a state facility. It was euthanized soon after.

Nirmeen Ibrahim, who lives at the home where the bear had been sleeping, said she had seen it walking through the neighborhood recently but had no idea it was living under her backyard deck.

“I feel bad for the bear, but it could have been dangerous,” said Ibrahim, who was home with her infant daughter. “I’m glad it’s taken care of. I’m worried about the kids here. … It’s kind of scary.”

The incident occurred as the state’s Fish and Game Council is to unveil the new Black Bear Management Policy. The Council will meet Tuesday and is expected to introduce the policy, a first step before the state can consider holding another bear hunt after a moratorium of several years.

The policy will contained an updated population estimate based on a DNA study by East Stroudsberg State University. It also will explain the state’s strategies for dealing with bears, including public education, garbage can maintenance, and hunting.

The dog’s owner, Marian Szal, said she was relieved to learn that the bear had been caught and would cause no further harm.

Szal said she had let the dog out one last time before bedtime. When Bear did not bark to come back in, Szal looked out a glass door and saw what seemed like the back of the bruin on all fours.

She rushed upstairs, and she and her husband shone flashlights through the door. When officers arrived, the couple went outside and called for the dog, in vain. Police followed bear tracks and found the dog dead on a hill near Szal’s property.

“You hear about bear sightings, but not in your own yard,” Szal said. “It’s a tremendous loss. He [Bear] had a beautiful disposition, and he was great with everyone.”

Szal said her family is devastated by the loss of the gentle dog they adopted as a puppy from the Wayne animal shelter 16 years ago. He was named Bear because the fuzzy, black puppy looked just like a cub.

“He made our day every day,” Szal said. “He was a gentle, gentle soul, very smart, very well mannered, very affectionate.”

State officials said the black bear was killed because, in killing the dog, it was involved in a so-called Category 1 incident, exhibiting aggressive behavior.

The dog apparently died of a broken neck, which suggests the bear either took a swipe at it, or clenched it with his jaws, said Larry Herrighty, assistant director for the Division of Fish and Wildlife. He called the incident “an unprovoked attack.”

But bird feeders in the yard might have attracted the bear, he said.

And the recent mild weather might have stirred this bear to activity. Because of the state’s mild winters, bears in New Jersey don’t hibernate. They enter a winter dormancy called torpor and can rouse to forage for food.

“In another month, bears will be up and become very active,” Herrighty said.

Residents of Wayne, which have had numerous bear sightings in the past, should take heed and maintain trash correctly, he said.

Precautions

The Fish and Wildlife Divi¬sion of the New Jersey Depart¬ment of Environmental Protec¬tion offers the following tips to avoid attracting bears:

• Use certified bear-resist¬ant garbage containers, and store them outdoors. Those not using certified containers should place their refuse in containers with tight-fitting lids and store them in a secure lo¬cation – a basement, for ex¬ample – until the morning or evening of garbage collection.
• Wash trash containers with a disinfectant at least once a week to eliminate odors. Carefully rinse recy¬clables to rid them of food residue that can attract bears.
• Pet owners should avoid feeding their animals outside.
• The use of birdfeeders is discouraged in areas frequent¬ed by black bears. Those who insist on feeding birds should do so only in daylight hours between Dec. 1 and April 1, when bears are least active. Store feeders indoors at night, and clean up any spilled seeds daily.
• Thoroughly clean outdoor grills after use. Never dump grill grease on the ground. Store grills in a shed or garage after use.

Source: The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

– William Lamb

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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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Columbia County, N.Y.–Columbia County Health Officials put out a warning after a fox attacked and bit a boy in Stockport on January the 23rd.

According to Columbia County Public Health Sanitarian Ed Coons, two eight-year-olds were playing in the woods when they came across a fox den. When the boys saw a fox they turned around and ran. The boy in the rear fell and the fox bit him in the leg deep enough to warrant post exposure rabies treatment; a series of 4 shots given over a 14 day period intra-muscularly in the upper arm. The shots used to be administered every day for a 21 day period into the abdominal muscles. The fox was not caught so officials could not be sure if it was rabid.

“Though you should not live your life in fear, be aware of your surroundings,” warns Coons. “Most of the wild terrestrial animals are nocturnal; feed at night, and the attack occurred at 9:00 a.m., so seeing them out in the day is cause for alarm at this time of the year.”

On January 25th, a dog was attacked by a raccoon in a residential neighborhood in Elizaville. The dog owner responded by trying to pull the raccoon off of the dog and was scratched during the scuffle. Another neighbor grabbed a rake and hit the raccoon killing it. The raccoon tested positive for rabies.  Without knowing if the man was scratched by the raccoon or the dog, the man needed to receive post rabies treatment, according to Coons. The dog was not up to date on it’s shots so it needed treatment and to be quarantined for 6 months.

“Having two incidents within a three day period is very rare,” says Coons, “this is breeding season.”

Coons describes another incident involving a rabid skunk: “There was an incident that occurred a few years back where a dog in kennel was attacked by a rabid skunk that actually climbed the 6 foot tall chain link fence to go after the dog.” News10 asked, “Was the skunk going after the dog?” “Yes…the animal was shedding the virus and seeking to bite to keep the virus going…once they become clinical they no longer eat or drink and just look to bite,” says Coons.

The 2010 Rabies Clinics are beginning in March and they are free to Columbia County residents, according to Coons, who offers this advice, “Keep you pet’s vaccinations current, especially since there free.”

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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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The Golden Retriever was covered in blood after saving it’s 11-year-old owner from a cougar attack in Boston Bar, B.C.

A faithful White Retriever saved an 11-year-old boy from a vicious cougar attack in Boston Bar, B.C. Friday.

RCMP say that the boy, named Austin, and dog were in their family’s backyard when a cougar started advancing on the child.

Sgt. Peter Thiessen said the boy was spared from the encounter when the White Retriever jumped in the way and took the brunt of the attack.

The two animals began attacking each other, giving the boy time to run home and call 9-1-1.

A Boston Bar RCMP officer was near the area and arrived minutes later to find the dog in a brutal fight for survival against the larger predator under the home’s porch.

As the cougar bit down on the retriever’s neck, the RCMP officer advanced on the wild animal and fired two shots into the cat’s rear end.

The cougar continued its attack, so the officer walked up to the cat and fired again, this time killing the animal.

Police say the dog survived with minor injuries and the boy was completely unharmed.

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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.