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.

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.

WEST MILFORD — The female bear hunted by New Jersey wildlife officials since it attacked a West Milford man and his dog on June 24 in Norvin Green State Park was trapped and euthanized Thursday night near where the incident occurred, the state Department of Environmental Protection said today.

The 188-pound, female bruin was caught at about 4:45 p.m. near a West Milford home where it had been causing new problems, said DEP spokesman Lawrence Ragonese, explaining the bear had just ripped into a chicken coop at the house before it ran into the baited, culvert trap set up by wildlife officials days earlier. The bear had three, six-month-old cubs which authorities said should be able to survive on their own.

“We had two previous aggressive incidents with this bear, and when it was caught it was being aggressive again. It was euthanized,” Ragonese said, adding that ten aggressive bears have been put down by wildlife officials and police this year.

The hiker was knocked down, but not seriously injured in the June 24 incident, and his dog is recovering from its wounds. The attack prompted a portion of the park to be closed and the postponement of a local fireworks display as authorities searched for the bruin.

via Bear who attacked West Milford hiker is captured, euthanized | NJ.com.

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.

WEST ASHLEY, SC (WCSC) — What started out as an early morning dog walk turned in to a battle of life or death for William Belch of West Ashley.

Belch said he was walking his grandchildren’s German Sheppard, Dutchess, near a community pond in the Hamilton Grove subdivision around 7 a.m. Sunday.  Suddenly, according to Belch, a sharp movement in the water caught the attention of Dutchess who broke free from his grasp and headed directly toward the water.

“It was so quick!” recalled Belch.  “Like a snake striking out!”

Within seconds, what Belch described as an eight foot alligator had Dutchess in its jaws, dragging the 80-pound dog into the water.

“I knew it was my grandchildren’s dog and that I would have no way of explaining to them that [the dog] had been killed by a gator, so I just reacted on instinct.”

Which meant Belch was going to get in the water. He spent the next 30 seconds in a three-way tug of war; one hand pulling Dutchess, the other thrashing the alligator on the nose.

After a trip to a local veterinarian Dutchess will make a full recovery. The dog has some scarring on her legs and skull.  While animal safety is a top concern, admits Belch, it’s not his only worry.

“The neighborhood is lined with houses, all filled with small children,” Belch said.  “Something is going to happen. Something tragic. I just know it.”

Belch’s daughter, Joanna Robbs, said she has called her homeowners association as well as the Department of Natural Resources about alligator problems in the past.

“Usually they tell us [the alligators] are more afraid of humans and pets than anything else,” Robbs said. “Clearly, this isn’t the case.”

Robbs and Belch both say that, in their observation, the alligators that do inhabit the pond make their way from a heavily wooded swamp area that surrounds much of Hamilton Grove.  Robbs also said that the Department of Natural Resources has told her that due to the close proximity of the alligators natural habitat to the neighborhood, it is hard to do anything drastic about the situation.

“They expect us to live side by side, but that just isn’t safe,” Robbs said.  “An alligator can grab an 80-pound dog, it can grab a 50-pound child.”

Both Belch and Robbs agree killing the alligators is not the best method of control, however.

“Fences, barricades, something,” Belch said. “Something has to be done before it is too late.”

Follow up calls to the Department of Natural Resources and the local homeowners association will be made when offices resume business on Monday Robbs said.

via West Ashley alligator attack spikes safety concerns – CHARLESTON, SC NEWS – LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, Sports.

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.

VAIL — Justin Young was hoping he'd see a bear while working in the Vail Valley this summer, but he never wanted to see one as close as he did last Friday.

Young, 25, was working for his father's construction business at a home in the 1500 block of Spring Hill Lane in East Vail when he took a break and took a stroll behind the home around 9 a.m. The next thing he knew he was about 20 feet from a black bear that he said weighed about 400 pounds.

“I spooked him,” Young said. “He immediately charged at me.”

Young, who lives in Florida full-time, said he feels incredibly fortunate to have survived the encounter. The bear hit him on the side of his head and again on the left side of his body before Young fell down. The bear knocked him out, he said, and when he regained consciousness the bear was gone. He got up and ran back to the house and told his coworkers what happened.

Young doubts his coworkers would have believed him if it wasn't for the bear hair.

“They assumed I fell down the stairs and was full of it, until they saw I was covered in bear hair,” Young said.

He walked away with some cuts and bruises, and a nasty black eye, but that was it.

His parents, Chuck and Terry Young, of Eagle, saw pictures of their son's cuts and bruises from his cell phone camera that morning. Terry Young said she got a picture message that said her son had quite the story to tell her.

“Now he has a whole new respect for bears,” Terry Young said.

Justin Young said he's pretty sure he scared the bear because it was facing away from him as he approached it. The bear reacted and went on the defensive, he said.

“I'm very fortunate the bear was on the defensive and not the offensive,” Justin Young said.

After the bear hit him once near his left eye and temple, he put up his arm to protect himself. The bear got a pretty good scratch at his left arm, and that's when Justin Young thinks he was knocked out.

He said he thinks his lifeless body as he laid there unconscious was what saved him. If he continued to fight back and try to protect himself, he said the bear may have done even more damage.

“It's probably good he knocked me out,” Justin Young said. “I'm glad I wasn't conscious for it.”

Justin Young said he has a lot of bruises and scratches on his body, too, which makes him think the bear continued to smack him around a bit while he was unconscious. He said the Division of Wildlife officer who responded to the scene told him a bear that size could exert 1,000 pounds of force.

The Vail Police Department responded to the call along with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Justin Young said he refused an ambulance ride to the hospital because he felt fine and doesn't have health insurance.

“Now that it's done and over with, and I know that I'm not going to die from it, it's kind of a cool story,” Justin Young said.

Randy Hampton, spokesman for the Division of Wildlife, said the agency tracked the bear for more than 12 hours Friday and could see the bear a few times but couldn't catch him. They tracked him with hound dogs but lost the scent when the bear's trail led across asphalt, a surface much harder for dogs to smell.

“Any situation in Colorado where we deal with an aggressive animal injuring a person, the policy is typically that the animal is going to be put down,” Hampton said.

Hampton said that while it's not exactly common to hear of a bear attacking or charging at a person, it does happen several times a year in Colorado. There were three incidents last year in the Aspen-area alone where people were physically injured by bears, he said.

“That being said, it's more common to get attacked by your neighbor's dog than a bear,” Hampton said.

Hampton said he didn't have information on the size or sex of the bear that attacked Justin Young. He said 400 pounds sounds pretty large, though, for a black bear this time of year.

“What we find is that most often, because of their hair and how much hair they have it makes them appear much larger,” Hampton said. “Guessing the weight of a bear is extremely difficult.”

via Bear attacks man in East Vail | VailDaily.com.

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.

LAKELAND, Fla. – Tiger is taking it easy, spending the day in bed lying down. His owner Vivian Rovelo says this pit bull doesn't even have the energy to go outside.

“He didn't eat yesterday,” she said.

Vivian says normally the dog is very active.

“Yes. Running, playing, you can't imagine. He's a very excited dog.”

Tiger needs his rest a day after surviving an alligator attack at Lake Hunter just south of downtown Lakeland.

The dog was going for a walk around the lake, as he often does with Vivan's husband Oscar. With soaring temperatures, Tiger needed a water break.

“He was going to the lake, because it was hot. And the alligator attacked. The alligator wanted to take him,” said Rovelo.

Tiger fought back and got out of the alligator's grip. Then Vivian's husband pulled him to safety with the leash.

“He said, oh! Tiger, Tiger! And he pulled him out and the alligator was gone,” she said.

There are plenty battle scars, scrapes and scratches all over Tiger's body. But it appears he may have hurt the gator too. One of Tiger's teeth is cut in half.

And while there are alligator warning signs around the lake, Vivian says more are needed. “Let me tell you, you have to be careful in the lakes, everybody. Everybody walks over there, with dogs, with kids.”

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials do advise pets to swim, exercise, or drink near places alligators call home.

Vivan hopes Tiger is up and around and back to his old self soon. In the meantime, she's giving him love, and the run of a big comfy bed.

via Pit bull recovering from gator attack.

Two people and three dogs were rescued by firefighters after hundreds of bees started stinging them at an eastside Las Vegas neighborhood late Saturday morning.  None of the injuries appeared to be serious.  It took firefighters approximately two hours to bring the situation under control.

The first call was received by fire dispatchers at 10:36 a.m. Saturday that a person had been stung several times by bees at 1500 Pacific Street (Oakey/Eastern).  When fire paramedics arrived on scene a few minutes later, they observed a large tree in front of a 1-story wood frame house had fallen against the house and broke in three places at the trunk.  Inside the trunk of the tree, which was hollow, firefighters could see the tree was full of a large bee hive with several hundred bees flying around.  The people who called for assistance were told to stay inside the house and firefighters would bring them out.  Other fire units were dispatched to the scene to assist.  Within a few minutes the people told firefighters that bees had entered the home and was stinging them and the dogs inside.  As they retreated to rooms inside the house, firefighters decided to rescue the people using blankets to cover them and take them to a waiting ambulance down the street.  They were able to successfully get them to the ambulance.  The two people were taken to Sunrise hospital.  The three dogs remained in the house.

Firefighters then attacked the hive using foam from a fire engine on scene.  Other firefighters went back into the house with a shop type vacuum cleaner that was brought to the scene from a near-by fire station to trap the bees that were inside the home with the dogs.  Once those bees were brought under control, the three dogs were brought out by firefighters and an animal control officer in protective clothing provided by the fire department to an animal control vehicle and taken from the scene.  Only one of the dogs appeared to have been stung several times, a closer examination by a veterinarian will be needed.

The street was closed to traffic for approximately 90 minutes by Metro Police officers and firefighters went door to door and advised people to shelter in place during the incident.

Firefighters continued to spray foam on the tree and remove hive from the interior of the tree until a majority of the bees were exterminated and the scene was brought under control.  A private exterminator will be needed to remove the dead tree from the private property.  None of the firefighters were injured during the incident.

via Firefighters Rescue Two People & Three Dogs From Bee Attack.

NELSON – A recent bear attack on a four-year-old girl and her grandmother in their yard has prompted a call for diligence.

Conservation officer Len Butler killed the mature male black bear after it clawed Nine Mile resident Jane Tillotson and visiting granddaughter Megan Chapple.

The young girl required six to eight stitches on her leg following the Aug. 24 attack.

“I was babysitting my granddaughters, who are four and six, and we went out to work in my vegetable garden,” Tillotson said.

“We'd been there for maybe 15 or 20 minutes making lots of noise. My littlest granddaughter just yelled for me and I turned and looked at her and a big bear was right behind her.

“The bear swiped at her and cut the back of her calf so she fell. It looked like that bear was going to bite her.”

Tillotson said she scooped up Megan and slowly backed away from the bear with her other granddaughter right behind her.

The bear swiped at the child again, scratching Megan's belly and — though she didn't feel it at the time — Tillotson's thigh.

“I was just shrieking hysterically at the top of my lungs,” said Tillotson. “It was probably no more than a few seconds but it seemed like forever to me [before] it stopped and ambled out of the garden.”

Butler said he doesn't think the attack was predatory in nature.

“Basically the bear was there to get something to eat and these people were in the way,” he said. ” If the bear wanted to kill the little girl, [it] could have.”

When he arrived at the home, Butler said he found a “fairly large” black bear in the neighbour's compost. He had his dog chase the bear into a tree where it was shot.

Garth Mowat, the B.C. Environment Ministry's senior wildlife biologist for the Kootenay region, said it's rare for a black bear to attack and knew of only one other human-related attack by a bear in the past 18 months. “I've not heard of black bears attacking people over food very often,” he said. “There might have been something else going on.”

Mowat suggested the bear may have been afraid or it took the child for a dog that was bothering it.

A few days after the attack, Nelson police shot a black bear hunkered down in a residential area along a road frequented by school children.

Part of the problem, say wildlife experts, is people leaving garbage and compost accessible to bears.

Butler said conservation officers will be issuing more wildlife protection orders to clear garbage, compost and fallen fruit. People who don't comply could be fined $345.

via Public warned after bear attacks girl, woman.

What would you do if you suddenly spotted a growling mountain lion about eight feet away in the dark?

Andy Bell said he was only about 100 feet from his Walker home when that happened to him Sunday night while he was turning off his outdoor water supply, so he decided to bolt for his front door.

Unfortunately, his running triggered the catamount's predatory attack response.

“It was on my back and took me down to the ground,” Bell told The Daily Courier Wednesday while in Prescott for doctor visits and rabies shots.

With the lion on his back, Bell said he slid about six feet down his gravel driveway and ended up directly under the back of his truck.

Luckily, he barely cleared the truck hitch but the lion's head rammed into it, peeling the lion right off his back.

“If I would have hit that hitch, he would have had a free dinner,” Bell said.

The stunned lion ran off and Bell ran into his house. He came back out with a gun but the lion was gone.

He had just experienced the most terrifying moment of his life.

“I've had close calls before in car accidents, but this is a completely different game,” Bell said. “I have a whole new respect for nature and its power.”

Bell is a hunter and he knows he shouldn't run from lions, but when he heard that lion growl he felt like his best chance was to run for the house because it was so close and he was unarmed.

“Put yourself in those shoes and see what you would have done,” Bell said.

While Bell suffered only a scratch from the lion, the six-foot slide in the gravel injured him significantly.

He has large gouges in the palms of his hands and injured his left elbow and right knee. He's getting tests to determine the extent of the injuries. On Wednesday he had to get rabies shots.

He hasn't been able to do much work at his RMS Fleet Service diesel repair shop in Prescott.

Bell said his dog has gone into barking fits about the same time almost every night since Saturday, and the dog refused to go outside with him Sunday night when the cat attacked, even though the dog always wanted to join him in the past.

Then Tuesday night, his neighbor reported seeing the lion after it set off his outdoor motion-sensor light. The neighbor lives about 150 yards away in Walker, a small forested community a few miles southeast of Prescott.

Like Bell, the neighbor got his gun and went back outside, but the cougar was gone.

“I was up all night just knowing it was out there,” Bell said.

Bell and his girlfriend are staying armed when they go outdoors, and Bell would love to get a shot at the lion. But he knows it's not an easy job to track a cougar, especially when he's limping.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services trackers plan to try a second time today to track the lion, said Zen Mocarski of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Their dogs were unable to pick up a scent Tuesday. Wildlife officials have not been able to identify any lion tracks in the area, either.

Despite what he has been through, Bell still loves nature and worries that his experience will scare off visitors to Prescott. So he is urging people not to fear the forest because of what happened to him.

via Walker man details lion attack – The Prescott Daily Courier – Prescott, Arizona.

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.

Something seems fishy about this story.

KINGMAN – Authorities have called off the search for a mountain lion suspected of attacking a Prescott man on Sunday night.

Arizona Game and Fish officials says partial tracks were found Monday, but tracking dogs were unable to pick up the mountain lion's scent.

The suspected attack occurred near the Snow Drift Mine area. Andy Bell says he was outside his home just after dark Sunday when he heard some rustling in the bushes. His flashlight revealed what he believed to be a mountain lion about eight feet away.

Bell says he ran for his home, but was pounced on from behind near his truck. He believes the mountain lion hit its head on the trailer hitch and fled as Bell rolled under the vehicle.

The 30-year-old Bell was treated by a doctor for a shoulder scratch that he says came from one of the lion's claws.

via Prescott man reportedly attacked by mountain lion.

LONDON (June — The red fox has long divided public opinion in Britain. Many country dwellers view the animals as livestock-murdering vermin and enjoy hunting them down with packs of dogs. But a large section of the population has a deep respect for these canny critters — who have learned to thrive in Britain's towns and cities — as reflected by Roald Dahl's charming children's book, “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”

However, following an attack by one of the animals on 9-month-old twins in east London this weekend, foxes have lost many of their fans. According to Pauline Koupparis, the children's mother, a fox crept through an open door and into their house on Sunday evening. Koupparis, who had been watching TV with her husband, rushed upstairs when she heard the girls crying in the nursery.

“I went into the room and I saw some blood in Isabella's cot. I thought she'd had a nosebleed,” she told BBC radio. “I put on the light, I saw the fox and it wasn't even scared of me, it just looked me directly in the eye.” The siblings were rushed to hospital, where Isabella received treatment for injuries to her arm, and her sister Lola for facial wounds. A fox caught near the family home today was destroyed, although it's not known if it was the same animal that attacked the sisters.

Although the incident was highly unusual — fox attacks on humans are almost unknown in the U.K. — some media commentators have declared that authorities must now launch an all-out war on this red menace. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Clive Aslet — editor-at-large of the pro-hunting magazine Country Life — claimed that the number of urban foxes has rocketed in recent years, making a cull urgently needed. Experts at the University of Bristol's Mammal Group disagree, saying that urban fox numbers are relatively stable at about 33,000. They argue that the foxes have simply become more visible and confident over the past decade, as the amount of tasty waste scraps left lying around city streets has increased.

Aslet went on to argue that animal control specialists wielding dart guns should be ordered to patrol “railway embankments” where foxes are known to lurk. He added that “Fantastic Mr. Fox” should also be banned in schools, as it gives children the wrong idea about these troublesome beasts.

The tabloid Daily Mail also berated “urban dwellers” who “adopt a soft-hearted attitude to these predators, who are foolishly seen as cute, cuddly and clever.” It cited pest controllers who claimed that foxes had been known to gobble up “cats, gerbils [and] chinchillas.”

Other animal experts, though, have called on the British public to get the recent, admittedly tragic, attack into perspective. In England alone, some 225,000 people a year receive medical treatment for dog bites. “But people aren't calling for all dogs in cities to be culled,” John Bryant told AOL News. Bryant runs the British Humane Wildlife Deterrence Association, which removes foxes and other critters from homes and businesses without killing them.

“I've never heard of an attack like this before in my 40 years of working with foxes,” says Bryant, who speculates that the attack on the girls was carried out by a confused 3- to 4-month-old cub. He thinks it might have been lured to the nursery by the smell of diapers, which urban foxes have learned to associate with food, as they're often found alongside edibles in household trash. “It was simply an unfortunate freak occurrence.”

Bryant now worries that pest control companies are using the incident to whip up fears over urban fox numbers and win new business. He also suspects that foxhunting supporters like Aslet are trying to capitalize on the attack, which is useful fuel for their campaign to reverse Parliament's 2004 ban on hunting with hounds.

The fox expert says that if Brits really want their animal neighbors to leave town, they need to do one thing: clean up their dirty habits. “We throw food out in the streets and leave it lying around in unprotected black sacks,” Bryant says. “Our waste disposal standards are so appalling, it's no wonder that we're surrounded by scavengers like foxes.”

via Fox Attack on British Babies Sparks Debate Over Fox Hunting, Pest Control – AOL 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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A young Vernon girl is recovering after being attacked by a coyote Monday afternoon.

The girl suffered minor puncture wounds when the animal attacked as the family walked their small dog in a greenbelt area near Alexis Park Drive and 35th Avenue at 5pm.

Conservation Officer Josh Lockwood says coyote attacks in BC are rare, with only four attacks on humans in the last 15 years.

“In this incident, the people walking had a small dog which probably attracted the coyote’s attention to them,” says Lockwood.

The animal was not found following a search by a special response team.

The public is being cautioned against feeding the animal. Lockwood says it’s denning season for coyotes, prompting the animals to search for more food.

Residents are urged to contact Conservation if a coyote is spotted where it shouldn’t be roaming. The contact number is 1-877-952-7277.

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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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Just an awful story.

NEW PORT RICHEY – Just seven days old, the tiny baby’s bloody body was covered with more than 50 puncture wounds as Jackie Welch tried in vain to help.

“It scared … me,” Welch said. “I kept my mind together because I knew I had to do CPR to help revive him.”

Her efforts were not enough, however, and 1-week-old Thomas Carter Jr. died Wednesday afternoon after being mauled by a family pit bull mix described by one person as “lovable.”

The attack came in the same bed where the baby slept with his 16-year-old mother, Nicole Koezeno.

The boy’s mother apparently slept through the attack and wasn’t aware her baby was hurt until someone knocked on her bedroom door about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday.

“She started screaming, ‘My baby! My baby!,’ said Welch, a neighbor who had spent the night there and was in the mobile home’s hallway. “Then she said, ‘My dog bit my baby; he’s bleeding.’ ”

Welch went into the bedroom to try to help. The baby wasn’t breathing, so she administered CPR as someone else called 911.

The baby was pronounced dead a short time later at Morton Plant North Bay Hospital. It was the second fatal mauling of a child in the Moon Lake Estates neighborhood in the last four months.

“It’s very painful and shocking,” Welch said. “I feel guilty because I wasn’t able to save him.”

Welch, 32, lives next door, but spent the night there with her 2-year-old son. She does that from time to time because her brother, Jonathon Gibson, and his girlfriend live with Koezeno and the baby’s father, Thomas Carter Sr.

She said the pit bull mix, Sidon, routinely slept in the bedroom with the baby and his parents. There is tension between Sidon and her brother’s pit bull, Buddy, who spent the night in her brother’s bedroom, she said.

Welch said she woke up at 7 a.m. and never heard a sound from the dog.

“The dog didn’t make a noise or nothing – no growling, no barking, no nothing,” Welch said.

She heard the baby cry at about 9:30 a.m., but shortly afterward the baby became calm.

“It cried for two minutes and that was it,” Welch said. “After that I didn’t hear nothing.”

Welch has known the dog since it was a puppy and said there has never been a problem, even with her child. She guessed the dog was about 3 years old.

She described Koezeno and Carter, 20, as loving parents who cared for and doted on the baby. They came back from the hospital excited with their new bundle of joy.

“They took very good care of him,” Welch said. “They didn’t leave him out of their sight.”

Welch warned that people with pit bulls should keep them away from children.

“If people have pit bulls, they either need to get rid of them or put them in a fenced-in area in the back away from children,” she said. “You never know when they’re going to turn.”

Neighbors said Thomas Carter Sr. once lived at a nearby mobile home with several pit bulls. He brought Sidon with him when he moved into the mobile home at 10548 Olsen Str. in Moon Lake Estates.

Deputies got the call just after noon.

David Lance, Carter’s boss, was with him mowing lawns when he got the call from Koezeno.

“She called, frantic,” Lance said. “He couldn’t even understand her.”

Carter rushed to meet the family at the hospital.

“That was his pride and joy,” said Lance, who has worked with Carter for three years. “They were both proud parents.”

He said he was stunned to hear of the attack. He’s known Sidon for years and said the dog often would be outside when they mowed Carter’s lawn.

“That dog was lovable,” he said.

Pasco Animal Services officers took the dog to their facilities in Land O’ Lakes, said Denise Hilton, manager of the agency.

The dog will be euthanized, but it wasn’t clear when, Hilton said.

She couldn’t confirm if the second dog at the mobile home during the attack also was taken.

“It’s heartbreaking all around,” Hilton said. “It’s something that’s horrific and you never want to happen.”

This is the second child in Pasco — and in Moon Lake — to be killed by a family dog since December.

On Dec. 12, 22-month-old Dallas Lee Walters was mauled to death by a relative’s Rottweiler-Labrador mix during a birthday party at his great-aunt’s house at 9615 Jerome Drive. The 100-pound dog was euthanized a short time later.

It was Pasco’s first reported fatal animal attack in at least 35 years.

Near the site of Wednesday’s mauling, Winona Walker has a 19-month-old daughter and a pit bull, but she said she keeps the dog and child separated. She said she doesn’t like to walk on that street because so many dogs roam loose.

Hilton said pet owners must keep in mind that no matter how tame and loving a pet might seem, it’s an animal with animal instincts that can be unpredictable.

“Just in general, people should not trust animals around children,” she said. “We, as adults, have to protect our children … . Keep them (animals) away. It’s the safest thing to ado.”

Hilton said she has no recorded animal complaints at the couple’s current address but didn’t immediately know if they had other complaints elsewhere.

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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.

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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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JOHNSTON CITY– Investigators say the family of a toddler– killed in a dog attack– will not face any criminal charges.

The death of 3 year-old Gabrial Mandrell has been ruled an accident.

Around 8:00 Saturday night, dispatchers in Williamson County received a distressed call regarding the toddler.

Family members had found Gabrial outside his home on Willow Pond Road in Johnston City, and the child was in serious condition.

(From the 911 tape)
Caller: “His eyes are set and his lips are white. I don’t know how long he’s been out here.”
Dispatch: “Continue to give him CPR until I can get somebody out there.”

As an ambulance was on its way to the scene, family members tried to figure out what had happened.

(From 911 tape)
Caller: “We think the dog got him.
Dispatch: “We think what?”
Caller: “A dog attacked him.”
Dispatch: “A dog attacked him?”
Caller: “He’s got puncture bites in his throat, around his groin… everywhere.”

Less than an hour later, Gabrial was pronounced dead.

Investigators say Gabrial had been sleeping at his home, then woke up, pushed out the screen in his bedroom window, and crawled outside.

It was there he was apparently attacked by the family’s three dogs.

The animals– a collie mix and two pitbull mixes– were taken from the home. They were brought to the Williamson County Animal Control facility. It’s not clear what will happen to the dogs.

Deputies say there were no other children inside the home at the time of the attack. They also say there had been no prior complaints about the animals.

An autopsy conducted Sunday determined that Gabrial died as a result of blood loss from multiple dog bites.

Visitation for Gabrial Mandrell will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 Wednesday night at the Murman-Wilson funeral home in Johnston City. A memorial service follows at 8:00 also at the funeral home.

By: Jackie McPherson
jmcpherson@wsiltv.com

Link

Mountain Lion Attacks Dog, Owner Kills Big Cat

A Boulder man who shot and killed a mountain lion that bit his dog won’t face charges. 

State wildlife officials say they won’t take action because the man felt threatened. His name hasn’t been released. 

The man shot the mountain lion Sunday. Colorado Division of Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill says the cat had apparently gone to retrieve a deer carcass it had stashed on the man’s property in north Boulder when it attacked the dog. 

The dog survived. 

The mountain lion had tags in both ears and a radio collar. Churchill says it’s unclear whether the cat was collared because of previous run-ins with people or if it had been trapped and collared as part of an ongoing study in the Boulder area. 

Link

I’ll be honest: this story seems fishy and could just as easily be made up. But, in a scene straight out of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, here you go:

Small Dogs Chase Off Cougar

 

POSTED: 9:11 am PDT May 29, 2009

UPDATED: 10:18 am PDT May 29, 2009

PHILOMATH, Ore. – A cougar picked the wrong dogs for a fight in Philomath on Monday.

 

Two dogs chased off the big cat after it strayed into the yard of a home in the small western Oregon town near the Oregon State University campus. 

The dogs’ owner, Loren Wingert, said the cougar had pinned down her border terrier, Rosie, who squealed. Wingert’s other dog, a Chihuahua named Chiquita, then began to bark ferociously. 

The barking scared the cougar away and the dogs avoided injury in the attack.

Link

Steelers’ Son Hospitalized After Dog Attack

The young son of Steelers linebacker James Harrison is hospitalized after the family’s pet pit bull bit him when he started crying; but Harrison told KDKA’s John Shumway that his little boy will be just fine. 

The incident happened at Harrison’s Franklin Park home last night. 

According to a woman staying in Harrison’s home, the incident started when Harrison’s girlfriend removed the dog from a kennel so it could go outside. 

The woman said she then took the dog out along with the toddler. They had been petting the animal when the boy started crying, which reportedly provoked the dog. 

The animal bit the toddler’s leg before his mother intervened by jumping on him and shielding her son. 

The witness says the dog nipped at the boy’s mother – biting her several times before she managed to get the child to her. According to the woman, she ran towards the house and was able to get to the other side of a fence. The dog, however, did bite her on the leg in the process. 

Animal control was called to the scene and the dog was put into quarantine for 10 days. 

The Steelers say that the situation is a personal, family matter for Harrison; however, the team did release a statement today. 

“We are aware of this unfortunate situation. We express our concern for his family and hope that everyone involved makes a complete recovery,” according to Burt Lauten of the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Meanwhile, the boy’s mother was treated at the hospital and released this morning, while the other woman was also treated and released. 

Link

Pitbull Attacks 6-year old Girl

A six-year old Lavista girl is recovering at home after a dog attack. The bite was so severe — skin was torn from her shoulder.

Aliyah Balquier appeared in good spirits. Her bandaged left arm and the missing dog next door are the obvious reminders of the day before.

“Aliyah was climbing up here and she went up to get the ball,” says her sister, Maya who is 9.

The children were playing with a plastic ball when it landed on the other side of the neighbor’s chainlink fence. Aliyah went to get it. When she leaned across the limp fence, the dog bit her.

The family says the dog’s owners were grilling when it happened and they had to repeatedly punch the dog just to get him to let go of Aliyah.

The dog took a chunk the size of a quarter from her arm. Even after doctor’s stiched up the wound, you could see the teeth marks around it.

The neighbor dog is now locked up at the Nebraska Humane Society.

The pit bull named Sticks is in quarantine. A judge will decide what will happen to him.

Because Sticks showed violent and aggressive behavior to the girl — his owner has been ticketed for harboring a dangerous animal.

Mark Langan with the Nebraska Humane Society says, “We really stress to dog owners try to keep control of your dog. If your dog becomes agitated when people come along the fenceline — monitor the situation to prevent the dog from jumping up and biting people and scaring people.”

Aliyah is on anti-biotics — waiting to see if rabies shots will be needed. The pitbull wasn’t up on its vaccinations.

At the very least — her sisters are watching out for her.

“I told her it’s going to be ok and don’t be scared,” saya Maya.

The girl’s mother says the dog’s owner came over and apologized Wednesday night. He also carried Aliyah to her porch.

Link

Woman attacked by pack of dogs in Oak Cliff

 

02:32 PM CDT on Friday, May 22, 2009

 

By ERIC AASEN / The Dallas Morning News 
eaasen@dallasnews.com 

A 37-year-old woman was hospitalized this morning after she was attacked by five dogs in South Oak Cliff.

Woman attacked by five dogs

The attack happened about 6 a.m. in the 2100 block of Lamont Avenue, near Woodin Boulevard, according to Dallas police. Erica Johnson was transported to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where she was listed in fair condition.

A neighbor, who declined to give his name, said he heard a woman screaming early this morning and called 911.

Dallas Animal Services says the attack happened after the victim was carrying a large stick while walking by the home of the dogs’ owner. He warned the woman not to wave the stick because it would irritate the dogs.

The five dogs, each a ridgeback-heeler mix, jumped the fence and ran after her, biting her in the torso, on the back and on both arms, said Kent Robertson, animal services’ division manager.

The dogs’ owner, 76-year-old H.J. Whitmill, tried to pull the dogs off the woman and was scratched himself. Police said he refused medical treatment.

Neighbors said that motorists had driven by during the attack, and that no one assisted the woman because of the dogs.

Animal Services quarantined the five dogs and issued the owner several citations for lacking current rabies vaccination and registration. Other citations were issued for not having spayed or neutered dogs. In addition, the owner was issued a 10-day notice to repair his fence so his dogs can’t escape.

Six other dogs remained in the yard at the home this morning.

Dallas police Senior Cpl. Gerry Monreal said the relationship between Johnson and Whitmill was unclear.

Link

Wow… 4.5 Million dog bites a year in the US alone? 4.5 Million!

Avoid dog bites: Use caution, prevention

 

If you are bitten ♦Children should tell an adult right away. ♦Wash the wound with soap and water and consult a doctor. Serious bites can cause permanent scarring, so ask for a plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. ♦Report animal bites to Animal Care and Control. Be prepared to provide as much information about the animal as possible.

 

From staff reports

As summer creeps closer, Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control asks parents to review dog bite prevention tips during National Dog Bite Prevention week, this week. Every year, 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Animal Care and Control spokesperson Peggy Bender notes that dog attacks “can be prevented by dog owners using good judgment and proper confinement.”

To avoid dog bites:

♦Never approach an unfamiliar dog.

♦If you are approached by an unfamiliar dog, remain motionless until the dog leaves the area. Do not scream or run from dog.

♦If a dog should attack, throw at it a purse, jacket, backpack or anything that can come between you and it.

♦If you are a dog owner, have your dog spayed or neutered, take your dog to obedience classes and avoid chaining your dog.

Link

Man Says Pit Bulls Attacked Him Twice In City Park

Posted: 4:26 pm EDT May 18, 2009Updated: 5:54 pm EDT May 18, 2009

ATLANTA – Animal control officials in Atlanta spent Monday trying to locate two very large pit bulls that a southwest Atlanta man said attacked him twice in a city park. The man said after he complained about the first attack, the owner let the dogs bite him again. 

After the man was attacked in the park, he walked two blocks and found some men to help him get an ambulance. While he was being helped, he said he saw the dogs and their owner getting away as police were arriving. 

Herbert Martin was working on his car on Ira Street when the victim walked up and asked someone to call 911. He was bleeding. 

“(He was bleeding) very badly, both arms. (It) seemed like he had a bit to the face. (It) tore his pants,” said Martin. 

As Martin called 911, the man told him he’d been in Pittman Park two blocks away when two pit bulls being walked by a woman attacked him. 

JEFF DORE: Man Says Dogs Attacked Him Twice At Park 

“And they attacked him. And she got the dogs off of him but then when he complained, he said, ‘You know you shouldn’t let those dogs do that to people,’ and she just let them go again on him. Like on purpose, is what he said,” said Martin. 

The victim described the dogs’ owner and her car to Martin and neighbor R.W. Smith. 

“He pointed to her,” said Smith. 

The victim pointed to a woman who lived on that block and who keeps two very large pit bulls chained on the porch of a vacant house across the street, according to Martin and Smith. 

Martin said when he sees the dogs, he “walks on the other side of the street.” 

Animal control cruised the neighborhood and left a message for the owner, but by then she had put the dogs in her car and left. 

Witnesses described the car as a 1998 or 1999 gold Grand Am with a temporary tag. 

The victim was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital to be treated. There is no word on his condition.

Link

Woman Survives Attack By Two Pit Bulls

A Cortez woman attacked by two pit bulls survives.

 

The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office said Nancy Thomas went to visit her friend, Jonathan Wilson, on CR 29 outside of Cortez Wednesday morning. 

They said when she knocked on the door, Wilson’s two pit bulls attacked. 

Wilson’s girlfriend called 911 and Action 7 News obtained the tapes. 

“What’s wrong?” the dispatcher asked. 

“This lady came over to tell us something and my boyfriend’s dogs attacked her,” Wilson’s girlfriend said. 

“Ok, does she need an ambulance?” the dispatcher asked. 

“Yes she does right away,” Wilson’s girlfriend said. “I brought her into my house to get the dogs off of her.” 

“Where are the dogs right now?” the dispatcher asked. 

“They’re outside, I’m scared to go outside,” Wilson’s girlfriend said. 

Deputies arrived within minutes. 

They said the dogs would not allow them near the house. 

“He tried everything, he Maced the dog, one of the dogs ran away, the other dog just stayed there, he even took his training bite sleeve out to help get the dog to bite so he could guide it away,” Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace said. 

Wallace said deputies shot at the dog, but the bullet ricocheted off its skull, scaring it enough to run away. 

As for Thomas: 

“She did fracture her wrist when she got knocked down and she got a lot of stitches,” Wallace said. 

Thomas’ family said she is back home and is doing fine. 

Wilson had both dogs euthanized. 

He was cited with misdemeanor ownership of a vicious animal. 

It’s his first offense.