Update: So, this link has video of the scene. There are other dogs on the property (it is unlikely that either of these dogs was involved in the actual attack). The dogs are very much mixed breed mongrel-type dogs based on the video footage. And it is safe to say that the living environment for these dogs is questionable, at best.
A 50 year old man, Virgil Cantrell, died on Saturday from an apparent fatal dog attack.
The dog, described as a "pit bull", was chained to the front porch of the home while its owners were gone. The victim either came up toward the porch, or was simply walking by the house (did the chained dog have a chain long enough to reach the sidewalk?) -- but the dog was still chained when authorities arrived to help the man.
Cantrell died in route to the Denton, TX hospital -- and could not be airlifted because high winds had all planes grounded.
Records indicate two previous calls to the residence for dog bites.
Ardemore has a fairly high crime rate for such a small community -- with nearly double the crime rate of the national average. There is a possibility that this dog, chained on the front porch, was used for guarding purposes. Regardless, a dog left chained and unsupervised -- especially one that may have had access to the sidewalk and has a bite history-- is a recipe for a disaster.
My heart goes out to the Cantrell family.
This story has been picked up by only 2 news sources thus far.
That should be Ardmore, OK. That would be a long drive to go from Ardmore to Denton, TX down I35. That is a very sad situation. I feel bad for the family and the dog.
Posted by: Eilleen | April 25, 2011 at 01:46 PM
Thanks Eilleen -- alas, you are correct and I've updated the post to reflect my error.
Posted by: Brent | April 25, 2011 at 01:59 PM