Another potential fatal dog attack

96 year old Israel Pope, Jr. was found dead in Pickensville, AL. How he came to be that way is a bit unclear -- but a pack of wild dogs seem like the most likely culprit.

There was a pack of seven wild dogs that lived under an abandoned, ramshackle trailer that was only about 1/2 mile from Pope's home. The dogs were described as complete feral (neighbors reported that no one was able to pet the dogs), were underfed, and got most of their water from a stagnant ditch nearby.

Pope's remains were found near and under that trailer where the dogs lived. It is unclear whether Pope had died before the dogs found him, or the dogs caused his death -- and authorities think it is unlikely that they will ever be able to officially determine.  Authorities described several of the dogs as "big dogs" that easily could have overpowered the man.

Either way, this is a tragic end to a very long life for Mr. Pope.

Pickensville is a very small town in rural Alabama.  It has a population of just over 600 people -- has a declining population, and 34% of the community lives below the poverty level.

The fact that there was a pack of large dogs living under an abandoned trailer in a poor, rural community is probably not all that surprising.  The fact that the dogs had become feral and aggressive, probably isn't that surprising either. But the fact that no one called the authorities about the dogs, or if they did, nothing was done to the dogs to remove the potential threat, is pretty inexcusable.

And it's because of incidences like this that it makes me so angry when people talk about idiocy like breed bans -- because it only serves as a distraction from real issues that cause major dog attacks...including packs of dogs allowed to run at large and allowed to live in situations without owners. 

For this, I'm not sure how this one will be officially classified at the end of the year. I do find it unlikely that these dogs which were fearful of people would have attacked the man -- so it seems more likely (to me) that the man died prior to the dogs getting to him. We may never know.

This story was covered by about 20 media outlets, all directly in the Alabama/Mississippi area.

RIP. Israel Pope.

Comments

[doug]

Well another MAN was killed by his 2 Pet Pit Bulls Today (or at least that is what is currently being reported).

I can see kids getting killed by being in the wrong place at the wrong time....but when a grown man gets killed, you have to pause and say that these dogs are powerful animals and should only be allowed to responsible owners....

We let almost all Americans have the right to own a hand gun....yet we dont allow all americans to own fully automatic weapons or .50 caliper sniper rifiles.

[Brent Toellner]

I'm waiting to report on this until at least the autopsy is done. I'd rather get the accurate information on what all went on vs the speculation that is being reported at this point.

When adults get killed, it usually involves multiple dogs. In fact, last year, of the 8 fatalities that involved a person over the age of 6, all of them involved multiple dogs -- and involved 5 different breeds of dogs.

Of the 5 fatalities involving adults this year, 4 of them involved multiple dogs (2 involved more than 6). None of the dogs involved have been 'pit bulls'. The one solo dog was a Great Dane.

So it sort of blows your idea that 'pit bulls' are somehow unique out of the water. As if I need to do that...any time you make a stupid weapons analogy, you barely deserve as much of a response as I gave you. More than 30,000 people a year die from gun shots, about 20 die from dogs. There really is no comparison.

[doug]

I my years of following your debate....you have changed my views toward pit bulls being wild killing machines....

My current view is that people drive these dogs to do this....and as such criminals should not be allowed to own pit bulls....

How ever in this latest case...it would appear that the two pit bulls were just plane ole killing machines.

[Brent Toellner]

I think there are a lot of unanswered questions with this case. There were 5 dogs in the home, one of them ended up dead. The person who was killed wasn't the owner of the dogs, and the two 'pit bulls' were apparently usually kept outside.

So the questions would come up:

Were the dogs socialized with the smaller indoor dogs? It would appear as if the answer was no, given that the pug-mix was found dead. It wouldn't be uncommon for a dog, regardless of breed, to be aggressive toward an unfamiliar dog.

Had the dogs shown aggression toward the dog before?

The case seems pretty similar to a couple of other cases recently where the dogs got in a fight (one, in particular, involving a 74 year old woman and an Australian Shepherd mix and a Golden Retriever/Lab mix that had had past problems fighting with each other and she ended up getting bitten and killed while trying to break up the two dogs).

It seems as if this is a pretty common way for attacks to happen -- when someone is trying to break up a fight between two of their dogs. "Killing machines" doesn't seem to quite fit here....and I think not talking about being aware of problems between your dogs as a potential problem is doing the whole subject, and improving public safety, a diservice.