Update: Another tragic fatality reported today

Update:  Let the media frenzy begin. After the entire media world ignored this story for nearly 2 weeks, the media has now glommed onto it. The Associated Press has now picked up the story and it's beginning to get picked up by a lot of media outlets. The AP story has the headline "Calif woman killed by pit bulls in backyard" -- and all of the media outlets have been picking up the headline also. Only readers that make it all the way down to the 2nd to last paragraph will note that the dogs were mixed breeds. Thanks AP.

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Authorities in Moreno Valley, CA have confirmed that 53 year old Christina Casey was attacked and killed last week after being fatally attacked by her neighbor's two dogs.  The woman was tragically found dead on November 2, but reports of her death have just recently emerged.  Casey was found by neighbors dead in the back yard of the home she was renting.

According to a previous report, Casey had often complained about the neigbhor's dogs and was actually two days away from moving from her apartment in Moreno Valley -- in part, because of the problems with the two dogs.  The dogs apparently dug under the fence in her yard at some point overnight.

Unfortunately, the dogs were continually allowed to roam outdoors and Casey was attacked, and killed, by the two dogs. The dogs are being described as "large, pit bull/Weimaraner mix" dogs. 

Only two media outlets have picked up this story at this point and because no one was around when Casey was attacked, not much is known about the incident.  But if more details emerge, I will certainly update this post.

It sounds as if several calls had been made to authorities about the dogs being a problem, but the problem was never stopped and the owner continued to allow the dogs to roam at-large. There were ample opportunities to solve the problem but nothing was done. It's a tragic, and senseless death.

Comments

[kmk]

"Weim/pit bull mixes"?

Well, I may be giving a program for the local Weim club Saturday morning. This will provide me with an interesting factoid.

Unfortunate incident.

[MichelleD]

Large Weim/pit bull mixes = Neopolitan Mastiffs. Good grief...

[kmk]

Except neither Weims nor pit bull mixes have the mass or wrinkles of a Neo, which is about the size of a Clydesdale, but it's a good possibility! Hadn't thought of it. The untrained dog person might come up with that description. Thanks, MichelleD

Hey, isn't Moreno Valley in Riverside County? Did they pass MSN or did they just talk about it?

[Joel]

Is there any way to compare the media attention given to this as opposed to the other tragic death in Alabama, which wasn't committed by 'pit bulls'?

Many people are responding to the Moreno death with "When is the last time you saw a breed OTHER than a pit bull kill somebody?" Unfortunately, it was 2 days ago.

[Brent]

Yeah, pit bull/weim mix sounds like anything that is stocky with a gray coat. Neo mix. Blue pit bull. A weim mixed with just about anything that got the gray color. Who knows?

Moreno Valley is in Riverside County -- which passed MSN in 2009 -- but only for unicorportated areas of the county (which I don't know if Moreno Valley is in the incorporated area or not).

Joel, the best way to compare the media attention is to do a google search on the two incidents and see how many listings google comes up with. The California incident is outpacing the Alabama one at about 2 to 1 right now....I usually try to go back and update all of the stories with how many media accounts there were to see if there is any correlation between breed and number of media reports(and there is).

[PitOwner]

Moreno Valley is an Incorporated city in Riverside County.
Moreno Valley does not have a mandatory spay/neuter policy, though they provide discounted license fees for altered dogs.
It is worth noting that, in my experience, spay/neuter does not diminish aggression in general, but is effective against sexual-related aggression.