South Carolina man found dead from apparent dog attack

Dillon, SC police are still investigating an apparent fatal dog attack in the community. Authorities found 25 year old Justin Lane dead on his couch with injuries consistent of a dog attack.

According to friends, Lane got the dog as a puppy, described as a 'pit bull', when it was 6 weeks old. While the dog was usually kept chained up outside, they suspect that he brought the dog indoors due to bad weather the night before. Most reports so far note that the dog had never had aggression issues.

There isn't much info available about the attack at this point, but it certainly doesn't fit the typical profile. I'll provide more info if it ever becomes available. There are a few warning signs here - especially if the man got the dog at 6 weeks and instantly put it on the chain in the back yard.  There is a lot of important socialization and bite inhibition that needs to be learned between 4 and 18 weeks of age. This puppy was taken from its litter too early, and likely not socialized well after that, causing it to likely lack really good bite inhibition.

Even so, it seems like an odd attack with the victim being such a young, apparently healthy, man and also being the dog's owner.

Dillon, SC is a small community of about 6,500 people -- with 26% of them living below the poverty level and 14% living 50% below the poverty level - both nearly double the state average.

The story has been picked up by 7 news  sources so far.

Comments

[YesBiscuit!]

There simply must be more to this story but who knows if we'll ever hear about it.

[kmk]

A 25 year old male victim killed by his own dog? Boy, there's a fatality that's out there on the fringes of the bell curve!

I've been told there have been cases where people had epileptic seizures, heart attacks, strokes, and drug overdoses and were bitten by their dogs as a result of the unusual behavior by the person. Maybe that's a possibility here.

This blog is just a veritable ray of sunshine today!

[Keira Fritzen]

There has to be more to this story! Did the dog really even kill him? &/or did he do something to him?