Philadelphia area woman killed by own dogs

Fifty year old Carmen Ramos was found dead in her home this week after being attacked by at least one of the five dogs (all being described as 'pit bulls') in her home. Her husband, Jose Alvarez, came home from work to find her being attacked by one of the dogs.  She died from the injuries.

Initially, police took Alvarez and another man into custody to investigate the potential for foul play, but autopsy reports are reporting that at least one of the dogs was responsible for the death.

While there is not a lot of information available about the circumstances that led up to the attack, this isn't the dogs' first run in with trouble.  The media is reporting that the dogs had previously escaped from the home and attacked two different neighbors, but the dogs were returned to the home.

It's also neither Ramos or Alvarez's first run-ins with the law. According to Philadelphia County court documents, in 2002 Carmen Ramos was charged with arson, recklessly endangering another person, causing/risking catastrphe and criminal mischief and arrested again in 2003 for indecent exposure and disorderly conduct and as recently as 2010 and 2011 for contempt of court. In 2009, Alvarez was charged with animal cruelty.

The 19140 zip code in Philadelphia happens to be a tough area of Philly -- with 43% of the people in the zip code living below the poverty line and 21% with incomes below 50% of the poverty line.

This is certainly a tragedy, but full of warning signs -- including an owner with abusive tendencies toward animals and dogs with aggressive histories. While there will be some that will wrongly use information like this to try to condemn particular breeds of dogs, they are wrong to do so. It is impossible to judge the actions of dogs without judging the actions of the people that surrounded the dogs -- and it is the actions of these people that influence the dog's behaviors.  By focusing on the actions surrounding incidents, we can be better prepared to deal with the issues of aggressive dogs (most dogs are NOT aggressive) than if we try to make this a breed-specific issue. 

The story has been published by over 170 media outlets...none of which have actually dug into the history of the humans involved in the incident.

I'll update this if any other information becomes available.

Comments

[YesBiscuit!]

The Vick effect?