Catching up on dog bite-related fatalities

First off, let me note that I really don't like writing about these. I plan to continue to do so because, well, if I don't there will be only a couple of sources that will continue to track the information -- a couple of which have a huge tendency to skew data to suit their agenda. 

Dog bite-related fatalities are rare.  There are approximately 78 million owned dogs in this country -- and each year, roughly 30 (.00004%) are involved in a fatal dog bite incident.  When these exceedingly rare events happen, it's very important to look at the human-created circumstances that led up to the attack if we are to stop these events.  It is these circumstances, not 'breed' or "in tact status that create these rare events.  So, to the best of my ability, I try to highlight these circumstances. 

Most of my information comes from media sources, so I have to confess that there will be inevitable inaccuracies that will come from media reports.

With that, there have been a few tragedies this week after what has been a very quiet fall.

Misty Wyno

Earlier this week, 40 year old Misti Wyno was attacked and killed by a dog described as a 'pit bull' in Lowndes County, GA. Wyno was walking from her house to a neighbor's house when the dog -- which was chained up outside while the owner wasn't home -- broke free from the chain and attacked her. 

According to neighbor testimony, the dog was one of several that was known to be aggressive and animal control had been to the house numberous times over the past 3 years concerning these dogs.

In this case it appears that a dog, with known aggression issues and was chained as a primary form of containment, broke free and attacked the woman. 

The 31601 area code in Valdosta has an Household Income of about 40% of the state average and a has a staggering 40% of the population living below the poverty line (the state average is 16%). While being in poverty does not equal being bad pet owners, poverty is usually called by overall poor education --which can also lead to poor education about the training and care for dogs.

This story has been picked up by 15 news sources.

Tonia Parks

Tonia Parks, 39, died this week from injuries she sustained a couple of weeks ago from a dog bite. According to investigation reports, Parks was trying to break up a fight between her two American Bulldogs and suffered a seizure. During the course of her seizure, one of the dogs bit her and bit into her jugular vein.

This zip code in Rockford, IL also has a higher than average poverty level -- with 19% of the households being below the poverty line (state average in Il in 13%).

This story was covered by 15 news sources.

Joseph Hines

There is almost no information available in the case where 58 year old Joseph Hines was bitten and killed by his pet 'pit bull'.  Hines lived on a farm owned by his cousin and after his cousin hadn't seen him in a couple of days he became concerned and went to go check on him -- which is when they found him dead in his own home.

Because there were no witnesses to the atttack, there is little known about the circumstances that led up to the incident. Hines also sustained a bite to his jugular which was the fatal bite.

Hines lived in rural Burnettsville, IN.

The story was picked up by about 10 different media sources.

Edna Dyson

Last month, 71 year old Edna Dyson  of Houston, Tx died as a result of a fatal dog attack. According to reports, Dyson had gone to a rental property she owned and the neighbor's dogs (described as 'pit bulls') slipped through a hole in the fence and attacked her. She was able to get away and get to her car.  At some point, she lost consciousness in the car before a neigbhor found her and called 911. She had been in the car for at least 2 hours.

Dyson was taken to the hospital where she died from her injuries a week after the incident.

According to reports, Dyson had expressed fear of these dogs before because they had acted aggressively.

The news story was picked up by 2 local news sources.

Comments

[Laura G]

Thank you for sharing these. It's always a tragedy and I don't think we can emphasize enough that the circumstances the dogs were kept in were the mitigating factors, NOT the breed.

Plus, as Karen Delise showed in a white paper a few years ago, media sources simply do not report stories in which a bite is inflicted by other breeds of dogs. Why? Because the words "pit bull" guarantee click-throughs and attention.

For this reason, it frustrates me enormously when people say, in defense of their fear of pit bulls "OK, so why don't I ever read stories about a lab attacking someone?".

Lastly, as Karen has also shown, the incidence of severe and fatal dog attacks has dropped dramatically in the past decade and continues to do so, thanks to education, better humane laws, and responsible ownership.

Brent, I know you know all of these things as well as I, but I hope any of your readers who see this post will have a chance to see these facts as well.

Thanks for your tireless and excellent work!

[Tegan]

Another issue here is poor containment. Do dogs have to be effectively contained in the USA? (or not 'roaming at large'?)

[Brent]

Tegan -- the laws here vary by local city/county governments. Most cities prohibit running at large -- so dogs must be contained in some way. This is not the case in rural areas where dogs are more likely to roam at large.

[Bobbi]

First of all you should do your homework before making remark. I only had one bulldog and he has never bit anyone or been reported for aggressive behavior. That was a neighbors dog which had nothing to do with me. I was home and worked on my friend til first responders arrived. He was on a runner not a chain and we let him in the house at night. He was on a runner during the day. And I'm not poor or ignorant. I've always been good to my dog. He just turned one July the 4th so I'd like to know how they were problems for over three years. The only dog that the pound has been called for is my lab because he was laying in my driveway and the neighbors hate dogs.

[Brent]

Bobbi,

I'm reporting on what has been reported in the different media outlets. I linked to my source on that.

And for a variety of reasons, runners and chains have the same negative impact on dog behavior because they still cause frustration, and offer little protection from outside threats.

I'm also not sure what "he just turned on July the 4th" means, but I can tell you, that if there are a lot of fireworks going off and a dog is left outside, it can be very traumatic for a dog.

[btoellner.eq.propaganda]

Even you admit that most dog bite fatalities are by pits. Even if a human did something wrong in all cases here, where are the other breeds? Are labs not being kept on chains? This is where your reasoning goes off the tracks, Brent. You are arguing that a grenade is not more dangerous than a banana because a human must pull the pin on the grenade. However, you are not admitting that pulling the stem off the banana will not cause the same explosion. Please see my other comments for why your entire intellectual edifice built around what you do here is horribly broken. But how can the originator of something like this be expected to be capable of realizing the folly involved? Obviously, it is a bit too much to ask of you.

You state how rare dog bite fatalities on humans are, but are you aware of how numerous serious dog attacks on humans and non-humans are? Well, if you pay attention you will notice that they occur quite frequently. I suppose that doesn't fit with your PR story though. Here's a new little pit victim.

http://helphenryfund.wordpress.com/

I question keeping him alive, but the pictures are quite instructive. I'm sure if you get out your detective kit you can find the reason why all this is some human's fault, Brent. Go to it!

[Brent]

Pit bull type dogs are extremely popular dogs in this country -- rivaled only by the Labrador Retriever in sheer numbers.

What percent of Labs do you think are chained up and neglected?

What percent do you think are owned by low income and poverty-stricken people?

What percent would you say are abused?

Then, answer that for pit bulls.

There is a reason pet-abuse.com has nearly as many 'pit bull' abuse cases listed as all other dog breeds combined -- it's because they do suffer en masse like no other breed in present day.

So, if we changed on the situation and put Dobermans, Rottweilers, St. Bernards, Chows, Akitas, German Shepherds, etc in similar situations in similar numbers, do you not think they would be in the same situation?

If you want to remove the tragedies, you must focus on the circumstances. There is a reason every organization of professional dealing with canine/human interactions tells us to focus on this. It's not that they're "hiding something" -- it's because it's fact.

As for Henry, truly a tragic case. A few months ago, my neighbor across the street had her dog bitten and killed by another dog. It was a tragic situation that she lost her dog. But animal control was never called. There were no police, or news cameras or websites -- because the killing dog was just a dog and not a 'pit bull'.

Dog bites/attacks on other dogs happen. Heck, go to your local dog park and hang out all weekend and you're almost sure to see one (and these are dogs whose owners are making attempts to socialize them). And when one dog is much bigger than another, it's a problem.

Anecdotes don't equal data or science.