As I've noted before, the dog attack fatality stories are about my least favorite stories to cover. Dogs are amazing creatures that have shown an incredible ability to adapt to a variety of lifestyles we subject them to. There are more than 72 million owned dogs in this country, and extremely few end up attacking people, let alone fatally.
However, because there are a few sources that would like to spread mis-information about major attacks and focus on breeds, and not circumstances, I feel an obligation to provide as accurate information as possible about the actual causes of these incidents so that we can learn from them to prevent them instead of focusing on non-causal factors like breed. Unfortunately, in all three of the incidents below, there were no witnesses to the attacks so there is little information available.
There were two incidents this week (after over a month since the last attack) -- and one that I have to catch up on because some more information has come out that would cause me to add it to the list.
In Chicago, 44 year old Chales Hagerman was found dead in his Southside home, a victim of dog bites. There were two dogs (one puppy, one adult) inside the home, both described as 'pit bulls'. According to several who were interviewed, the adult dog had exibited aggressive behavior before -- and one of the victim's relatives notes that Hagerman was afraid of the dog and the dog had apparently bitten strangers before.
The 60607 zip code where this took placee has a 36% povery level (nearly triple the state average in Illinois,) and 12% of its residents live on less than 50% of the poverty line. I share this information only because I think poor education on proper animal care is often a cause for attacks like this and that people with low education levels often live in poverty. Low education in regular life often translates into the low education on animal care issues and an inability to get training help necessary to overcome behavioral issues early on and many low-income areas could benefit from having free training classes for pet owners.
My heart goes out to Hagerman's family. The story was picked up in 19 news outlets.
Rebecca Carey was a 23 year old woman in Decatur, GA and was found dead, apparently attacked by dogs in her home.
Carey was a rescuer and worked at a veterinary clinic. She had four dogs of her own and was pet sitting a fifth dog for the weekend. Carey owned a pit bull, a Presa Canario, a boxer and one other dog (which strangely isn't mentioned in most of the articles but apparently weighed about 15 lbs) -- and was pet sitting a friend's Presa Canario.
Authorities unfortunately euthanized all the dogs at the home without any effort to determine which one(s) were involved and what may have caused the death. Carey is described as a "Very experienced" dog handler and not naive when it came to dogs. Unfortunately, without any investigation at the scene, we're left with little to determine a cause of attack.
Without anything more, the cause in this attack is merely speculative. It would seem that two of the dogs getting into a fight and her getting into the middle of it is the most likely scenario (particularly with a new dog in the house for the weekend), but even with that, none of the news articles seem to indicate if any of the dogs were injured in any way.
It really is a horrible situation, and I feel sorry for everyone close to Carey. It's a sad moment for someone who obviously had a caring heart and passion for animals.
The story has picked up by more than 150 news outlets including many national news outlets.
This is a pickup from a story from awhile back -- but in Roxboro, NC, 65 year old Eugene Cameron was found dead outside of a friend's home -- due from an apparent dog attack. Cameron was found naked with his clothes balled up beside him (which is odd) in the yard, but had wounds that would have made him likely bleed to death. The dog's DNA was found on the victim and the owner of the dog has now been arrested.
Allegedly, Cameron was visiting a friend's house and the dog next door got free and attacked him. The dog, a 'pit bull" named DMX, was usually kept "locked up or on a leash".
It's another sad story -- and I feel for the victim and his family.
The story was not widely discussed in the media with only a dozen or so news sources covering the story.
The Rebecca Carey story rubs me wrong on so many levels. Her friend said she looked like she hit her head & fell down & why would her parents ok the immediate destruction of the dogs she loved so much without all the fact. Sounds like she was very devoted to her dogs.
Posted by: Keira Fritzen | August 20, 2012 at 10:31 PM
Many people who care about pets can imagine themselves - and their pets - in Ms. Carey's situation.
A sad story, repeated in many variations.
A family member often tells me that if I am unable to take care of the dogs for any reason, she will not do anything to help them.
Posted by: Erich | August 21, 2012 at 04:03 PM
Thank you for reporting on those stories. It is a bit unfortunate more data was not available. I have personally seen deceased individuals who died of natural causes in the home and the dogs bit or even ate portions of the deceased. I am not attempting to be gross here but deceased and dog in home biting deceased does not mean dog killed deceased. Does not mean they did not either I guess and I hope research was done. As far as the idea of "free" trining for lower income individuals it is noble but hard to see how that could happen in reality since costs always seem to be an issue but appreciate the thought. Also as a general "guideline" you probably don't want something in your house big enough to kill you. Could go into exotics here but won't)Just a "guideline" you know. Once again thanks for reporting.
Posted by: Randy Carothers | October 24, 2012 at 02:25 PM
Agreed Randy that just the dog's presence, and the presence of blood on the dog, don't mean the dog was at fault. Very important for them to figure out if the dog bites happened while the victim is alive or not. I'm not sure proper investigation is done in all case though.
I know a lot of places that do offer free training (including my own shelter). But we do not have the ability to reach as many folks as we need to at this point.
And yeah, while I get your point on not having more dog than you can handle, I wouldn't go into exotics because there is a very big difference between domesticated and non-domesticated animals.
Posted by: Brent | October 24, 2012 at 02:34 PM
The case of Mr. Cameron is quite odd. With this, it is definitely hard where to put the blame. Although I feel sadness and remorse to the old man. But I guess the dog just did its 'thought' duty towards his master. As to the owner, his situation is definitely hard. I have dogs here at home. But I make sure that they are vaccinated and that they mingle with people so that they would not find other people strangers and threats.
Posted by: Diana Taylor | January 10, 2013 at 12:58 PM