List of fatal dog attacks in the United States (before 2000)
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These are lists of fatal dog attacks in the United States reported by the news media, published in scholarly papers, or mentioned through other sources. In the lists below, the breed is assigned by the sources.
A man led his "ferocious bull dog" to Mr. Sandal Chandler's yard and sicced his dog on a child. Witnesses implored to save the child's life, to no avail.[1]
November 14, 1844
Bull terrier
John A. Dubernard
Unknown, but > 50 years
Baltimore, Maryland - Victim had been attacked by a 'ferocious' dog kept in a residential yard and died some days later. The same dog had previously attacked a colored woman.[2]
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Three people were killed and seven more mangled by a large bull-dog. The dog was shot along with all the other dogs it had bitten in its rampage.[4]
Bradford, Pennsylvania - The large bulldog was loose, having broken its chain, when a visitor arrived. The daughter told the man to stay in the house while she chained the dog. The dog tore open her throat and lacerated her limbs. The father shot the dog.[5]
Attacked by her friend's lap dog in her theatrical agent's office in New York City. Her face was badly mutilated but she recovered and returned to the stage; one month later, after suffering greatly, she succumbed to the later stages of rabies and died on March 4.[7][8]
Maryville, Missouri - Dog attacked a group of school children. Two other children were also bitten. The infant was inside the owner's home at the time of the attack. The dog was killed.[10]
1900s[]
Date
Breed
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
March 17, 1901
Fox Terrier
Carrie Cobus
38 years
The dog attacked its owner while she was having an epileptic seizure. A neighbor tried to beat the dog away with a poker. It then attacked him and Carrie Cobus's mother.[11]
The dog had been poisoned by someone, so the man decided to shoot it to put it out of its misery. As he prepared to shoot, the dog bit him on the hand. He died several months later of rabies.[12]
1905
Bulldog
Yvonne Davis
18 months
Chicago, Illinois - Child chased a ball into the chain-ring of a bulldog and was attacked by her family's dog, a "heavy-headed bulldog". The dog was shot eight times and died still clinging to the child. A pry bar was needed to open its mouth and release the child.[13]
Newburyport, Massachusetts - Victim's mother brought her son to visit her brother, John P. Colby. The boy went out back to the kennel area and was attacked by one of Colby's dogs, a fighting bull terrier.[14]
Killed by a large mastiff. After the attack, fifteen dogs, including the Mastiff, were killed.[16]
1920s[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
December 11, 1924
Unknown
James Tillman Neil
39 years
Denison, Texas - Bitten by his own dog on October 29, 1924. Dog was euthanized, its head sent for rabies testing, and it was positive. Victim took the Pasteur treatments but succumbed six weeks later from rabies.[17][18]
The boy was tormenting a small dog by wrapping a sack around its head while it yelped and struggled to escape. The larger dog, a lifelong companion of the boy, reportedly attacked while coming to the aid of the smaller dog.[24]
1940s[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
May 14, 1940
Bulldog
Raleigh Leroy Henderson
3 years
Kermit, Texas - Chewed and mangled by a bulldog, it took three men to pry the dog off the child. The boy had been left in the care of another family, owners of the pet.[25]
Found in a pool of blood beside the crouching, growling dog with severe lacerations to the neck, arms, and shoulders. She died before arriving at the hospital. Investigators concluded she had fallen down some steps before the dog killed her. The SPCA killed the dog.[26]
A large black dog known as Blackie[28] ran into Whipka as she walked to work. The dog, which had a history of chasing cars, was described as having "crashed" into Whipka, sending her flying so hard that when she landed, her head hit the pavement and she suffered a fractured skull. She died three hours later from the injury. The dog was put to sleep.[28][29]
A female[31] family dog, Woof, attacked its family's infant child, biting through the base of her skull and crushing her spine.[32] The dog was surrendered to the city animal shelter for euthanization by the owners. A retired sailor and bar owner named Grady Terry attempted to block the euthanization, complaining that the dog had not received a trial. Superior Judge Charles McKay granted several reprieves before Superior Judge Emmet H. Wilson finally voided a restraining order on the procedure, allowing the shelter to euthanize the dog. The shelter's superintendent, Bert Morse, opined that the dog's reason for attacking was jealousy, a theory the newspapers and police seemed to adopt as an explanation, without any real proof.[33][34]
Zinke was mauled to death by a neighbor's dogs, which attacked her as she walked one evening, ripping off her clothes and shredding her body; she was found still alive, able to respond "The dogs" when asked what happened to her. Joseph E. Munn, 43, was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Zinke, and sentenced to 5 years in prison. His dogs were well known in the area for attacks on people and livestock.[35][36] Munn's entire kennel of 26 dogs were put to death.[37]
The boy was killed while sledding. The dog reportedly had been in an incident the day before where it had attacked four children.[39] An article reported that the Philadelphia boy was "torn and mangled".[40]
The girl was dragged from her bassinet and killed. The girl's father said that the dog had never been vicious, but was jealous of his other child, 18-month-old Lawrence May.[41]
1950s[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
1950
Bulldog
Unnamed girl
3 years
Killeen, Texas. Attacked and killed by a bulldog. Mentioned in an article about another fatal attack.[42]
Toms River, New Jersey - Victim was found dead on the beach with her two dogs "racing madly about", and the male had blood on his face and mouth. The coroner listed cause of death as "a massive hemorrhage from dog bites."[45][46]
August 11, 1955
Alaskan Husky (6)
Danny Betz
21 months
Anchorage, Alaska - Victim killed just 500 feet from his home. It's unclear from the news reports if the boy wandered into the area where the sled dogs were staked out or whether one of the dogs had gotten loose and dragged the boy over to the kennel area. The father of the dogs' owner refused to surrender the dogs without a court order.[47][48][49][50]
Erie, Pennsylvania - The dog was 6 months old and had been acquired by the boy's family two weeks prior to the attack. The family said the dog had not shown any previous aggression. A veterinarian suggested that Michael may have made a sudden movement interpreted by the dog as a threatening gesture.[51]
St. Louis, Missouri - A neighbor found the pack attacking the child. This death, on the heels of another dog mauling fatality the prior month, caused local officials to organize a roundup up of stray dogs. A group of 100–150 people (including police) armed with guns and clubs searched the area and killed 15 dogs and wounded or captured 3 more. The pack was a known nuisance in the area and they may have attacked the boy for food, as they were found eating his body.[55][56][54]
1960s[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
March 19, 1960
Doberman Pinscher
Frances Tetreault
50 years
The dog was a full-grown male and prize-winning show dog. The victim was the owner of some local dog kennels, and there were no witnesses to the attack. Officers arriving found the dog in "a state of uncontrollable wildness". The dog had lived alone with Frances since her husband's death six months earlier. The house was found in complete disarray, with furnishings overturned and torn.[57]
Mauled by an Alaskan Malamute when he was left alone on a car seat with the dog. The five-year-old dog had been purchased a month prior as a watchdog.[59]
The dog had been recently acquired for the purpose of hunting wild hogs. It had been severely mistreated at some point in the past, showing obvious signs of fear and stressed eating habits. The boy had wandered to the area of the yard where the dog was usually kept, chained, and the attack happened silently. The owner said that he'd had dogs all his life, but that this one "was a screwball".[60][61]
The girl was attacked by the family's chained Siberian Husky. The county coroner ordered a rabies test to be performed, believing that the dog had been scratched or bitten by other dogs.[62]
The dog had attacked the woman twice prior to the fatal attack. One month before the fatal attack, another attack had required 2 weeks of hospitalization.[63]
When the attack happened the boys were playing in a nearby creek. The dogs were owned by a neighbor who often kept them penned up but let them loose to work on his house. They had recently been accused of killing pets in the area, but had never shown any animosity towards children, and had even played with the boys on several occasions.[66]
Mauled by her family's dog in the front yard of her home in Lookout Mountain, GA. According to the sheriff, the dog "killed the girl accidentally, during a playful romp" and that it "didn't appear vicious". She bled to death from wounds inflicted by the dog.[67]
The child's parents left her in a pen with the dog, which was owned by a friend. They returned 15 minutes later and found the baby bleeding from multiple bites. The baby died two hours later at the hospital.[70]
The girl was attacked by the dog that neighbors said she had thrown rocks at and punched in the past. The attack occurred while she was watching nearby construction work and the owner said the dog had "always been gentle before".[71]
Killed by the 4-year-old pedigreed dog that belonged to his family and had known the boy all his life. The boy was following his mother around when the apparently unprovoked attack took place, and afterwards the dog roamed the house growling and barking.[72]
Indianapolis, Indiana - Victim was playing in the snow in his backyard with another boy. Mother saw the dog on top of the boy and pulled it off, but it broke loose and attacked again. Father came out and hit the dog on the nose to drive it off. After a tussle with police, the dog died when shot a second time with a tranquilizer. The dog was 1 year old and 200 pounds.[73]
Islip, New York - The boy was at a neighbor's house, playing indoors with their child, when the neighbor's 116lb dog attacked. The neighbor killed the dog with a shotgun after being attacked trying to stop the dog.[74] The killing was initially reported as a stray dog which attacked outdoors.[75]
Charlotte, North Carolina - Victim was attacked by Chad, a three-year-old Golden Retriever, while visiting a neighbor. The girl had gone behind the dog and was going to hug him.[76][77][78]
Delafield, Wisconsin - Elderly victim was knocked down in his backyard when the next door neighbor's dog knocked him down and bit him a dozen times. The dog was 6 years old and was destroyed at its owner's request.[79]
Anne Arundel County, Maryland - The dog dragged the victim 20 feet by his head after being taunted with rocks and breaking free of its chain. There were two other children playing with him who tried to get the victim to stop throwing rocks, and his mother tried to stop the dog with a chair. The decision was made to euthanize the dog.[80]
Volny, New York - Victim was bitten by the family's newly acquired dog when the baby was left on the bed. The mother returned a few minutes later to discover the dog had attacked the boy.[81][82]
November 15
Labrador Retriever and two Collies
Brent Cryder
5 years
Minooka, Illinois - Victim was playing in his backyard when he was attacked. Mother found him on the ground and the dogs nearby. The dogs were owned by someone several miles away.[83]
Walnut Grove, Missouri - The husband said they were sitting in the living room when the 7-year-old dog, which they had had since it was a puppy, latched onto the woman's throat and she died within minutes.[86]
Fort Worth, Texas - The dog was usually kept on a chain, but the chain was broken and the dog was being kept with just a rope. The dog broke the rope, broke through a screen door and killed the boy before being shot dead with a .22 by the boy's father. The father said the dog had always been gentle when he was on the chain.[87]
Helena, Montana - Attacked by a dog that was chained up outside a welding shop. The girl had bites all over her body and a punctured trachea; the girl suffocated.[88]
Mount Perry, Ohio - While seated in a lawn chair while visiting friends, the girl was attacked by their three-year-old 200-pound dog. She suffocated from a crushed larynx.[90]
Fresno, California - Killed by a 70-pound dog that was chained to a carport pole behind an apartment complex. She died from a severed jugular vein and broken neck. The owner, Eric P. Johnson, 20, was charged with owning an animal responsible for the death of a human being because of the owner's neglect.[91]
Killed after the mother left her alone for 1½ hours with the starving, four-month-old, 15-pound, female dog. Mother was charged with negligent homicide; however, the charges were later dropped.[94]
The boy was playing with the dog and had a stick in his hand, when the dog apparently "became angry." The 7-year-old dog was said to have "never even growled at anyone."[95]
Riverside, California - The baby was killed by the family dog inside the family's home. The father found the dog had mauled the child's face and he shot the dog.[100][101]
The boy was killed after being left alone for a few minutes by his deaf babysitter. The 11-month-old dog entered the boy's playpen and the babysitter said the dog was "only playing with the child."[103]
The German Shepherd had attacked at least 3 other people prior to this incident. The Irish Setter was also suspected, but no human remains were found in its stomach.[104]
The boy died after the 6-year-old dog chewed off his legs while the mother slept in a nearby room. The dog was described as well-behaved by neighbors and friends.[107]
Mentioned in another article, a three-year-old boy chased a ball into another yard in Hawthorne, California and was attacked. He died 10 days later.[108]
January 4
Alaskan Malamute
William Travis Crews
2 years
Killed by his family's 120-pound, 14-month-old dog when he opened a door to let it inside.[109]
The dog had been given to the family a week before the girl was born. It was always kept outside, but managed to open the door and enter the house before turning over the bassinet and biting the baby on the head.[112]
Euclid, Ohio - The baby was mauled, suffering extensive internal injuries from bites to her chest and abdomen. The police shot the dog with a shotgun after the animal warden failed to catch the dog and it was getting more vicious.[122]
November 10
Pack of mixed-breed dogs (14)
Marilyn Thacker
10 years
Paoli, Indiana - Victim was riding her bicycle to her grandparent's house when a pack of dogs attacked and killed her. The owner of the dogs, 72 year old Clifford Bird who took in strays, was indicted by a grand jury and later pled guilty to a criminal recklessness charge and was ordered to pay a $500 fine.[123] The incident sparked a roundup of all stray dogs in the town and 14 of Bird's dogs were put down.[124]
1983[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
February 19
Malamute
Toby Daniel Brown
3 years
Knoxville, TN - The boy was watching TV but wandered outside in his pajamas. Mother found the child dead in the yard with the dog lying next to him. The mother said she'd owned the dog just two weeks and requested it be euthanized.[125]
April 22
Unspecified
(Baby girl) Eichsteadt
~1 week
Wautoma, WI - Father reported that the family dog attacked and killed his newborn daughter.[126]
Woodlawn, MD - The boy wandered into the basement of his grandparent's house and was attacked by the dog. His mother heard the screams and found him.[128] The dog was euthanized.[129]
Harper, KS - The woman had long been afraid of her neighbor's dogs in the trailer park where they lived. The dogs were usually kept chained to a post, but the day they attacked they were loose and killed the woman when she bent to pick up a newspaper. One dog had been trained as an attack and guard dog. The dogs' owner was charged with involuntary manslaughter plus two misdemeanor counts of permitting a dangerous animal to run at large.[130][131]
1984[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
March 3
Siberian Husky
Rachel Hernandez
4 years
She was attacked in her front yard by a neighborhood dog that had broken free from its rope.[132]
July
German Shepherd Dog
Daniel Briggs
Unknown
The victim was a burglary suspect and was killed by a single bite to the throat by a police dog.[133]
The woman was killed after she fell on the 8-year-old, intact, male dog. The dog, named King Boots, was a prize-winning show dog and rated top dog of his breed by the American Kennel Club.[136]
1985[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
June 23, 1985
Malamute
unknown (boy)
2 years
Fairbanks, Alaska - The toddler was killed by a chained 100lb Malamute chained 300 yards away in a neighbor's lot. The dog bit the child in the throat, and he bled to death. The dog was euthanized the next day.[137]
June 27, 1985
German Shepherd Dog
Melissa O'Rourke
3 years
Cecil, Pennsylvania - Melissa was killed, and her grandmother injured when attacked by the family dog, a 5-year-old male named Lance. The dog bit Melissa in the throat, severing an artery, and attacked her 73-year-old grandmother, Loretta Hennaut, when she tried to rescue the child. The dog was tied in the backyard by a chain that reached to the back door of the house. The dog attacked Melissa on the back porch of the house.[138][139]
1986[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
January
Feral dogs (8) (with an appearance "similar to pit bull dogs")
Stephen Fiengo
6 years
While playing alone in a field near his home, he was attacked by 8 wild dogs.[140] He died later from infection of his wounds. Although the dogs were reported to be wild, the sheriff's sergeant said they had an appearance "similar to pit bull dogs" and was suspicious that they were involved in dog fighting.[141]
Early in the morning, her father heard her scream and ran downstairs to find the dog biting her head. The dog, "Toby", was 80 pounds, eight years old, and had been their family dog for nine months. She died of several bites to the head and neck. Experts expressed surprise, noting that the breed had been well known for its gentleness and for being good with children.[153]
The baby was found chewed to death after being dragged from her crib by her mother's 100-pound dog. The mother faced criminal charges for the attack in addition to other drug-possession convictions.[155] The dog had a history of also biting the mother, other humans, and attacking other dogs.[156]
Adopted two hours earlier by its third home in a month, the dog escaped a fenced yard and was found by victim's mother who read the phone number on the dog's tags. When she went through her yard gate to go make a call, it ran into her backyard. While inside making the phone call, the mother heard screams; the dog had mortally attacked her son in her backyard. Responders tried to capture the dog and eventually it was shot. Victim died later that day. Panhandle Animal Welfare Society was sued and settled for $425,000.[157][158]
Cull was mauled to death by 2 pit bulls outside a rural home owned by Thomas Kennedy. The pit bulls were described by law enforcement as weighing 75lbs and 90lbs. Neighbors said one was frequently loose but the other was usually tied up and seemed aggressive. Both were finally euthanized. Kennedy was not charged with anything; the local animal control later attempted to create penalties for people whose dogs seriously injured or killed people.[159]
The baby was fatally mauled by the family's pit bull.[161]
Fatalities in 1989[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
January
2 male dogs (breed never specified) and 1 female Doberman-Labrador mix
April Loveless
4 years
The child was found badly injured on her family's rural property, covered in scratches and with a deep, fatal wound to one thigh; a large chunk of flesh, including blood vessels and the femoral artery, had been torn out. April died of blood loss at a hospital. Although the parents said they suspected the dogs, police suspected her parents of torturing her to death, and they were convicted in late 1989 of her murder. In 1992, after the couple's new lawyers got access to ER and autopsy photos showing evidence of dogs, their convictions were vacated.[162]
Clute, Texas - Victim was attacked by his grandparent's dog while playing in their backyard. A neighbor jumped the fence to rescue the child and struck the dog, which released its grip. The child died at hospital.[164]
Autopsy determined he died from bites inflicted by the 4- to 6-year-old dog. The dog, which had belonged to his son, attacked Mr. Bunting's wife earlier that day. It killed Mr. Bunting while the wife was at the hospital being treated for her bites.[165]
Jefferson County, Pennsylvania - On February 27, the girl was bitten on the face while playing with her father's tenant's 60lb dog, described as a Manchester Terrier although this breed does not go over 22lbs.[168] She was brought to the hospital for surgery and her heart stopped during the operation. She died 2 days later from complications of surgery, not directly due to the dog bite.[169][170]
West Palm Beach, Florida - A homeless woman was bitten by a police dog that entered a vacant house where she was staying. She died 15 hours later due to blood clotting problems.[171]
Memphis, Tennessee - Mauled to death by two pit bulls owned by her nextdoor neighbor, police officer Edwin Hill. Hill was later sentenced to 2 years in prison for criminally negligent homicide. The dogs mauled their victim for 20 minutes in spite of attempts by witnesses to stop the attack. Arriving police shot and killed the dogs. The dogs had a history of aggression including twice hospitalizing the owner's mother.[172]
Dolton, Illinois. Newborn infant Kelsi was attacked by her uncle's pit bull/shepherd mix when she laid beside her grandmother on a couch. It bit her on the head, face and upper back. Her grandmother pried the pit bull's mouth off her granddaughter . Kelsi died at a trauma center of a skull fracture and brain injuries.[173]
Seneca, South Carolina - Victim and his mother were visiting friends, and victim was outside playing when the dog killed him. A responding deputy shot and killed the dog when it turned on him.[174]
Chicago, Illinois - The baby was fatally mauled as she slept in her bedroom. The neighbor (with his dog) was babysitting and could not free the child from his dog's grip.[175]
Fort Myers, Florida - The baby girl was taken from her bassinet and bitten by her father's police K-9 dog. The five-year-old dog was euthanized and the department immediately changed its policy that had allowed officers to bring their K-9 partners home with them. According to U.S. Police Canine Association, this was the first killing of an infant by a police dog.[177]
Liberal, Kansas - The 125-150lb dog was one of two Akitas being used to guard a large construction zone in the center of a neighborhood. Ishamel and a friend entered the yard by jumping a 6'7" concrete barrier to retrieve rubber bands they had been shooting at the dogs. The victim went to pet the dog, which didn't react at first, then attacked. The dog had bitten a girl in February, 2 months earlier, who'd reached over the barrier. Owners Vic and Carolyn Huddleston said they would have the dogs euthanized.[178][179]
Louisville, Kentucky - September 21, victim was attacked by the family pit bull which had been chained in the back yard. He never regained consciousness after surgery.[180]
November 2
Alaskan Husky
David Swaine
3 years
East Amherst, New York - David was playing with two other children in his yard when the 1-year-old dog from across the street attacked him. Victim died of "cuts" to his neck and throat; the other two children were injured with "cuts" to the stomach, back, ear and arm. Responding officers shot and killed the dog.[181]
The boy had found the dog and was leading it through his neighborhood on a leash looking for its owner. He had also taken along his own dog, a Rottweiler-Chow mix. When he was attacked by the lost dog, his own dog reportedly tried to defend him.[183]
Orlando, Florida - Mauled to death by a neighbor's pit bull that was chained behind a wooden fence, except that there was a hole in the fence. The pit bull was slated to be destroyed.[186]
Jeffrey David Mann, 35 years old at the time, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for ordering his 70-pound pit bull to attack Kaplan, his girlfriend. It was later determined that Mann had earlier sexually molested the oldest of the two daughters he had with Kaplan along with three of her girlfriends.[188]
The dog attacked the boy after breaking out of a fenced-in enclosure where it was usually kept. The victim's mother was in the yard at the time of the attack, but was unable to drag the 121-pound dog off her son in time to prevent it from killing him. Neighbors said the dog was frequently allowed out of the kennel to play with local children as long as a parent was present, and no one could recall the dog frightening or attacking anyone before.[189]
The dog was usually kept chained to a water heater outside the house. She somehow got loose, got into the house, and killed the sleeping baby. The dog was later euthanized along with its four 10-week-old puppies.[192]
Victim and his mother were visiting a friend and her son (as they had done almost weekly for the prior year). The young boys were playing together when the dog, named Rampage, attacked the victim. Both the mother and the dog's owner fought to separate the dog and boy, including stabbing the dog repeatedly. A civil lawsuit against the landlord, who had received multiple complaints about the dog and had a "no pet" policy, was filed, won, appealed, and lost.[193][194]
Mauled inside her apartment, along with her husband Manuel, by their son's dogs in Bronx, New York. Manuel survived, but he was in stable condition at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital.[195]
The boy was killed when visiting the trailer where the dogs lived to check on one that he had hit earlier in the day with his go-cart. The boy's father and cousins were accused of burning the trailer where the dogs lived in retaliation.[198]
The Rottweilers, one male and one female, had rarely left the fenced-in backyard since they were puppies. Alec's uncle came home and let the dogs into the yard, where Alec's 8-year-old cousin and others had regularly played with the dogs in confidence. Alec, visiting from another town, followed his cousin into the yard, and the attack occurred. His grandmother stopped the attack, but not before it caused severe wounds to the head and neck. Alec was found unresponsive by EMTs and taken to intensive care. The dogs were seized and taken into quarantine. The decision to take Alec off life support was made just after noon on Sunday. The dogs were euthanized on Monday. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday.
The little boy in Jacksonville, Florida was playing in his backyard when two family dogs killed him.[204]
March
Rottweilers (2)
Unknown
86 years
A woman in Tennessee went outside of her home to check the weather and was fatally mauled by two Rottweilers owned by a neighbor; the dogs had attacked and injured the woman 1 month before the fatal attack.[196]
June
Rottweilers (2)
John Young
8 years
John Young and a group of other boys in Oakland, California found a neighbor's 2 Rottweilers roaming loose, and tried to play with them. The dogs had always been treated like friendly neighborhood pets, roaming freely and appearing safe. The dogs had been playing with a ball. Police say the boys teased the dogs by taking the ball, but fail to explain how that was sufficient provocation for a 5-minute mauling in which the dogs dragged a child 25 feet down a sidewalk and bit him so viciously that he bled to death.[205][206]
The boy in Orange, Massachusetts was snatched away from his mother by a 130-lb dog, which was tied up outside at the time. The dog's owner had brought the child out to see the dog, which was tied to a doghouse. The dog, which appeared calm, immediately lunged, biting the child, dragging him away toward the doghouse.[207][208]
Six Rottweilers in Lake Wales, Florida escaped from a fenced yard and attacked the boy from behind as he walked into his own front yard. It took 5 adults to drive the dogs off the child. Corey bled to death from bite wounds covering his entire body. Neighbors say the dogs were often loose, and police had records of complaints and a prior bite.[210][211][212][213][214]
Attacked while trying to get on his school bus in a rural part of Kansas. The Rottweilers crushed the 11-year-old boy's spinal cord, and severed his carotid artery and jugular vein as a bus filled with his classmates watched. The dogs, owned by Sabine and Jeffery Davidson, had been terrorizing the area for years. Sabine Davidson was eventually sentenced to 12 years for involuntary second-degree murder, largely because she had a documented history, testified to at her trial by multiple witnesses, of training her dogs to attack.[215][216][217]
Killed by 2 pit bulls in the backyard of a house where his parents were working. The little boy's parents had been hired by the homeowner to mow their lawn. They were out front, doing the job, when their other son found Derrick covered in blood in the backyard of the house. The pit bulls were euthanized.[218][219][220][221]
Mr. Biagini and his dog, a schnauzer named Teddy, were attacked by a pit bull while they were out for a morning walk in Queens, New York.[222] Biagini dragged the pit bull off his dog, screaming "Please help me save my dog!" and tried to restrain the pit bull with his own body as bystanders picked up Teddy. The pit bull attacked Biagini, biting his legs until he collapsed from a fatal heart attack, and then charging the people holding Teddy, forcing them to flee into a nearby diner.[223]
Jonathan was playing in a friend's yard with his brother when a pit bull attacked him, ripping out his windpipe. The other 2 boys escaped onto a trampoline. Locals described the killer by a regional name, white English Bulldog, which the animal control officer and a local vet described as another name for pit bull. The killer was euthanized.[224][225][226]
April was found dead in her own backyard before dawn on Christmas morning, mauled to death by dogs belonging to her uncle, who lived nearby. The little girl, who was described as developmentally disabled, was bitten over 200 times by her uncle's dogs, which police said had prior complaints.[227][228]
Durham, NC. Jordan went to friend Jessica Crocker's house to play, and was attacked by her family's 3 giant breed dogs, which weighed 170-200lbs each, in the family's backyard. The dogs bit into Jordan's chest at least twice. His friend tried to fight off her family's dogs, putting a ladder over his body to try to stop the attack, while her 14-year-old sister called their mother at work, who then called 911. The girls' father later had the dogs euthanized. Neighbors say the dogs were scary, barking aggressively and attacking the fence when people walked down the street.[229][230]
Greensboro, NC. Tina was attacked and mauled by three pit bulls when she got off her bus in Madison NC a suburb of Greensboro.[232]
Fatalities in 1999[]
Date
Category of Dog
Victim's name
Victim's age
Circumstances
February 3
Mixed-breed dogs or Labrador retriever-German shepherd mixes (2)
Ellyssa Rhae Peterson
5 years
The Crivitz, WI family had adopted the two dogs after they had been found as strays. The girl was alone with the dogs in the back yard when she was bitten and left with multiple puncture wounds. She died at the hospital that day. The sheriff said that the 50 to 60-lb dogs were not Pit bulls or Rottweilers, but unknown mixed-breeds that looked as if they had Labrador retriever and German shepherd ancestry. Before the attack, the girl and dogs had played together with "no problems". After the attack, the dogs were destroyed and tested negative for rabies.[233]
The child was asleep in bed before his grandparents heard a noise and then found the dog shaking him in its mouth. The family had owned the dog for 9 years.[234]
March
Unclear (see text)
Darrel Roberson
42 years
A newspaper carrier found the man with the two dogs chewing on him. The dogs were never identified or found, but police said they were "relatively sure" they were Rottweilers or Doberman Pinschers.[235]
Kitsap, WA. Owens had been on an extended visit with her adult daughter, who owned 2 Briards. The fatal attack occurred while Owens was alone in the house with the dogs; her daughter found her conscious, with dog bites all over her body. A paramedic said there was almost nothing left of her arms, describing it as a mutilation. Owens died after being airlifted to a hospital. Her daughter almost immediately authorized the euthanization of the male dog, Mookie, which was claimed in the sheriff's report to be solely responsible.[236]
October
German Shepherd mix
Demetrius Marcellus Tucker Jr.
5 days
The boy was bitten by his foster family's dog, 3 days after being placed in their care.[237]
^Winters, William (1889). Brief Chronicles. Google e-books. p. 48. Archived from the original on June 27, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
^Charles Warren Stottard (September 1905). "Ada Clare:Queen of Bohemia". National Magazine. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013. She was patting the lap dog of a friend, when it flew at her and cruelly mutilated her fae. She recovered from the attack and reappeared on upon the stage; but later on, returning one night from the theater, she was seized with a violent paroxysm and died in the horrors of hydrophobia. She perished miserably...
^Tenbruggencate, Jan (February 24, 2004). "Dog kills Kaua'i toddler". Honolulu Advertiser. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2013. In 1981, a 6-year-old boy was killed by a pit bull in Kaimuki.
^"Dog Roundup Follows Death". Logansport Pharos Tribune. November 12, 1982. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
^"Dog kills boy, 3". Ottawa Citizen. February 21, 1983. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
^"Dog that killed infant is destroyed". Sarasota Herald Tribune. December 3, 1990. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2014. See also page 11 in the google news display for the beginning of the article
^Staff, Susan Jacobson of The Sentinel. "BOY BLED TO DEATH FROM BITES". OrlandoSentinel.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-31. Retrieved 2020-04-18.