Fatal Dog Attacks: What Can We Learn?
The following represents some thoughts. Not conclusions. The cases are from the past 4 years and the data is taken from the inquests in to each death along with eye witness statements.
1) Cadey Lee Deacon:
Cadey Lee Deacon was killed whilst she was in the care of her mother and step father. She was killed at the Rocket pub in Leicestershire. Two dogs were destroyed, the inquest did not learn which of the dogs killed Cadey.
The dogs, Rottweilers, were Bruno and Bess. Bruno was a male, Bess a female. They were reported to have lived on the roof of the pub.
The owners of the dogs were not present at the time of the fatality. The dogs were euthanised immediately, no temperament tests were ever carried out.
2) Ellie Lawrenson.
Ellie was killed on New Year’s eve by her uncle’s dog, Reuben.
Reuben was later identified as a pit bull type. He was a male dog.
Reuben’s owner, Kiel Simpson, was not present at the time the fatal attack happened. Reuben was euthanised.
3) Archie-Lee Hirst.
Archie-Lee was killed by a female Rottweiler dog which belonged to his grandparent’s.
He was killed whilst in the care of a family babysitter. Archie-Lee was taken outside to the dog who, the inquest in to his death was told, had received no exercise in 5 months.
The Rottweiler was killed by police marksmen at the scene of the fatality.
The dog’s owners were not present at the time of the child’s death.
4) Jaden Mack
Jaden Mack died whilst in the care of his grandmother.
Two dogs were present when the baby was killed, a Jack Russell and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier was a male dog named Tyson. The Jack Russell Terrier was a male dog called Charlie.
The dogs owner was present at the time of the fatality, but was not awake, having fallen asleep only to wake up and discover the attack had already occurred. It is not known which dog pulled the baby down from the table where he was asleep, nor was it ever determined which dog in particular killed the child. Both dogs were destroyed.
5) John-Paul Massey
John-Paul Massey was killed by his uncle’s dog, determined to be a pit bull type dog.
John-Paul was in the care of his grandmother when he was fatally mauled. The dog’s owner was not present.
The dog was a male dog. At the time of writing, no inquest has been heard.
6) Andrew Walker
Andrew Walker was a 21-year old man, killed by two German Shepherds whilst he was living with his friend, the owner of the dogs.
Mr Walker attempted to intervene in a fight between the two dogs, Lennox and Nico – two male German Shepherds.
The dogs owner was eventually able to bring the dogs under control. The inquest in to Mr Walker’s death was not told about a previous attack carried out by another dog belonging to the owner of the German Shepherds, where a woman suffered a serious hand injury and her own dog – a Miniature Poodle – lost its life. The dog in question on this occasion was a Rottweiler.
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Statistics:
Breeds
x 2 pit bull types.
x 1 Jack Russell
x 3 Rottweilers
x 1 Staffordshire Bull Terrier
x 2 German Shepherd Dogs.
Sex
Pit bulls – both male.
Jack Russell – male.
Rottweilers – x 2 female, 1 male.
Staffordshire Bull Terrier – male.
Jack Russell – male.
German Shepherds – x 2 male.
Tot: 2 female – 8 male.
Circumstance
Owner of dog present at time of fatality – twice, however in the case of Jaden Mack, the dogs owner was asleep and didn’t see the attack and was unable to intervene. In the case of Andrew Walker, the victim was on his own in the garden with the dogs, the dogs owner arrived at the scene having heard the commotion. The rest of the attacks, the owner was not present.
Where did the attacks happen?
In every single fatality, the attack happened in the home where the dogs lived.
In every single case, the the attacks did not begin when the dogs owner was present/conscience.
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What can we learn from this information?
Can you spot a risk profile from these stats?
Would you be able to tell family, friends, ANYONE who’ll listen about how to minimise risk?
Would you be comfortable leaving your dog in the care of someone who was not the dog’s owner if there was a chance children might be introduced to the dog(s) when you weren’t there?
As I said at the outset, this is food for thought, not a conclusion of anything.
![Grwat Dane And Dachund]#](http://www.dogmagazine.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Grwat-Dane-And-Dachund.jpg "Grwat Dane And Dachund]#")
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Very interesting.
What if serious attacks and fatal attacks were recorded and then analysed along the lines of what you have done here, surely we could learn more?
But what then do we do with this infomation=how does it get out to grass roots level, to people who don’t have a landline yet alone an internet connection included.
Also, how many of those dogs involved in serous and fatal attacks have been chucked outside and left out neglected etc?
All we seem to learn is bits of info here and there from press reports, why can’t there be some type of national procedure organised following a serious incident-a team that works alongside the police, collates informaton, the facts, what was going on before the dog attacked, the history of that dogs life how this moment was reached.
There is also the idea that the dog involved should, if possibe, be kept alive after the event (not immedialey destroyed)for behavioural examination to help piece togeher what has gone wrong.
Are PM’s being looked at to rule out possible medical causes for behaviour?
‘Never leave a child and dog alone together’ is good advice, but it’s not enough and it’s not IMO being banged home hard enough.
What about schools, is ‘dog safety’ taught at all.
Considering the amount of coverage that is given to breed identificaion and the demonising of breeds of types of dogs-pity this couldn’t be used for more useful information.
How about an ‘Awareness Month’ for keeping dogs and kids safe?
Thank you for bringing more food for thought on this criticaly important issue.
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felicity Reply:
December 9th, 2009 at 1:05 am
i have to agree. schools should be teaching dog safety. it has acctually beb proven that a 1 hour dog safety class for years 3 &4 reduced dog attacks on that age group by 80%! so if everyone was having dog safe lessions that would be a huge reduction in dog attacks!
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Jack Russells should never be left alone around young children, although I find it quite hard to believe one would attack a baby for no reason. I just can’t see a Jack Russell doing that. But I’d be willing to bet bottom dollar that none of these dogs were neutered. That’s a bigger factor to consider than gender itself.
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in answer to -Can you spot a risk profile from these stats?
yes dont get mastiffs or terriers especially as guidelines on pit bulls is as vague as rocket science is to a school kid
you pro dog sites arent helping this situation you make it appear trivial one death is one to many ,
everyone knows the type that buy mastiffs and Staffordshire types
your kidding nobody .
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Ryan O'Meara Reply:
December 4th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Show ONE example where a child’s death has been made to appear ‘trivial’. I’ll save you the time, you won’t. You’ve managed to read an article that very clearly presents FACTS about circumstance and background to fatal dog attacks and you’ve succeeded in spouting nonsense. It must be difficult for people like you when the FACTS don’t back up your prejudices. But please, you’re hindering progress and children die as a result of your ignorance. The people most responsible for death by dog attack are the people who simply don’t understand what it is that CAUSES dog attack. Add yourself to that list.
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keek Reply:
December 4th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
“everyone knows the type that buy mastiffs and Staffordshire types” wtf is that sposed to mean?
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Ariana Williams Reply:
December 4th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
It is very uneducated and unhelpful to ‘blame’ a breed. All too often, from what I have read, the responsibility has been that of the owners of the dog who have no knowledge or understanding of dog behaviour and kids (Kids are a pain to dogs if not taught properly). I am an educated animal management degree student (mature). I have had a staffy and know people who have had GSD’s, Rotties, Pitbulls and Bull mastiffs; all of the dogs were well socialised, never left alone with kids (You dont know what the kids are doing to the dog!), and lived long lives without incident. The problem with these reported indicences is that they are sensationalosed and make the dog look like a demon: no-one ever questions the actions of the owners or places blame on them!!!
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Felicity Reply:
January 22nd, 2010 at 7:13 pm
clearly you didn’t hear about the baby killed by a lab puppy, or the one by a pomaranian, or the number of people killed by st banards!
news stories, and stats don’t take the actions of the owners into account!
if people like you would just admit the truth, that people create dog attacks, we could then focus all the resources on a law that ACTUALLY WORKS!
by the way, italy and the neverlands have lifted their breed bans because it DID NOT LEAD TO A DECREASE IN DOG ATTACKS!
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deflecting the issue onto ‘what breed’ or type of dog is responsible is a real problem, people are responsible, both children and dogs need responsible and educated adults to take care of them and prevent these tragedies from ever taking place.
It’s time the full FACTS are known, investigated, made public, one death is one to many, but without the FACTS on why and a massive effort to get this info out there, how will we prevent?
This breed, that breed, devil dog, etc etc, is going nowhere to help.
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A dog is a dog. The ones responsible for the deaths are 1) the owners of the dog, 2) the children’s caretakers or 3) the adults themselves. Blaming a dog for reacting as what they are is just passing the buck. The coroner who called for the banning of certain breeds is not dealing with reality. When the ‘evil’ breeds are gone, next will be collies and spaniels. There was even a Jack Russell in this list. Come on. A Jack Russell is 15 to 20 lbs. How hard is that to control? Where were the responsible people? Gone, absent, or asleep. People must pay attention to their dogs and control them. Any animal can kill a child or a baby if left alone unattended. Breed Banning is not going to work because when one devil is gone, another will be appointed in his place. And it might be your Devil.
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a useful article with facts presented well- with no death trivialised -quite the opposite. surely the question must also be not only ‘would you leave your dog alone with these people’ but also would you leave your CHILDREN alone with these people.often the childrens parents are no where around, and neither is the owner of the dog.it doesnt seem you can legislate for irresponsible people! sadly the innocent suffer!(both the dogs and kids!)i run an educational project and do as much as possible to get safety messages across to the kids themselves.but there needs to be more done.
ps ima a staffy type owner and am a fully functioning paid up memeber of society!!:-) insulting ignorant comments do nothing to help the debate.
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Great article… Thank you.
Lets hope people read it & see how they can possibly help prevent these awful tragedies from happening.
Prevention is better than cure. To be informed is to be ready & aware.
I think the government should be looking into this… I wont hold my breath!
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[...] [...]
I agree with you Liese when you say ‘informed is to be ready and aware’
I look after my young nephew and the dog, I want to be informed and not kept in the dark with any devil dog bullshit, I don’t need to be brainwashed about how terrible some breeds are suppose to be, it don’t help me none, i would rather learn about sommit a bit more useful as my nephew means the world to me and I want to look after him proper when he’s with me and always protect him and the dog.
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Good article, and generally good logical comments.
There are many options going forward, up for discussion:
1. How about introducing licensing for all dogs?
In South Africa we have to have a dog license on your dog’s collar. No license, dog is confiscated (that is one aspect of the dog warden’s job), and to get the dog back owners have to pay a license fee. That way when registering your dog the breed is logged, and the authorities also get a chance to check out the owner as well and their circumstances.
2. Another option would be to have Housing Authorities to put a limit on the breed and size of pet allowed in their houses.
3. All breeders should be registered. All dogs neutered by law unless you are a registered breeder.
This is a responsibility that should be shared from Vets, Housing Authority, Local Council, and backed up by the Police.
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these are the immediate circumstances of the attacks but one needs to delve deeper.
firstly the 2 rotweilers on the roof were guard dogs, unsocialised and normally kept confined. a door was left open. a good smelling bundle was discovered and the dogs decided to have a game of tug of war.
little ellie was killed by a pitbull that was far too big for its age and had been given steroids so most likely used for intimidation purposes.
as has been stated with archie, he was led by another child into the domain of a dog used soley as a guard dog and kept prisoner for 5 months.
jaden mack was being neglected at the time of the attack. as a mother i was appalled to hear that this baby had been left on top of a table. whos to say that the dogs dragged it off. babies wriggle like mad. if you have them on a changing mat you have to hold them while you get the nappy as they will roll straight off.
alot of dogs would grab at a bundle if it fell on the floor. alot of people give thier dogs squeaky toys, a baby sqealing could well be seen as a toy.
the gsds owner had already been in trouble for not being able to control his dogs. if no leader is present a dog will take the role.
john paul was killed by a dog that was being used for intimidation by its owner. people had complained and nothing had been done.
in almost all cases of fatal attacks warnings have been given about the dogs and signs could have been seen but nothing was done resulting in these awful cases.
in most fatal dog attacks here and abroard. the dogs have been trained to be aggressive. from my research on this over the years i have discovered that this is the single biggest ruiner of dogs.
guarding breeds do not need to be trained to guard and should actually mostly be discouraged as, if thier guarding instincts are needed, they will come to the fore naturally. i have never guard trained my american bulldogs but have still always felt completely safe. but then im not a cowardly chav who needs a dog to make me feel hard
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