Animal Lover Killed By Her Own Dogs

[Pockets]

It doesn't mention that any of the dogs had injuries, surely if there had been a fight, there would be badly injured or deceased dogs and the news would make some mention of it....

Poor young girl

[Kirislin]

geeze that's alot of big powerful dogs together in one place, and to not know them all well.............ugh. It's a pity she was even allowed to have them all in that situation. Very sad, she was doing her best to help dogs in need. Poor woman.

Sometimes I have up to 9 dogs here, not all mine but they all know each other well, even so, my friend and I watch their body language and monitor the interactions carefully, especially when some get frisky and want to play, you need to watch the players but also the quieter ones carefully for their reactions. And I'm only talking about whippets and iggies!

[espinay2]

It can happen. If memory serves me right there was a case a number of years ago when someone was killed after one of their Akitas accidentally bit them when they were breaking up a fight between two dogs. Just has to be a bite in the wrong place, hit an artery and be on your own...

I myself have been accidentally bitten breaking up a fight between two bitches. My fault, but it did happen and I was on my own at the time. Just lucky it didn't hit anything important I guess.

We will never know what happened in this case. A very sad thing to have occurred.

Edited August 18, 2012 by espinay2

[BJean]

It can happen. If memory serves me right there was a case a number of years ago when someone was killed after one of their Akitas accidentally bit them when they were breaking up a fight between two dogs. Just has to be a bite in the wrong place, hit an artery and be on your own...

I myself have been accidentally bitten breaking up a fight between two bitches. My fault, but it did happen and I was on my own at the time. Just lucky it didn't hit anything important I guess.

Yep very easy to do. imo it's a blessing to get a close call warning bite that emphasises to your own immediate reaction, what you should and shouldn't do.

I received one bite to the leg stepping deliberately between two bitches (one with pups) to diffuse a fight. I knew my leg would do that (diffuse the fight), I did not - until I felt the jaw power and potential for mortal harm - know how stupid my immediate reaction was.

If my dogs fight, two adults, I will walk away and leave them.

When the dust settles it is better for the two dogs to hopefully be able to seek a veterinary solution,

than for me to have chunks of flesh missing or worse.

We will never know what happened in this case. A very sad thing to have occurred.

Amen.

[Wobbly]

All those dogs are rescues, who could know their background, one or more of them may have been abused by humans, may even have been trained to be aggressive to humans with a previous owner, they are the sort of breeds people would choose for that purpose. Certainly rescue dogs often have a history of hardship and that can make them less than stable, trustworthy animals.

Very unwise to have so many large powerful dogs of unknown history all together, unrestrained like that. Poor girl.

[greytpets]

I find it very hard to believe that all 5 dogs were involved in the attack. Did they test the wounds for saliva & match it to the DNA of the dogs? Were the dogs tested for blood residue on their coats because I'm sure there must have been some? If all 5 dogs were involved you would think there would be injuries to the arms & legs as they fought over the body. And yes, if it was such a frenzied attack then more than likely they would have turned on each other as well. If it was a few days before she was found how do we know that it wasn't hunger that caused the dog bites on a dead body? Without a proper PM how can they know that her death wasn't accidental, natural or even murder & the dogs are just the scapegoats?

We haven't been told everything here or this is a case of very shoddy investigation. This sounds like propaganda to turn people off keeping multiple dogs & rescues. I feel sorry for her family & friends who might never know the real story behind her death.

RIP Rebecca.

Edited August 19, 2012 by greytpets

[mixeduppup]

I'm pretty sure the police and coroner have correctly identified the cause. Let's just mourn for this fellow animal lover who was sadly taken too soon, doing great things for the dogs she loved. it's a tragedy

Edited August 19, 2012 by mixeduppup

[Wobbly]

Greytpets, I do think people SHOULD be dissuaded from keeping multiple large breed rescue dogs whose history is unknown if they don't have proper infrastructure for keeping them separated. In the case of greyhounds, I would think that mostly you do know the history of a dog, so that is a different story, as is a rescue that deals with surrenders from known backgrounds. But in the case of dogs from the pound, usually not a lot is known about their past. If you look at a lot of the successful, reputable rescue organisations (Staffy Rescue springs to mind) who have multiple large breed dogs of unknown history, the dogs ARE kept in dog runs so that their behaviour and temperament can be assessed over a period of time. They can be fed and handled separately etc, hence for these rescue operations that have those facilities dog fights and other situations with the potential for tragedy don't occur.

It's all speculation ofc, but in addition to the possibility of redirection from a dog fight, I could see something like this one occurring as a result of one or more of the dogs exhibiting aggressive food possessiveness. We'll never know. But it is very much a case that suggests that rescue operations who deal with a number of large powerful breeds of unknown history should have separate enclosures for those dogs.

[TheCheekyMonster]

I question why a 23 year old has this many foster dogs to start with.... I mean its not like she would have a world of experience with a) fostering and b) those breeds

I would assume one would need to be very experienced and knowledgeable about dogs, those breeds in general and fostering e.g. the types of dogs that can come in and how to manage that.

Mmm interesting, at what age do you consider someone experienced and knowledgable? 30? 40? 50?

All dogs can fight and I would reckon even "experienced and knowledgable 40/50 year olds" would have a hard time pulling apart a pack of dominant breeds like these if they suddenly dislike one another :)

Very sad to all involved

I just think its a lot of potentially unstable dogs for one young person

[TheCheekyMonster]

I question why a 23 year old has this many foster dogs to start with.... I mean its not like she would have a world of experience with a) fostering and b) those breeds

I would assume one would need to be very experienced and knowledgeable about dogs, those breeds in general and fostering e.g. the types of dogs that can come in and how to manage that.

Mmm interesting, at what age do you consider someone experienced and knowledgable? 30? 40? 50?

All dogs can fight and I would reckon even "experienced and knowledgable 40/50 year olds" would have a hard time pulling apart a pack of dominant breeds like these if they suddenly dislike one another :)

Very sad to all involved

I would just assume one who was knowledgeable and experienced with those breeds/foster dogs would be prepared for such an event..... ?

[dancinbcs]

It can happen. If memory serves me right there was a case a number of years ago when someone was killed after one of their Akitas accidentally bit them when they were breaking up a fight between two dogs. Just has to be a bite in the wrong place, hit an artery and be on your own...

I myself have been accidentally bitten breaking up a fight between two bitches. My fault, but it did happen and I was on my own at the time. Just lucky it didn't hit anything important I guess.

We will never know what happened in this case. A very sad thing to have occurred.

I remember the Akita case as well. From memory, I think they found the breeder dead in yard with one bite to the back of the knee where it had punctured an artery and they bled out. Two of their bitches, one of whom had a litter, had minor fight wounds. There were no other bites on the owner so the dogs clearly didn't attack but they were unlucky enough to get a bite in the middle of a squabble that proved fatal.

Many have been bitten trying to stop a fight before it really starts trying to grab a dog before it makes contact with another, and that is with small/medium dogs. To try it with large powerful dogs, especially when you are on your own is extremely dangerous but it is your first instinct when you see trouble brewing. If there are more than 2 dogs it is even more dangerous.

[mixeduppup]

It didn't state how long she'd owned the dogs though and which dogs were rescued and which were hers, so really it's all conjecture. Poor girl.

[Sayreovi]

I would just assume one who was knowledgeable and experienced with those breeds/foster dogs would be prepared for such an event..... ?

Accidents can happen to anyone regardless of their experience and how well they are prepared but unfortunately she paid with her life for it. Her age has nothing to do with it.

[persephone]

Accidents can happen to anyone regardless of their experience and how well they are prepared but unfortunately she paid with her life for it.

exactly.

there are a million & one different scenarios ...from cages/doors accidentally opening, to the girl exhibiting odd behaviour , to food being present , to who knows what else.

Things do happen, no matter how experienced one is. I'm sure almost everyone here has had a reasonably serious 'oops' incident or three.

[casowner]

It can happen. If memory serves me right there was a case a number of years ago when someone was killed after one of their Akitas accidentally bit them when they were breaking up a fight between two dogs. Just has to be a bite in the wrong place, hit an artery and be on your own...

I myself have been accidentally bitten breaking up a fight between two bitches. My fault, but it did happen and I was on my own at the time. Just lucky it didn't hit anything important I guess.

We will never know what happened in this case. A very sad thing to have occurred.

Those akitas were in the shelter where I worked after the attack - if memory serves me one bitch had puppies at the time?

[j]

I find it very hard to believe that all 5 dogs were involved in the attack. Did they test the wounds for saliva & match it to the DNA of the dogs? Were the dogs tested for blood residue on their coats because I'm sure there must have been some? If all 5 dogs were involved you would think there would be injuries to the arms & legs as they fought over the body. And yes, if it was such a frenzied attack then more than likely they would have turned on each other as well. If it was a few days before she was found how do we know that it wasn't hunger that caused the dog bites on a dead body? Without a proper PM how can they know that her death wasn't accidental, natural or even murder & the dogs are just the scapegoats?

We haven't been told everything here or this is a case of very shoddy investigation. This sounds like propaganda to turn people off keeping multiple dogs & rescues. I feel sorry for her family & friends who might never know the real story behind her death.

RIP Rebecca.

It's very easy to tell whether wounds are caused post mortem or not. They would easily be able to tell whether she died and was then bitten by the dogs, or whether the bites caused the death.

I imagine that the US has the same standards for an unexplained death as we do here. Any suspicious or unexplained death, suicide, death by drowning or other accident always has a post mortem conducted. If you haven't seen your doctor within a specified period of time prior to the death AND your usual doctor won't sign a death certificate, there will be a post mortem conducted. They are also referred to the coroner for an official finding of death.

They don't just speculate about the cause of death, an opinion is provided after all testing and examinations have been conducted. I highly doubt it is a shoddy investigation, more a case of poor media reporting. They don't know the facts, so they are making up a story to fit what they do know, and what others have told them.

Very sad for all involved.

[Jed]

"They" would have had certain knowledge of what the poor owner died from.

Years ago, 3 boxers killed their female owner in the US when she tried to break up a dog fight.

Probably something similar happened here. And perhaps the authorities know the cause, but they always seem very reluctant to publicise that. Perhaps they feel relations and friend of the deceased may be upset.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Jed