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Two dogs mauled their owner to death while she was walking them in the woods, sheriff says
Washington Post ^ | December 16 at 2:45 PM | Kristine Phillips

Posted on 12/16/2017 2:07:04 PM PST by BenLurkin

Bethany Lynn Stephens had been gone for about a day since she left to walk her dogs. So her father went out to look for her at the area she frequented.

There, authorities say, he found her two dogs, guarding what he first thought was an animal carcass.

“Much to his horror, discovered that it was not,” Goochland County Sheriff Jim Agnew told reporters at a news conference Friday.

Investigators in Goochland, Va., a rural community about 30 miles outside of Richmond, say the petite, 5-foot-1 young woman, who weighed a little more than 100 pounds, was mauled to death by her dogs, which had a combined weight of about twice hers, while out on a walk earlier this week. Her father found her Thursday evening in a wooded area that used to be a farm, about a half a mile from the main road...

“The dogs clearly, at least in our estimation in a dark night, had something to do with this. It was an absolutely grisly mauling,” Agnew told reporters. “In my 40 years of law enforcement, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Hope I’d never see anything like it again.”

Officials from the county’s animal control department and sheriff’s office spent at least an hour trying to tranquilize the animals, Agnew said. Investigators also found bloody articles of clothing scattered in the area.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: chet99; dog; doggieping; dogs; dogsofpeace; pbts; pitbull; pitbulls; pitbullterrier
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To: the OlLine Rebel
The "two" dogs in the video are the same one dog, pictured on the floor behind her, in this photo, posted April of this year.

Her other dog was the merle Great Dane.

The brindle dog was not very big, at all.


141 posted on 12/16/2017 8:14:21 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: Salamander

I believe you are correct-those dogs are not pitbulls-the big one is almost certainly a Dane and the smaller one is a mostly-hound. I don’t have a photo of my cub’s pitbull terrier to post, but he is 65 lbs tops, fawn with white chest and paws, shorter ears and a more Bulldoggie face-he is also a jumper, like so many terriers are, whether large or small. Those two are not pitbull “types”-or “bully mutts” as my cub calls them-a lot of smaller, short-haired sled dogs are called Husky and Malamute “types”-they are crossbreeds of everything from greyhounds to other fast running breeds-with Husky or Malamute added in the genetic mix...


142 posted on 12/16/2017 8:41:23 PM PST by Texan5 (`"You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Texan5
How many would say this is a "pit bull" pup?


143 posted on 12/16/2017 9:13:46 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: Texan5
Purebred Mountain Cur.


144 posted on 12/16/2017 9:16:31 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: Texan5
Another Mountain Cur.

Apparently that unique brindling is very common in this squatty, "pit-like" breed.


145 posted on 12/16/2017 9:20:59 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: Salamander

I wouldn’t-it’s hard to to tell with a young short haired pup like that cutie-and what a pretty coat it has-but it doesn’t look much like my cub’s pit did as a puppy-her pit had a shorter muzzle and wider head even as a little pup. What breed is that munequita?


146 posted on 12/16/2017 9:28:25 PM PST by Texan5 (`"You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Salamander

Thank you-I’ve seen aa couple of articles on that breed before-very handsome, and supposed to be fine companion dogs..


147 posted on 12/16/2017 9:32:49 PM PST by Texan5 (`"You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Texan5

In the same town, and same woods that was she killed, this was “big news” a couple months ago.

http://wtvr.com/2015/12/03/goochland-bear/

Of course it doesn’t look a bit like a Pit.

The pup is a Plott pup and the others are Mountain Curs.

But that bear everyone in Goochland was afraid of, is a fricking bear and has no fear of people.

Black bears bite your head and face to kill you.

Years ago, a woman survived a black bear attack and her story was horrifying.
No matter what she did, it just kept ripping her apart and tore off her entire scalp.
She barely survived.
“Playing dead” with a black bear is useless, unlike other bear species.

All her friends are saying the story stinks...except her dad, who waited two days to go looking for her.

Something is very, *very* wrong with this story.


148 posted on 12/16/2017 9:37:50 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: Texan5

You are most welcome.

I knew relatively little about them, myself, until tonight and I’ve bookmarked the breed for possible future pets.

Wonderful little “hillbilly dogs” that are quite appealing.


149 posted on 12/16/2017 9:40:02 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: Texan5
Actual pit bull pup of the same age...totally different skull structure.


150 posted on 12/16/2017 9:42:55 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: battletank

I’d take a pair of pit bulls over some of the cretins here at FR any day.

It’s not the breed, but the breeder/owner.


151 posted on 12/16/2017 9:44:16 PM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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To: Texan5

So I tried to Google that bear attack I mentioned, thinking it would be easy to find and OMG, there are *pages* of results for “woman survives bear attack”.

The first one is in my general area. [!!!]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/11/17/woman-survives-marylands-first-bear-attack-in-decades.html

http://www.whsv.com/content/news/Warren-County-woman-gets-hit-by-black-bear—391823881.html

http://people.com/celebrity/virginia-woman-survives-bear-attack-on-her-family-i-thought-we-were-going-to-die/

http://www.newsweek.com/black-bear-bites-60-year-old-woman-head-popular-idaho-park-63238

And the results just go on and on...black bears, major damage to head and neck, etc etc.

Many of them involving people who were walking their dogs or had gone to see why their dogs were barking.


152 posted on 12/16/2017 9:51:30 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: logi_cal869

As I mentioned to a friend in FReepmail, I come *here* because conservatives are smarter than liberals.

Most of the time.

:\


153 posted on 12/16/2017 9:53:00 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: Salamander

The first thing I thought of was a mountain lion-we have them here and although they have never attacked humans or livestock because they have plenty of room, and game to eat, they do attack and kill wandering dogs and cats all the time, so it is prudent not to take your dog hiking with you-they will go after a human who panics and runs-happens all the time in more densely populated places like Cali. I would bet that that poor woman was killed by a bear or mountain lion that was attracted by her dogs-it makes more sense than her previously well-behaved dogs mauling her to death.

Black bears have been reintroduced into a wildlife area nearby and have already been spotted twice less than 20 miles away-so something else to be aware of when hiking, etc-my 1st hubby was from NM-we went there a lot and were always watching out for bears in the woods...


154 posted on 12/16/2017 10:00:45 PM PST by Texan5 (`"You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Salamander

Now that pup looks like my cub’s did-shorter muzzle and that Bulldog head/face.


155 posted on 12/16/2017 10:04:07 PM PST by Texan5 (`"You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Texan5

I have a *huge* sow with a tracking collar walking up and down my freaking lane, 30 feet from my front door.

I’ve only seen her on the neighbor’s trail cam photos...which is why she’s still able to walk.

They’ve also “reintroduced” mountain lions to the area, although they deny it vehemently.

No one can explain the 24/7 hotline mountain lion sighting phone number listed on the many posters slapped up, warning us of dire consequences, should we dare to harm or kill any of the mountain lions we “don’t have here”.

It’s just like the great “non-existent coyotes” fiasco of 20 years ago.


156 posted on 12/16/2017 10:09:56 PM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: logi_cal869

One thing I have learned, especially about any terrier type animal, you can never let them think they are your equal. Oh you can have fun and play with them but the owner must always keep the upper hand. If thy ever challenge that relationship it has to be counter challenged and reinstated.Granted if it is a small ankle biter the consequences are not that great but with a large animal it could be a disaster. You can never let them think they are running the show.


157 posted on 12/16/2017 10:10:50 PM PST by eastforker (All in, I'm all Trump,what you got!)
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To: Salamander

50/50 is my experience.

The stupid gene transcends politics.


158 posted on 12/17/2017 12:18:04 AM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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To: logi_cal869

That is very....disappointing to hear.


159 posted on 12/17/2017 2:43:52 AM PST by Salamander (And Ezekiel Smiles Again....)
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To: eastforker

So true.


160 posted on 12/17/2017 6:58:59 AM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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