Great Dane kills woman

The attack occurred about 6 p.m. Thursday in the in Kaufman County town. According to witnesses, David Mayfield heard two women screaming from the home next door.

He found the family's pet dog attacking the women even though the animal was chained to a porch.

Mayfield, Dorothy Mayfield and another women were injured by the attack and transported to Parkland Hospital In Dallas.

Dorothy Mayfield died from wounds she suffered during the attack. David Mayfield was treated and later released. The other woman remains in the hospital.

According to family members, the dog -- a Great Dane named Brutus -- was previously well behaved. They said the dog snapped for an unknown reason.

Holly Henderson, the daughter of the hospitalized victim, called the attack an accident.

"It's a freak thing. It's bizarre," she said. "This doesn't happen every day. Not everybody's dog does this. This doesn't normally happen. I mean, it's just a very weird situation. It's almost like a nightmare."

Brutus was euthanized, and his remains will be tested for rabies by state veterinary examiners.

My husband and I bought this dog 7 years ago. He stayed indoors and was much of a couch potatoe. He was bottle fed by my son when he was 2....this dog laid in your lap to the best of his ability slobbering all the way. He was named Brutus because it sounded like a big brainless name that perfectly matched his personality....I have many photos to share of the dog with the family on vacations, playing in the yard, in the house being spoiled, and all vet records to prove his complete innocence. I loved this dog like a person...he was never fed anything other than dog food...he was never teased....never played rough...he could shake hands, lay down, and roll over....he was always rewarded with treats. My grandmother - who I love dearly and miss so much - was only at the house to drop off my son...she had kept him all day that day...was afraid of the dog and requested that he be restrained when she come over....he had his own fenced in half an acre complete with dog house and a playmate mutt dog....we own two acres adjoined to my parents 22 acres....brutus ran the fence line with neighbors dogs when we let him out to run the entire property....all the neighbors knew him....we took him for long walks down the country roads....his autopsy revealed absolutely nothing wrong with him.....the only possible answer for this horrific accident is that the dog was trying to protect my 5 year old son..he was the only other person there prior to my step mom and father comming over to help...and I cant expect a 5 year old to give me reasoning...he is a child and if she was correcting him for going outside, the dog may have heard the tone of her voice and may have thought he was protecting my son....she may have yelled at ryan to stop doing something before he hurt himself and the dog took it as her being angry with the kid...but the kid cant tell me...all he tells me is 'mom, i hit brutus and told him to stop biting my granny but he wouldnt stop- while granny said 'help-help'...so for those of you with mean comments who only want to lay blame on the owners, you have no idea about...I hope that you will believe me when I tell you all - this dog was not mistreated....on the contrary - he was spoiled although well-behaved and mannered until this very day. Just moments before this accident, my father had loved on this dog petting him and talking to him....the dog was calm. There are no answers to why some things happen - and if I ever prayed for anything, it would be closure to this accident...to know the answer....but I am trying to accept that there isn't one....if you know how this could have been prevented, then tell me - because although all the simple solutions are there - like tell grandma to meet us at McDonalds - well, yeah - hindsight whatever - but this dog was not mistreated - put him in his pen? yeah that would have been an option, but the female was in heat and we were keeping them separate....put him in the house? yeah - well grandma was on her way over and she wouldnt have wanted him in the house.

I am terribly sorry for your loss. These things, although extremely rare, do happen. I am no expert, but the few things that have been linked to dog aggression on humans are chaining, leaving dogs intact (and together, such as breeding pairs), and of course undersocialization. It appears that your dog was socialized. However, with a female in heat right around the corner, (that's another thing linked to it as males and females can change when the stress of a heat is upon them)and a dog that might have been protective of a small child and leary of a woman that is scared of him (and believe me, they know), it does tend to make for a bad situation. With a dog that is so big, strength comes with it, and even a very fit person would be in trouble around a dog that large. The worst part about this is that there is always something that could have been done differently. Every incident has those things. It doesn't mean anyone is to blame, including the dog. You did everything you could think of to do, and no one can predict this type of thing. You didn't raise the dog to be mean, or to guard, or leave it outside all the time. You had a dog, you treated it like most people treat their dogs, with love, training, and trust. There's nothing wrong with that. The situation was just wrong. Things we will never know happened in the dog's mind, and I am sure he felt justified. He didn't "turn" on anyone, and you are right: he probably felt the need to protect your son and might have been affected by the female in heat, and being chained might have added to that frustration. Those are things that are completely blame free.

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