Elderly Woman Mauled to Death by Dog [Pit Bull Alert]

A Mcminn County woman is mauled to death by her family pit bull. We spoke to McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy on the scene.

He says around 11:30 Saturday morning an elderly woman and her family were at her house remodeling.

That's when Sheriff Guy says the woman went into the house while the other family members were outside and was attacked by the pitbull.

A neighbor who was at the house says he went inside to find the woman lying on the floor with the dog on top of her.

That neighbor says he used his gun to shoot the dog, but couldn't get the dog off of the woman.

Sheriff's Deputies arrived on the scene and killed the dog, however they were unable to save the woman who died on scene.

I came home from Church a few weeks ago, and the neighbor’s pit bull was loose and wouldnt let me out of my car. a week later loose again , went in my garage and wouldn’t leave, threatened me, I went to the neighbor, He was apologetic and got the dog . Now three times he has gotten loose I wnet to the neighbor again, he claimed another dog taught his to get out of the fence. Day before yesterday the dog ran my wife home from the mailbox. I called animal control. Made out a complaint. The dog’s owner got a warning, and another neighbor told me he was loose yesterday and wouldnt let her out of her house.

I am one inch from solving the problem permanently, but wondering what my legal standing is if I shoot the dog in my yard.

I wish there was a more merciful way to quietly, covertly kill out-of-control pit bulls. I can't condone making the poor things suffer, and anti-freeze poisoning does that.

I wish even more that people respected the dignity of dogs and the jobs they were bred to do. A pit bull in the right job is a valuable and worthy thing. I HATE the idea of banning pit bulls -- I can envision a time and place where, in capable hands, they'd be mighty handy protectors. But having a powerful warrior pitbull as a family "little buddy" pet insults the animal's dignity, and in the hands of an adolescent man -- who are in my observation the most typical owners -- it's like a person having a dairy bull as a backyard pet: dangerous and ill-advised.

Alaskan sled dogs have a serious job and they do it well, and they're worth their weight in gold, I expect. But if you took one of those dogs and kept him as a mere pet-for-amusmement in a city apartment, it would be cruel. Same thing with pit bulls.

I recall a friend telling me about a pit bull attack. The dog grabbed a child by the throat and wouldn’t let her go; it braced to resist rescuers and was not thrashing so it may have decided that others could not have his ‘prey’. The adults frantically tried prying open its jaws, spraying it with a lawn hose, and when that didn’t work taunting it (slapping, pinching) to get the dog to go after someone else (an adult) in order to save the child’s life as she couldn’t breath. In desperation, someone got a tire iron and started hitting the dog but, seriously, the dog braced, growing and would not let go. So I am only a little surprised that shooting the dog didn’t work. It seems that pit bulls will endure extreme pain to hold their prey. I think that is partly why pit bulls are extreme aggressors to deal with if they attack. While other dogs may attack a person, they typically don’t hold on to their human prey in the face of extreme pain.

They cornered the dog in a 10’wood fenced yard - that made it so mad that it repeatedly charged and rammed its full body weight against a plank in the fence, apparently trying to weaken and break it. Enraged, he rammed the fence in one location repeatedly many times with great concentration while (snarling and growling at max volume) - the people braced the plank, which had begun to bow, on the other side with their bodies while waiting anxiously for animal control/police to arrive.

Pit bull owners (friends of mine) have told me stories about how their dog can defeat kennel designs (dig, chew, destroy) and get out of their enclosures that I’ve not heard of anywhere else for other dog breeds. I recall chet99 posted a thread about a pair of pit bulls that, unprovoked, crashed through a screen door to attack a toddler playing on the living room floor. I’ve seen dogs try to crash through screen doors out of fear (wanting to hide in the house) or over excitement (scooby snack)but I haven’t seen them succeed in actually breaking through a door, especially not while cooperating (two dogs) to attack a human in a house. So you have an animal that can get out of their cages creatively, attack people in houses behind closed doors, and endure extreme pain to continue their attack. I know that other breeds bite and attack but they don’t exhibit the same combination of escaping enclosures, aggression, and capacity/persistence for combat that pit bulls do. That’s why I support those who say that pit bull owners should be required to have an exotic animal license. That would mean demonstrating capacity to handle the animal and would mean maintaining enclosures that meet exotic animal standards because ‘he got out’ is not sufficient excuse to exonerate pit bull owners whose animals run free in the neighborhood; their escape prowess and capacity for combat is known. Any other pet demonstrating this combination of features should likewise require an exotic animal license.

PS: Someone attacked and held by a cougar directed rescuers NOT to shoot the animal from a distance but to walk up to the animal, place the barrel opening on the animal’s spine, and fire. That worked.

Getting a dangerous animal complaint on record (get the neighbors to do it, too) seems like a good start if more dramatic action is required in the future.

On the other hand, being on record as complaining about the dog would make you a target of investigation and recrimination in the event authorities declined to do anything about the danger and you had to take it into your own hands to solve the problem with "more dramatic action."

If a neighbor with a pit bull repeatedly demonstrates utter disregard for the safety of the people living nearby, that neighbor is a lost cause whose emotional investment in the dog transcends common sense. I think the wiser course would be to quietly and very discreetly dispatch the dog yourself, in secret, as mercifully as possible. And when the neighbor replaced it with another pit bull (which is probably what would happen), to do it again.

Some years ago two large dogs (neither one a pit bull) approached me outside my garage. I yelled at them to 'get out.' They stood their ground and snarled at me. I turned on my heels and promptly retrieved a 12 ga shotgun from my room. When I returned they had both been called down the hill by their master and were jumping in the car with him. Had they still been in my driveway challenging me I would have shot them both master present or not.

FWIW I don't live in an urban neighborhood and there is no law prohibiting the discharging of a firearm but there probably are laws about safely discharging one given the proximity of other houses. That's why I chose a shotgun. It wouldn't have made a difference if they were two human beings either.

Hi Finny

Since you mentioned Alaska sled dogs, I had a beautiful red Siberian Husky....could not stop him from digging fox holes in the back yard...I tried everything including some things I would catch the dickens for by freepers if I told you... I finally found out that its instinct to dig for them...finally got a book on them that answered my why....they dig in snow for protection from wind and insulation in the great northern country....Chi Chow didn't know why he dug holes but it is in the breed...I quit punishing him and just dragged him out of his holes and filled them up...not all husky's may do it but if they do its inbred....

My problem with pit owners is that they will never admit that some aggression and kill factor are part of their breed. Some may be able to control it but its always there which makes a lot of them unstable and they can go off without warning...

“...but wondering what my legal standing is if I shoot the dog in my yard.”

It sounds as if that dog is truly dangerous. If I were in your shoes, I’d consult with a lawyer on Tuesday (after the holiday weekend), to find out what my legal options are, and also what an (ahem!) appropriate excuse might be if I did have to shoot the dog ... and then maybe just happen to carry my gun whenever I was outside for a while (if that is legal for you). Better to be “layin’” for a good chance to more-or-less legally put down the dog, than to let it get the drop on you or your wife. Best of luck.

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