although I find it somewhat odd her own dogs attacked her if they were not ever aggressive toward her or anyone) in the past, I do not think it is an impossibility. We really need to know what forensic evidence was found. The fact that her own relatives have asked for the dogs to be euthanized indicates they likely know more than we are hearing.
An attack this vicious would leave a lot of evidence on those dogs. I would be more curious to know why they may have attacked.
I've seen two fatal dog attacks, but not to people. In one, a pitbull and her puppies killed a beagle. There was blood on the female pit and her puppies when animal control went to their house. Their necks were covered in blood per the animal control officer.
The second attack, a Rottweiler attacked a sheep. Went for it's throat. Not a drop of blood was visible on the Rottweiler.
I'm pretty sure I've read of a case where a dog owner was later found to have died of natural causes but was found with post mortem injuries consistent with a dog attack. The suggestion is that the dog injured the owner's body inadvertently while trying to wake or help him.
I've tried to find a link to this report but it's a very difficult query to word.
I knew a man that died. It was several weeks before anyone realized he was dead. When found, his dogs had eaten on the man. Our local animal control and police felt the dogs were hungry and thus ate but that they didn't kill him. He died from a drug overdose. Those dogs didn't show aggression with the investigators or animal control.
Any breed is capable of attacking someone, the thing is is that the media love to report these incidents when they involve pits, rotties and other large breeds. My 15 pound rat terrier went after my 8 year old grandson and needed I don't remember how many stitches on his face, I later found out that my grandson provoked her because he kept poking her face, she snarled at him with a warning and he kept doing it anyway. I also worked at our county's humane society for years and I feared of being hurt by most of the smaller breeds than anything. I've only read one article about Bethany and haven't come to my own conclusion of what I think happened but anything is possible.
You are correct. ANY dog can bite under the right circumstances. My smallest is 7.5lbs. A mini dachshund. She is my only known biter. While a biter isn't something most owners would want, her damage would be minimum compared to a larger breed. She is closely monitored when anyone comes over. As in put in another room until the visitors leave.
I think you just proved my point - once you hit the ground, dead or alive, you're fair game, an attack trigger. What loving dog would leave injuries consistent with a dog attack? My big dogs, which have awakened me, did so with barking or licking, not biting to the point where I looked like the victim of a dog attack.
I don't know what triggered these dogs to attack their owner. I don't know what relationship they had. Was she a pushover on a day to day basis with them? Did she have to break up a fight and the dogs didn't accept her leadership role? I don't know. I would like to know more in these attacks to see if there's anything we can do to prevent them in the future.
May be right about the breed. Although from images it looks like a pit.
Snip
whom Agnew described as petite, 5-foot-1 and 125 pounds
Agnew said it took deputies hours to wrangle the dogs, which he estimated each weighed as much as Stephens.
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/...cle_ca98bbc2-3676-5121-b337-cdcfbc875293.html
Male 15.8–27.2 kg (35–60 lb)
Female 13.6–22.6 kg (30–50 lb)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pit_Bull_Terrier
Males have a standard desirable height range of 23 to 26 inches (58 to 66 cm)[5] at the withers, with a minimum weight at maturity of 100 pounds (45 kg)[5] and a maximum weight of 65 kilograms (143 lb).[4] Females have a standard desirable height between 22 to 25 inches (56 to 64 cm)[5] at the withers, with a minimum weight at maturity of 85 pounds (39 kg)[5] and a maximum weight of 120 pounds (55 kg).[4]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perro_de_Presa_Canario
I agree with those having something other than what most call a 'pit bull'. I've seen some massive muscle mass in some pits, but if what the LE said about them weighing that much is true, then some other breed is there, whether full or mixed. Which brings me to another topic. A pit pull that has been bred for generations to produce whatever desired traits, whether aggression, the massive muscles, the short stance, etc, has IMO very dominate traits that then will appear if bred with another breed.
In my area, in the rescue world, we see many dogs that are immediately identified as pits by animal control, or at the local pound. I don't know that the dog DNA kits are really accurate, however, of the dogs that the DNA has been sent off, very few actually show a DNA of a bully breed. A good percentage has shown boxer in the breeds, which may account for the square head we see.
There ARE lines of bullies that are bred just for fighting. From what I have heard, seen, etc within the rescue world, those bred for fighting are typically dog aggressive, small animal aggressive, but even those most abused weren't aggressive towards people. I was told that was because the dogs were not to be aggressive in 'the pit' towards humans or they would be culled because the dog fighters didn't want to get bit. I cannot with 100% accuracy say it's true.
I have had people within rescue get highly upset with me, because I believe the breed does matter. Otherwise why would have so many different dog breeds? You don't take a poodle on a bear hunt! You don't use a Chihuahua as a search and rescue. You don't use a Great Pyrenees in agility. Dogs ARE bred for specific jobs. If a known line of bullies has been bred for fighting, IMO, it's a risk putting them around livestock, small children, other animals, and sadly it appears that there are some that can't be trusted around people.
