Articles Posted in Dog Bites

A 5-year-old girl was seriously injured in a dog attack outside a Starbucks in Ventura the night of July 18, 2013. According to a CBS Los Angeles news report, the dog bite incident occurred in the 600 block of East Main Street. Witnesses told police that the girl and a parent walked by the dog in front of the coffee shop when it lunged at it, bit into her abdomen and lifted her off the ground.
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Nephi Selu, 6, was killed in a dog attack after a relative’s pit bull mauled him. According to a news report in The San Francisco Chronicle, the incident occurred the morning of June 17, 2013 at a grandparent’s home on Elizabeth Way in Union City. Family members said the boy was “actively playing” with the dog and may have attempted to climb onto the animal’s back. The dog then attacked the boy and bit him on top of his head.

Nephi died at the hospital shortly after the attack. Police have determined that the dog was properly licensed and had its required anti-rabies inoculation. The dog’s owner said it had never bitten anyone in the past. Officials said the boy was living with his grandparents and was attending school in Union City. The family reportedly keeps two pit bull mixes in the backyard.
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Samantha Williams, 25, was severely injured in a dog attack in Stockton after she was mauled by two pit bulls. According to a news report in The Record, the dog bite incident occurred in a home in the 1400 block of East Walnut Street. Williams was staying in the room of the house with her close friend, Anthony Morel, 36. At the time of the attack, Morel, who is not the dogs’ owner, was at a nearby store. When he came back, he heard Williams screaming out his name. When she came outside the room, he saw that she was bitten by dogs and was bleeding profusely.
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The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) released the top 10 cities where mail carriers are most often the victims of dog attacks. Once again, Los Angeles has earned the dubious distinction of leading the pack when it comes to the most dog attacks on mail carriers. San Francisco was number four on the list while San Antonio and Seattle tied for second place and Chicago came in third.

According to the U.S. Postal Service, in Los Angeles, dogs attacked 69 postal employees in 2012. Nationwide 5,879 postal employees were attacked. Officials point out that in situations where loose dogs roam neighborhoods, mail delivery to the owner’s neighbors could be curtailed as well. They also say that letter carriers would like it known when they must come to a customer’s door, they would appreciate the dogs being confined elsewhere. Postal workers have reported about incidents where the sight of a postal carrier was so infuriating to the dogs that they would jump right through screen and glass doors.

Dog Bite Prevention Week

Billy Lam and his 12-year-old sheepdog, Crouton, were attacked as they were walking on Fuller Street in West Hollywood. CBS Los Angeles reports that the dog attack occurred over the weekend when Lam was walking with his service dog. They were attacked by two pit bulls. Lam said the dogs clamped down on the sheepdog and that he physically punched a dog more than 15 times after which the dog finally let go. Lam said his service dog has four puncture wounds and that he was also bitten several times. The pit bulls were not on a leash and their owner fled the scene, Lam told CBS News. Lam said the dog provides him comfort as he suffers from panic attacks. The West Hollywood sheriff’s station is investigating the incident.

Pit Bull Attacks

Dogsbite.org reports that between the years 2005 and 2011, pit bulls killed 128 people in the United States. According to statistics gathered by the dog bite victims’ advocacy group, between the years 2006 and 2008, pit bulls accounted for 52 fatalities. During those same years, pit bulls accounted for 59 percent of all fatal dog attacks. Nearly 5 million people in the United States are injured each year as a result of dog attacks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Police have now located the dog and owner involved in a frightening dog bite injury attack at an elementary school in an upscale Virginia neighborhood, according to Falls Church News.

Dog Bite Upsets Residents

Children were frolicking on the playground at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School on Oak Street when the lovely afternoon suddenly turned horrifying. A dog, running loose on the playground, attacked and bit a victim on the leg. According to police sources, two men were allowing the dog to run without a leash and refused to give any information to witnesses after the dog attacked.

Robert Ray, a handyman, told NBC 4 News that an Anaheim police dog attacked him for a full minute, causing injuries that left him hospitalized for a week. The NBC report says Ray and the police department have different accounts of what led up to the encounter. While Ray says that he never saw the dog coming at him until the attack, police officers say the 50-year-old handyman received ample warning about the dog and that he ignored police officers’ orders to stop.

Officers were in the middle of a burglary investigation in an alley behind the North Anaheim Business Center when Ray apparently drove right into the scene. The incident has been recorded by a surveillance camera, but Anaheim police are not releasing the footage until after an internal investigation is completed. Ray was hospitalized with injuries and remained there for a week to get the treatment he needed. The investigation is ongoing.

Does Strict Liability Statute Apply?

Fort Ebey State Park on Whidbey Island in Coupeville, Washington, is closed to visitors as rangers attempt to find two dogs said to be very aggressive, according to Oregon Live. The two dogs allegedly bit one man and forced a woman to lock herself in a restroom on the park grounds to avoid being bitten.

Park rangers found a large pile of dog food at an undisclosed location and believe someone may have abandoned the dogs. The park manager stated that the dogs looked like pit bulls, were growling, and were very aggressive toward him when he saw them. His partner sprayed one of the dogs with pepper spray when it approached the car.

The manager and his partner were called out when a couple reported the aggressive dogs had attacked them. The man and woman were out for a hike when the dogs approached. The man swung his water bottle at one dog and the animal bit him in the leg. He then told his wife to lock herself in the restroom and to call for help. She sent a text message asking park personnel for assistance.