Dog Bite Law Blog

Pitbull Owner Pleads Guilty - Prosecutors Recommending 11 Years In Prison

Details: Created on Thursday, 12 February 2009 18:30

Thirty-six-year-old Travis Dean Cunningham, whose two pit bulls mauled a 71-year-old woman near SeaTac, Washington, home last September, has pleaded guilty to possession of a dangerous dog. He also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors are recommending an 11-year prison term when he is sentenced March 13 in Seattle.

Confidential Settlement of Civil Case After Dogs Kills Two

Details: Created on Wednesday, 11 February 2009 18:29

Dog owner Diane Cockrell was ordered to serve 43 months to 15 years for the Sept. 13, 2007, deaths of Edward Gierlach, 91, and Cheryl Harper, 56. She began serving her sentence on Jan. 2, 2009. This week, it was announced that the families of the victims had settled their civil claims for wrongful death. However, the settlement amounts were not announced.

When a person dies as a result of wrongdoing, or when there is statutory liability, the family of the deceased person usually is entitled to compensation. The dog bite statutes provide liability in most American states. The compensation is paid by the dog owner's homeowners policy or renters policy.

Insurance helps spread the impact of a loss. Instead of it falling entirely on the victim, and having to be paid entirely by the dog owner, the loss is compensated by an insurance company. The insurance company in turn raised the funds from policyholders and sound investments. In theory and often in practice, this is a great system for spreading losses and helping each other.

However, insurance companies usually are in business for a profit. Their representatives are rewarded for, among things, saving money for the company. The insurance company and its adjusters have incentives for cutting a victim's compensation to a minimum. This is why the victim needs to be represented by an attorney. (For further information, read Does an Adult Need a Lawyer for a Dog Bite Claim? or Should Parents Get a Lawyer for Their Injured Child?.)

Police Rescue Man From His Own Pit Bull -- Can Anyone Explain This To The Rest Of Us?

Details: Created on Friday, 06 February 2009 18:28

This week, police responded to the screams of a pit bull owner from inside his home. Officers found him on the ground, his pit bull clamped onto his arm. When the dog was Tasered, it simply ran to another part of the house, but was captured. The 47-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition. He has requested that his dog be put down. (Click here to read the article.)

We refer to the dog as "man's best friend." But again and again we learn about pit bulls that maul and kill their owners and, more often, their owners' children. What kind of best friend is this? Are we to believe that all of these pit bull owners, whose dogs maim them and their kids, are simply bad people? To the other extreme, are we to assume that all of these particular pit bulls were anomalies -- defective freaks of their breed which should not reflect on or tarnish the reputation of the breed as a whole? Or, as some believe, are all of these news accounts made up by evil journalists who hate dogs?

Those are the three positions that I hear most often. The debate will rage on until a scientific study establishes what, if anything, is wrong with the pit bull. Until that happens, my opinion will be that the dog was hard-wired for violence against other dogs, and additionally has some type of mental defect that causes this violent trait to focus on other living things in a random manner.

And one more thing: love them or hate them, pit bulls were responsible for two-thirds of all fatal dog attacks in the USA last year, and only one U.S. citizen over the age of 3 was killed by a breed other than a pit bull.

Dog Owner Found Guilty of Manslaughter, Sentenced to 5 Years

Details: Created on Sunday, 01 February 2009 18:27

Bentley Collins of Dillon, South Carolina, has been found guilty of one count of involuntary manslaughter and three counts of keeping unconfined dangerous animals in connection with the death of Matthew Davis. (Read the article.)

Even after his six pit bulls mauled the child to death -- even during the trial itself -- this defendant was allowing his other pit bulls to run at large.

Young Boy Killed in Dog Attack - USA's 2nd Fatality in 2009

Details: Created on Wednesday, 14 January 2009 18:25

Four-year-old Alex Angulo of Chicago, Illinois, was mauled to death by a Rottweiler on January 11, 2009. The dog belonged to his foster parents. The child was killed in his own back yard. There were three dogs present, two of them being Rottweilers. No adults were present.

The full story of this particular boy is heartbreaking (Read it.)

The circumstances of this attack included three of the factors on my Dog Attack Danger Scale:

* More than one dog in their own yard, and no master present. In 2008, 78% of the human fatalities were by dogs in their own yard.

* Pit bull, Rottweiler, Akita or Chow. Most fatal dog attacks are by pit bulls. In 2008, 65% of the fatalities were by pit bulls.

* The pack mentality. Three dogs are worse than 2, 4 are worse than 3, etc. Docile dogs often become uncharacteristically violent and vicious when they are in a pack. In 2008, 39% of the fatalities involved multiple dogs.

To evaluate the potential danger in any situation involving dogs, see my Dog Attack Danger Scale on the home page of Dog Bite Law.

Another Child Killed By Dog - USA Fatality #3 for 2009

Details: Created on Monday, 19 January 2009 18:27

On January 15, 2009, Brooklynn Grace Milburn, a 3-year-old girl from Fort Worth, Texas, was killed by a neighbor's Rottweiler dog. She was playing in her back yard when she crawled through a hole in the fence. Her parents believed that the hole was too small for her to get through. (Read the article.)

Two factors on the Dog Attack Danger Scale were present here:

* A dog in its own yard, and no master present.
* Pit bull, Rottweiler, Akita or Chow.

Two other dangerous factors, not on the scale, were also involved:

* Texas is a one-bite state. The law tells dog owners that they need not be vigilant because they won't be held civilly liable until AFTER their dog mauls one person (unless the dog owner's negligence or intentional conduct caused the attack). (To learn more about the Texas law, see Texas. Go to Model Dog Bite Laws if you are interested in eliminating the one-bite law in Texas.)

* The first meeting of a dog and a child. Colleen Lynn, the founder of DogsBite.org, reports that a significant percent of fatalities happen when a dog and a child first meet. For examples, see Canine Homicides at the topic Dangerous and Vicious Dogs on Dog Bite Law.

Man Stabs Pitbull To Death As It Was Attacking His Wife On Street

Details: Created on Friday, 09 January 2009 18:24

Yesterday an ex-Marine stabbed a pit bull to death in Anaheim, California, after it attacked his wife and dogs. It had latched onto his wife's hand, prompting the man to run to a neighbor's house and grab a knife. There were wounds on his and his wife's hands. Police confirmed that the man was within his rights. This was an exercise in self-defense.

When we weigh the rights of dog owners and members of the community, we have to consider whether it is fair to open our streets to dogs that cannot be defended against except by knife-wielding Marines. Children and seniors are killed by rampaging dangerous dogs every month. For this reason, every city and county needs to have a law controlling and restricting dangerous dogs. For one such law that is balanced fairly, see my Model Dangerous Dog Law. If your community does not have such a law or has a weak law, lobby for the passage of my model law, for the sake of your children and neighbors.

Yes, Mickey Thanked His Dogs

Details: Created on Thursday, 15 January 2009 18:26

Accepting his Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Dramatic Motion Picture, Mickey Rourke thanked a number of people and his dogs, including those which were living and those which were not.

He is right to believe that his dogs contributed to his well being and success. The beneficial effect of good dogs on people has been studied scientifically and proven. Mickey's comments made sense and were refreshing to hear.

Pets have the ability to enhance our health and quality of life. Medical and psychological research shows that pets appear to be associated with a broad range of health and emotional benefits, such as increased general health, decreased stress, decreased risk and slower progression of coronary heart disease, enhanced cognitive development in children, and emotional support. (Friedmann, E., The Role of Pets in Enhancing Human Well-Being: Physiological Effects (1990); Poresky, R. H. and Hendrix, C. (1988) Developmental benefits of pets for young children; Pets as Sources of Support for Mothers, Fathers and Young Children. Gail F. Melson, Ph.D., Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907; Rona Schwartz, M.S., Purdue University; Alan Beck, Sc.D, Purdue University.)

Below you can read more about the importance of dogs and other companion animals. The excerpt is from my book, What To Do If Your Dog Is Injured Or Killed (2007).

We love our pets

Americans clearly love our companion animals. There currently are 74.8 million dogs in the USA. (American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey.) We also own 73 million cats. (American Pet Products Manufacturers Association [APPMA] 2001-2002 National Pet Owners Survey.) Four in ten households own a dog and three in ten own a cat. (Id.) There are 11 million households with fish, six million with birds, five million with small animals such as hamsters and rabbits, and three million with reptiles. (Gregory Potts, Pampered Pets Prove Profitable, J. Rec. (Oklahoma City), July 6, 1999.)

Our yearly veterinarian bills average $196 for dogs and $104 for cats. (Ibid., APPMA survey.) During the December 1999 holiday season, the average pet owner spent $95 on gifts for pets. (Anne R. Carey & Marcy E. Mullins, USA Snapshots

Young girl killed in dog attack - USA Fatality #1 for 2009

Details: Created on Thursday, 08 January 2009 18:23

On January 6, 2008, a five year old girl in Thomasville, Georgia, was mauled to death by her parent's pit bulls while she was playing in her own back yard. Chyenne Peppers was playing in the yard of her home when the family's three pit bulls attacked her. Her parents were home at the time, but were inside their house. (The short article is here.

The child was unreasonably exposed to danger, as indicated on my Dog Attack Danger Scale (see the home page of Dog Bite Law). Three dangerous factors were present:

* More than one dog in their own yard, and no master present. In 2008, 78% of the human fatalities were by dogs in their own yard.

* Pit bull, Rottweiler, Akita or Chow. Most fatal dog attacks are by pit bulls. In 2008, 65% of the fatalities were by pit bulls.

* The pack mentality. Three dogs are worse than 2, 4 are worse than 3, etc. Docile dogs often become uncharacteristically violent and vicious when they are in a pack. In 2008, 39% of the fatalities involved multiple dogs.

Because the above factors are commonly known, the conduct of the parents of this child was negligent at best. This warrants prosecution for negligent homicide and child endangerment.

Furthermore, everyone in the State of Georgia shares some degree of responsibility for this death, because the state is following the 17th century dog law of England, namely the so-called one-bite rule. Georgia's dog bite statute incorporates the one-bite rule. The statute is convoluted, requiring two grounds for liability in most cases. I have litigated more than one case in Georgia and fought against not only the statute itself but also the 19th century judicial opinions that further limit Georgia's protection of its children from dogs.

Georgia needs to adopt a dog bite statute that is AMERICAN and is in line with modern views of personal responsibility. The one bite rule needs to be stricken from Georgia's law, and the judicial opinions that say that NO dog owner can be held liable for negligence need to be overturned. To accomplish these goals, Georgia needs to adopt my Model Dog Bite Statute.