773% rise in fatal & disfiguring pit bull attacks from 2007 to 2014

Totals of all fatal and disfiguring dog attacks since 1982, by breed, appear in the tables below.

Absent late reports, such as the belated discovery of a 2014 dog attack victim in early 2015, the dog attack body count for the U.S. and Canada in 2014 is complete, with new record tolls in every category involving pit bulls except fatalities actually inflicted by pit bulls’ teeth, where the toll fell one short of the record 32 in 2012.

The totals of all fatal and disfiguring dog attacks since 1982, by breed, appear in the tables below.

If other deaths resulting from pit bulls are included, 2014 brought new records for numbers of pit bulls involved in fatal or disfiguring on humans, numbers of human victims, numbers of children killed or disfigured, numbers of adults killed or disfigured, total number of fatalities, and total number of disfigurements.

Steep rises in all categories of attack

The number of pit bulls involved in fatal and disfiguring attacks has risen since 2007 from 78 to 603; the number of child victims has increased from 30 to 264; the number of adult victims has increased from 23 to 279; the number of deaths directly inflicted by pit bulls is up from 13 to 31, one short of the high of 32 reached in 2012; and the number of disfigurements has soared from 37 to 451.

Another 120 people were injured by pit bulls in 2014 but not killed or disfigured in attacks in which someone else was killed or disfigured.

Best Friends,  ASPCA,  HSUS

2007 was the year that the Best Friends Animal Society, American SPCA, and the Humane Society of the U.S. ramped up pit bull advocacy in response to the arrest and conviction of Michael Vick on dogfighting-related charges.

Even before 2007 the frequency of fatal and disfiguring pit bull attacks had risen explosively for 25 years. In the entire decade from 1982 to 1992, 104 pit bulls attacked 44 children and 60 adults, killing 18 of the victims, disfiguring 36. Fifty victims escaped without fatal or disfiguring injuries in attacks in which others were killed or disfigured.

The only significance to 1982 in pit bull attack history is that this was the year in which I began logging fatal and disfiguring dog attacks throughout the U.S. and Canada as they happened.

Half or more of all dog attack fatalities since 1844

Retrospective data collection has established that pit bulls have accounted for half or more of all fatal dog attacks in every 10-year time frame since 1844.

However, fatal dog attacks––even when rabies remained uncontrolled––were until recently an extreme rarity. Only 15 fatal dog attacks are known to have occurred in the entire span from 1930 through 1960, including nine by pit bulls, two by Dobermans, and four by unidentified mutts.

Year of Unidentified Killer Dog

Speaking of unidentified mutts, 2014 appears to have been the Year of the Unidentified Killer Dog. Of the 81 dogs involved in fatal and disfiguring attacks since 1982, 36 attacked in 2014 alone. Of the eight fatalities attributed to dogs of unidentified breed since 1982, four occurred in 2014 alone.

Most of these dogs, however, were not really unidentified. Most were apprehended by animal control officers at the scene of the attacks. Many, and probably most of those “unidentified” dogs, were in truth pit bulls or pit mixes, but the animal control officers involved in investigating the cases have shied away from making positive breed identifications. Some are apparently from fear of the influence of organized pit bull advocacy on their employers. Other animal control officers attributing attacks to “unidentified” breeds have themselves had histories of pit bull advocacy.

Year of Shelter/Rescue Dog Attacks

Not surprisingly, 2014 was also the Year of the Shelter/Rescue Dog Attacks. At least 37 dogs in custody of shelters or rescues, or rehomed by shelters or rescues, killed or disfigured someone in 2014. Thirty of those dogs were pit bulls. Only two of the attacks by dogs from shelters or rescues killed someone in 2014, down from the high of five in 2012, but that was a matter of luck, as the number of fatal and disfiguring attacks by shelter and rescue dogs has more than doubled since 2012.

By comparison, there were no fatalities involving shelter or rescue dogs from 1858 through 1987. The first two, both involving wolf hybrids, occurred in 1988 and in 1989. No more occurred for another decade.

24% of shelter/rescue attacks in 2014 alone

There were three fatalities involving shelter or rescue dogs from 1990 through 2009, involving a pit bull, a Doberman, and a Presa Canario.

But there have been 36 fatalities involving shelter dogs from 2010 to present, involving 28 pit bulls, seven bull mastiffs, two Rottweilers, a Lab mix who may have been part pit bull, and a husky.

Also of note, there were 32 disfiguring maulings by shelter dogs from 1858 through 2009, 19 of them involving pit bulls.

From 2010 to present, there have been 122 disfiguring maulings by shelter dogs, 80 of them involving pit bulls.

In other words, 24% of all the disfiguring maulings on record by shelter and rescue dogs came in 2014 alone.

[The 2014 final totals of dog attacks on other animals,  by breed,  will be posted here when complete, a few days from now.]

(See also:  32 years of logging fatal & disfiguring dog attacks,  and How many other animals did pit bulls kill last year?)

Further particulars on the 2014 dog attack fatalities from Jan Smith, with her prefatory comments:

Please note that I do NOT participate in the kennel club breed-name game. Where some ‘breed’ is in fact a mastiff-pit bull mix (such as the bull mastiff or the Cane Corso), I list it as a pit bull-type dog / pit mix.

Please note that I’m counting deaths by pit bull / pit mix ATTACK, whether or not cars killed the targets before the pit bulls could ‘bite’ them to death. The two children who ran into traffic would have been alive today if pit bulls hadn’t initiated an attack on them.

Asterisks (**) indicate that the killer was someone’s beloved family pit bull, who was never abused or neglected.

The double dagger (‡) indicates that the ‘pet’ pit bull belonged to the deceased person, the person’s family, or a relative.

Child fatalities by pit bull-type dogs (18):

Kara Hartrich – 4 y.o. – Bloomington IL ** ‡ [Jan 17]
Je’vaeh Mayes – 2 y.o. – Temple TX ** ‡ [Feb 17 – pit bull was being babysat by child’s parents]
Braelynn Rayne Coulter – High Point, NC ** [February 24]
Kasil Haith – 4 y.o. – Camden, DE [May High Point NC ** ‡ [Feb 24]
Summer Sears – 4 y.o. – Tallassee AL [Feb 26] – killed by supposed ‘shepherd mixes’, at least one of which has been confirmed to be a bull mix)
Kenneth Santillan – 13 y.o. boy – Patterson NJ [28 Feb – bullmastiff, ie pit bull – mastiff mix]
Raymane Camari Robinson – 2 y.o. boy – Killeen TX ** [March 1 – bullmastiff, ie pit bull – mastiff mix]
Mia Derouen – 4 y.o. – Houme, LA** ‡ [March 25]
Christopher Malone – 3 y.o. – Holmes County, MS** ‡ [March 31]
John Harvard – 5 y.o. – Riverside, St. Clair County, AL** [April 6]

Demonta Collins – 13 y.o. – Augusta, GA – [April 10] — chased into traffic by an attacking pit bull, killed by an oncoming car
Davon Jigget – 17 – Fulton County, GA ** [April 11] – chased into traffic by an attacking pit bull, killed by an oncoming car7]

Holden William Garrison – 10 weeks old – Springfield Township, MI ** ‡ [June 8 – friends of the family confirm that the ‘Cathoula’ was a pit bull mix]
Logan Sheppard – 4 y.o. – Riverview, FL ** ‡ [July 19]
Jonathan Quarles, Jr. – 7 m.o. – Dayton, OH ** [July 20]
Joey Chirieleison – 6 y.o. – Fanning Springs, FL ** ‡ [August 7]
Deriah Solem – 22 m.o. – St. Charles County, MO ** ‡ [attacked August 7, died August 9]
Javon Dade, Jr. – 4 y.o. – Goulds, FL ** ‡ – [August 13]

Adult fatalities by pit bull type dogs (17):

Christina Bell-Burleson – 43 – Houston TX ** [Jan 5]
Betty Clark –75 y.o. – Canyon Lake, TX ** — [attacked December 21, 2013, died January 6, 2014]
Klonda Richey – 57 y.o.  – Dayton OH ** [Feb 7 – two pit bull / mastiff mixes]
Nancy Newbury – 77 y.o. – Phoenix AZ** ‡ [March 13]
Dorothy Hamilton – 85 y.o. – Kaufman, TC** ‡ [March 31]
Petra Yanez Aguirre – 83 y.o. – San Antonio, TX ** [attacked March 31, died April 11]
Kate Morrison – 20 y.o. – Smiths Station, AL** [attacked April 28, died May 3]
Rita Pepe – 93 y.o. – Branford, CT** [attacked April 13, died May 25]
Jessica Dawn Norman – 33 y.o. – Sebring, FL [April 28]
Craig Sytsma – 46 y.o. – Metamora, MI ** [July 23 – two Cane Corsos, which is a pit bull – mastiff mix]
Cindy Whisman – 59 y.o. – Madison Township, OH ** ‡ [August 4]
David Glass – 61 y.o. – Benton County, MS [September 20]
Alice Payne – 75 y.o. – Cave City, AR ** ‡ [September 26]
Juan Fernandez – 59 y.o. – Modesto, CA [attacked October 14, died October 15]
Alemeaner Dial – 83 y.o. – Robeson County, NC ** ‡ – [attacked October 26, died October 31]
Rita Ross – 64 y.o. – Corpus Christi, TX ‡ – [December 16 – five pit bulls she was ‘fostering’]
Edward Cahill – 40 y.o. – Portage, IN ** ‡ – [December 25 – killed by own 8 y.o. pet pit bull]

Rottweiler killings (4):

Annabel Martin – 89 y.o. – Corona CA [Jan 26]
Nyhiem Wilfong – 1 y.o. – Caldwell County, NC [May 5]
Logan T. Myer – 7 y.o. – Hustisford, WI [October 24] – parents’ dog, attack trained (IPO)
Christopher Camejo – 2 y.o. – Crystal River, FL [December 6]

Killings by other breeds or ‘breed unknown’ (6):

Gracie Hernetier-Clark – 7 y.o. – Springfield, Manitoba, Canada [March 16] – killed by an Alaskan Malamute
Deanne Lynn Coando – 40 y.o. – Wind River Indian Reservation, WY [November 12] – feral dogs, likely at least some of them pit bull types / mixes
Stella Antanaitis – 91 y.o. – Stratford, CT [Attacked November 14, died November 18] – keeshond mix
Jayla Rodriguez – 8 y.o – Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD [November 18] – killed by ‘stray dogs’ in a place where roaming pit bulls and Rottweilers have been a problem.
Bobbie Chevallier – 85 y.o. – [attacked November 26,died December 1] – stray dogs, one of which ‘looked like a wolf hybrid. GSD or chow mix.’
Jose Robles – 62 y.o. – Rockingham County, NC [November 23] – likely attacked by a group of 15 wandering ‘Blue heelers and hounds.’

Non-attack fatalities:

Carlos Eligio Trevina – 54 y.o. – Idaho Falls ID ** – [Jan 9] – Died of a heart attack immediately after breaking up a fight between his seven pit bulls / pit mixes.

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