Deaths due to dog eclipse previous records.
Deaths by pit bull might; it’s all in how you count them.
Dogs caused the deaths of a record 63 Americans and three Canadians in 2022, the fortieth consecutive year that ANIMALS 24-7 has logged fatal and disfiguring dog attacks occurring throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The U.S. and Canadian totals combined come to 66, preliminary data indicates.
The U.S. toll eclipsed the previous record, 56 deaths in 2017, by seven.
The previous record toll for the U.S. and Canada combined, also reached in 2017, was 57, eclipsed by eight.
Dogs who killed 12 remain unidentified
Pit bulls identified as such accounted for 41 of the U.S. dog attack deaths in 2022, along with one Canadian. The U.S. pit bull toll was one fewer than the record 2021 U.S. pit bull-inflicted death count, but the dogs who killed 12 U.S. victims in 2022 have yet to be identified.
Pit bulls are believed to have been involved in at least 10 of those attacks, most of which were unwitnessed.
Four 2022 fatalities were inflicted by German shepherds, three by Rottweilers, and one each by Cane Corso, Dogo Argentino, Dogue de Bordeaux, and by husky.
Cane Corso, Dogo Argentino, Dogue du Bordeaux all are essentially pit bull variants.
(See Cane Corso: A pit bull by any other name.)
Cane Corso or pit bull?
Cane Corso enthusiasts have vigorously insisted that Pam Robb, 71, killed on February 17, 2022 at the 100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida shelter in Oakland Park, Florida, should be counted as a pit bull victim. Pit bull enthusiasts have equally vigorously insisted that Robb should be counted as a Cane Corso victim.
While ANIMALS 24-7 has logged Robb as a Cane Corso victim, as was initially claimed by 100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida, Gladys the killer dog was later said by 100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida to be a pit bull.
If so, the 2022 U.S. pit bull toll matched the 2021 record.
[See Will lawsuit over Pam Robb death expose history of dog who killed her?]
Disfigurements are down in COVID-19 years
Reported dog attack disfigurements in 2022 remained far fewer than in the pre-COVID-19 decade from 2010 to 2019, even as fatalities have trended upward.
Disfiguring pit bull attacks during the COVID-19 years, 2020 through 2021, have hovered around 400 per year, 86% of the total for all dogs, counting disfigurements as attacks ranging from a high four to a five on the Ian Dunbar scale of severity.
(See https://apdt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ian-dunbar-dog-bite-scale.pdf.)
This is well below the average of 687 reported pit bull disfigurements for the four pre-COVID-19 years of 2016-2019.
More children disfigured; fewer adults
Disfiguring pit bull attacks on children, however, were up 25% in 2022, even as disfiguring attacks on adults dropped by 13%, to the lowest total recorded since 2012.
The paradox that fatalities are up while disfigurements of adults are down may be best explained by under-reporting, and perhaps by reluctance on the part of some adult pit bull attack victims to seek medical help while hospitals continue to struggle with overflows of COVID-19 patients.
The ANIMALS 24-7 roster of 2023 U.S. and Canadian pit bull fatalities is below.
For the complete ANIMALS 24-7 data log, 1982-2022, click here:
Dog attack stats with breed FINAL % 2022
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Meet the 2022 dog attack dead, listed by breed type
CANE CORSO
1) Pam Robb, 71, 2-17-2022, Oakland Park, FL. Rescue dog also mauled Jan Haas Stenger, 52.
[See Will lawsuit over Pam Robb death expose history of dog who killed her?]
DOGO ARGENTINO
1) Soon Han, 80, 10-7-2022, San Bernardino, CA. Two dogs killed victim on walk.
[See Dogo Argentinos running at large kill 80-year-old woman out for a walk.]
DOGUE DE BORDEAUX
1) Charlotte Hollman, 3 months, 1-25-2022, Gulf Breeze, Florida. Killed by grandmother’s dog. After obtaining photos of what appears to be the killer dog, ANIMALS 24-7 suspects this was actually a mix of pit bull with mastiff and Great Dane, with pit bull dominant, though this appears not to be acknowledged in official documents.
PIT BULL
1) Lola Jayde Farr (Oxner), 2, 2-3-2022, Foxworth, MS. Aunt’s pit bull.
2) Jay Sims, 67, 2-10-2022, Winona, TX. Heart attack.
3) Unidentified African-American male, 43, 2-22-2022, Lancaster, CA. Neighbor’s pit bull. Heart attack.
4) Drué Parker, 4, 2-23-2022, Baytown, TX. Aunt’s boyfriend’s pit bull.
5) Serenity Garnett, 7 mos., 3-22-2022, Martinez, GA. Family pit bull called Great Pyrenees mix.
6) Shawna Jo Bell, 42, 4-10-2022, Esthete, WY. Believed to be pit bull running at large, later killed.
[See 15 years ago Michael Vick’s pit bulls killed the humane movement.]
7) Maria Rachel Perez, 59, 4-21-2022, Mission, TX. Two family pit bulls.
[See 15 years ago Michael Vick’s pit bulls killed the humane movement.]
8) Erin Beach, 45, 4-21-2022, Newberry, SC. Own pit bull.
[See 15 years ago Michael Vick’s pit bulls killed the humane movement.]
9) Juan Ruiz, 66, 4-29-2022, Kewanee, IL. Killed by his own pit bull, while breaking up a fight with another pit bull
(Facebook photo)
10) Jacqueline Summer Beard, 58, 4-29-2022, Red Bay, AL. Alabama Public Health Department worker Michelle Sheeks was fatally injured by the same dogs while investigating the attack the next day. 6-7 pit bulls; owner Brandy Dowdy criminally charged.
[See Five pit bull attack deaths in five days: these were the victims.]
11) Sarah Hankerson, 72, 5-8-2022, Rocky Mount, NC. Accidentally shot by son Christopher Edwards while Edwards was under attack by his own pit bull.
12) Scottie Brigman, 34, 5-14-2022, Ruby district, Chesterfield County, SC. Four-pit bull attack.
13) Shalom Guifarro, 9, 5-15-2022. Brooklyn, NY. Mother Shamaine Cato, 48, is charged with beating Guifarro to death. The family pit bull repeatedly bit Guifarro during the incident.
[See Georgia pit bull owner hit with rare criminal charges in mother’s death.]
(Beth Clifton collage)
14) Betty Ann “Rusty” Williams, 86, 6-5-2022, Calgary, Alberta. Three pits kept by neighbors Denis Ivan Bagarić and Talyn Lexie Calkins,.
[See Owner charged in Calgary pit bull death case was known to police.]
15) Nicholas Vasquez, 51, 6-9-2022, Harris County, TX. Three free-roaming pit bulls. Died 7 days later.
16) Andrew Woods, 57, 6-10-2022, Anton, TX. Fatal heart attack while accosted by three “American bullies.”
17) Trena Ranee Peed, 46, 7-7-2022, Greensboro, NC. Two pit bulls she was dog-sitting.
[See Five pit bull attack deaths in five days: these were the victims.]
18) Lea Freeman, 4, 7-9-2022, Oak Cliff, Dallas, TX. Three pit bulls left in home with 2 toddlers.
[See Five pit bull attack deaths in five days: these were the victims.]
19) Dennis Moore, 62, 7-10-2022, St. Louis. Three pit bulls running at large.
[See Five pit bull attack deaths in five days: these were the victims.]
20) Apollo Duplantis, 1, 7-11-2022, New Orleans.
[See Five pit bull attack deaths in five days: these were the victims.]
21) Michelle Sheeks, 44, 7-12-2022, Red Bay, AL, died nearly three months after being injured in April 28 attack that also led to death of Alabama Public Health Department worker Jacqueline Summer Beard.
[See Georgia pit bull owner hit with rare criminal charges in mother’s death.]
22) Chuck Evans, 83, 7-14-2022, Noelville, Ontario. Heart attack while trying to rescue pit owner.
[See Pit bull fatality streak reaches seven in eight days.]
23) Freddy Garcia, 71, 7-18-2022, Fresno, TX. Seven pit bulls owned by neighbor Samuel Joseph Cartwright.
[See Pit bull attack death streak reaches nine in nine days.]
24) Ronald D. Jones, 64, 7-23-2022, Bethalto, IL. Two pit bulls apparently belonging to niece Cris Tena Joolen.
25) Marina Verriest, 70, 7-27-2022, Albertson, NY. Deceased son’s pit bull.
[See Victims escaped dangerous nations but could not escape deadly dogs.]
(Beth Clifton collage)
26) Richard “Hutch” Barry, 59, 7-31-2022, Selma, CA. Five English/pit bulldog crosses.
[See “English bulldog”: two dog breeds, one name, & a rising body count.]
27) Bob Stevens, 62, 8-6-2022, Castaic, CA. Own pit bull.
28) Joan Cafflel, 88, 8-9-2022, Los Vegas, NV. Own pit bull.
29) Pamela Jane Rock, 61, 8-21-2022, Interlachen, FL. Five pit bulls.
[See Drivers Jamie Burnam & Pam Rock, killed by dogs, exemplify rising trend.]
30) Unidentified man, 9-7-2022, Detroit. Same pit bull killed man at same address on 4-4-2023, according to owner Dustin Shepherd.
[See Pit bulls kill would-be rescuer in Detroit & two-year-old in Maryland.]
31) Rusty Shane Burris, 32, 9-10-2022, Old Fort, TN. Relatives’ “gator” pit pull.
[See Pit bull “nanny dogs” kill three children, two adults, in nine days.]
32) Mary Elizabeth Gehring, 88, 9-17-22, Golden, CO. Family pit bull & another pit bull also mauled grandson Ty.
[See Pit bull “nanny dogs” kill three children, two adults, in nine days.]
33) Jack Looney, 64, 9-27-22, Lubbock, TX. Three free-roaming pits, who separately mauled female victim.
[See Pit bull “nanny dogs” kill three children, two adults, in nine days.]
34) Hollace Bennard, 5 months, 10-5-2022, Millington, TN. Two family pit bulls also killed sister & left mother Kirstie Jane Bennard in critical condition.
(Facebook photo)
[See Pit bull “nanny dogs” kill three children, two adults, in nine days.]
35) Lilly Jane Bennard, 2 years, 10-5-2022, Millington, TN. Two family pit bulls also killed sister & left mother Kirstie Jane Bennard in critical condition.
[See Pit bull “nanny dogs” kill three children, two adults, in nine days.]
36) Rosetta Marian Russell Gesselman, 81, 10-7-2022, LaGrange, GA. Daughter’s pit bull & 2 pit/mastiff mixes. Daughter Tongia Gesselman charged with felony involuntary manslaughter.
[See Georgia pit bull owner hit with rare criminal charges in mother’s death.]
37) Michael Lane, 48, 10-8-2022, Kingston, TN. Died 13 days after September 25, 2022 mauling by two loose pit bulls kept by Charles Henry Green, 51, facing charges for soliciting a teenager.
38) Kimberly Dawn Morris, 56, 10-29-2022, Mclean, TX. Persons indicating knowledge of the case have alleged that Morris was killed by two brown male pit bulls.
39) Unidentified child, 11-3-2022, Nob Hill, Springdale, AR. The dog involved was identified by neighbors as an “outside” pit bull.
[See Tyson executive bust upstages three dog attack fatalities in a week.]
40) Evangeline Brooks, 88, 11-7-2022, Richmond, VA. Killed by free-roaming pit bull.
[See Tyson executive bust upstages three dog attack fatalities in a week.]
41) Sam Sullivan, 57, 11-21-2022, West Memphis, AR. (Attacked 11-8-2022.)
42) Melanie Catley, 70, 12-8-2022, Hampstead, NC. Attacked by neighbor’s two chained pit bulls.
Not counted: Timothy Reels, 62, 2-21-2022, Spadra, AR. Amputee and former polio victim was found dead in woods, after multi-day search, in sub-freezing weather beside wrecked 4-wheeler and his 13-year-old pit bull. While the dog’s behavior in theory might have contributed to the accident, for example by occasioning a sudden swerve into the icy ravine where the 4-wheeler landed, no evidence was reported to establish exactly what happened.
(Tellico Village Ladies Golf Association photo)
GERMAN SHEPHERD / MALINOIS
1) Saad Al-Anazi, 56, 1-27-2022, Las Cruces, NM. Neighbor Maria Kelley’s two German shepherds.
2) Janet E. Means, 71, 3-30-2022, Tellico Village, TN. Dog trained by husband Roger L. Means.
[See “Personal protection dogs” kill two in Knoxville suburbs in under 100 days.]
3) Sylvain Boissonneault, 56, 6-17-2022, Sudbury, Ontario. Capnocytophaga bacterial infection.
4) Jamie Burnham, 49, 10-24-2022, Excelsior Springs, MO. Amazon drive. Police shot German shepherd and English mastiff at scene.
GREAT DANE
1) Mindy Kiepe, 43, Rossie, IA, 8-15-2022. Killed by her own five Great Danes.
HUSKY
1) Baby girl, 4 days, Cave Springs, AR, 12-14-2022. Family dog.
ROTTWEILER
1) Olivia Grace Floyd, 7, 1-29-2022, Waynesboro, VA.
[See Rottweiler killing of seven-year-old brings murder charges in Virginia.]
2) Debbie Reeser Boyd, 70, 6-3-2022, Seymour, TN. Two Rottweilers owned by sex offender son.
[See “Personal protection dogs” kill two in Knoxville suburbs in under 100 days.]
3) Unidentified Guatemalan female, 11-3-2022, Laredo, TX.
[See Tyson executive bust upstages three dog attack fatalities in a week.]
UNKNOWN
1) Francis Cavanaugh, 6, 3-27-2022, Spirit Lake, ND. Unwitnessed pack attack.
[See “Rez dogs” kill two people in two days––but likely were not born there.]
2) Chaille Simone Morgan, 27, 3-28-2022, Tama, IA. Five-dog attack.
[See “Rez dogs” kill two people in two days––but likely were not born there.]
3) Melitta Hain, 85, 4-8-2022, Billings, MT. Three-dog attack.
4) Cyrus Talkington, 38, 4-22-2022, Wichita, KS. Heart attack after bite.
[See 15 years ago Michael Vick’s pit bulls killed the humane movement.]
5) Anita Mears, 61, 4-26-2022, Harrah, OK. Reported 3-dog attack injured Mears’ dog too.
6) Unidentified homeless man, 5-14-2022, Austin, TX.
7) Rhonda Persall, 57, 5-22-2022, Jones Chapel, AL. Three-dog attack on neighbor’s property.
8) Unidentified Hopi, 6-11/12/2022, Hotevilla, AZ.
[See Tribal tradition of silence favors dog owners over dog attack victims.]
9) Omar Ghawtah, 16, 7/19/2022, Houston, TX. Was chased in front of car by dog pack.
[See Victims escaped dangerous nations but could not escape deadly dogs.]
10) Shirley Johnson, 69, 8-14-2022, Gritney, FL. (Killed by 3-dog pack, breed info withheld.)
11) Unidentified male, 8-26-2022, Channelview, Houston, TX. Bicyclist.
12) Guillermo Guzman, 39, found dead on 11-21-2022 in Little Rock, AR, believed to have died earlier. Reported Jack A. Webb for KATV, “Authorities noted that the “suspicious trauma” on Guzman’s body appeared to be caused by post-mortem animal predation, which means animals had fed on the body after his death.” No cause of death has been named pending autopsy results from the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory.
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All of this list is horrible and inexplicable. The wife who died by her husband’s trained Shepard, the homeless man, and the baby killed by a pet are just of the few deaths that bewilder me. Do other countries have lists like these? Nepal does not, and there are yappy wild dog packs in every nook and cranny here. Hungry ones too, but no reports of predation or dogs eating the homeless! There must be something else at play here other than dog breeds. The food? Water? Training (or lack of)? Something is wrong there, and I don’t think it’s the dogs…
Indeed, other nations do have lists like this. ANIMALS 24-7 now collected 30 years worth of dog attack fatality data from the U.K., 18 years worth from South Africa, and 17 years’ worth from Australia, among nations from which the data appears to be complete, & without exception the numbers very heavily tilt toward pit bulls and similar pit bull-type dogs as those most often inflicting deaths and disfigurements. ANIMALS 24-7 has also collected dog attack death data, where available, from many nations in the developing world with abundant street dogs, including India, which borders Nepal. Homeless and hungry street dogs, as it turns out, rarely harm anyone unless rabid. But they also have co-evolved over the past several millennia with civilization itself, whereas pit bulls and their close variants have been purpose-bred and line-bred to wage war, hunt escaped slaves, and fight bulls, bears, lions, & each other for human entertainment. Even if this had gone on only since Elizabethan times, it would have been for as many dog generations as there have been human generations since all humans last had a common ancestor, between nine and 10,000 years ago.
“But they also have co-evolved over the past several millennia with civilization itself, whereas pit bulls and their close variants have been purpose-bred and line-bred to wage war, hunt escaped slaves, and fight bulls, bears, lions, & each other for human entertainment. ” Basically pitbulls are trained terrorists left to roam around human settings.
Thanks for the great work
It is the dogs, Jigs. Pit bull mixes and their associates kill more women and children than men. To be frank, the reasons are so obvious, but no one wants to say them. Women and children have much in common to a dog:
1. They are rarely, if ever, considered the Alpha in the home.
2. They have high-pitched, squirrelly voices that identify them to pits as weak and/or prey.
People who have these dogs make excuses for them, treat them like babies, and ignore any possibility that they are different from Labradors. They wrongly assume that they can control them if they get out of line. Dogs in the home are considered family and the home is a safe place, ergo nothing bad can happen.
I appreciate all the detective work that went into this very sad list. Sharing with colleagues.
Sharing with gratitude, in the interest of education…and hoping and praying for an end to these absolutely senseless and avoidable maimings and killings!
And during the same period: 9,346,600,000 chickens, 223,000,000 turkeys, 33,200,000 cattle, and 128,900,000 pigs were slaughtered for food in the United States giving a roughly 131 million to one ratio for terrestrial domestic animals killed by humans versus humans killed by dogs in North America. (And those numbers don’t include any wild or aquatic animals killed for pleasure or profit.) If we compare the yearly number of articles in this publication dealing with dog assaults on humans versus human assaults on animals the ratio seems roughly around 1:4-5. Am I the only one who notices a certain lack of perspective here and misplaced prioritization of ethical concerns? Can you say “speciesism”? No disrespect but maybe a more accurate title for this journal might be “Pit Bulls 24-7”.
In truth, only one independent online periodical covering the news of animal advocacy, Sentient Media, appears to have published more original articles about farmed animals and fish killed for human consumption during 2022 than ANIMALS 24-7 –– and Sentient Media covers nothing else.
No other independent online periodical covering the news of animal advocacy covers dog attacks at all, which kill more humans & animals each and every year than any form of animal fighting, including cockfighting, bullfighting, dogfighting, and rodeo, documented cases of individual acts of cruelty to animals, and even involves more animals than are rescued each year from hoarding situations.
Meanwhile, animal advocates have no direct control whatever over the slaughter industry. The overwhelming majority of the ANIMALS 24-7 audience appear to be already vegetarian or vegan, many for decades, having an opportunity to influence animal consumption only indirectly.
But animal advocates do have substantial direct control over which dogs are popularized to encourage breeding, which dogs are promoted for adoption, how dogs are regulated, how (and if) dogs are insured and trained, where the priorities of humane organizations are placed –– in short, over almost every aspect of the cultural atmosphere that ignores to the point of sociopathy and psychopathy the harm to both humans and animals resulting from dangerous dog proliferation.
The Dogue de Bordeaux is not “essentially (a) pit bull variant” as the author asserts. Many of the bite cases that refer to Dogue de Bordeaux are in fact pit bulls, or pit bull mixes. The case cited in the article was a mix, which means it possibly had no DDB in it at all.
I frequently am alerted to Dogue de Bordeaux that are up for adoption only to discover they are really pit bulls that have been misidentified.
This is baffling because they bear no resemblance to each other, in size or temperament.
Please don’t malign a gentle, easy to own (drool aside!) breed.
ANIMALS 24-7 does not doubt that “Many of the bite cases that refer to Dogue de Bordeaux are in fact pit bulls, or pit bull mixes,” nor do we doubt that many “Dogue de Bordeaux that are up for adoption…are really pit bulls that have been misidentified.” Further, after obtaining photos of what appears to be the killer dog, ANIMALS 24-7 suspects this was actually a mix of pit bull with mastiff and Great Dane, with pit bull dominant, though this appears not to be acknowledged in official documents. As ANIMALS 24-7 has often pointed out, misidentification of pit bulls to try to make them more adoptable is endemic in the animal sheltering sector, and contributes to many deaths and injuries both of humans and of other animals.
However, even the American Kennel Club history of the Dogue de Bordeaux acknowledges that it is descended from “immense mastiff-types utilized by the Romans as both war dogs and ferocious gladiators who did battle with other dogs and wild beasts in the arena,” that they remained “fighting dogs” for circa 1,700 years, and that later they “found work as livestock drovers, a job that earned them the nickname ‘Butcher’s Dog’.” These are essential elements of pit bull history.