Moms killed by dogs remembered in memoriam on Mother’s Day 2026

Daughter of mother-&-daughter volunteer team receives $450,000 settlement for disfiguring dog attack at Orange County Animal Care

WOLVERHAMPTON, U.K.;  LANGLEY,  Kentucky;  NEW YORK,  N.Y.;  ORANGE COUNTY,  California;  TACOMA,  Washington;  ENGLEWOOD,  Florida––On Mother’s Day,  May 10,  2026,  two mothers recently killed by dogs were remembered and mourned by their adult children,  one mother proudly posted photos of her three sons to Facebook while furiously “quitting” her own pit bull rescue over criticism for having euthanized a pit bull she deemed dangerous,  and animal shelters in Orange County,  California,  Tacoma,  Washington,  and Englewood,  Florida continued to pay a public price for not promptly euthanizing known dangerous dogs.

“Carol Hall,  78,  a retired lock factory worker,”  also known as Lila Hall,  “was mauled by two dogs,”  a pair of Rottweilers,  “in her Wolverhampton,  West Midlands flat,”  reported Lucy Thornton from London,  England,  for The Mirror on April 17,  2026.

“My mum’s been killed!”

“Her daughter was heard screaming ‘my mum’s been killed.’  Police said the pensioner was pronounced dead at the scene,”  Thornton continued.

Hall was victim of the third fatal dog attack in England within the week.

(See U.K. Bully XL ban slows Bully XL fatalities, but pit bull attack deaths go on.)

A 37-year-old man,  whose name has not been released,  was charged with violations of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in connection with Hall’s death.

“Good dogs,  but time for them to go home”

Cynthia Lynn Prater,  64,  mother of two adult sons,  was killed by a German shepherd on April 26,  2026 near her home in Langley,  Kentucky.

“Investigators said video from the area captured what appear to be the final moments of her life, showing an apparent attack by a German shepherd from the neighborhood,”  reported Kadann Bonecutter for WSAZ television news in Huntington,  West Virginia.

“Officials said the dog has since been euthanized and will undergo further examination,”  Bonecutter added.

Prater is believed to have known the German shepherd who killed her.  On March 9,  2026 she posted to Facebook a photograph of a German shepherd coming through a doorway beneath a painting of an angel,  captioned “They’re good dogs,  but it’s time for them to go home.”

Gunther

Terre Wood,  70,  founder of NovaStar Rescue,  primarily a pit bull rescue in Dover,  Arkansas,  both before and after posting photos of her three sons to Facebook,  posted a series of sharp-tongued “resignation” messages in response to online bashing over a case originating with a lawsuit filed by former Sean Casey Animal Rescue volunteer Dana Paoli in Brooklyn against Sean Casey.

Paoli,  explained New York Post writer Katherine Donlevy,  is “trying to claw back a $1,000 donation he made to Sean Casey Animal Rescue after the death of Gunther,”  a two-year old pit bull with bite history and a reputation for unpredictably violent outbursts,  who was “shipped on March 29,  2026 to NovaStar Rescue and euthanized four days later on April 3,  2026,  with a veterinarian ruling that Gunther was ‘very aggressive.'”

Added Donlevy,  “Sean Casey Animal Rescue’s lawyers expect the case to get thrown out and have raised the possibility of bringing a defamation suit against Paoli.”

Explained attorney Ezra Glaser,  representing Sean Casey Animal Rescue,  “We’re seeing this focused attack,  because this person became close to a dog,  where he misrepresents the nature of the dog and he misrepresents what happened to the dog.”

Wood denounces pit bull advocate “bitches & whores”

Meanwhile,  responded Wood on May 5,  2026,  “This is Terre and this will be my last post about NovaStar Rescue.  No,  I am not closing this rescue.  But I am leaving.  I am resigning from my own board.  Leaving my own rescue I built with my own blood sweat tears and money.  And now I’m done.

“I’m 70 years old and I don’t want to spend however much life I have left getting bashed by bitches and whores that know nothing about me, my life or my rescue,”  Wood said,  “and I’m just done.

“I know in my own heart and mind that I saved hundreds of pit bulls over this last 13 years,  more than any of all of you bitches put together could ever hope to fucking save,  but I’m done now. You can save them or you can let them die on the side of the road,  but that blood is on your hands now,  bitches,”  Wood added.

“An email last night bashing us yet again pushed the last button,”  Wood said.  “And when a fellow rescuer I had worked with took her own life three  weeks ago,  I cannot get past that.  Hateful words and BITCHES drove her to it.  I don’t want to be next.”

$450,000 settlement

Orange County,  California,  meanwhile agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by former Orange County Animal Care shelter volunteer Emily Moncur.

Moncur,  46, was in August 2023 bitten 18 times in the shelter by an alleged Labrador/beagle mix named Blaze while photographing the dog for an adoption promotion.

“The complaint alleged that Moncur’s injuries were greater because volunteers were told to handle dogs and complete tasks alone without prior training;  and because of limited staffing no one was in the nearby vicinity who could respond to an emergency,”  reported Suhauna Hussain for the Los Angeles Times on May 8,  2026.

“Employees at the facility did not hear her screaming during her struggle with the dog because they were encouraged to wear earplugs at work,  according to the complaint,”  Hussain continued.

Moncurs were “Volunteers of the Month”

Said Moncur in a statement to the Orange County Register,  “The dog who attacked me was part of a cruelty case where he was severely abused by his owner and her family,  which was not disclosed to volunteers.  He was fast tracked for adoption,  exposing not only volunteers but also the public to this dangerous dog by featuring him at an adoption event two days prior to him attacking me.”

The Orange County Animal Care website  in June 2022 pronounced itself “proud to announce that our Volunteers of the Month are our wonderful Mother/Daughter Team,  Gini and Emily Moncur!  The Moncurs joined us 3 years ago and are fixtures in our Small Dog Playgroup.  They have also volunteered in our Greeter Program and helped out with Special Events.  In addition to being half of this Dynamic Duo,  Emily is a talented photographer and is regularly called upon to photograph our animals.  Both Gini and Emily are passionate animal rescuers and advocates.  We are so lucky to have their years of experience, their many hours of service, and their tender hearts for our shelter animals.”

But all of that apparently did not make the Moncurs valuable enough to protect from a dog with known high-risk history.

Fast runners meet slow learners

Nearly three years later the humane community has yet to learn the lessons exemplified by the Moncur case,  and many others in which comparable negligence has come with a markedly higher price tag.

            (See L.A. Animal Services’ pays $31.85 million to victims of shelter dog attacks.)

That was glaringly obvious in Tacoma,  Washington,  on May 3,  2026,  in Dune Peninsula Park immediately following the half marathon part of the Tacoma City Marathon road racing card.

Runner Paul Baek,  58,  a retired medical doctor who formerly practiced in Korea,  had just finished,  recounted Shea Johnson for the Tacoma News Tribune,  “when his 10-year-old toy poodle,  Brownie,  greeted him at the race’s end.  The dog ran and jumped at him, as he normally did,  with ‘his whole heart,  his whole body,'”  Baek told Johnson.

Pit bull killed poodle

Seconds later,  Brownie was killed by a pit bull brought to the Tacoma City Marathon finishing area by a volunteer for the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County,  which was an event sponsor.

Video showed that the big male pit bull had not been castrated.

Baek “said he wants to know why a dog surrendered by his owner only two days earlier was allowed to attend a crowded event with children and other dogs,  particularly without a muzzle.  He also questioned the training given to agency volunteers entrusted with handling dogs,”  Johnson paraphrased.

Alexis Drugge,  29,  had also just finished the half marathon.

Six-part video details Humane Society failures

Drugge,  Johnson continued,  “said she didn’t witness the attack because she was turned around,  but her family saw it.  Immediately afterward, Drugge and her fiancé,  who have four large dogs of their own,  helped the Humane Society volunteer handle the attacking dog,  Dallas,  and then left the park to meet up with the volunteer at the Tacoma & Pierce County Humane Society.”

The volunteer,  Drugge explained in a six-part video posted to TikTok,  “was standing there completely lost and traumatized,  shaking,  not sure what to do with the dog.”

“From Drugge’s perspective,”  summarized Johnson,  “the Humane Society failed everyone involved.  The volunteer clearly lacked the necessary training,  and Dallas should never have been there in the first place, according to Drugge.

“Too big to be operating with such negligence”

Said Drugge,  noting that Dallas wore a vest advertising that he was available for adoption,  “I believe [the Tacoma & Pierce County Humane Society] are too big of an organization,”  with annual revenue exceeding $10 million,  “to be operating with such negligence.  This could have completely been prevented.”

“Drugge said that she felt compelled to publicly relay her experience because she claimed that the Humane Society had been dismissive about the attack and appeared to be trying to skirt accountability when she spoke to staff,”  Johnson added.

Concluded Johnson,  “In response to the incident,  the Humane Society said it is reviewing its event protocols,  including how dogs are selected for and managed at off-site events.”

The pit bull Dallas was subsequently euthanized.

“The Humane Society is supposed to be saving dogs, but they got two dogs killed,”  Drugge fumed.

“Brown lab mix”

The pit bull attack at the Tacoma City Marathon came less than a month after a nine-year-old girl was airlifted on April 8,  2026 from the Suncoast Humane Society campus in Englewood,  Florida,  to Tampa General Hospital after suffering severe facial and leg injuries inflicted by a “brown lab mix.”

“The child was with her mother and another child meeting a dog when the incident occurred,”  acknowledged the Suncoast Humane Society in a prepared statement.

“Officials with Charlotte County Animal Control said the dog involved in the attack is currently quarantined at the humane society while an investigation is underway,”  reported Muhammad Abdul Qawee for Gulf Coast News.

“Once the investigation is complete,”  Qawee explained,  “Animal Control will make a recommendation regarding the outcome for the animal.”

“In some cases, that recommendation may include euthanasia,”  the Charlotte County Animal Control statement said.

“If the owner,”  in this case the Suncoast Humane Society,  “does not agree with the recommended outcome,  the case may proceed through the dangerous dog classification process in accordance with Florida law,”  the statement said.

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