by Beth Clifton A tribute art memorial entitled “Out of the Blue,” honoring 30 recent victims of fatal dog attacks, was unveiled on September 24, 2014 in Grand Rapids, Michigan by Wyoming, Michigan resident Joan Kowal as an entry in ArtPrize, an annual outdoor art contest attracting upward of 1,500 entrants and more than 400,000 […]
32 years of logging fatal & disfiguring dog attacks
David Glass, 51, of Lamar, Mississippi, was the 300th person to be fatally mauled by pit bulls in 32 years by Merritt and Beth Clifton David Glass, 51, of Lamar, Mississippi, on September 21, 2014 became the 300th person to be fatally mauled by pit bulls in the 32 years that I have logged fatal […]
Three convicted & seven facing trial in death-by-dog cases
Murder by dog LITTLE ROCK, Ark.; LOS ANGELES, Calif.––A jury in Saline County, Arkansas late on October 8, 2014 convicted Brande Coy, 50, and Emily Coy, 25, of Hot Springs Village of misdemeanor negligent homicide and participating in an unlawful dog attack, respectively, for the November 21, 2013 fatal mauling […]
Lenient animal control policies toward bully breeds were in background of four of five recent death-by-dog cases
Alex Donald Jackson found guilty of second-degree murder in Pamela Devitt death LOS ANGELES––Alex Donald Jackson, 31, of Littlerock, California, was on August 29, 2014 found guilty of second-degree murder for the pit bull mauling death of Palmdale resident Pamela Devitt, 63. The case was among at least five murder or […]
Four-year-old killed by pit bulls because Miami-Dade law was not enforced
Killed by pit bulls in his father’s yard MIAMI, Florida––Javon Dade Jr., age 4, would not have been fatally mauled on August 13, 2014 if the Florida Department of Children & Families had known about the Miami-Dade County ban on pit bulls––and if Miami-Dade Animal Services had enforced the ordinance without allowing […]
An impromptu debate about pit bulls
by Beth Clifton ANIMALS 24-7 editor Merritt Clifton was confronted at the recent AR 2014 conference in Los Angeles by several pit bull advocates, following a panel discussion of issues in animal control and sheltering with Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation general manager Brenda Barnette and Best Friends Animal Society cofounder Francis Battista. Merritt, […]
Shelter dogs wreak havoc at either end of the Taconic Parkway
Stamford Animal Shelter & Mohawk-Hudson Humane Society STAMFORD, Connecticut; ALBANY, New York––Attacks by shelter dogs, occurring in 2014 at an unprecedented pace, were spotlighted again during the last week in June near either end of the Taconic Parkway, linking the outer New York City suburbs to the New York state […]
Polling, public opinion, & pit bulls
Why poorly controlled polls are consistently misleading If online polls are to be believed, from two-thirds to three-fourths of the first people to respond to almost any polling question pertaining to pit bulls favor strong breed-specific legislation to protect themselves, their children, and their animals from attack. Yet time and again the polling numbers reverse […]
Stamford shelter manager is first in U.S. to be charged with reckless endangerment for rehoming dangerous dogs
Laurie Hollywood was released on her own recognizance STAMFORD, Connecticut––Former Stamford Animal Shelter manager Laurie Hollywood, 42, of Newtown, Connecticut, on June 20, 2014 voluntarily surrendered to the Stamford police department in response to a warrant issued for her arrest on three counts of reckless endangerment. Hollywood was released on her own recognizance. Arraignment was […]
KFC story may have been a hoax, but 3-year-old pit bull victim’s scars are real
The story that 3-year-old Victoria Wilcher was asked to leave a KFC restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi may have been fabricated, but her scars from a pit bull attack are real and well documented. Wilcher’s injuries became internationally known through reportage by Charlotte Alter of TIME.com, the online edition of the TIME magazine news weekly, published […]