Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Frederick Co. Man Mauled to Death by Family Pit Bull

Police say an 87-year-old Maryland man was mauled to death by his family pit bull while taking down his Christmas tree.

The attack was reported just before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Eugene W. Smith's home on Stonehouse Road in Frederick. Deputies say Smith was in the process of taking down a Christmas tree when his family's 84-pound pit bull attacked him.

More

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

From the comment section of the linked article-

2014 Dog Bite Related Fatalities
Updated after each fatality following fact finding research

42 Dog Bite Related Fatalities
by Breed:
27 by Pit Bull / Pit Bull Mix
3 by Bullmastiff / Mastiff Mix
4 by Rottweiler
1 by Cane Corso
1 by Shepherd Mix
1 by Catahoula Leopard Dog
4 Unknown Breed
1 Mix Breed

"On average in 2014 someone was killed by a pit bull every 13 days. Some of these pit bull attacks were from the family dog that was well trained and had never shown signs of aggression before. The only common in these severe and often fatal attacks is not abuse or lack of training, it is breed. Choose the breed of dog you trust the lives of your loved ones with wisely."

Anonymous said...

Play with fire, get burnt.

Anonymous said...

Pit bulls are dangerous animals. My father had a dog turn on him for no reason too. Luckily, he survived. I have been bitten by a dog -it hurts so bad. And that was just one bite. How this man must have suffered. Terrible.

Anonymous said...

can't wait for the first dumbazz to come on hear wailing about "its just how you bring them up. If you treat them e right, they won't hurt nobody". what a joke. They are pure evil and need exterminating.

Anonymous said...

Not all Pit Bulls are bad just like not all people are bad. You just hear about the bad ones. map

Anonymous said...

Hey 7:41 are you related to Hitler!
All breeds All people can be evil You can raise 2 children the same way and one is bad and one will be good
Get a grip - There has to be more to the story
No one ever reports good

Anonymous said...


"96% of all pit bulls are dumped at a shelter by their owners before their 6th birthday due to aggression problems. Many of the few left go on to maul or kill in their old age. This whole business of 'not all pit bulls are aggressive' is just another pit bull type dog advocate delusion.

'Most pit-bull type dogs have not hurt anyone` is a statistically unsupportable pernicious myth. A third of the pit bull population is being impounded or surrendered to shelters each year, primarily for dangerous behavior.

A third are under one year old. What that means is that among pit bulls who have reached sexual maturity, there is a 50% chance that the dog will get into some sort of trouble leading to the dog going to a shelter each and every year.

That's a 50% chance at age 2, a 50% chance at age 3, a 50% chance at age 4, etc. If a pit bull lives to age 10, the odds are actually quite high that the pit bull will have hurt someone."

Anonymous said...

I have 2 neighbors, who are breeding them, proudly.

When I look at these puppies, I wonder which ones will eventually end up being euthanize and which ones will survive. The odds are against them.

Apparently my neighbors are too stupid to get that.

Anonymous said...

741 you are wrong

Anonymous said...

Most Pit Bull advocates are ignorant to the basic fact of the Breed’s Original Purpose--
No matter how hard you try, you can NOT ever "love" out a dog's inherent traits. Anything at any time can be a trigger.
Humans have created very specialized dogs through emphasizing desired traits and eliminating unwanted ones. It is no different with the Pit Bull breed. The American Pit Bull Terrier has been selectively bred for hundreds of years to fight other dogs. This is the sad “work” these dogs were created for. In the same way that Labradors were bred to retrieve birds, APBT’s were bred to face other dogs in mortal combat. Even in dogs that are not recently bred from fighting lines, the urge to rumble can arise at any time. Not to strongly emphasize this fact is to be negligent and not well informed of the breed nor dogs in general.
Get it out of your heads-It rarely has anything to do with the owners and how they were raised.

Anonymous said...

8:42 you are the one that is wrong 7:41 is exactly right. If you are a pit bull owner in denial I hope it never attacks a child but if it attacks you I am going to laugh my butt off.

Anonymous said...

Most pit owners are in huge denial and/or are low information types. Those who believe "it's all in the way you raise them" ARE ignorant to the basic fact of any and all canines.
The fact stands that almost every single fatality and serious injuries caused by these dogs, were caused by dogs who were described as beloved pets, never mistreated in their lives. This because as stated above, most that show aggression early on are surrendered to shelters where 100's are euthanized every day, which is another story but any real true "pit lover" should be outraged by these numbers and if they truly loved the breed would be screaming for regulations put upon them such as mandatory spay/neuter.
Most of the remaining deaths are caused by some know nothing do gooder who thinks they are going to "foster" a stray pit bull or like in this death took in a stray.

Anonymous said...

So what's the proposed end game? Kill off the breed? What will that solve? The bad owners will just switch to a new breed or create a mongrel breed of other large canines and the same outcome will happen.

This thread reads like the left describing "assault weapons".

Anonymous said...

Well since my pit bull is 13 years old, arthritic, lazy, and tends to have an ongoing case of the walking farts, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones since she hasn't mauled me or anyone else yet. Maybe it's just lying in wait. I think most people could probably outrun her at this point. I'm sure all these qualified experts, who have never been around a pit bull in their lives, would know far better than I would.

Anonymous said...

You've been lucky 11:44.
And FYI-I'm around more pit bulls in one week they you've been your whole life, that much I'll guarantee you. As far as my qualifications, you would think I was bragging if I told you, but be assured I've forgotten more about pit bulls and every other type and breed of dog then you will ever hope to know, so that all being said, yes I do know far better than you do because I AM an expert.

Anonymous said...

11:35-They had very good results with breed specific mandatory spay/neuter laws in a lot of counties in CA.
Nearly all large cities are plagued with a similar reality: pit bulls occupy 50% or more (in a lot of places nearly 100%) of animal shelter space, high pit bull euthanization rates and a high number of pit bull bites. Due to these reasons, San Francisco enacted a pit bull sterilization law in 2006. Results of the law show a reduction in all three areas.3 A number of other California municipalities have enacted a similar law.
The cost alone to euthanize these dogs is phenomenal and take a big bite out of budgets. The money could be better spent helping with a spay/neuter program.

Anonymous said...

Well gee, I've been around quite a lot of dogs in my life. But I'm sure you know better than I EVER could. I'm sure your qualifications, which you don't mention in detail whatsoever, are vast and extensive!

If your not just blowing hot air (entirely possible), from what your claiming, I'd guess your either a veterinary doctor, or a shelter worker/administrator. If your a vet, all respect in the world. I doubt that considering your horrible attitude, or luckily your just not mine. If your the latter, don't make me laugh. If pit bulls are SO dangerous, seems odd that you'd be employed where your apparently surrounded by them. Living on the edge I guess!! Hilarious comment, worth a laugh.

Anonymous said...

Outlaw Pitbulls, period!! Exterminate the breed and outlaw ownership of fighting dogs.

Anonymous said...

2:42, go person I'm with you. If any one would like to know about this breed before you open your mouth then go to their website. Then come back and tell us what you learned (if any thing).I to have had pitts for the past 25 some years and I can tell you the ones I have had came to me young and stayed till they died of old age. I still have two one 13 and one 9 and trust them far more then most people. If you don't like or trust them then be around them it's up to you.map

Anonymous said...

11:44 I'm with you, our pits are more intelligent, loving and have been the best dogs I've ever owned. I'm more concerned about German shepherds. Most people claim to be experts about pits but are nothing more then self proclaimed. Judge the owner not the breed.

Anonymous said...

2:43 dam, you want to kill all black people since crime stats point to them as being more responsible for crime then any other race? You are plain dumb. Sorry black race just trying to make a point.

Anonymous said...

Our "Expert" here probably deals with the "throwaway" pit bulls that have had badass owners who thought it was a good idea to train a superbadass dog to strike fear into all his druggie customers only to find out that the wife and kids didn't want to put up with the crap and made him take it to the shelter.

Yes, you are probably an "expert" in having to deal with the most damaged of any single breed, but please don't blame the breed.

I have met a family who has 3 of these dogs, and those dogs are just plain loveable and very trustable, and they are a joy to be around.

Could they kill me? Sure, if i messed with their Master, they just plain might go off on me, but why would I do that?