What Kind of Dog is This?
 

The article doesn't say:

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Sheriff: 22-year-old Va. woman mauled to death by own dogs | KOMO

GOOCHLAND Co., Va. (WSET) — Police in Goochland County, Virginia are investigating after a woman was found dead in a wooded area in the eastern part of the county.
Police said they've determined the woman was mauled to death by her own dogs, according to WRIC in Richmond.

The Goochland County Sheriff's Office said it got a call around 8:15 p.m. Thursday from a man who found the woman's body near the 2200 block of Manakin Road.
The sheriff's office later said it was the woman's father who went looking for his daughter where she often walked her dogs.
On Friday, police identified the woman as 22-year-old Bethany Stephens.

When deputies found her body, they said her body had suffered "severe trauma" and was being guarded by the two dogs.
"It appeared the attack was a violent attack initiated by the victims' dogs while the victim was out for a walk with the dogs," Sheriff Agnew said the Medical Examiner's initial report indicated. "The victim had defensive wounds on her hands and arms trying to keep the dogs away from her, which would be consistent with being attacked while she was still alive."

Sheriff James Agnew said it appeared the first traumatic injury she suffered was to her throat and face.
"It appears she was taken to the ground, lost consciousness, and the dogs then mauled her to death," he said.
The sheriff's office said deputies had to use tranquilizer guns to catch the dogs.
"It was an absolutely grisly mauling," Goochland County Sheriff Agnew said. "In my 40 years of law enforcement, I've never seen anything quite like it. I hope I never see anything like it again."
The dogs are with Goochland Animal Control and the sheriff's office said the dogs will be euthanized.

That's not all that far from me....

I'm ashamed to admit that was my first thought as well. Then I realized, of course, that I was unfairly profiling a gentle, loving breed of dog that is quite incapable of such behavior. It just has to be some other breed - probably a bad photo. Yeah, that's it. It just can't be a Pit...

Hmmm... unless an abusive owner, such as the one shown in the photo, is a part of the equation - then it might be an abused Pit. Otherwise it would never have done such a thing. I mean, just look how she torments that poor dog. No wonder it lashed out. My Golden Retriever would no doubt react in much the same way if I treated him like that.

What a tragedy. How many more like her have to be killed and maimed by these viscous beasts before their defenders acknowledge there is a problem? Enough is enough. These animals have no place in society.

Jeff - for every 'bad' pit bull you can find I'm sure I could show you ten that are the sweetest dogs you'll ever meet. You can't just say an entire breed of dog is aggressive anymore than someone else can blame violence on a particular type of gun.

Muzzle looks too long and narrow for that, but it's hard to tell from the picture. Having been involved in pit bull rescue I can tell you PBs are loyal, gentle, devoted dogs. They do tend to choose bad owners at a higher than normal rate. ;)

Is it possible that her dogs did not do it and that she was breaking up a dog fight that got out of control? Her dogs may have been protecting her when animal control arrived?

Pit Bulls can be very sweet dogs. Dogs and other animals are not the problem. It's the adult humans....that's the problem.

I am pretty sure my dogs would eat me, heck they eat pretty much anything anyway and if there is a remnant of peanut butter scent on it they would eat it regardless of plant, animal, mineral...

black coat with a white spot like that dog is common in lab crosses

could be a lab x pit ?

I have a lab x GSD X chow mix

anyway the story has other dogs not pictured

Pitts are the sweetest breed in the world....until they aren't !

The thing is, Pitts are more likely than other breeds to reach that point for whatever reason with no turning back.

Brindle Boxer mix?

Just going by the pic and the story attached to it I'd say that dog is one of the best pits there ever was and ever will be.

Dead.

That's a regular old pit bull and what a tragic, terrible story. Awful way to die. :(

The chance of one of my German Shepherds, (or most anyone else's), doing that to its owner is about zero.

I find it difficult to comprehend any dog would do that to a loyal owner unprovoked.

Do her dogs have any injuries?

How did they react when they were found with her?

Not discounting it may not have been her dogs but it's not logical.

They were guarding her body, according to the OP. They "determined the dogs attacked her," because they are psychic.

Basenji/Cocker Spaniel mix

You can find a better example than this, Mr Higgins. Surely there are witnessed attacks by pit bulls every single day. Try harder.

My goofy lab might slob on me some...

My sister's Tibetan has tried to kill me many times! He uses nerve gas.

I know the cat has thought about murdering me. Not the dogs.

Be very, very careful attempting to break up a "dog fight". A friend was in hospital for a week and in casts for 9 weeks after attempting to separate her two loving pooches ... she was worried they would hurt each other.

My brother-in-law who still lives on the ranch generally uses his size 11 Redwing boot to help the dogs settle a "disagreement".

^^^^ This! I have a few permanent scars on both of my arms from doing this (unintentional bites) when I first encountered a pack brawl...instinct was just to jump in. Friend's wife had neighbors call 911/EMT a few years ago...

If you've never been exposed to this....consider yourself lucky.

I've made comments on other threads regarding PBs, so I won't here. Still around one mix who loves me to death....but I would not own one. Been around too many who were unpredictable as to when they would " go off".....

Sorta like driving drunk....you might do it 1000 times with no issues....and then it happens :(

FWIW, I don't think the linked article provides enough information to help anyone come to a rational and educated decision on exactly what happened and who's "fault" the lady's death was.

This is a very polarizing subject (not unlike various firearms debates) and one that we have certainly embarked (npi) on here on occasion.

I think almost everyone here appreciates how wonderful dogs in general are so not surprising this subject brings out strong emotions and passion. That's a good thing, IMHO.

My position is - and always has been - we could always use more dialogue on the subject --- but even more so - education.

Lots of videos on YT that advocate FOR the breed. I find that most are just trying to set the record straight against what the media has sensationalized. If the media did a better job covering pit bull in the news events, I think it would help no matter what side you are on.

That said, I respect Jeff's position, regardless of what my position is - as I said - this is a polarizing subject and we could use more facts and a lot less sensationalizing.

And just because many humans who are owned by the breed have had wonderful experiences....doesn't take away from the fact that there are those who have not. I do blame the human for many of those unfortunate situations....too many who just shouldn't own this breed....period.

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Were they rescue dogs or did had the young women owned the dogs since they were puppies?
Was there a boyfriend involved with the raising of these dogs?

I have seen some great Pits and Staffs that really were very nice and gentle dogs and I have seen others that I wouldn't approach with a loaded shotgun.

The reason there is so much dislike and distrust towards the breed is the tremendous amount of damage they can cause. Their bite strength is incredible compared to other breeds.

I've been around 17 of them...most mixes. All since they were weeks old puppies and in absolutely "normal" dog lover's care.

Don't know what "triggers" them, but when it's "on", there is absolutely no quit in them and they are vicious fighters....it's been bred into them for eons at this point. Sucks...because I loved 'em all and they me, but I just don't trust them (around other dogs and kids)...YMMV.

I cannot believe the lengths to which some of you will go to defend this breed.

The officers must have been "psychic" to determine that it was her dogs that killed her? There is not enough information given in the article to determine if it was really her dogs or not? Do you guys even hear yourselves?

The dogs were still there. The investigating officers determined they had killed her. No news article is going to go into much depth to explain exactly how they determined that. My guess - and hoo boy, this is gonna be a long shot - is that maybe those dogs were covered in her blood? Maybe signs of a struggle? I dunno, call me crazy...

And no, Tobra, I would not even have to "try harder" to come up with an endless list of verified, witnessed, documented attacks by pit bulls. You have to be kidding me.

I have seen both sides of a pit. Had a friend with one as a pet, his always barked at me and seemed aggressive. It chewed the hell out of his sons arm one night when it "snapped". My niece and my brother both have them and they are great dogs.

Well there you go.

Only one of three pits chewed a kid's arm off.

What more do you need? Great dogs!

I fear the day I die and my wife is out of town... I would be cat poop in three days.

I read an article that said she had defensive wounds, "body was found guarded by “two very large, brindle-colored pitbull dogs" "Stephens had defensive wounds on her hands and arms. But the first traumatic injury she suffered was to her throat and face," and "it took at least eight hours for investigators to collect over 60 pieces of evidence" (or in other words she was shredded to pieces by the two dogs). Of course, it could have been a Bigfoot attack and the dogs were preventing it from coming back... :rolleyes: It wouldn't matter if the bite wounds match that of the dogs mouths.

Here's another article with some additional info:

Sheriff: Woman mauled to death by dogs had puncture wounds to skull | WTVR.com

Horrible way to go.

I don’t know jack about pit breeds. But I do know and admit I’m prejudiced against them. And only from the stories I read and hear about. Not my usual way of doing business.

There are to many other mixes and breeds for me to adopt I won’t take the chance. I’ve come close.

IMHO it is not the breed but the potential harm they can do.
I kid you not people have been attracted by there Pomeranian or Silky Terrier (look it up) but you don't hear about it because no one dies.

I have had cats and dogs (mostly cats) and I have had cats go bonkers on me... now imagine if that had been a mountain lion. As beautiful as the lion is I would not want one in my house.

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It is genetics. Absolutely. Why wife's seeing eye dog has to be the sweetest thing in the world. Smart as any dog I have ever met but she would starve herself before she would nip at any of us. Its genetic.

Yep. Pit bulls are the breed that is well-known for snapping and attacking humans and other animals after behaving just fine for a long period of time. I don't know how many stories some people need to hear before it sinks in, I did not have to hear many.

And of course there are nice pit bulls. I've seen tons of them. The problem is that most other breeds absolutely never snap and attack people after behaving well for years and even if they did, not a fatal deal. If some toy poodle starts attacking me, I'll just kick it through the goal posts.

That's a joke; it would never happen. The attack or the kick. :)

Fascinating topic. Covers new ground.

With blood.

Exactly....I've come VERY close, but after much soul serrching I have reached the same conclusion. I won't put others (kids and animals...mostly dogs), that I am around in a potentially bad situation. Unlike any breed I've ever been around....genetics is spot on. Anyone who thinks it's all on the owners is simply kidding themselves for "some" PBs....and it's a significant percentage.

Exactly why would you, as a responsible parent, introduce a new Pitt puppy into your family with the documented history of this breed ? I just can't fathom putting my family/freinds to the possible risk of something/someone triggering the "kill" mechanism in these dog' brains. I have been around dogs all my life (including raising large wolf hybrids for many years), and have never felt vulnerable to attack like I have around Pitt Bulls. Many of the defenders claim it is all in how the dogs were raised, or treated, but why don't you hear the same story about different breeds that attack ?

I don't trust pitbulls. I love all dogs. My ex had two very sweet Pits. My older brother has a (kind of) sweet pit.

I still don't trust them.

Bread of Peace.
I live on a street with 7 houses. 2 Golden Doodles. 2 Black Labs. 1 yellow Lab. 1 Golden Retriever.
2 neighbors bitten by pits while walking thier dogs.
All of the dogs on my street except for 1 of the black labs have been attacked by pits while on a leash.
2 of my neighbors now conceal carry when walking the dogs.
Always the same story. Pit was rescued or owner is tatted out and likely does not have a job. In South Florida these dogs are a trash breed for trash people. Yes I have met nice pits and hear a hundred stories of "mine would never harm a thing". To me they are time bombs and not worth the risk.

That's the part I will never understand. With literally hundreds of breeds from which to choose, why take a chance on one that is even questionable? Especially with kids in the house, or in the neighborhood. There are just so many breeds without this awful track record from which to choose. It's not like anyone has to own a pit, or they don't get to have a dog. Granted, there is little doubt as to why some folks choose pits, but I'm talking normal, well adjusted family men and such. I don't know - maybe they aren't as normal and well adjusted as they would like to appear.