-
Oakland California, 53-year-old man mauled by Cane Corso type dogs
Three Cane Corso x Neapolitan mastiff-type dogs escaped the backyard of the property of the owner and then dragged the victim back into the backyard, where he was mauled to death. The incident happened on September 1.
The victim, 57-year-old Robert Holguin, was living in his car on the property. Holguin, a friend of the dog’s owner, was homeless and had mental health problems.
In total, six dogs were living on the property, three of which were involved in the incident. Several of the dogs had a history of violent behavior towards people or other dogs and had previously escaped from the property. The three dogs involved in the attack were euthanized
Dog bite victims are often dragged after being attacked by a large dog, regardless if the victim was killed.
-
Visalia, California, 4-year-old girl mauled by pit bull type dog
Another tragic pit bull mauling of a child occurred in Visalia, California, in September 2024.
At the time of this post, not much is known about the facts of the incident or the behavioral history of the pit bull. At this stage, what is known is as follows:
- The victim was a four-year-old girl, and the incident happened in Visalia, California, located in San Joaquin Valley.
- The pit bull was a family dog with no reported behavioral history.
- The incident happened inside the home of the victim shortly after she had finished swimming.
JP Scott, a late animal behaviorist and longtime professor at Bowling Green State University, held theories about aggression that have had a significant influence on my thinking dog bite expert witness. For example, Scott, in his academic peer-reviewed publications, has always emphasized how external factors have a strong causal influence on aggression in mammals, including dogs.
Given the scan information about this incident, it’s hard to know exactly what external stimuli “trigger” caused this pit bull to attack. Nonetheless, if we follow the beliefs of Prof. Scott, then there likely was some external trigger that instigated the attack.
In fact, as a dog bite expert who has looked into numerous aggressive incidents, including fatal dog attacks, I have discovered that external stimuli frequently cause canine aggressive behavior, although obviously external stimuli interact with already pre-existing dispositions for aggression in the individual dog.
In many cases, the external stimuli may be powerful enough to overcome the dog’s lack of genetic predisposition for aggression. External stimuli might include an unusual noise in the environment (baby crying) or, in many cases, an action the victim directs to the dog (something as innocuous as petting a dog) or some action directed to the dog for defensive reasons.
This listing is a partial account of dog bite-related fatalities in the USA. The page will be updated periodically as time permits. Thanks for visiting. RP
