Woman mauled to death at Perth boarding kennels

[spikey]

OMG, what a dreadful thing to happen.  According to this ABC article, it occurred at Barko's Boarding Kennels (don't know if anyone here has used them?) but no details yet as to who the woman was (I'd assume she was an employee or perhaps even the owner?).  The article also says the dogs were registered to the owner of the kennels.      

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-02/woman-mauled-to-death-by-dog-at-boarding-kennel/8766934

Edited August 2, 2017 by spikey

[Animal House]

[persephone]

Horrible . Something obviously went badly wrong . 

[spikey]

Sounds like it was the owner who was killed - an update to the ABC article:

 

Neighbour Greg, who did not give his surname, said he did not hear any signs of a struggle at the property.

He said the woman's body was found by her daughter, who came to check on her mother after concerns were raised when she did not turn up for work at a local childcare centre.

Greg said the dogs were very aggressive and had to be locked away when anyone came to visit the property.

He said one of the dogs believed to be involved in the attack had been living with the woman for four years, when she first moved to the neighbourhood.

Another neighbour, who did not provide their name, said the woman was passionate about dogs and dedicated her life to their care, especially rescue dogs.

 

[Scottsmum]

Really, honest to god horrible thing to happen. I especially feel for her daughter who found her

 

But Kerrie, the neighbour is a douche. 

Quote

 

She liked to have them as like a pack, but you can't have rescue dogs as a pack."
 

 

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-02/woman-mauled-to-death-by-dogs-at-boarding-kennel/8766934?pfmredir=sm

 

edited: I had the wrong neighbor. 

Edited August 2, 2017 by Scottsmum

[Rebanne]

Wasn't Greg that said that Scottsmum it was another neighbour

[Scottsmum]

36 minutes ago, Rebanne said:

Wasn't Greg that said that Scottsmum it was another neighbour

Right you are. Corrected. Thank you.  

[Scrappi&Monty]

What an awful dreadful horrible tradgedy. 

[Simply Grand]

I wonder what happened. I hope they do make it public (if they are able to discern it), even though the woman and family deserve their privacy, but it would be a really useful lesson.

 

Did she have the dog for four years and it was highly aggressive towards her the whole time? (Seems unlikely) Did she intervene in a dog fight and the dog was so worked up it transferred aggression on to her? Or did the dog maybe have a neuro issue that made it snap?

 

It would be a shame for it just to be left for the public to think this is something that could happen with ANY dog or any rescue or any mastiff or whatever, without educating about real potential warning signs

 

ETA also interested to know what if any training/management had been done with the dog, had aggression previously been suppressed through punishment? 

 

Edited August 2, 2017 by Simply Grand

[Loving my Oldies]

Horrific!   Impossible to imagine what the daughter is going through.  Gut wrenching.   

 

You are right, Simply Grand.  So many questions, really, that should be answered truthfully and unemotionally and without media hype.   

[Roova]

I read she had been injured in the past breaking up dog fights so possibly they redirected on her?

Edited August 2, 2017 by Roova

[petlover0316]

20 hours ago, spikey said:

Sounds like it was the owner who was killed - an update to the ABC article:

 

Neighbour Greg, who did not give his surname, said he did not hear any signs of a struggle at the property.

He said the woman's body was found by her daughter, who came to check on her mother after concerns were raised when she did not turn up for work at a local childcare centre.

Greg said the dogs were very aggressive and had to be locked away when anyone came to visit the property.

He said one of the dogs believed to be involved in the attack had been living with the woman for four years, when she first moved to the neighbourhood.

Another neighbour, who did not provide their name, said the woman was passionate about dogs and dedicated her life to their care, especially rescue dogs.

 

 

This is so sad. I can't imagine how the daughter felt when she saw her mother's situation. 

[Scrappi&Monty]

3 minutes ago, petlover0316 said:

 

This is so sad. I can't imagine how the daughter felt when she saw her mother's situation. 

Oh that would be absolutely horrific.  She'd be traumatised! 

[petlover0316]

16 hours ago, Simply Grand said:

I wonder what happened. I hope they do make it public (if they are able to discern it), even though the woman and family deserve their privacy, but it would be a really useful lesson.

 

Did she have the dog for four years and it was highly aggressive towards her the whole time? (Seems unlikely) Did she intervene in a dog fight and the dog was so worked up it transferred aggression on to her? Or did the dog maybe have a neuro issue that made it snap?

 

It would be a shame for it just to be left for the public to think this is something that could happen with ANY dog or any rescue or any mastiff or whatever, without educating about real potential warning signs

 

ETA also interested to know what if any training/management had been done with the dog, had aggression previously been suppressed through punishment? 

 

Me too; I'm wondering what really happened and wishing they could share more details. There must be more to it...

[petlover0316]

15 hours ago, Scrappi&Monty said:

Oh that would be absolutely horrific.  She'd be traumatised! 

That's the saddest part! I hope everyone around her is helping her get through this. So traumatic and painful.

[spikey]

14 minutes ago, petlover0316 said:

Me too; I'm wondering what really happened and wishing they could share more details. There must be more to it...

It only happened yesterday afternoon, so it's a bit too early to expect anything much in the way of details to be released yet.  There's also the possibility there won't actually BE much information available as to exactly what occurred, as it sounds like the woman who was killed was at home by herself at the time and the neighbours apparently didn't hear anything, so there are no witnesses.   There may be details which come out about the dog's temperament and/or past history, but it's likely they may never know exactly why the dog attacked her.  

 

ETA:  In addition, she lived in a designated kennel zone area, so hearing yapping, barking, howling dogs is quite common down there (as I know only too well from dropping off/picking up our dogs from kennels there over the years), and even if other dogs in her kennels or yard were "going off" during this tragic event, it's likely people wouldn't take much notice.    The neighbours obviously didn't hear any screams or cries for help, so it must have happened very quickly and she didn't get the chance to call out   

Edited August 2, 2017 by spikey

[petlover0316]

15 hours ago, Roova said:

I read she had been injured in the past breaking up dog fights so possibly they redirected on her?

Possibly! The dog fight must have been so intense, and the one who attacked her must be so furious. 

[petlover0316]

15 hours ago, spikey said:

It only happened yesterday afternoon, so it's a bit too early to expect anything much in the way of details to be released yet.  There's also the possibility there won't actually BE much information available as to exactly what occurred, as it sounds like the woman who was killed was at home by herself at the time and the neighbours apparently didn't hear anything, so there are no witnesses.   There may be details which come out about the dog's temperament and/or past history, but it's likely they may never know exactly why the dog attacked her.  

Good point! Thank you. 

Let's just wait for the updates then - re the daughter and the dogs. 

[Simply Grand]

17 minutes ago, spikey said:

It only happened yesterday afternoon, so it's a bit too early to expect anything much in the way of details to be released yet.  There's also the possibility there won't actually BE much information available as to exactly what occurred, as it sounds like the woman who was killed was at home by herself at the time and the neighbours apparently didn't hear anything, so there are no witnesses.   There may be details which come out about the dog's temperament and/or past history, but it's likely they may never know exactly why the dog attacked her.  

 

ETA:  In addition, she lived in a designated kennel zone area, so hearing yapping, barking, howling dogs is quite common down there (as I know only too well from dropping off/picking up our dogs from kennels there over the years), and even if other dogs in her kennels or yard were "going off" during this tragic event, it's likely people wouldn't take much notice.    The neighbours obviously didn't hear any screams or cries for help, so it must have happened very quickly and she didn't get the chance to call out   

It is unlikely we will find out exactly what happened but lots of information could be gathered from how the woman actually died (how many bites and where on her body), history with the dog, how long she'd had it (4 years was mentioned but it isn't clear if that was the mastiff or a different dog), injuries to the mastiff and the other dog that was seized if any, where in the routine of the kennels the woman was (was food involved?), had aggressive behaviour been demonstrated before and what had been done in response to it...

 

Both an autopsy on the woman and a necropsy on the dog (which is reportedly to be euthanised) would be ideal but sadly I doubt will happen. It's a shame because I think this situation could actually be really important research wise, it is really unusual for a dog to kill its carer, especially when that carer is apparently experienced with dogs.

[spikey]

28 minutes ago, Simply Grand said:

It is unlikely we will find out exactly what happened but lots of information could be gathered from how the woman actually died (how many bites and where on her body), history with the dog, how long she'd had it (4 years was mentioned but it isn't clear if that was the mastiff or a different dog), injuries to the mastiff and the other dog that was seized if any, where in the routine of the kennels the woman was (was food involved?), had aggressive behaviour been demonstrated before and what had been done in response to it...

 

Both an autopsy on the woman and a necropsy on the dog (which is reportedly to be euthanised) would be ideal but sadly I doubt will happen. It's a shame because I think this situation could actually be really important research wise, it is really unusual for a dog to kill its carer, especially when that carer is apparently experienced with dogs.

As you can imagine, it's been all over the news on every channel here in Perth tonight and yes, the mastiff was a rescue dog she'd had for 4 years - council have confirmed the dog will be euthanased. There have been numerous photos and video taken at the pound which clearly show both sides of the mastiff, and there don't appear to be any noticeable injuries on him.  There's been no footage or photos of the staffy, which has now been returned to the family, so it's unclear at this stage whether the dogs were actually fighting - there's been no indication of that one way or the other.  The staffy was supposedly the dog who was refusing to let police near the woman's body (although some updated news reports seem to contradict that now in saying that the mastiff was the one guarding the body), so it seems both dogs may have been in (or had access to) the same area/yard.    

Edited August 2, 2017 by spikey