Elderly Texas woman killed by her neighbor's dogs

They better file criminal charges against the neighbor!!


THORNDALE, Texas An elderly Texas woman working in her yard has been killed by a pack of dogs owned by her neighbor.

Milam County Sheriff Charlie West says 76-year-old Lillian Stiles was riding on a lawn mower in her front yard Saturday when she was mauled by the six dogs, described as pit bull-rottweiler mixed breeds.

Investigators in Thorndale think Stiles was attacked when she got off the mower and headed into her house. Stiles had severe bites over her entire body, and a man who tried to help her was bitten on one leg.

The dogs were found at the home of Stiles' neighbor. The Milam County District Attorney's Office will decide if any criminal charges will be filed.

http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=4170638&nav=5D7lBwNh

It is what should be done to all Democrats in the minds of the GOP. Ripped apart by a pack of mad dogs. Sort of symbolic of what is happening to America.

Perfect for a case like that. Supposedly the lady was mauled so bad her husband didn't even recognize her.

if it had been Chihuahuas!

I get stampedes in my yard.

My first thought was, "Oh please don't let the dogs be Rottweilers." I wonder if others on DU will think, "Oh please don't let the dogs be pit bulls." We get so tired of defending these wonderful creatures when they happen to end up with people who are totally clueless or criminally negligent about how to socialize and train these dogs to know their boundaries.

And I must say, six dogs, what kind of person would keep six such dogs unrestrained? :wtf:

Breeders would be held liable also.

I wonder if they would be so eager to breed indiscrimately if there were severe penalties imposed. I've known several breeders who scrutinize the buyers of their dogs up one side and down the other, to make sure the dog is placed in a proper home where the owner/guardian will act responsibly.

I don't know how we would draw the fine line between the owner's responsibility and the breeder's responsibility. Perhaps it would fall somewhere in the realm of a bar's responsibility not to sell to someone who has had too much. But what do you do with someone whose dog has been impregnanted by another dog and that person decides to keep all the pups?

Five will get you ten that the Humane Society in that area was well aware of this situation and had their hands tied as far as being able to impose any restrictions.

Why does someone have six dogs? And why are they running around? What led up to the attack? What is the history of these dogs and the owner? I hate it when these stories are released and the information is incomplete except for the breed of the dogs.

I guess I should go have my pit-mix put down because the breed is so agressive.

MSM sites only had this skosh information :( Also, I didn't want to put it on LBN because of lack of details.

No bad dogs, just sh*tty owners who lack responsibility and control of their pets. As an animal rights advocate, I assure you, I'm on the dogs side :hug:

However, some breeds/breed mixes, can kill, I hold the breeders of such animals just as responsible.

Please don't put your pet down! I know you didn't mean it, but in the event there is a breed ban in your (generic)area, most likely you'll be "grandfathered" with proof of spay/neuter, UTD RV and a city license.

further information.

I am not upset that you posted the story or the link. People are to blame for the animal's behavior, but we never see any news stories about what is really going on and what should be done to solve the problem except for banning certain breeds.

Dogs are my favorite people - Who said that?

I hope they throw the book at the dogs' owner. I hate to see dogs suffer and be blamed for such tragedies, and I think it needs to be discussed until humans take responsibility ! Even if the news picks up "mauled to death" by chihuahuas!

Someone was negligent. Someone, meaning a person.

She's old and cranky.

I should also say that I feel real horrible for the woman that died. It is just horrible.

Please. Don't be ridiculous.

and I am talking rural COUNTRY.
It isn't uncommon to meet people in those parts who have more pets than usual.
I knew a lady that had 100 barncats.
This isn't unusual for the area.
What is unusual is a pack of killer dogs running loose.

You would not read about this if the dogs had been cocker spaniel and lab mixed. Totally pisses me off. I have owned pit bulls and now have my second Rottweiler. These dogs are not vicious if raised correctly.

He was my best friend for 12 years. Everybody loved him. Big dog with a great big loving heart and never gave me one moment's trouble. (Yes, he was wearing the hat when the pic was taken. :) )

you & I know that cocker spaniels are, and were, never bred for guard duty, bull baiting, or pit fighting. pits & rotties were.

"correct" raising of pits & rotties, which i too find charming & sweet when properly socialized, is either not within the ability or plan of many dog owners of the type i will call "young macho dirtballs". every time i see a teenager downtown with droopy drawers, a puffy jacket & a pit puppy on the end of a rope, i see a potential mauling. they have no business owning the most beta ball of fluff like my wheaten terrier, let alone a loaded gun like a pit or rottweiler.

i have no problem with strict licensing requirements for breeding & owning of dangerous breeds. and don't give me a line about any dog breed being potentially dangerous. a presa canario is not a shih tzu.

Were bred for fighting, too. Lions, bears...the police used to use Danes, but stopped because they were too much.

Don't hear a lot about those breeds in the news doing damage.

but i remember from the AKC that mastiffs were bred to protect estates from poachers - they used to run them down & hold them till the owners got there.

regardless, those breeds are not very common, and they cost a LOT of money to get & maintain. not bull mastiffs, of course. they're pretty common.

named in dog bite incidents. One of my babies is a cocker sheltie mix and she can be the grumpiest of them all.

if the dogs had been "cocker spaniel and lab" mixed?
Newsflash: we read about the pit pulls and rottweilers killing people a lot more than about the cocker spaniels and labs who kill people ... BECASUE THEY KILL MORE PEOPLE!

Oh yeah right though. Just keep thinking that there is some vast media-wide conspiracy to sweep the spaniel and lab crimes under the rug, just to make pitbulls and rottweilers look bad. Hey! Isn't the cocker spaniel Queen Elizabeth's favorite breed? Now it all makes sense! The British Royals, the Rothschild Family, Israel, PNAC, Rupert Murdoch, (and Jeff Gannon in there somewhere, I just know it!) all smearing pit bulls for the benefit of tonier breeds. The tail wags the dog people! We're through the looking-glass now!
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

mixed dogs or poodle/beagle mix killed a lady we would hear about it too. Dogs killing humans is what is being demonized.

Poorly socialized, likely not fixed (mother and offspring were among those attacking).

Poor ownership.

I feel sorry for her family.

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/11/28dogs.html

Even the vet, stated:
There are a couple of likely scenarios for what occurred at the Stiles home Saturday, Bobbitt said. The dogs may not have understood that they were attacking a person, or they may have just been playing and not known their behavior was dangerous.

"If one of them attacks something, the others will join in and try to compete with each other," she said. "It's a pack mentality, a mob mentality. It's obviously very dangerous."

http://www.theeagle.com/stories/112805/local_20051128019.php

Funny...not ONCE did this expert say anything about the danger in the breed...go figure.

It is just so sad all the way around.

Five dogs that mauled a 76-year-old woman to death in the front yard of her Central Texas home were put to death on Monday.

A sixth dog in the pack had been shot and killed by the woman's husband.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=150649

No mention of criminal charges yet.

may a jury convict him of whatever they can come up with.

May part of the sentence be that this dipshit can never, ever have animals again.

to protect all the creatures great and small.

It was a few months ago...a women had a bunch of dogs that weren't being cared for properly. No fresh water, left outside in the heat without any shade and no vet visits for the animals...no immunizations. When someone in that area reported it, they were threatened.

It appears to me that there should be some serious changes in how they manage animal control in the area. I understand that in these rural areas people will have many dogs, but there should be some type of limit and an aggressive spay/neuter program.

"There are no laws that apply," West told the Austin American-Statesman. "We are still looking, but it is going to be hard to make anybody responsible for it."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1354996&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

"criminal negligence" comes to mind as a charge.
The dogs get killed and the owner is free to get more dogs to neglect.

Welcome to Animal Rights 101 :) Seriously, as an animal activist, it's about the LAWs that protect innocent animals, and people like Mrs. Stiles from ignorant dog owners and breeders. 7 sentient beings died that day, a human and 6 companion animals.