National Canine Research Council

Over the past 45 years (1965 – present) there have been 62 fatal dog attacks in Texas, an average of one to two per year.

At least 18 different breeds/types of dogs have been identified in connection with these incidents.

The victims were 17 adults and 45 children.

All the fatal attacks in Texas involved intact dogs (not spayed or neutered).

A significant number of the dogs involved were either being used for breeding and/or lived their lives at the ends of chains.

In 1990, an 18-month-old girl was killed when she approached one of her father’s chained breeding dogs. The father claimed he had bred “hundreds of dogs over the past 10 years.” He also claimed he could not understand why the intact male dog would have attacked the girl, since the child used to “ride the dog like a horse.” (NCRC – How could a man who claimed to have bred hundreds of dogs fail to appreciate that a chained dog might object to an 18-month-old riding it like a horse?)

In 2006, a two-year-old El Paso child was killed after she wandered over to a neighbor’s chained dog. There was no shade afforded the dog from the hot summer sun, other than that from the doghouse to which he was chained.

Other fatal attacks resulted in criminal convictions for the parent/owner:

In 1983, B. Rognaldsen of Dallas received a 1-year sentence for criminal negligence after her 1-month-old daughter was killed by her dog. The dog had a known history of aggressive behavior and had “gnawed” on the baby’s crib. The night before this eminently preventable tragedy, according to the trial testimony,  Rognaldsen was “very intoxicated and acted as though she was also on drugs.” She awakened in the morning to find her child mauled to death.

In 1984, J. Traxler of Conroe received a 5-year sentence for reckless injury to child when his 4-year-old stepson wandered into the proximity of a dog Traxler had chained to a utility pole. Traxler’s comment, “that boy knew better than to get near that dog” undoubtedly helped to convict him. He was allowed to serve this sentence concurrently with a 10-year-sentence for drug possession.

In 2005, Lillian Stiles was attacked and killed by a neighbor’s six loose roaming dogs. The law of Texas, as it stood, did not afford an opportunity to hold the dogs’ owner criminally responsible for failing to secure his dogs.  This prompted Stiles’ family to petition the Texas legislature to establish criminal penalties for reckless dog owners.  In 2007, the legislature passed H.B. 1355, known as Lillian’s Law.   Lillian’s Law allows a prosecutor to charge a dog owner with a third-degree felony if the owner “with criminal negligence” fails to secure a dog which later causes serious bodily injury to a victim in an unprovoked attack.  A third-degree felony is punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a possible $10,000 fine.  The charge can be raised to a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, if a victim dies.

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In 2006, two stray/abandoned dogs attacked and killed a child in Harris County.  Although the media labeled the dogs as “pit bulls”  — and politicians began discussions about banning the “breed” after this incident — no animal control professional directly involved in the case identified the dogs as pit bulls (see photo above of one of the two dogs).  It was not  possible to visually identify the breed of the dogs involved.  However, the dogs’ poor physical condition indicated to authorities that the animals had been abandoned for some time prior to the attack:  NCRC FDA 2006 TX Harris

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In 2007, a Friendswood woman was attacked and killed in her backyard by her dogs.  At least 4 different media sources ran headlines proclaiming “Pit bull kills its owner in Friendswood.”  Newspapers and TV stations reported there were 3 dogs in the yard when the woman was attacked and one media source identified the dogs to be: An Alaskan Collie, a Golden Terrier, and a Pit bull.

Investigation into this incident later revealed that the “pit bull” was actually a Catahoula / American bulldog mix.  This dog was determined to have inflicted the majority of the bites to the victim.  (Photo of Catahoula / Bulldog mix not shown due to graphic nature of photo).   However, the Golden Retriever,  pictured above,  was ultimately determined to have also participated in the attack and was euthanized.  The Australian Shepherd,  was deemed to not have participated in the attack and was not euthanized.

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In 2007, the intact, male dog pictured above attacked and killed a young Bell County boy.

Not only did the media report this dog to be a “family dog,” – but also reported the boy had “grown up with dog” and “had the dog since it was a puppy.”     These claims proved to be untrue.

Investigation into the incident found that the dog was 4-5 years and had resided in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with a previous owner.  The grandmother had only owned the dog for a short time before bringing the dog to the boy’s home. 

Update:  August 14, 2009:  A  Bell County grand jury indicted Brenda Ellen Parker, the boy’s grandmother, and Misty L. Lovitt, his mother, on a count of manslaughter and a count of reckless serious bodily injury to a child.

Seth Lovitt was running around his house in Killeen about 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6, 2007, when the dog jumped from the couch, knocked him to the ground and bit him on the neck. Parker of Garland and Lovitt of Killeen pulled the dog off the boy. He was pronounced dead later that night at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood.

There is evidence that the women knew the dog had violent tendencies, First Assistant District Attorney Murff Bledsoe said.  A neighbor was bitten by the dog Oct. 31 of that year but did not report it to authorities until after Seth was killed, according to a Herald report.

According to the indictment, the women failed to control the dog and allowed a dangerous dog to be in contact with Seth.  Parker and Lovitt could face two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 on each charge, both second-degree felonies, if they are convicted.

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In 2007, a 10-year-old girl was killed by a dog:    NCRC FDA 2007 TX San Antonio

In 2007, an elderly El Paso woman was killed by her dogs:   NCRC FDA 2007 TX El Paso

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May 15, 2009 -  Melissa Miller, 24, faces charges of injury to a child and criminally negligent homicide, both felonies, in the March 26 death of her son, Tyson Miller.  A Caldwell County grand jury returned an indictment after hearing testimony from Miller.  In her initial report to Luling police, Miller said that her son had left the mobile home where the family had been living for about two weeks. Miller woke up after noon and began searching for the boy.  The child was found dead near a chained dog in the back of the yard.

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In spite of a significant number of reckless and dangerous dog owners in Texas, dogs still pose an incredibly low risk for causing a fatality:

Note:  Even in the most populous states, such as Texas, the number of fatal dog attacks per year is always a single digit number. Also, in the populous states, these numbers  may fluctuate significantly.  For example, Texas had five (5) fatal dog attacks over two years (1999, 2000) and then only one (1) fatal attack during the following three years (2001, 2002, and 2003).   Texas experienced an increase in the number of fatal dog attacks in the years 2006 and 2007, with a total of 14 fatal attacks during these two years. Then, in 2008, there were a more “normal” two (2).

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According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

In 2005,  197 Texas children died as a result of maltreatment (abuse, neglect).

In a single year, 2005, more than four times as many Texas children died from maltreatment than the total of all children killed by dogs in the state over the past 44 years.

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Fact is, people in Texas routinely accept far greater risks from ATVs, bicycles and swimming pools than any that are associated with companion animals.

National Canine Research Council