![\"Pit](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-03-10_12-46-49-602-e1741636054433.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 COLUMBUS,\u00a0 Ohio\u2013\u2013<\/strong>The known U.S. and Canadian dog attack fatality toll in the first 10 weeks of 2025 reached 16;\u00a0 14 in the U.S.,\u00a0 two north of the border, \u00a0with the deaths of Rick Flett, \u00a056, \u00a0on February 23, 2025 in Winnipeg,\u00a0 Manitoba,\u00a0 and Charles David Chance, 59, \u00a0three days later in Gallatin, Tennessee.<\/p>\n Flett,\u00a0 attacked on February 21,\u00a0 2025 by five dogs of unidentified breed on the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation,\u00a0 70 miles north of Brandon,\u00a0 Manitoba,\u00a0 was rescued by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who shot two of the dogs.<\/p>\n Richard McKay Flett.<\/strong><\/em> Rushed to the Brandon Regional Health Center and then to a health care facility in Winnipeg,\u00a0 130 miles east,\u00a0 Flett was discharged in Winnipeg on February 23,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 200 miles from the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation by the main roads,\u00a0 550 miles from Split Lake,\u00a0 his listed home on Facebook,\u00a0 but died soon afterward at a Winnipeg hotel.<\/p>\n RCMP spokesperson Sergeant Paul Manaigre told media that Flett did not own the dogs who killed him,\u00a0 and did not live at the home they came from.<\/p>\n Photographs indicate that Flett may have been the Richard Flett,\u00a0 then of Elphinstone, Manitoba,\u00a0 who in January 2015 won a million dollar lottery prize.<\/p>\n Charles David Chance.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Charles David Chance \u201cdied of a heart attack on February 26, \u00a02025,\u00a0 after being attacked at his own home the previous evening by 11 of his own dogs,\u201d\u00a0 according to Gallatin News<\/em> reporter Janet Scott.<\/p>\n Gallatin police captain Lamar Bullard told Scott that \u00a0\u201cThe dogs looked like a mix of pit bull and other breeds.\u201d<\/p>\n Wrote Scott,\u00a0 \u201cChance\u2019s wife, \u00a0Christal, \u00a0had been in the shower when the dog fight ensued, per Ballard. \u00a0She heard the fracas, \u00a0got out, \u00a0pulled the dogs off her husband and called 911.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said it appeared that her husband tried to break up a dog fight, \u00a0and in that process, \u00a0he was attacked and went into cardiac arrest,\u201d \u00a0Ballard said.<\/p>\n Nine of the 11 dogs were euthanized by local animal control,\u00a0 Scott reported.<\/p>\n Laura Bischoff,\u00a0 USA Today Network journalist.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In Ohio,\u00a0 with 25 dog attack fatalities,\u00a0 21 of them by pit bull, \u00a0since the state dog law formerly defining pit bulls as \u201cinherently vicious\u201d was weakened in 2012,\u00a0 as often exposed by ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong>,\u00a0 USA Today<\/em> network reporter Laura Bischoff and colleagues with 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio over the weekend of March 7-8-9,\u00a0 2025 produced a three-part series detailing the mayhem:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.cincinnati.com\/story\/news\/crime\/2025\/03\/08\/how-ohios-dangerous-dog-laws-fail-victims-who-are-attacked-and-maimed\/74631614007\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.cincinnati.com\/story\/news\/state\/2025\/03\/08\/dogs-attacked-nearly-killed-ohio-girl-now-her-mom-fights-for-reform\/75479962007\/<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u2018I figured I was dead.\u2019 Ohio man survives attack by friend\u2019s pit bull<\/a><\/p>\n Montgomery County dog warden Mark Kumpf with pit bull advocate Jane Berkey, who helped Kumpf to undo the Ohio law recognizing pit bulls as inherently \u201cvicious\u201d dogs.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n But while calling for stronger legislation,\u00a0 Bischoff and her many sources fell short of calling for either restoration of a breed-specific state dog law,\u00a0 or abolition of the one-free-bite definition of a dangerous dog in effect since 2012.<\/p>\n Among the 727 pit bull attack fatalities and more than 6,200 pit bull attack disfigurements logged by ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong> since 1982,\u00a0 about half have been claimed by the pit bull owners to have been the dogs\u2019 first known violent incidents.<\/p>\n Bischoff et al did take note of a March 2,\u00a0 2025 attack by two pit bulls running at large that left 8-year-old Oscar Koon of Columbus in \u201cextremely critical\u201d condition,\u00a0 unconscious for at least six days,\u00a0 \u201chaving suffered severe damage to his face and arms in the attack,\u201d \u00a0reported the Columbus Dispatch.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/em>His parents, \u00a0John and Rachel Koon, \u00a0have not left his side in the intensive care unit since the March 2,\u00a0 2025 incident. \u00a0The couple\u2019s 6-year-old daughter is staying with relatives,\u201d\u00a0 the Dispatch <\/em>added.<\/p>\n \u201cNeighbors who called 911 said two pit bulls attacked the boy before attacking another dog and lunging at a neighbor, who fended them off with a shovel,\u201d\u00a0 the Dispatch<\/em> continued,\u00a0 until the first police officer on the scene shot both pit bulls.<\/p>\n One pit bull died at the scene;\u00a0 the other was later euthanized.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Columbus City Attorney\u2019s Office spokesperson Pete Shipley told the Dispatch <\/em>that the pit bulls\u2019 owner will be charged with failure to register a previously designated dangerous dog, \u00a0failure to confine a previously designated dangerous dog, \u00a0and two counts of failure to confine a dog,\u00a0 which carry cumulative maximum penalties for all offenses combined of up to 30 days in jail and fines of as much as $1,000.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to Franklin County Animal Care & Control records,\u201d\u00a0 the Dispatch <\/em>said,\u00a0 on June 22,\u00a0 2024 \u201cthree dogs jumped the fence at their owner\u2019s house and began attacking dogs being walked by a man. \u00a0As the man was breaking up the dog fight, \u00a0a white pit bull named Luna bit him on the hand, \u00a0court records say. \u00a0Luna was not involved in the recent mauling of Oscar. \u00a0But two other dogs described in the June case are similar to the ones seen on the body camera footage following the attack on Oscar.<\/p>\n \u201cLuna was designated a dangerous dog, \u00a0but city prosecutors dismissed the charges against the owner on October 4, \u00a02024, \u00a0due to insufficient evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Meanwhile a March 7,\u00a0 2025 pit bull and Rottweiler attack in Colerain Township,\u00a0 a Cincinnati suburb,\u00a0 left resident Emily Rose Rentschler with injuries to her face,\u00a0 both arms,\u00a0 and both legs\u2013\u2013and left both Rentschler and her mother Carrie R. Davis furious.<\/p>\n \u201cI need to deal with Colerain Police and the dog warden now,\u201d\u00a0 Rentschler posted to Facebook,\u00a0 \u201cbecause from my understanding those neighbors still have the dogs and my street is not happy about that. \u00a0And to deal with the police officer who held Ryan Witko,\u201d\u00a0 who came to her rescue with a shotgun,\u00a0 \u201cat gun point!!!\u00a0 Anyone have a good liability lawyer to recommend?\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a supporting resolution passed late on March 9,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 the township trustees declared \u201cColerain Township condemns the inaction of the Hamilton County Dog Warden and their decision to allow dogs that ruthlessly mauled one of our residents to remain in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cThe woman who was attacked is going to need several surgeries and will face a long road to recovery from her wounds. \u00a0She also has several young children. \u00a0There are also many other children who live in this neighborhood. By choosing to allow these dogs to remain behind, \u00a0the Dog Warden and their staff have chosen to put the lives and safety of Colerain Township residents at extreme risk.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage) <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Dog Warden staff cited to our officers,\u201d\u00a0 the resolution continued, \u00a0\u201cthat they felt the dogs were \u2018too vicious\u2019 to take in. So instead, \u00a0they left them behind.\u201d<\/p>\n Concluded the Colerain Township resolution,\u00a0 \u201cState law is very clear. It is the responsibility of the County to control dangerous animals in Townships. Our residents should not have their safety compromised because the County has ignored a core responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Colerain Township in September 2010 debated,\u00a0 but did not pass,\u00a0 a vicious dog ordinance in<\/p>\n \u201cafter a number of incidents involving pit bulls,\u201d\u00a0 two of which ended with pit bulls shot after attacking police officers,\u00a0 reported WLWT television in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In Rochester,\u00a0 New York,\u00a0 Sulamain Hawkins Sr., \u00a020, \u00a0on March 6,\u00a0 2025 pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the August 3, 2024 pit bull mauling death of his 3-month-old son Sulamain Hawkins Jr.<\/p>\n Hawkins Sr. and the baby\u2019s mother, \u00a0Anastasia Weaver, \u00a0allegedly left their son alone with two pit bulls dogs in the attic of the home where they were staying,\u00a0 while doing drugs downstairs.<\/p>\n (See History repeats in four pit bull fatalities near scenes of previous attacks<\/a>.)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In Denver,\u00a0 Colorado,\u00a0 the Department of Public Health & Environment on March 8, \u00a02025 announced that,\u00a0 \u201cA private donor is paying to spay\/neuter pit bulls at Denver Animal Shelter whose owners live in Denver and lack the resources to provide this vital care.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to free surgery,\u201d\u00a0 the announcement appealed to pit bull owners, \u00a0you\u2019ll receive a $100 grocery gift card.\u00a0 For more information, email\u00a0dap.outreach@denvergov.org<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\nLottery winner killed in Manitoba;\u00a0 in Tennessee,\u00a0 pit bulls took a Chance.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Rae\u2019s Funeral Service photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nDied 500 miles from home<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nTried to break up multi-pit fight<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nUSA Today<\/em> chain details mayhem in Ohio<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFell short of recommending abolition of one-free-bite law<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nParents \u201chave not left 8-year-old victim\u2019s side\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPit bulls had priors<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPolice threatened rescuer<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nTownship \u201ccondemns inaction of dog warden\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cToo vicious\u201d to impound<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nRochester perp pleads guilty<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nDenver donor promotes pit bull s\/n<\/strong><\/h2>\n