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Posted: 12/16/2005 4:37:19 AM EDT
This is running on the local Boston stations this morning.

The police showed her clothes, which were all torn up.  After the dogs attacked her, they sat by her side till the police showed up.

What I want to know is why dogs would do this-  I've had friends with extremly protective dogs that stare at me the whole time I'm in the house, staking out a position across from me.  This behavior I understand, but I'm puzzled why dogs would attack their own owner at all, just because she fell down a hill.

cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_349163703.html

(CBS4) BOSTON A Concord woman is recovering Thursday night after being attacked by her own dogs.

Rescuers found her lying in the woods with several bite marks.

Kathryn O’Leary always parks her car in the same spot and makes her way to the cross-country trails of Walden Woods.

She was at least a mile and a half into the deep, snow-covered woods when her pets suddenly became her attackers – biting her in the upper body and arm.

"She started to fall down the hill while cross-country skiing and – I don’t think the dog realized what was going on and I think they turned on her," said Bill Noke, of the Concord Fire Department.

Rescuers were cautious with the dogs, bull mastiffs weighing more than 100 pounds. They had to be tranquilized as they were brought out of the woods.

Rescuers say she originally dropped her cell phone in the snow. But she did manage to give authorities a call. Without her help, authorities may not have found her so quickly.

The dogs, suffering from the cold, were given oxygen.

O’Leary is hospitalized and is in stable condition.

Her dogs were rushed to a local vet and will be quarantined for 10 days, under state law.


Link Posted: 12/16/2005 4:40:52 AM EDT
[#1]
Something I am sure we will never know since dogs can't talk.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 4:45:32 AM EDT
[#2]
Her dogs were given oxygen? WTF? Why were they not administered highspeed transcutaneous lead therapy? If I was her I'd be taking those dogs for another trip into the woods.

Now it's time to sit back and enjoy the upcoming pitbull bashing that is inevitable in every dog attack thread.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 4:48:19 AM EDT
[#3]

Quoted:
Rescuers were cautious with the dogs, bull mastiffs weighing more than 100 pounds. They had to be tranquilized as they were brought out of the woods.



There is your answer.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 4:50:36 AM EDT
[#4]
the slobber alone from those dogs are lethal
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:28:55 AM EDT
[#5]
I'll be called some sort of an apologist for this, but:

Mastiffs are scary big and powerful.  If they were intent on harming their owner, she'd be dead.

I watched the video, and it seems the"mauling" ripped up her jacket and gave her some "deep bite marks" on her arms and upper body.  A neighbor said that the dogs normally "docile" (if you've ever been around Bull Mastiffs, you will understand that it's pretty normal for these dogs to be super laid back).

It's quite plausible that they thought she was playing, or hurt enough by the fall to require assistance in getting back up...and tried to help using the only tools they have (last I checked, dogs don't have opposable thumbs).

The 911 calls evidence a fairly calm woman who states that the dogs are right there with her.  Again: If the dogs were intent on harming her, she'd be dead.  If the story were about a couple of labs, the headlines would have read: "Hero dogs try to save owner".




Edit to correct the spelling of "opposable".

Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:35:32 AM EDT
[#6]

Quoted:
I'll be called some sort of an apologist for this, but:

Mastiffs are scary big and powerful.  If they were intent on harming their owner, she'd be dead.

I watched the video, and it seems the"mauling" ripped up her jacket and gave her some "deep bite marks" on her arms and upper body.  A neighbor said that the dogs normally "docile" (if you've ever been around Bull Mastiffs, you will understand that it's pretty normal for these dogs to be super laid back).

It's quite plausible that they thought she was playing, or hurt enough by the fall to require assistance in getting back up...and tried to help using the only tools they have (last I checked, dogs don't have opposible thumbs).

The 911 calls evidence a fairly calm woman who states that the dogs are right there with her.  Again: If the dogs were intent on harming her, she'd be dead.  If the story were about a couple of labs, the headlines would have read: "Hero dogs try to save owner".




after watching the video, this makes sense as she said during the 911 call "they dragged me off the trail and down the hill" so were they trying to help her?
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:36:28 AM EDT
[#7]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Rescuers were cautious with the dogs, bull mastiffs weighing more than 100 pounds. They had to be tranquilized as they were brought out of the woods.



There is your answer.



Oh, so another breed of dog that's evil huh?
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:36:53 AM EDT
[#8]
All dogs with the word bull as part of their name need to be banned, do it for the children.


Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:37:22 AM EDT
[#9]

Quoted:

highspeed transcutaneous lead therapy




Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:39:23 AM EDT
[#10]
When I was a kid in Michigan one of my friends was pulled off his bike and killed by dogs.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:40:13 AM EDT
[#11]
"Buy the cheap stuff instead of ALPO, willya?"  ""Who's the bad dog now?  Huh?  HUH?"
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:42:39 AM EDT
[#12]

Quoted:
All dogs with the word bull as part of their name need to be banned, do it for the children.





Amen brother,  then we can move on to any dog over 10 lbs!
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:46:19 AM EDT
[#13]

Quoted:
Her dogs were given oxygen? WTF? Why were they not administered highspeed transcutaneous lead therapy? If I was her I'd be taking those dogs for another trip into the woods.

Now it's time to sit back and enjoy the upcoming pitbull bashing that is inevitable in every dog attack thread.



No kidding!!  Those fucking dogs need a 20 round mag each, they certainly didn't need any oxygen that's for sure....what a waste of money


Mastiffs are scary big and powerful. If they were intent on harming their owner, she'd be dead.


edited.....
Who cares?  Maybe next time they'll decide they are intent on harming her.

The point is once a dog attacks it must be dealt with, the dog knows better than to attack it's owner or at least it should if it has been disciplined properly.  I would bet this is another case of an owner holding it's dog to an equal or higher standard.

How many times does it have to be explained?  When you make your dog the alpha male, you are treading on dangerous ground!!

Regardless of the circumstances, these dogs need to be put down they are a danger to society!  Imagine if she had been a child.......it's very likely she would be dead.  

If those dogs are allowed to live and they ever hurt anyone else then she should be charged just as if she had done it herself.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:48:27 AM EDT
[#14]

Quoted:

Mastiffs are scary big and powerful.  If they were intent on harming their owner, she'd be dead.



Agree 100 percent.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:52:50 AM EDT
[#15]
I have two Shepherds and I couldn't imagine that happening.  I can't envision a time that they would turn on me or my wife.

I would love to know what they were thinking
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:54:51 AM EDT
[#16]
maybe she pissed them off earlier in the day.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 5:59:25 AM EDT
[#17]
I think the news is just throwing out the word "attacked" like they throw around "assault rifle" when describing a Marlin 22.

Several bite marks is most likely teeth marks that were given when the dogs tried to pull her to their idea of safety.

I should show the news people all the scars on my arms when my Rotty ATTACKED me.Like one of the above posters said,if those 2 Mastiff's wanted to attack her,she would be dead.She was most likely freaking out and screaming because the dogs were trying to drag her to safety,but because she was screaming,the dogs got scared and tried to pull her to safety in a more "hurried" manner.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:05:24 AM EDT
[#18]
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:05:53 AM EDT
[#19]
Sounds more likely. I would agree if the dogs were to attack her, she would be hurt more or killed.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:08:09 AM EDT
[#20]
Little known background to this story is she used to read Thoreau's Walden to the dogs before she fed them.  She would finish a lengthy passage, demanding the rapt attention of the dogs, before dispensing the food.

Dogs are great listeners and can also appreciate irony.  They struck the bitch down at the very foot of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Woods.  One Bull Mastiff was quoted as saying:
"Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself."

To which the other replied: "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is."

The two Mastiffs were last reported instructing the other animals in quarantine on the teachings of that radical revolutionary, Thoreau.

One quarantined (suspected rabid) Ferret reportedly said: "I don't get it.  I mean, who the fuck cares about this shit?  Seems to me the only reason the libtards read this book is to quote inscrutable passages of it to each other in a vain attempt to seem like they are well read."  
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:09:02 AM EDT
[#21]
Because they're animals.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:10:09 AM EDT
[#22]
Maybe that Meat-flavored perfume she applied in the morning was too much to resist...
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:15:22 AM EDT
[#23]
Jesus.....I can't believe anyone is apologizing for these fucking dogs....

Did you see the video?  Did you see her jacket?  That fucking thing was ripped to shit!!  Did you hear the women saying her dogs attacked her?  I guess she just made that up, or didn't realize that they were trying to "help" her right?

Unbelievable.......those animals need to put to sleep before they seriously injure or kill someone.

Making excuses for these animals is like making excuses for terrorists.....i.e.

She must have provoked the dogs......
We had 9/11 coming to us......

BULLSHIT, if those dogs ever hurt anyone again then it's on that owner for not putting a bullet between each of their eyes.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:15:37 AM EDT
[#24]

Quoted:

No kidding!!  Those fucking dogs need a 20 round mag each, they certainly didn't need any oxygen that's for sure....what a waste of money

Regardless of the circumstances, these dogs need to be put down they are a danger to society!  Imagine if she had been a child.......it's very likely she would be dead.  

If those dogs are allowed to live and they ever hurt anyone else then she should be charged just as if she had done it herself.



Well fer Christ's sake, settle the fuck down.  And quit using the "Imagine if she had been a child" reasoning, it makes you sound like a retarded liberal.

Retarded liberal...is that an oxymoron?
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:18:39 AM EDT
[#25]

Quoted:

Making excuses for these animals is like making excuses for terrorists.....i.e.

She must have provoked the dogs......
We had 9/11 coming to us......




Now you're drawing parallels between dogs and terrorists?  Go take your meds.....
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:19:52 AM EDT
[#26]
And yet another reason not to wear your lucky ham necklace...
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:21:37 AM EDT
[#27]


interesting...

i'd say that most likely after the fall they were trying to hel her. dogs tend to be quite a bit smarter then most give them credit for. i'd also be willing to bet that when they grabbed her and started trying to "pull her to safety", she freaked out, they didn't understand, and proceeded to try harder.

i say this because my dog has an analogous habbit. sometimes he'll lick me, it's an affection thing. i hate that though, so i'll scold him for doing it. in doing so he get's nervous and tries to apologize the only way he knows how, by licking me MORE.


ETA: ^^^ ha ha ha! "ham necklace"!


Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:25:06 AM EDT
[#28]



Retarded liberal...is that an oxymoron?



No, an oxymoron would be a smart liberal

like a retarded liberal would actually be a simile
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:28:06 AM EDT
[#29]

Quoted:


Retarded liberal...is that an oxymoron?



No, an oxymoron would be a smart liberal

like a retarded liberal would actually be a simile



Oh that's right...saying retarded liberal is being redundant...
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 6:32:08 AM EDT
[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:

No kidding!!  Those fucking dogs need a 20 round mag each, they certainly didn't need any oxygen that's for sure....what a waste of money

Regardless of the circumstances, these dogs need to be put down they are a danger to society!  Imagine if she had been a child.......it's very likely she would be dead.  

If those dogs are allowed to live and they ever hurt anyone else then she should be charged just as if she had done it herself.



Well fer Christ's sake, settle the fuck down.  And quit using the "Imagine if she had been a child" reasoning, it makes you sound like a retarded liberal.

Retarded liberal...is that an oxymoron?




If my dog did that to me...............drag dog out to the backyard and empty the 30 round AK mag into the damn thing.  I'm not sure where liberal ties into anything here.  You break that trust, you're gonna get put down.

vmax84
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 7:14:21 AM EDT
[#31]
Dogs are predators.  If they perceive something fleeing from them, it is in their instinct to chase and attack.  All dogs possess this instinct.

Dogs are also pack animals.  It is also part of their instinct to determine who is in charge and occasionally they will challenge the leader for that position if they feel they can take over.  Perhaps the woman falling, screaming, etc gave the dogs an indication that now was the time for that challenge.  When you own dogs, you are a part of the pack and if you have not established that you are in charge, they may challenge you for that position at some point.  Several of the K9 handlers on my department have experienced this because their working dogs are extremely dominant in nature (as you would expect).  A good whack across the head with a 2 x 4 will usually convince them that they aren't running the show, at least temporarily.

There are many other animals that possess these same instincts, an example would be turkeys.  I have seen several video's where the turkeys in a group will immediately attack a turkey that has been shot.  Bears and cats are good examples of animals that will chase and attack almost anything that runs from them.  

I know of a woman who's Son had two german shepherds.  The dogs had been raised in the house with the Mother and her Son but the Son had raised the dogs and they looked at him as the "alpha male".  A short time after his death, both dogs attacked the Mother and had to be shot by police.  These were not normally agressive dogs.

Not making excuses for these mastiffs, I'm not claiming to know why they did what they did.  Just some observations about dogs in general.  I've got three of them and they are spoiled but if they ever challenged me for the "alpha" spot, I would not hesitate to show them the error in their decision.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 7:18:52 AM EDT
[#32]

Quoted:
Jesus.....I can't believe anyone is apologizing for these fucking dogs....

Did you see the video?  Did you see her jacket?  That fucking thing was ripped to shit!!  Did you hear the women saying her dogs attacked her?  I guess she just made that up, or didn't realize that they were trying to "help" her right?

Unbelievable.......those animals need to put to sleep before they seriously injure or kill someone.

Making excuses for these animals is like making excuses for terrorists.....i.e.

She must have provoked the dogs......
We had 9/11 coming to us......

BULLSHIT, if those dogs ever hurt anyone again then it's on that owner for not putting a bullet between each of their eyes.



look everybody, it's a troll!
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 7:42:52 AM EDT
[#33]

Quoted:

Quoted:
All dogs with the word bull as part of their name need to be banned, do it for the children.





Amen brother,  then we can move on to any dog over 10 lbs!



LOL!

My Pug weighs 12 punds. Ban her for the children! She only sleeps 20 hours a day.

Av.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 7:47:35 AM EDT
[#34]
Some breed of dogs are known to be temperamental and vicious. Bull Mastiffs are one of them.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 7:57:31 AM EDT
[#35]

Quoted:
"Buy the cheap stuff instead of ALPO, willya?"  ""Who's the bad dog now?  Huh?  HUH?"






Hey- this is Concord, Massachusetts, birthplace of the American Revolution and of America.

Sadly it's also now populated by a LOT of very liberal, rich suburban moonbats. The old Yankees have pretty much been priced out of this area.

I work there. It is a nutty place, full of cossetted, unreal causeheads.

People who feel guilty about being so wealthy so much so that they want to to tax everybody else to death, while simultaneously meeting with the tax lawyers to ensure the trust funds are tax-sheltered.

Animal rights and Dean/Kerry bumper stickers abound here.  Animals are better treated than some people here.

People here get very pissy if you tell them to please keep their dogs on a leash, acc. to local and Fed. law. "It's my RIGHT to let my dog go free" Yeah, right. Then the dog bites some kid. "He never did THAT before....the child must have provoked him...."

Rules for everybody else, just not for the Chosen Ones here...the dog lady sounds like one of the local Illuminati....
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 7:57:33 AM EDT
[#36]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Making excuses for these animals is like making excuses for terrorists.....i.e.

She must have provoked the dogs......
We had 9/11 coming to us......




Now you're drawing parallels between dogs and terrorists?  Go take your meds.....

You are either with the dogs, or you are with the terrorists!

But it was probably a fight over dominance, once she was on the ground the dogs saw it as a victory and there was no need for further violance...
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:02:23 AM EDT
[#37]

Quoted:
Little known background to this story is she used to read Thoreau's Walden to the dogs before she fed them.  She would finish a lengthy passage, demanding the rapt attention of the dogs, before dispensing the food.

Dogs are great listeners and can also appreciate irony.  They struck the bitch down at the very foot of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Woods.  One Bull Mastiff was quoted as saying:
"Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself."

To which the other replied: "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is."

The two Mastiffs were last reported instructing the other animals in quarantine on the teachings of that radical revolutionary, Thoreau.

One quarantined (suspected rabid) Ferret reportedly said: "I don't get it.  I mean, who the fuck cares about this shit?  Seems to me the only reason the libtards read this book is to quote inscrutable passages of it to each other in a vain attempt to seem like they are well read."  


Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:04:57 AM EDT
[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Little known background to this story is she used to read Thoreau's Walden to the dogs before she fed them.  She would finish a lengthy passage, demanding the rapt attention of the dogs, before dispensing the food.

Dogs are great listeners and can also appreciate irony.  They struck the bitch down at the very foot of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Woods.  One Bull Mastiff was quoted as saying:
"Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself."

To which the other replied: "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is."

The two Mastiffs were last reported instructing the other animals in quarantine on the teachings of that radical revolutionary, Thoreau.

One quarantined (suspected rabid) Ferret reportedly said: "I don't get it.  I mean, who the fuck cares about this shit?  Seems to me the only reason the libtards read this book is to quote inscrutable passages of it to each other in a vain attempt to seem like they are well read."  





+1!!!!!

Wow. Cheesebeast- have you spent a lot of time in Concord? You really hit the nail on the head. This is EXACTLY what these people are like. Well said, my man, VERY well said!

Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:14:07 AM EDT
[#39]
She was probably falling and they tried to save her. When I fell once, my dog quickly ran by and basically hovered over me.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:14:53 AM EDT
[#40]
They were trying to pull her to safety.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:16:55 AM EDT
[#41]
she was probably on the rag and her dogs inner wolf smelled it and and went pack mentality.

wheres Steve Erwin or Jack Hanna when you need an animal question answered.


MLW>"<
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:23:27 AM EDT
[#42]
Reason #27 for having a CCW
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:24:31 AM EDT
[#43]

Quoted:
She was probably falling and they tried to save her. When I fell once, my dog quickly ran by and basically hovered over me.



I have cats.  When I fall, you can hear the cats thinking, "Shit.  If that asshole dies, who's gonna feed us?  Get up, dipshit."
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:25:24 AM EDT
[#44]

Quoted:
Some breed of dogs are known to be temperamental and vicious. Bull Mastiffs are one of them.



Personal experience, or just regurgitating media bullshit with no regard to the truth?  This is the intraweb, so fee free to spout more outrageousness in defense of that statement.



Again, I don't pretend to know what happened here, but I attempted to answer the question posed in the title, based on the article and the video.  The bottom line is that if these two dogs indeed intended to hurt her, she'd have never been able to dial 911.  Watch the video.  The owner says "Yes" when the dispatcher asks: "You've been attacked by two dogs.  Are they yours?"

It seems likely to me that she's answering the question, not necessarily agreeing with the dispatcher's assumptive statement.

As far as the results actually shown in the video (the torn up jacket), please realize that we are talking about 200# (in all likelihood 300+) of dog vs. a nylon outershell.  

I'm completely undecided on what should happen to the two dogs.  If the same (type) of "attack" were to happen to me or my wife with our two dogs, I'm certain that we'd be able to determine if it was an attempted rescue, or an assertion of dominance.  If it was the former, it'd be ice cream all around.  The latter would result in a pair of .45 caliber holes with zero hesitation, but a lot of remorse.   In other words, save the apologist crap for someone who deserves the moniker.

As for the inevitable breed-bashing troll posts, please refrain from commenting unless you actually have some experience with the breed.  The ignorant spew just makes you look like a fool.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:30:49 AM EDT
[#45]

Quoted:
she was probably on the rag and her dogs inner wolf smelled it and and went pack mentality.

wheres Steve Erwin or Jack Hanna when you need an animal question answered.


MLW>"<



That's exactly what I was going to post.

"And when she fell over
Ol' Rover took over
And gave her a bone of his own."
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:31:45 AM EDT
[#46]
Dogs were not trying to kill her, if they were she would be dead.  They were probably trying to drag her to safety.

Every mastiff that I have come across has been nothing but  gentle giants.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:37:06 AM EDT
[#47]
sydney7629 said:
I have two Shepherds and I couldn't imagine that happening. I can't envision a time that they would turn on me or my wife.

I would love to know what they were thinking


They probably think you and your wife are their walking emergency food supply, and spend most of their time wondering idly what you taste like.

Don't get low on dog food.
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 8:46:04 AM EDT
[#48]
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 9:04:25 AM EDT
[#49]

Quoted:
Dogs are predators.  If they perceive something fleeing from them, it is in their instinct to chase and attack.  All dogs possess this instinct.

Dogs are also pack animals.  It is also part of their instinct to determine who is in charge and occasionally they will challenge the leader for that position if they feel they can take over.  Perhaps the woman falling, screaming, etc gave the dogs an indication that now was the time for that challenge.  When you own dogs, you are a part of the pack and if you have not established that you are in charge, they may challenge you for that position at some point.  Several of the K9 handlers on my department have experienced this because their working dogs are extremely dominant in nature (as you would expect).  A good whack across the head with a 2 x 4 will usually convince them that they aren't running the show, at least temporarily.

There are many other animals that possess these same instincts, an example would be turkeys.  I have seen several video's where the turkeys in a group will immediately attack a turkey that has been shot.  Bears and cats are good examples of animals that will chase and attack almost anything that runs from them.  

I know of a woman who's Son had two german shepherds.  The dogs had been raised in the house with the Mother and her Son but the Son had raised the dogs and they looked at him as the "alpha male".  A short time after his death, both dogs attacked the Mother and had to be shot by police.  These were not normally agressive dogs.

Not making excuses for these mastiffs, I'm not claiming to know why they did what they did.  Just some observations about dogs in general.  I've got three of them and they are spoiled but if they ever challenged me for the "alpha" spot, I would not hesitate to show them the error in their decision.



This has got to be one of the smartest, most thought out post on this thread.  Well worth the quote...
~Dg84
Link Posted: 12/16/2005 9:28:19 AM EDT
[#50]
I think there is more to this story, than meets the eye.  I will wait for a follow-up on what reallly happened.  I bet this news story is based on incomplete information on what happened.
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