| Thorndale 'killing frenzy' investigated - Dogs that attacked woman may be euthanized (Note: Five of the dogs are pit bull-rottweiler mixes, and one is a full blooded pit bull -- and they killed an innocent woman -- yet still the Language Deception used by veterinarian Valeri Bobbitt is employed. She apparently didn't see what was left of Lillian Stiles. She has not yet had such an experience happen within her own comfort zone. Perhaps she even thinks that wolves don't attack humans. She coos that they have behaved well since they arrived at the center and blithely states, "We are not fearful to go into cages with them. I don't believe these dogs have been trained to be aggressive. We haven't had the opportunity to deal with them in a pack, but generally when dogs like this get together, they can become more unpredictable." Valeri Bobbitt also said the dogs could have been in "pack mentality" when they attacked Stiles. Pit bulls mixed with rottweilers are "dogs like this" -- and why would they be bred if not for aggressive behavior and to keep law enforcement at bay while illegal activity goes on? There are plenty of dog breeds to have for pets. Jose Hernandez, the dogs' owner, lives a half-mile from where the dogs attacked and killed this innocent, 76-year-old woman. What was this pack of aggressively bred dogs doing LOOSE in the first place -- and what would the carnage have been had they encountered a group of playing children? Lillian Stiles daughter said, "...there needs to be some kind of a law that if you choose to own these types of animals that you're going to be responsible for whatever damage they do, whether it be property damage or a loss of life like this, which is just a tragedy." Amen, Marilyn Shoemaker. AMEN. If such "owners" and "breeders" got to spend life in prison for the results of their actions, these things would be rare tragedies, not increasingly common horrors. For those folks that think wolves do not do things as a pack -- like 'sport killing' -- please read this article about dogs and consider that wolves are a few rungs higher up on the predator ladder. Ohio changed its laws regarding vicious dog breeds in 2005 to invite such things to happen in the Buckeye State. "Dog running at large" is the best prosecutors can do in Ohio, unless someone's livestock are killed. A person's pet is not considered important, if it -- while on leash and obeying the law -- encounters such irresponsible and dangerous animals running "at large" and is injured. Ditto for people. If maimings and deaths of people and their pets were punishable by life in prison as the 'prize' for such dogs' owners, this situation would resolve itself.) November 28, 2005 By April Avison april.avison@theeagle.com Eagle Staff Writer The Bryan - College Station Eagle P.O. Box 3000 Bryan, Texas 77802 979-731-4621 Fax: 979-774-0496 http://www.theeagle.com To submit a Letter to the Editor: editorial@theeagle.com Jack Stiles was watching football Saturday afternoon in his Thorndale home when he heard an urgent knock at the front door. A man, pursued by a pack of pit bull-rottweiler crossbreeds, shouted at the 76-year-old Stiles, "There's a body in your yard." Then the man asked frantically: "Do you have a gun?" Stiles retrieved his .22-caliber pistol and shot one of the six dogs in his yard. The other dogs dispersed. Stiles then followed the man, whose leg had been punctured, to the blood-covered body in his yard. He didn't immediately recognize his wife of 55 years lying on the ground. "I wouldn't have known that this was my wife had I not recognized her clothes," Stiles said. Milam County investigators returned Sunday to the home where Lillian Stiles was fatally attacked by a pack of dogs in what the sheriff described as a "killing frenzy." The 76-year-old woman was riding a lawn mower in her front yard on F.M. 486 in Thorndale at about 4:15 p.m. when the dogs approached her. Sheriff's deputies say she may have gotten off the lawn mower and headed for her house when she was attacked. Stiles suffered severe bites all over her body, investigators said. "It's quite traumatic," Sheriff Charlie West said. "This woman was mutilated." The dogs belong to Jose Hernandez, who lives about a half-mile down the road from the Stiles family. Hernandez could not be reached for comment Sunday. Sheriff's investigators will turn over their findings to District Attorney Kerry Spears, who will decide whether to pursue criminal charges, West said. Jack Stiles said he had seen his neighbor before but has never had any conversations with the man or any contact with the dogs. West, who has worked for the sheriff's department since 1977, said he can't remember any previous complaints about the dogs. The man who knocked on Jack Stiles' door to report the attack was Weldon Smith of Rockdale. Smith was treated for bite wounds, and the dogs that attacked him will be tested for rabies. His wife, Maurita Smith, was the first to call the Milam County Sheriff's Department. Investigators on Sunday recovered the body of the dog Jack Stiles shot. The other five dogs -- a mother and four offspring between 1 and 2 years old -- were taken to Veterinary Medical Arts Center in Cameron. Veterinarian Valeri Bobbitt is tending to the dogs and said they have behaved well since they arrived at the center. "We are not fearful to go into cages with them," she said. "I don't believe these dogs have been trained to be aggressive. We haven't had the opportunity to deal with them in a pack, but generally when dogs like this get together, they can become more unpredictable." 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." Dogs are not required to be on leashes in the rural area of Milam County where Hernandez lives, and there are no restrictions on dog breeding. Sheriff West said he anticipates that the dogs will be euthanized, and their heads will be sent to a diagnostic lab in Austin for testing to determine whether they have rabies. The dogs were still in the care of the veterinary center late Sunday, and Bobbitt said she expected to receive instructions Monday on whether to euthanize them. Jack Stiles said he would like to see more accountability placed on the owners of what he deems "vicious" dogs. West said that's something he will begin researching in the coming weeks. "The people who live out in the country, you don't want to tell them what they can or can't do with their dogs, but there needs to be some criminal responsibility that people should have for their dogs," West said. "They need to pass a law that says if the dog causes property damage, or worse, then you can be held criminally responsible, and the penalty should fit the crime." The Stiles family won't make funeral arrangements until an autopsy is complete, Jack Stiles said. In the meantime, his family -- which includes three children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren -- is taking comfort in the fact that Lillian Stiles was a "good Christian" who lived a full life. "It's really hard to grasp and realize that she's gone," Jack Stiles said, his voice cracking. "We're really at a loss. You wonder why these things happen. We have a little bit of comfort in the fact that because of her religion and beliefs, we know she's OK." Copyright 2005, The Bryan - College Station Eagle. http://www.theeagle.com/stories/112805/local_20051128019.php
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