A 92-year-old woman attacked by four dogs in her neighbor’s home near Olympia, Wash., died Tuesday, police said.

Gladys Alexander was mauled by four mixed-breed dogs Sunday night, after she entered the Scott Lake house of a friend who has helped her with day-to-day tasks, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

Her neighbor, who was dog-sitting three dogs that belong to her incarcerated daughter, was not at the Entrée View Dr. SW home, but returned to find the dogs biting into Alexander, deputies said. The woman got the dogs off Alexander and dialed 911.

“Please hurry! There’s lots of blood all over!” she said in a recording published by KOMO-TV. “She let herself in, which she doesn’t normally do. And my dogs are protective. And she’s a real small lady. And they started getting her.”

“She had zero chance of survival,” Alexander, 61, said. “We knew that. Our efforts were about making her as comfortable as possible.”

The dogs — two females and two males — were all part pit bulls, according to the sheriff’s office. One was a lab mix, the other was a heeler mix and two were a mix of all three.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wash-woman-92-killed-mauling-dogs-article-1.2557635

92-year-old woman mauled by dogs dies early Tuesday

BY AMELIA DICKSON – [email protected]

A 92-year-old woman mauled by a pack of dogs died early Tuesday, according to her family.

Gladys Alexander suffered injuries Sunday when she entered a neighbor’s home on Entrée View Drive and was attacked by up to four mixed-breed dogs that were part pit bull.

Her son, Wayne Alexander, of Kent, said the attack came as a shock — but he said he was glad his mother died relatively quickly.

“Given the circumstances, with what has happened, that’s what was best for her,” Wayne Alexander said. “At her age, with those injuries, she was never going to make a full recovery.”

He said his mother suffered two broken bones in one arm and a broken bone in one leg as a result of dog bites. She also suffered severe injuries to her skull and lost a lot of blood.

She died just before noon, Wayne Alexander said.

“It’s a sad time for our family,” he said. “We can’t believe the way it happened. You don’t expect these kinds of things to happen around here.”

Gladys Alexander was a longtime resident of Scott Lake, and lived in the same house since 1972, her son said.

She was born in Arkansas and served with the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II. She met her husband, and the couple moved to Shelton in 1969. They then moved to Scott Lake.

Wayne Alexander said his father died 13 years ago. Gladys Alexander is survived by three children, two of whom live in California.

“She was an active woman,” Wayne Alexander said. “She was small, but very active.”

Sgt. Tim Rudloff, of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, said no criminal charges will be filed as a result of the mauling, or Gladys Alexander’s death.

One dog belonged to the neighbor, who was temporarily caring for the other three dogs. The neighbor has regularly assisted Gladys Alexander with day-to-day tasks, and the neighbors often went back and forth to each other’s houses.

The neighbor was running an errand when Alexander let herself into the house Sunday. The neighbor returned home during the attack, restrained the dogs and called for medical help.

The dog belonging to the neighbor has been surrendered for euthanization. The other dogs are in custody at Thurston County Animal Services, and officials are trying to contact the owner.

According to the sheriff’s office, two dogs are a mix of pit bull, heeler and labrador. One dog is a pit bull and Labrador mix, while the other is a pit bull and heeler mix. During quarantine, animal services will determine whether the dogs should be classified as dangerous.
Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/crime/article64831277.html#storylink=cpy

92-year-old woman dies after dog attack

^{by: Deborah Horne Updated: Mar 8, 2016 – 10:39 PM}

Law enforcement on dog attacks in Western Washington 

After a 63-year-old woman was attacked by pitbulls in SeaTac in summer 2009, King County Sheriff John Urquhart – then a sergeant and department spokesman — said deputies see more animal-related calls in the summer.

“People will say there are no bad dogs, just bad dog owners,” he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer at the time. “We don’t agree with that.”

Seattle Animal Shelter Don Jordan has said Seattle’s approach is to “focus on the deed, not the breed.” He has that take after that SeaTac attack and another in that city, and had the same response when there were calls to ban Rottweilers in Seattle in the 1990s.

In 2012, the last complete year for which KIRO 7 has complete data, there were 30 reports of pit bulls biting humans, more than any other dog breed. There were 18 reports for Labrador retrievers and nine reports for Rottweilers that year.

Read full story: http://www.kiro7.com/news/92-year-old-woman-dies-after-dog-attack/151421859

2016 Dog Bite Fatality: Elderly Woman In ICU Dies After Violent Dog Attack In Thurston County

^{DogsBite.org reports}

03/09/16: Officials Impound Dogs
Gladys Alexander, 92-years old, did not survive her injuries. She died at 11:55 am Tuesday at Harborview Medical Center. On Sunday, four large dogs viciously attacked her after she entered into a neighbor’s home to give her a newspaper. Animal services impounded the dogs a few hours after her death was announced. Up until this time, the dogs — described as two adult and two younger pit bull-lab mix variations — had been “home quarantined” in a type of comedy routine.

Friends and family members are upset that the dogs’ owners face no criminal penalties. The dogs were legally confined to the owner’s home when Gladys entered the home not knowing that her neighbor was away. One friend, Nancy Jenrette, told Kiro 7 News that she understands why nothing can be done. “At the same time, it just feels so criminal that she had to have suffered so tragically and that she ended up having to die in this manner. It’s just horrific,” Jenrette said.

Read more: https://blog.dogsbite.org/2016/03/elderly-woman-in-critical-condition.html

American Pit Bull Terrier

The ‘bull and terrier’ type was originally developed in England in the early 19^thcentury. The lineage goes back to the mastiff / molosser types, including what we now call the Olde English Bulldogge, that were used for bear-, bull- and horse-baiting from the 12^th through the 18^th century. This isn’t the bear-baiting we think of today, when hunters feed bears in order to bring them out in the open to shoot them. Rather, the bear, bull or horse was confined in a public arena where the mastiff ‘bulldogs’ would slowly tear them apart alive for the public’s amusement^1,2,3,4,5.

The popularity of this ‘sport’ declined as education became more emphasized in urban society of the Industrial Revolution and literacy among the population grew (from about 30% in the 17^th century to 62% by 1800)⁶.  The ‘sport’ was banned altogether by Act of Parliament in 1835.

The lovers of blood ‘sports’ turned to dogfighting to satisfy their fancy, breeding the large, mastiff-type bulldogs to smaller working terriers to get dogs both smaller and more agile, easier to keep and to hide, but just as willing to attack and fight to the death. With the rise of the kennel clubs and the desire to distinguish dogs by looks and pedigree as well as by performance, this ‘bull and terrier’ type eventually divided into many official breeds. They all share the same ancestry and function, distinguishing themselves mostly by slight differences in appearance.

Learn more about the American Pit Bull Terrier