Pregnant woman mauled to death by family pit bull
 

This was on the news today. Very sad...

Pregnant woman mauled to death by family pit bull in Pacifica | abc7news.com

"PACIFICA, Calif. (KGO) -- A pregnant Pacifica woman was mauled to death by her pit bull Thursday. Her husband made the grisly discovery of their pit bull standing over his wife's body.


Darla Napora was 32 years old. She was killed inside their home on Reina Del Mar Avenue.

Pacifica police arrived at the home after getting a 911 call from the victim's husband.

"When they arrived, they found the victim laying in her own front living room; she was not breathing, unresponsive and had major trauma to her upper body," Pacifica Police Capt. Dave Bertini said. "The husband stated that when he got home, at about noon, he found his wife with their pit bull hovering over her."

Darla and Greg Napora owned two pit bulls, a spayed 6-year-old and an unneutered 2-year-old. The unneutered pit bull is believed to be responsible for mauling and killing Darla.

Police ultimately shot and killed the dog after it escaped from the backyard as officers were conducting their investigation.

"The last thing we wanted to happen was for the dog to get out and start attacking bystanders or be loose in the neighborhood," Bertini said. "So as soon as the dog got out of the backyard, the decision was immediately made to put that dog down and that's why the dog was shot three times by two officers on scene."

Police say Darla was pregnant, although they do not know how far along she was.

Neighbors are saddened. They say the dogs appeared nice and normal and never noticed anything unusual about the dogs.

A necropsy is scheduled for Friday.

"Eventually we're going to find out if there's anything physically or medically wrong with the dog that may have caused this attack," Bertini said. "We have already done an extensive interview with the husband and there are follow up questions that we may ask in the future."

Police do not believe the other pit bull had anything to do with the attack but as a precaution it is being held at the Peninsula Humane Society.


(Copyright ©2011 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)"

Very sad.

We had a similar situation in my area recently where a man had 2 pits that he usually kept chained inside his townhouse. The son discovered his father mauled to death by the dogs.

Oh my gosh this is so sad.

This is awful. :( How very sad.

In the news here last night: A man that kept 2 pits. Last year one of the dogs attacked an elderly lady. He went to court to defend the dog saying that it was his service animal and he needed her. The dog was allowed to go home. Last week both of the dogs attacked a family on a walk (mom,dad,child). The father sustained injuries while trying to protect his family. This time the guy didn't even show up in court. The dogs will be put down today or early next week.

I saw this on the news this morning, I just can't believe this keeps happenning, this poor husband and what a horrible way to lose a loved one. Everytime I hear these stories I think about Michael Vick.

This is so sad and sickening, yet is happening more and more.

Last week a woman on Maui was attacked by a pitbull on a hiking trail in Olinda forest.

Last Wednesday we had a 10 year old boy attacked by two pit bull mixes. They drug him down the road by his ears ripping them off. The police officers found his ears in the road but were unable to re-attach them.Cocke County boy seriously injured in attack by pit bull mix

I'm sure we'll get a rash of responses that say pit bulls aren't any worse than other dogs; it's the owners fault etc. Yes, I suppose it is the owners fault, however, it sure seems that the number of deaths involving pit bulls is extremely high. I understand that any breed can bite, but does death result? I know people say that they are against breed specific legislation, but it seems like this breed does need some type of breed specific legislation. If we don’t eventually get some type of breed specific legislation, then we’ll have to make legislation that will affect all breeds, and that’s not fair either. Has a Yorkie EVER caused a human’s death? I have nothing against Pit Bull, I loved Cesars pit bull Daddy, but I'm beginning to believe that Pit Bull owners should have to show that they've had some specialized training. Anyone else have some ideas on what we could do to help prevent these deaths?

Oh wow, what a horrible story, and this was an in heat female running loose. I’m glad owners were arrested. This poor little boy, I can’t imagine, if that were my son, what I’d want to do to these pet owners. They need to be held accountable.

I totally agree Nancy!! We are a small county and rural, we do have leash laws, but it is so common to see dogs just running loose.
We do have a good animal control office and our animal shelter is a no kill shelter, but most people don't want to involve themselves when they see these dogs just roaming around.
Almost every neighbor we have lets their dogs run free. I can't even get outside with Jada and Bogie on leash for fear of the bigger dogs that stay on our property. I have had to call animal control a couple of times and they always come right out. They talk to the offenders, giving them a warning.and They will keep their dogs up for a while and then it just goes back to the same old thing.

Same horror here for this family as every time I read this story. These pitbull breeds and all their derivations are causing untold harm. Unless the state begins to seriously punish owners and make them do time in jail for a dog mauling, this problem will continue. Once folks have to serve time for manslaughter - say mandatory 2 years w/out parole, cannot keep a pet over 15 lbs. for the next 10 years(will help keep children and small dog victims safe) and then serve a lengthy probation, I think we'll see less people keeping these dangerous breeds. I think they should include all breeds in the legislation but it will mostly affect the dogs bred for pit fighting/killing whose littermates are sold to the public at large.

Am praying for this poor woman's family.

That's sad.

That's a really good idea, and punishment can be an effective deterrent sometimes. However, most people don't think they'll ever get caught, and I wish there was more we could do to prevent these attacks.

Oh, isn't that the truth. It would be so good to avoid all of that misery altogether! So many people would still be alive and others free from fear, pain and scars.

I just don't know what legislators will do up front that would make people keep their big, powerful dogs safely confined and always on leash and off other people or pets. So many of these dogs don't obviously aggress until the first attack, it is said. Knowing a bit about dog body language/behavior, I would tend to disagree, but that is what so many of the owners contend. It is so sad to see people and other pets suffering and dying this way each month.

I kind of think everyone is in too much denial including pit bull owners. Pit bulls are still a very popular dog in the dog fighting world, and sometimes I wonder if the dogs involved in attacks have had any involvement in that.

Everyone uses the "slippery slope" argument about pitbulls and where you draw the line. I would draw it at the owner doing real time!

Oh gosh; that is such a horrible story. I'm no fan of pitbulls; I recognize that I physically could not handle one and, therefore, would never try.

They are so powerful and owned by all the wrong people. Why was the one dog not neutered? They are not given the training and exercise that a dog like that requires.

I do think something needs to be done; but I don't know what.

Whenever I think they should be banned; I think to Cesar Milan's Daddy and how sweet he was. I'm not sure if he was a pitbull or an American Staffordshire . or what the difference is. I just know too many people are being hurt by a dog that a lot of folks just cannot control.

This poor woman and her unborn child. Horrific.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: I can't agree more!! I do wonder why they didn't spay the 2 year old...?? I don't know if that would have made a difference...

I've read that unneutered dogs are more aggressive than neutered dogs. However, dog fighting enthusiasts are really behind some of the anti-neutering campaigns.

Okay I've read this time and time again on this forum. As an owner/breeder of un-neutered males, I can categorically state that in my experience they are not more aggressive (at least in my breeds). Am I carefull, you bet your sweet patoostie I am. I own a large breed dog, that was bred to guard and protect, and of course a Yorkie.

Just yesterday I and my breeder friend took 3 un-neutered males swimming. There was some jostling for place; and the youngum 18mths old, once he got too "enthusiastic" with Magic, I put Magic away. The point is the "owner" needs to be vigilant all the time. I read the body dynamics of the young male, and decided that was enough Magic got put back into the car. Would something have happened? Maybe yes, maybe no, but believe you me I would never risk it; if I had some forewarning.

Most of "our " bad experiences come from neutered males/females trying to dominate Magic. He won't be dominated. And from clueless owners, and dogs that are not trained.

I don't know what is going on with this "pitbull" mutt/mix, there is no universally accepted breed definition of pitbull. But I do know they get reported upon, time and time again.

Any dog including my dog, if he attacks a family member, quite simply needs to be put down. To kill a family member? What gives there?
That is beyond the pale.

Would a dog attack their owner if they were being abused? I'm not saying that this is the case, but it's just something that I thought about when reading the thread.

We knowthat the hormone testosterone is connected with aggression, and testicles do produce the bulk of testosterone, although the adrenal glands produce some. Also, dog fighting enthusiasts actually say that’s why they don’t want their dogs fixed, they say that a neutered dog is useless in the ring. Testosterone is only one element of the total aggression package. There are other heredity influences besides hormones and of course, training, would be another important element. Just as one can help train a dog to be less aggressive, one can also train a dog to become more aggressive. I hope I didn't imply that all unneutered dogs are aggressive, and I've talked to many excellant breeders who tell me their males are much less aggressive than their females. The dog in question was a female in heat. I'm not blaming the dog.

How sad, tragic and awful these stories are. I love dogs and this breaks my heart. I don't have the answer either. Do we write a new law and enforce it ? Who pays for it ? Do we include all bull dog types ? Pitbull is not a breed, but a description, like the hated tea cup word. And who decides which dogs go on the dangerous list ? Do we let politicians who may know nothing about dogs, draft the laws ? Do we create a dog profile based only on physical appearances ? Do we toss in weight limits, bite size , containment laws like required for wild animals ? We know the debate is endless. Just like guns, the bad guys get them too. People who obey the law will follow the rules, pay a special licence fees or what ever is needed. But the bad guys will still breed, sell and have dangerous dogs.

So sadd :(

I don't know the answers to all of these question, but how many deaths does it take, before we know we should do something? If I were knowledgeable in the breed and had a love for it, I think I would want to become very involved with this problem, and not just deny that there was a problem.

I do think something needs to be done but Im not sure what. I wouid hate to see banning of a breed because it could be any breed next. It just seems a dog as powerful as this should only be with an owner thats going to put them through extensive training. So there should be some requirements for ownership.

Yeah, I would hate to ban a breed too, but if the people who love the breed don't become proactive in coming up with solutions, people who hate the breed will make the laws.

This is my experience so far. Un neutered or for that matter neutered females in the BRT's are more often likely to get more aggressive to dogs as they age. And females once fighting will likely try to fight to the death, versus the male studs.

But I still don't like the automatic assumption that all the behavioural woes of dogs be they female or male is put at the foot of un-neutered animals.

Like most complex problems, there's never any one cure all answer, and I have no idea if most of the attacks are done by unneuted/unspayed dogs, I just believe that we need to start studying the problem, and this should start with those breed clubs effected by this. It seems to me, that they seem to be more interested in revamping their image after one of the incidents than tackling the problem.