Occupational Dog Bite Safety Newsletter | Bulli Ray

Training Employees To Protect Themselves 

From Dog Attacks!                                                                                                                      
March 2015 

 

 
In This Issue
Horrifying final moments of jogger
Update...Was dog mauling murder?
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Nightmares Haunt Victim of Mauling
2014 Dog Bite Fatalities
Breed of the Month
Train the Trainer Courses 2014
Bulli Ray Schedule
ODBS Tips From Expert Mitzi Robinson National Dog Bite Prevention Week! May 17 - 23
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'I'm dying:' Horrifying final moments of the jogger killed when two vicious Cane Corso dogs mauled him, biting the father of three eight times:
  • Craig Sytsma, 46, was mauled by two massive and aggressive dogs while jogging in a rural road in Metamora Township, Michigan
  • Dog owners Valbona Lucaj, 44, and husband Sebastiano Quagliata, 45, remain jailed on second-degree murder charges
  • The two hundred-pound cane corsos have been euthanized
Even as a brave paramedic neighbor tried desperately to stop his bleeding, Craig Sytsma knew he would die from the wounds he'd suffered during a vicious dog mauling on a rural Michigan road.
The 46-year-old father of three, who was bitten some eight times by two hundred-pound cane corsos while jogging in Metamora Township in July, was 'screaming' and begging' for help in his final minutes.
One neighbor, a medic, used a belt as a tourniquet to stop Sytsma's bleeding. She had to pause the rescue efforts momentarily while the massive dogs came back.
'I'm bleeding out,' a desperate Sytsma told his rescuer, according to the Detroit Free Press. 'I'm dying.'
He 'was losing a lot of blood and begged her to not let him die,' police wrote about the rescuer, Helen Barwig.
It took another neighbor, Barwig's boyfriend Edward Elmer, firing his .44-caliber Magnum at the dogs to end the attack. He struck one of the animals in the leg.
Sytsma only had time to tell Barwig that his name was Craig before losing consciousness. He was rushed to a local hospital but soon died of his injuries.
His dramatic final moments were revealed in response to a request by the Free Press under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.
The police records show the two dogs had run loose for months in the small rural community, attacking at least two neighbors months before they killed Sytsma.
Some neighbors began to arm themselves, including the man whose shots eventually scared the cane corsos as Sytsma laid dying.
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Update
Was dog mauling in Metamora, IL murder?
By L.L. Brasier, Detroit Free Press 
9:30 a.m. EST February 16, 2015
  
A Metamora couple goes on trial this spring for second-degree murder after their two dogs mauled a jogger last summer. The murder charge is a first in Michigan for a dog attack. - 
When jogger Craig Sytsma was attacked and mauled to death by two large dogs last July as he ran down a rural country road in Metamora Township, it was an horrific but extraordinarily rare tragedy. There are only about 30 or so fatal dog attacks reported each year in a nation with 75 million dogs.

But what could take place in a Lapeer County courtroom this spring will be even rarer.

The dogs' owners, Valbona Lucaj, 44, and her husband, Sebastiano Quagliata, 45, are expected to go on trial, likely in May, on charges of second-degree murder in Sytsma's fatal mauling. The trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday, but was adjourned to give the defense more time to prepare its case.

It is the first time in Michigan dog owners have been charged with murder following a fatal mauling and is one of only a handful of murder prosecutions related to dog attacks in the country.

"The numbers are very small," said Janis Bradley, communication director for the National Canine Research Council, a nonprofit organization that studies human-canine relationships and tracks, among other things, dog attacks. All told, there have only been five murder convictions in dog maulings nationwide since 1992.
"A fatal dog attack is very,very unusual, and a murder conviction is so rare that it is extraordinary."



  

Months after pit bull mauling, nightmares haunt victim
By Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press EST

Steve Constantine suffered a near fatal dog mauling in late October when he was trying to feed his friend's dogs in Detroit. Constantine lost his left ear, left leg, and left arm in the attack. Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press
Remembering is not so easy for Steve Constantine.
The details are murky about that night in October when a dozen dogs attacked him, tearing his flesh and limbs.

By the time the mauling ended, the 50-year-old man was left mostly naked on a darkened east-side Detroit street with his arms and legs shredded, and he was clinging to life.

"There was no streetlight, and it was a dark street and nobody around so I'm screwed. I'm like, 'Somebody help me,' but who's going to hear me. I didn't see a soul," Constantine said. "I don't recall people showing up and helping me, and somebody said they had to shoot one of the dogs, you know, and somebody said the dogs were on me so they couldn't shoot because, you know, they might have shot me."

For Constantine, many of the details of the attack are fuzzy, but he recalls a dog biting him and one "calmly" licking him. He pleaded for help and begged the dogs to stop.
Other images from the attack return to him only at night. Constantine has a recurring dream of a black dog that he fears will bite him. He grabs the dog's "muzzle and its bottom jaw ... and I keep saying, 'Come on, quit it, quit it.' "

Police believe 12 dogs - pit bulls or pit bull mixes - attacked Constantine, pinning him to the ground and ripping into his flesh. A 911 caller described the dogs as "all over him." Police had to shoot one of the dogs, which were so vicious that rescue workers could not immediately render aid. The rest of the dogs were seized and euthanized.

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In the News Page (read more dog bite stories) 
ANY DOG CAN BITE! SOME JUST DON'T STOP

42 
- dog bite-related fatalities occurred in 2014 -
Up by ten from 2013 
***********************
From 2005 to 2014, 
326 Americans suffered death due to dog bite injury. 

2014 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities
In 2014, 42 dog attacks resulted in death: 19 child victims, 1 young teen victim and 22 adults.
2013 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities
In 2013, 32 dog attacks resulted in death: 18 child victims and 14 adult victims.
2012 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities
In 2012, 38 dog attacks resulted in death: 19 child victims and 19 adult victims.
2011 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities
In 2011, 31 dog attacks resulted in death: 13 child victims and 18 adult victims.
2010 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities
In 2010, 33 dog attacks resulted in death: 20 child victims and 13 adult victims.

Let Bulli Ray help train you and your employees on how to be safe around dogs. Contact us today!
Breed of the Month:
Cane Corso  
The Cane Corso
An ancient Italian breed, medium-large size Molossus Dog. Sturdy, with a strong skeleton. Muscular and athletic, it moves with considerable ease and elegance. It has always been a property watchdog and hunter of difficult game such as the wild boar. The Cane Corso is a dominant guardian breed that requires an assertive, confident owner.
History. 
The Cane Corso is a descendant of the dogs used by the Romans in warfare. His name derives from the Latin "Cohors" which means "guardian," "protector. In the recent past, its distribution was limited to some districts of Southern Italy, especially in Basilicata, Campania and Puglia.

The Cane Corso is a catch dog used with cattle and swine, and also in wild boar hunts. Cane Corso were used to guard property, livestock and families and some continue to be used for this purpose today. Historically it has also been used by night watchmen, keepers, and, in the past, by carters as a drover. In the more distant past this breed was common all over Italy as an ample iconography and historiography testify.
As life changed in the southern Italian rural farms in the 20th century, the Corso began to become rare. A group of enthusiasts began recovery activities designed to bring the dog back from near extinction in the late 1970s. By 1994, the breed was fully accepted by the Italian Kennel Club (ENCI). 

Colors and Coats:

White markings are common on the chest, tips of toes, the chin, and the bridge of the nose. 

 

Life span: 
10-12 years

Weight:
90 to 120 pounds

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  • March 16, 17 PG&E San Ramon, CA
  • March 18 SMUD Sacramento, CA
  • March 24 Coachella Valley Water District, CA 
  • March 25 Eastern Municipal Water District Perris, CA 
  • April 13 Aqua Water Philadelphia, PA 
  • April 15, 16 UGI Utilities Safety Conf. Hershey, PA
  • April 29, 30, 1 ODBS Train the Trainer - Tampa, FL
  • June 2, 3 Dival Safety Summit Niagara Falls, NY 

  • June 4, 5 National Fuel Gas Buffalo, NY

  • June 10 Am Society of Safety Engineers Dallas,TX

  • June 16 Claims & Leadership Conf. Bonita Springs,FL 
  • August 25th Federal Probation Conf / FPPOA Scottsdale, AZ
  • October 13, 14 FL State PRIMA Conf. Orlando, FL
  • November 5, 6 Salt River Project Phenix, AZ
  • November 12 Mid South Synergy Navasota, TX
  • December 1, 2 & 3 ODBS Train the Trainer Tampa, FL

 

National Dog Bite Prevention Week!
May 17 - 23, 2015

ODBS Tip From Expert Mitzi Robinson:

If you walk, jog or run, please make sure you carry something! Be ready, scan the area for a lawn chair, garbage can or anything you can put between you and an attacking dog(s). 
The dog will bite the first thing he comes too! Make sure you maintain direct eye contact, become as aggressive as you can to scare the dog(s) away! Be Safe! 
 

 
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