Bainbridge woman still in hospital after dog attack (Georgia)

BAINBRIDGE, GA (WALB) - New information on the horrific dog attack Tuesday. Animal control officers caught another one of the five dogs Wednesday. But two are still on the loose.

73-year-old Joanne Johns told us she often walks on Johnny Skipper Road. That's what she was doing Tuesday morning when a pack of dogs attacked her.

Johns underwent seven hours of surgery at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Wednesday she was in cardiac intensive care.

Doctors think she's going to be okay, though she will need a lot of plastic surgery to repair wounds all over her body.

Sheriff's Deputies say they still don't know who owns the dogs or whether they were strays.

There were 2 dogs that appeared to be the ringleaders and most likely initiated the attack on Ms Johns. Our belief is the other dogs then swarmed the victim in the vicious mauling. The dirty white dog, with the cropped tail in the video, appears to be an American Pit Bull Terrier. The other ringleader was a dark colored dog. As of mid-afternoon, 2 of the 5 dogs identified as part of the pack had been killed. Deputies continued to work though the afternoon to secure the other dogs.

I would bet it is not to health for a dog running lose in branbridge today.

The very same thing happened to a woman here in Tennessee recently. 5 dogs attacked her while she was out for a walk. The stories are almost the same. A Mexican man stopped and helped her and got her to the hospital. The police rounded up the dogs and ordered them euthanized. 2 of the dog owners wanted to take them to their own vets to be put down. They were just family pets that went nuts. I think there is usually a leader that starts it and the dogs just temporarily go back to their instinctive killer roots.

...instinctive killer roots.

As I understand it, only related species - foxes, wolves, coyotes, etc. - are instinctively killers of humans and other animals and attack in packs. Domestic dogs become vicious only when trained to do so by humans.

There are situations where there is cross-breeding among related species to produce hybrid animals which look like ordinary pet dogs to the untrained observer but retain the genetic traits - including the tendency to attack in packs - of their wild ancestors.

As I understand it, only related species - foxes, wolves, coyotes, etc. - are instinctively killers of humans and other animals and attack in packs.

Almost all dogs work in packs with a pack mentality. Observe dogs which do not live together as they meet, observe gestures of submission to the alpha male (or immediate conflict if none is forthcoming and both dogs regard that as a challenge) and you will see this inherent instinct is present in every dog, not just wild dogs and hybrid dogs. All breeds have their roots in the wild.

Domestic dogs become vicious only when trained to do so by humans.

When a family takes in a dog, usually as a puppy, they establish the pecking order. The dog comes out on the bottom if this process is successful. One of the adults is the Alpha male, another the alpha female. Any children assume lesser roles, but are dominant over the dog, and this is enforced vigorously by the alpha male or female. Confusion about these natural roles leads to a confused dog. Failure of the humans to dominate, to be the alpha and impose order in the surrogate pack structure means the position will be filled--by the dog. This is the reason so many people have trouble with large and strong willed breeds. They fail to establish pack dominance, and/or fail to enforce the dominant position of their children in the family 'pack'.

Any tolerance of squabbling over dominance (for lessser dominant positions in the pack) means the position being squabbled over is up for grabs. This gets kids hurt and dogs put down.

Unless for food, virtually all else is territorial--the assertion of dominance over an area, usually marked with urine.

If you ever wonder why stranger dogs sniff all that, it is establishing if/who marked what, putting a face with the scent.

There is a growing problem in the US with packs of feral dogs.

Excerpt at this link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/08/0821_030821_straydogs.html
“In St. Louis, a 10-year-old boy was attacked and killed two years ago by a pack of stray dogs. Police Chief Ron Henderson told the St. Louis Post Dispatch: “They were feeding off this kid. I’ve seen over 1,500 bodies but I’ve never, never seen anything like this. Nobody has.”

Domestic dogs become vicious only when trained to do so by humans.

Wrong. Any country man can tell you that when dogs are allowed to roam loose, they can form packs and hunt, often destroying livestock and also quite often attacking humans, especially children.

In the morning, the pack members return home in many cases, and resume their lives as well-trained family pets. A dog pack put down around here had Cocker Spaniels, German Shepherds, mutts large and small, etc. Most were collared and tagged!

Ask the police or animal control.

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