North Carolina Mom Killed By Pit Bull She Adopted
A North Carolina mother of two was mauled to death by a pit bull that she adopted only a week before.
Suzanne Story, 36, tragically died Wednesday afternoon after first responders arrived at her home in the town of Snug Harbor to transport her to the hospital. Her sister, who was present in the residence and had tried to pull the canine off of her sister during the attack, had called 911.
The attack apparently occurred as Story was cleaning out the pit bull’s crate at about 1 p.m. that day.
The pit bull’s previous owners reportedly indicated that the dog was a good family pet with a gentle disposition, according to 13NewsNow in Norfolk, Virginia.
“Story’s family told 13News Now she got the pit bull from Virginia about a week ago after she saw an advertisement in a newspaper. The ad said the dog was good with small children.”
Suzanne Story (seen in red), killed in her home in Perquimans County by her dog. Details @13NewsNow at 11. pic.twitter.com/UlJCM4xos4
— Brian Farrell (@13BrianFarrell) February 11, 2016
The former owner, a Norfolk resident, apparently gave the pit bull to Story, 36, for free.
About the fatal pit bull attack, Suzanne Story’s stepdad Randy Brown said, “I think they had a problem with the dog and didn’t know how to handle it, and they were just trying to get rid of it, and they did. I just think that the people that pawned the dog off on these people need to be held responsible.”
Suzanne Story had dog that killed her a short time. Stepdad looking into the people who gave it to her. @13NewsNow pic.twitter.com/bRSwciLcIv
— Brian Farrell (@13BrianFarrell) February 11, 2016
The Virginia Pilot reports that the dog was a pit bull/boxer mix named Buddy. The canine, age 1-1/2, weighed in at about 100 pounds. The previous owner told the newspaper that she wasn’t lying about Buddy’s temperament. “Buddy was good-natured around everybody. She said she doesn’t know why [she] attacked Story. But, she added, she feels awful, and hopes people don’t think she and her husband foisted a vicious beast on some unsuspecting family before zooming off.”
According to some media outlets, Buddy is female.
A neighbor told the local news media that he spotted the victim, who is survived by two teenage daughters, struggling to control the pit bull during a walk a few days prior to the attack. “Neighbor Jonathan Nash says he saw Story walking her new pit bull a few days ago and noticed that the woman was having trouble controlling the large brown-and-white canine,” the Daily Mail explained
“[Sister Robin] Ross pulled Buddy off Story and shut him in the bathroom. But just as Story was getting up and about to run away, Buddy broke a hole through the bathroom door and attacked her again. This time, Ross couldn’t get him off,” the Pilot added about the horrific mauling.
Perquimans County Sheriff Eric Tilley noted that Suzanne Story “had lacerations about the neck and the face area,” and that it took deputies about seven minutes to bring the pit bull under control.
Apparently, four other dogs and several cats lived in the home.
Local animal control authorities planned to put the pit bull down yesterday.
The National Pit Bull Victim Awareness umbrella organization claims that there has been an 830 percent increase in pit bull attacks in the last seven years, and that over-breeding of pit bulls has led to one million of them being euthanized every year in North America.
Given the number of reported incidents across the country and around the world, do you think that pit bulls are inherently more aggressive and/or more prone to violence than other breeds?
[Photo by Andrew Harnik/AP]
