Alan C. Posted May 31, 2013 Posted May 31, 2013 California pit bull owner charged with murder in fatal mauling Alex Jackson, 29, was charged after DNA tests on his dogs found blood on their muzzles and coats that matched that of Pamela Devitt, 63, who died after being bitten 150 to 200 times by his four pit bulls. . . . ...it was the first dog mauling case they could recall since the 2001 trial of a San Francisco couple convicted in the death of a neighbor who was mauled by their giant dog. Marjorie Knoller received a 15-years-to-life sentence after a jury found her guilty of second-degree murder. In rejecting her appeal, the California Supreme Court ruled that Knoller acted with a conscious disregard for human life when her 140-pound Presa Canario escaped and killed Diane Whipple in an apartment building hallway. Knoller's husband, Noel, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. . . . Her husband told KCAL-TV he blamed the dogs' owner for what happened. "I do not blame the dogs. I don't blame pit bulls," Ben Devitt said. "I blame people who don't take responsibility for their animals." . . . ...in most cases the dogs involved in attacks are not family pets but animals who are often isolated and don't get positive human interaction. "If a dog has seriously hurt or killed someone, you have to look to the owner and the owner should be held accountable on some level," he said. "There's no reason we have to tolerate that kind of behavior." I posted this because Stef often talks about how pet owners are held liable for the harm done by their pets while parents are rarely (if ever) held responsible for the aggression perpetrated by their children.
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