CALIFORNIA -- As authorities in San Mateo County tried to determine why a pregnant Pacifica woman's pit bull would maul her to death, the gruesome incident reignited a decades-long debate: Are the dogs too dangerous to live with humans?
Police said the wounds that 32-year-old Darla Napora suffered while alone Thursday at her home on Reina del Mar - scratches and bites to her face, head, neck and arms - were consistent with an animal assault. But they added that a criminal investigation remains open as they await autopsy results on Napora and a necropsy of her unneutered, 2-year-old male pit bull, Gunner.
Napora, bloodied and unconscious, was found on her living room floor by her husband, Greg Napora, 30, when he came home from work around noon, police said. The husband, who has fully cooperated with the probe, reported that the 125-pound Gunner stood over his wife's body before he dragged the dog into another part of the home, investigators said.
Two officers shot the pit bull to death when he got loose from the backyard after police arrived, authorities said.
'We may never know'
Napora's family reported that Gunner was well trained, never showed signs of aggression and was good around children, said Scott Delucchi of the Peninsula Humane Society, where a necropsy was performed late Friday.
The examination could determine whether anything was wrong with the dog, Delucchi said.
"We're not assuming anything," he said. "The reality is, we may never know what happened."
The Naporas had a second pit bull, a female named Tazi, who is not believed to have been involved in the attack. The dog is being held at the humane society.
Seeking space for dogs
Darla Napora's father, Darold Larson, of Yakima, Wash., said that although he hadn't spoken to his daughter since her wedding two years ago, he'd learned through a family friend that the couple moved to Pacifica this year because they wanted a house with a backyard for their two dogs.
"I didn't know what kind of dogs they were," Larson said. "I just knew they had two dogs that needed some space."
Napora's death, which drew national media attention, rekindled the discussion over the nature of pit bulls - with fans of the muscular dogs saying troubles are caused by bad owners, and others saying pit bulls are so vicious they should be outlawed.
"There's a lot of nonsense out there about these dogs, and it's outrageous when people condemn every pit bull," said Dr. Richard Polsky, an animal behaviorist and trainer who testified on behalf of the keepers of the Presa Canario dogs that mauled Diane Whipple to death in San Francisco in 2001.
"Most female pit bulls, in particular, are very nice."
[NOTE: This guy testified for those creepy Presa Canario owners... you remember them don't you? Weirdos who'd 'adopted' that grown man who was the white supremacist? Nasty, dirty people! So whatever this guy says about pit bulls, I'm gonna believe the OPPOSITE!]
He said there is a "higher standard of care for certain dogs, like pit bulls, that have a greater propensity for violence than, say, a Chihuahua or golden retriever." But the training and handling of the dog determines whether the animal is a problem, he said - not the breed itself.
Neuter laws
Colleen Lynn, director of the nonprofit Dogs Bite in Texas, absolutely disagreed.
Her organization contends that pit bulls kill more people than any other breed, and that at the very least every locality should pass laws requiring they be spayed and neutered. In the Bay Area, only San Francisco, Sonoma County and Gilroy have such laws.
"Pit bulls are dangerous," Lynn said. "Their jaws are strong, and they have a tendency that when they attack they can rarely be stopped outside of gunfire."
John Vinton of San Rafael, who specializes in training aggressive dogs, said danger can arise if a person gives a strong command to a pit bull that hasn't been properly trained to be obedient.
'Fight tooth and nail'
"I work with people who sometimes try to get the upper hand on a dog, and if the dog has already established itself as the leader of the pack in the relationship, it will fight tooth and nail," Vinton said.
"Pit bulls can be lovable and sweet, but if they do attack they have a tendency to go-go-go and not stop, which is why they are used for fighting.
"I'd say if that dog really killed the woman (in Pacifica), it obviously should not have been in the household."
(SF Gate - August 12, 2011)
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