Ving Rhames' Dogs Maul Man to Death

331. English Mastiffs are not vicious dogs. Neither, to my knowledge, are English Bulldogs. Dogs who aren't fixed may have been more aggressive. I speak from experience; we have a two-year-old male English Mastiff and he's the sweetest doormat you ever did see. Other dogs will challenge him in the dog park and he just looks at them quizzically and moves on. This was all so carefully worded, it's obviously too soon to throw judgements around. I know there are a bazillion responses; I just couldn't not respond.

Posted at 12:12AM on Aug 7th 2007 by Halfmad

332. Anytime anyone decides to be the caregiver for any pet, it demands a lot of responsibility. But when you choose to have one that will one day have the ability to harm yourself or others its an even bigger one. Most people dont realize this. Almost always these cases are good old fashioned negligence by the owner. Education, Training, Attention, Care, Time, Resources, Patience..... and I can go on.... If you dont have what it takes to be responsible for one of these magnificent animals, dont get one....! Or someone will obviously pay the price as we can see......
BMT

Posted at 1:56PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Maximus Massakelia

333. Hold on just a second,let's NOT pre-judge anyone or anything here BEFORE all the facts are known. Second, A BULL MASTIFF..IS NOT known to be vicious,we've had two over the years,they were loving to everyone ,never knew a stranger and they were caring as well as careful with our two Chihuahuas,never showed any aggression!
WOULD BE NICE to NOT throw a English Bulldog and Mastiffs into the same catagory as
"killer guard dogs" as none of these breeds are known for this trype of behaviors,let the officers do their jobs FIRST,there ARE ways for them to know who did the attacks,still the big question is....WHY???
Final: this man,reguardless of who he is has the right to be owned by pets and companions!

Posted at 2:57PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Jan

334. Austrailian Girl and Kay...you both are idiots! You pick and choose certain stereotypes. How many Black kids do you know of going into schools and killing mass people...VA Tech...Columbine, etc. So....are you telling me that you would want your kids going to school with white kids or asians? Some people are just truly crazy as hell. Do black people not tip, act rude, etc. Sure...but Hell I know white people that do the same! How the hell this became a race issue is crazy! I wouldn't want you living by me....I'm sure your trailer would bring down my property value!! Get a life...this is about a terrible incident with some dogs? Did you comment when the white people in San Francisco, CA Presa Canario Dogs mauled and killed those people? You people are sick!!!

Posted at 3:53PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Landlord

335. First of all the article does state they do not know if the death was natural or caused by the dogs. Quit covicting these dogs and Ving before the truth is known. The vidio showing Vings dogs being pick up shows that the Mastiffs were waging there tail...they really looked visouos!!!!!!!

99% of dog bites come from dogs that are not fixed. Intact male and females no matter what breed are agressive due to hormones. That is why any dog that is not going to be used for breeding or being showed should be fixed.

Have you ever been to a "Bully convention" or to a dog show that has these large breeds that everyone is labeling dangerous dogs, you will see not one agressive dog! All dogs will react as they are treated. Just because a breed is big does not mean they are natturally agressive. What about the Pekinqese that ate that baby?

Some people just love large dogs. It has nothing to do with ego. I am a 56 yr old white woman, 4"11" who has had large dogs all my life and none of my dogs has ever gotten aggressive with me, my children or grandchildren. I have a 95# Rotie male that is nutered and he is a big baby. I have many friends with pitt bulls and they are the sweetest dogs I have been around. All my dogs have been fixed and no agression. you can pull up many pictures of pitts, roties, german shephards and other "agressive dogs" on the net that are loving family members.

It is about time the people in the US stand up and say we will not stand for the abuse being done to dogs in this country. I know many pit owners (and other large breeds) that live in fear that there beloved family member may be stolen and put into fighting. Look also at the pictures on the net of the poor dogs that lost in a dog fight....it is horrible...

Posted at 5:08PM on Aug 6th 2007 by tweetyone

336. people need to educate themselves on dogs before commenting on something they know nothing about. any breed of dog can go into pack mode if something triggers it. mastiffs are typically very gentle animals, on the news i saw a very nice looking english mastiff gently waving its tail as animal control officers took it away. it broke my heart. its been proven that the caretaker hired to care for rhames dogs died of a heart attack and had non-life threatening wounds on him, but what caused the dogs to bite? it could be his actions as he was dying that was the trigger. i hope ving rhames can come home and help the police determine the problem, and bring his dogs home.

Posted at 12:10PM on Aug 7th 2007 by cyndi

337. The 9 Breeds of Dog That Bite the Most


According to a 27-year study of dogs in the New York City area made by Dr. Robert Oleson, of the U.S. Public Health Service, these are the 9 dogs most apt to take a nibble out of a human being. They are, in the order of their aggressiveness:


1. German shepherd

2. Chow chow

3. Poodle

4. Italian bulldog

5. Fox terrier

6. Mixed chow chow

7. Airedale

8. Pekingese

9. Mixed German shepherd

Posted at 8:04PM on Aug 6th 2007 by sharks dont walk on land I dont swim in the ocean

338. By the way, yes, it's true -- we do love large dogs. The reason is they are generally much more mellow than small dogs and require a lot less exercise! One good walk for two miles and our guy is good for the day.

Posted at 12:16AM on Aug 7th 2007 by Halfmad

339. Since this accident on Aug. 3rd has anyone read what the corner’s report that was supposedly done on Monday, Aug. 6th turned up? NO! How long does it take for a report?

The “news” is only interested in high ratings. They don’t care how it made the public more afraid of mastiffs. This so called “mauling” was a hot topic. Everyone listen.

We ALL need to know the truth and need to push the media to do so. Do you think they will? I doubt it. How could a news article titled: “MAN DIED FROM HEART ATTACK. DOGS TRIED TO HELP HIM" up their ratings? It won't.. Everyone would prefer to read about blood and gore.

Does anyone have suggestions how to push the media in doing a follow up?

Posted at 10:41AM on Aug 7th 2007 by hunterr1950

340. Yes it is tragic that a man has died. however Mastiffs and english bulldogs are NOT vicious breeds. ANY breed of dog can be vicious so to those of you who advocate "getting rid of" these breeds are obviously grossly misinformed. There are breeds of dogs who exsist that were meant for a job. if not given the proper training and mental stimulation you get dogs who are ill-mannered. this goes for the little yappy breeds as well. most peeople who own little breed dogs don't like big dogs... but in the end they are all dogs. they all were bred from wild wolves waaaaay back when. from the tiniest "teacup" (which really don't exist... argue all you want it's true. it's just a marketing ploy from bad breeders who want to use it for their own gain with no care as to how the size of the dog is detrimental to their health) to the biggest Great Dane or any other large breed dog. Sadly these dogs that Mr. Rhames' had ,felt threatened by this man in some way and were doing what most every dog would do... they were protecting their territory. Sadly a man died from it but to say they "mauled him to death" were there any witnesses to this or are tehy simply going with that theory due to the bites tehy found on the body? Because to condem the dogs before there has been an autopsy is ridiculous. The dogs may have found the body after the man had already passed. For all we know they were trying to pull the man to wake him up or maybe they had other reasons for putting their teeth on him. But in any event to compare this tragedy with the horrible acts that were perpetrated on dogs in Vick's home that he allegedly didn't know about is stupid. Those acts were done specifically for financial gain with no care for the animals. The dogs in the pictures and the video look very wellt aken care of and if they were vicious they would've attacked the people that came to take them away. Hopefully they will be put on probation for a while rather than being immediately put down. That would be a tragedy in and of itself. And for those who still advocate the destruction of certain breeds... please read up on the breeds that you condem and you will find out that the breeds are not the ones who are to blame.. it is their uneducated owners who own these dogs simply for the balls factor that don't know what to do with them once they have them. ~~~ end of rant!~~
and for those who want to comment to me personally... feel free the email address is Dreaming_Tree_79@yahoo.com have a great day and enjoy your dogs!

Posted at 4:55PM on Aug 7th 2007 by Karolina

341. #78 you are so right on... if this man was attacked by these dogs there would have been screams of terror from this poor guy... I think he died before the dogs and they were trying to arousing him...think about it he would of had more than some bite marks...

Posted at 6:26PM on Aug 7th 2007 by mj

342. Australian Girl, maybe its best for you to stay down under. Sounds as though you may be afraid of your own shadow. You talked to one cab driver and your whole perspective about a race of people changed? You have got to be an idiot! Guess you dont get out much huh? Just in case you missed the memo, there are actually bad people in every race. Oh and by the way, hate to burst your bubble, but the Easter Bunny is just a fictional character made by man. Good day mate.

Posted at 9:09PM on Aug 8th 2007 by shame the devils

343. It hasn't been proven that the dogs were directly the cause of the man's death. The police reported that none of the dogs were not covered in blood and the wounds were not severe enough to cause his death. In fact, they commented that the man may have suffered a heart attack. If that's so, the dogs could have reacted to the man's cries of pain (etc).

#2...I own four pit bulls and I am a woman...stop being so ignorant!

Posted at 3:01AM on Aug 8th 2007 by Michelle

344. I own an english bulldog as well as a French Mastiff, and my dogs were scared of a ladybug crawling on our floor. I agree that some of the larger "Mastiff" breeds of dogs were bred for malicious reasons, but that was hundreds and hundreds of years ago. English Bulldogs were used for the sport of bullbaiting, and my Bulldog would be scared lifeless if he saw a bull coming at him. I just ask that people educate themselves about certain breeds of dogs before they pass judgement about the breed. All dogs are different, just like people are different. One bag dog of a certain breed can give the entire breed a bad reputation. Who knows the entire story, the caretaker could have been tormenting or doing anything to upset the dogs. Or they could have just been mean dogs. Who knows, but just don't think that a dog is vicious because it is a certain breed. Educate yourselves people, and you might be suprised.

Posted at 11:30AM on Aug 8th 2007 by Jen

345. Read this you ignorant a$$es


Cross posted with permission by the Rare Breed Rescue who evaluated
the Mastiffs in the situation this weekend.

Hello everyone,

I want everyone to get the word out. The Mastiffs DID NOT attack the
guy that died on the grounds. Let everyone know this was a big over
zealous mistake by the police when they had NO other things to say
cause they released the info too soon.

The guy died of natural causes and the mastiff's were only trying to
figure out what was wrong and help the guy out. The wounds from the
mastiff's were ONLY Superficial like scratch marks from nails and no
bite marks that broke the skin.
I'm sure we all know how that happens to us on daily occurrences in
just playing with our beautiful animals.

The mastiff's were friendly wagging their tails when animal control
came in to take them out. No need to subdue any of the mastiff's.

When speaking with the mastiff rescue who followed up immediately,
they got all the info the could at this point. And that's the real
news.

Pass it on whenever anyone says anything bad about our mastiff's.

Posted at 9:05PM on Aug 8th 2007 by mastiffowner