The dogs were bullmastiffs and that occurred in San Francisco.
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Powerful Dogs Maul Woman, Kill Her
S.F. neighbors' pets lunged down hallway
Michael Pena, Matthew Taylor and Jaxon Van Derbeken,
Chronicle Staff Writers
Saturday, January 27, 2001
A San Francisco woman died last night after being
attacked inside her apartment building by two
bullmastiffs as the dogs' horrified owner struggled to
pull them away.
The leashed dogs -- with a combined weight of 233
pounds -- bolted from Marjorie Knoller's Pacific
Heights apartment, dragged her down the hallway
and lunged for the 32-year-old victim's throat as she
frantically tried to open her front door, police and
witnesses said.
The animals mauled the victim for about five minutes
before Knoller, who was also bloodied in the 4
p.m. melee, could pull them back into her apartment
at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Fillmore Street.
The victim died at 8:55 p.m. at San Francisco
General Hospital, where she had undergone surgery
for deep bite wounds on her throat. Authorities
withheld her name at her family's request.
Paramedics had performed cardiopulmonary
resuscitation as they raced the unconscious woman,
who was near death and bleeding profusely, to the
hospital.
"When she arrived . . . she was in full cardiac
arrest," said Dr. S. Marshall Isaacs, an emergency
room physician. "There were no signs of life."
SURGEONS WORKED
Surgeons spent almost two hours repairing the veins
and arteries of her neck. Some of wounds were 1
1/2 inches deep, Isaacs said, and doctors had to
insert a tube into her throat to support her trachea.
She remained in "very critical" condition for 70
minutes after surgery before dying.
Detectives initiated an investigation into the attack
almost immediately.
"They need to determine if anything criminal
occurred," said Police Lt. Mary Stasko. "Right now
it's a horrible accident. But they'll interview people
to see if there's any history of aggression or any
negligence."
The attack came as Knoller returned from walking
the dogs around her Pacific Heights neighborhood,
police investigators said. The victim apparently
arrived home at about the same time.
The dogs were still on their leashes when they
bolted from Knoller's sixth- floor apartment and
bounded 15 feet down the hallway toward the
victim, who was unlocking her door, police and
witnesses said.
Bane, a 2 1/2-year-old male bullmastiff weighing
120 pounds, grabbed the victim by the throat,
police said. A 2-year-old female named Hera and
weighing 113 pounds joined the attack moments
later.
A STRUGGLE
Knoller struggled to pull the dogs off of the
screaming woman, said Robert Noel, Knoller's
husband.
"My wife was covered with blood from the top of
her head to her feet," said Noel, who arrived just
after the attack ended. "Most of it was somebody
else's (blood)."
Witnesses painted a harrowing picture of the attack.
"She was screaming in a major way," said David
Kuenzi of New York, who was visiting a friend in
the building. "I personally thought she was being
mugged or raped."
Police and paramedics found the woman lying in
blood, with bloody handprints covering the walls.
Bits of clothing littered the floor, and a
blood-soaked green nylon leash was lying nearby.
"It was a gruesome scene," said San Francisco
Police Officer Leslie Forrestal. "There was
shredded clothing, obviously a lot of blood. It was
horrific."
TRANQUILIZERS USED
Animal control officers fired three tranquilizer darts
into Bane before removing him and Hera from
Knoller's apartment. They remained locked up last
night in the city's animal shelter.
Although they stand little more than two feet at the
shoulders, bullmastiffs are powerful dogs that can
reach 130 pounds. According to the American
Kennel Club, they are fearless yet docile and
"dependable family companions."
The dogs were originally bred in England by
crossing mastiffs -- which are slightly larger than
bullmastiffs -- with bulldogs to create dogs capable
of protecting livestock and game from poachers.
Noel, an attorney, said he obtained the dogs several
months ago from a family that planned to breed the
dogs before giving them up.
"They weren't really being taken care of very well,"
he said. "They apparently had been chained out in
the weather."
Noel said the animals had no history of aggression
and had seen the victim on several occasions
without acting aggressive.
"I've had 80-year-old ladies want to come up and
pet them," he said. "The dogs have always been
really people-friendly."
But some of Noel's neighbors said they were
intimidated by the animals' imposing size and always
gave them a wide berth.
"People are visibly taken aback when they see the
size of these dogs," said Ed Lewis, who lives on the
fifth floor. "When neighbors have complained, they
(the owners) have been standoffish."
The last dog attack that made headlines in San
Francisco occurred on last March when Sidney, an
Old English sheepdog, bit San Francisco police
officer Jennifer Dorantes.
The attack came as Dorantes and her partner,
Officer Julian Ng, responded to a 911 call at a
home in the Castro-Amazon district. Ng fired at the
dog and missed, instead wounding his partner and
an 11-year-old boy in the house.
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BULLMASTIFF
The breed was originally developed in England by
gamekeepers seeking protection of livestock from
poachers and hunters. -- Size: Up to 27 inches tall
at the shoulders -- Weight: 110 to 130 pounds --
Appearance: Broad, square skulls; thick necks;
compact, muscular bodies; short dense fur -- Color:
Red, fawn or brindle -- Disposition: Alert, intelligent
and dependable animals that are eager to
please