Woman, 65, found dead outside Autauga County house

^{Posted: Sep 04, 2015 6:42 PM CDT – Updated: Sep 10, 2015 4:08 PM CDT – By WSFA 12 News Staff}

UTAUGA CO., AL (WSFA) – A death investigation is underway in Autauga County after 65-year-old Barbara McCormick was found dead outside her house, according to Sheriff Joe Sedinger.

Authorities were called to the home in the 1400 block of County Round 1 around 3:25 p.m. Friday.

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Autauga woman may have died from dog attack

^{Marty Roney}^{, Montgomery Advertiser –}^{10:56 a.m. CDT September 8, 2015}

BILLINGSLY – The Autauga County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation after a 65-year-old Autauga County woman was found dead in her yard Friday afternoon with injuries consistent with a dog attack.

At McCormick’s home off of County Road 1, south of Billingsley, several large dogs were chained or tied in the yard. Three of the dogs owned by the family have been quarantined, according to Sedinger. He doesn’t know if the animals will be destroyed in the future.

Family members said the dogs had never acted aggressively toward McCormick before, the sheriff said.

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Autopsy: Dogs killed Autauga woman

^{Marty Roney}^{, Montgomery Advertiser –}^{2:16 p.m. CDT September 9, 2015}

PRATTVILLE – An Autauga County woman was mauled to death by the family’s pet dogs.

Preliminary autopsy reports show Barbara McCormick, 65, was killed in a dog attack, said Autauga County Sheriff Joe Sedinger. Her body was found in her yard Friday afternoon after someone went to check on her. The sheriff’s office quarantined three dogs, that appeared to be shepherd or retriever mixed breeds, that evidence showed could have been involved in the attack. The court will determine the fate of the dogs, Sedinger said.

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2015 Dog Bite Fatality: Autauga County Woman Killed by Family Dogs

^{DogsBite.org reports}

Autopsy Confirms Death
UPDATE 09/09/15: Preliminary autopsy results show that Barbara McCormick, 65-years old, was mauled to death by dogs, Autauga County Sheriff Joe Sedinger said. Authorities seized and quarantined three dogs that were believed to be involved in the fatal attack. Sedinger vaguely described the dogs as “shepherd or retriever mixed breeds.” The dogs belonged to the victim and her family. Sedinger believes McCormick may have been feeding the dogs just before the attack.

Though authorities may never know what actually happened, Sedinger said, “I think the dogs got into a fight when she was feeding them, and maybe she tried to break up the fight, or maybe they knocked her down during the fight.” Sedinger added, “Physically she was a small lady, and she had health problems. Once she was on the ground, it would have been hard for her to get away.” The close-knit community south of Billingsley has been shaken by McCormick’s tragic death.

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Images of Dogs Posted
UPDATE 10/05/15: The Autauga County Sheriff’s office has released very few details about the dog mauling death of a woman in early September. Barbara McCormick, 65-years old, was attacked and killed by up to three family dogs on September 4 at her home on County Road 1. Earlier that morning, and unrelated to the fatal dog attack, her husband was admitted to the hospital. We learned by reading the son’s Facebook page that he died shortly thereafter.1

The McCormick family has suffered an unbearable tragic loss.

On September 12, the couple’s son, William McCormick, published photographs of his parents’ three family dogs to his Facebook album. The photos show a pit bull-mix, shepherd-mix and golden retriever-mix. The pit bull was never mentioned in any earlier media reports. The third dog, a younger version of the golden retriever-mix, was posted as a comment within this post and he states, “How could anyone think these dogs could’ve hurt my mom. I just don’t understand.”

After again reviewing the few media reports about this fatal dog attack, its actually unclear where the “shepherd or retriever mixed breeds” description came from. Was it Sheriff Joe Sedinger or a person at the scene? The description is accurate, but the third breed is absent. On September 4, we watched the live WSFA video stream (the video was never posted with the news report). That brief footage captured the golden retriever-mix tethered at the time, but captured no other dogs.

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POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS DOG BREEDS

This is a list of dog breeds that have a history of being potentially dangerous to people, especially children. Daxton’s Friends for Canine Education and Awareness understands that any dog has the ability to bite or inflict serious harm to humans. This list consists of several dog breeds that have a higher than average number of recorded human fatalities. Please use extreme caution if you choose to bring one of these breeds into your home. Rental communities and homeowners insurance may restrict many of the dog breeds on this list due to the likelihood of a serious incident.

Pit Bulls, Mastiff, and Rottweiler lead in fatalities and are listed first. The rest of the breeds are listed in alphabetical order:

Pit Bull Terrier Family

Mastiffs

Doberman Pinscher

German Shepherd

Shar Pei

Siberian Husky

Wolf Hybrid

2015 Dog Bite Related Fatalities in the U.S.

Updated after each fatality following fact finding research on Protect Children From Pit Bulls & Other Dangerous Dogs on Facebook

35 Dog Bite Related Fatality
by Breed.
27 by Pit Bull/Pit Bull Mix
2 by Rottweiler
1 by Golden/mixed breed
1 by American bulldog, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Labrador mix
4 Unknown/Pending

By Age :
14 Children
22 Adult

By State :

NM – 1 death
MD – 1 death
FL – 3 death
IA – 1 death
AR – 1 death
PA – 1 death
W. VA – 1 death
TX – 5 death
SD – 1 death
AR – 1 death
GA – 1 death
NV – 1 death
IL – 1 death
OK – 3 death
NC – 2 death
OH – 1 death
SC – 1 death
AL – 1 death
CA – 3 death
WV – 1 death
NY – 2 death
TN – 1 death
MI – 2 death

Names and ages of the deceased:

Unidentified Native American – about 40 y,o. – Gallup, NM – Pack of Feral Dogs [1.2.15]

Eugene W. Smith – 87- Frederick, MD – 1 Pit Bull [1.7.15]

Declin Moss – 18 months – Brooksville, FL – 2 Pit Bulls [1.19.15]

Malaki Mildward – 7yrs old – College Springs, IA – 2 Pit Bull/Bull Dog Mix [1.22.15]

Fredrick Crutchfield – 63 yrs old – Johnson county, AR – Pit Bull [ 2.4.15]

TayLynn DeVaughn – 2 yrs old – Pittsburgh, PA – Pit Bull [2.22.15]

Roy Higgenbotham – 62 yrs old – WHEELING, W.Va. – Pit Bull [3.8.15]

Betty Wood – 78 yrs old – SULPHUR SPRINGS, TX – Rottweiler [3.12.15]

Julia Charging Whirlwind – 49 yrs old – WHITE RIVER, SD – Pending [3.14.15]

Detrick Johnson – 36 yrs old – JEFFERSON COUNTY, AR – 7 Pit Bulls [3.21.15]

Neta Lee Adams – 81 yrs old – WASHINGTON, GA – Pending [3.31.15]

Kenneth Ford – 79 yrs old – NYE COUNTY, NV – Pit Bulls [4.14.15]

Brayden Wilson – 2 months old – Dallas, TX – Pit Bull [4.19.15]

Gaege Anthony Ramirez – 7 yrs old – NEW BRAUNFELS, TX – Pending [5.2.15]

James W. Nevils III – 5 yrs old – Chicago, IL – Pit Bull – [5.25.15]

Jordon Tyson Collins – 3 yrs old – Lawton, OK – Pit Bull – [6.28.15]

Norberto Legarda – 83 yrs old – Pecos, TX – Pit Bulls – [7.2.15]

Joshua Phillip Strother – 6 yrs old – Hendersonville, NC – Pit Bull – [7.7.15]

Annie L. Williams – 71 yrs old – Shaker Heights, OH – Pit Bull – [7.12.15]

Carolyn Lamp – 67 yrs old – COWETA, Ok – 3 Pit Bull/1 Rottweiler – [7.24.15]

Porsche Nicole Cartee – 25 yrs old – SPARTANBURG, SC – Pit Bull – [8.22.15]

Cathy Wheatcraft – 48 yrs old – DAVIE COUNTY, N.C. – Pit Bull – [8.24.15]

Barbara McCormick – 65 yrs old – Autauga County , AL – Golden/Mix – [8.2.15]

Emilio Rios Sr – 65 yrs old – Riverside County, CA. Pit Bulls – [8.8.15]

Carmen Reigada – 91 yrs old – Miami, FL. – American bulldog,Rhodesian Ridgeback, Labrador mix – [9.22.15]

Lamarkus Hakeem Hicks – 2 yrs old – Martinsburg, WV – Pit Bull – [9.28.15]

Edgar Brown – 60 yrs old – OKLAHOMA CITY, OK. – Pit Bulls – [10.16.15]

Tanner Smith – 5 yrs old – Vidor, TX – Pit Bulls – [10.19.15]

Amiyah Dunston – 9 yrs old – Elmont, NY – Pit Bull – [11.8.15]

Anthony Riggs – 57 yrs old – Madison County ,TN – Rottweiler – [11.12.15]

Carter Hartle – 11 months old – MARSHALL, NY – Pit Bull – [11.15.15]

Xavier Strickland – 4 yrs old – Detroit, MI – Pit Bulls – [12.2.15]

Rebecca Lillian-Kay Hardy – 22 yrs old – Port Huron, MI – Pit Bull, Husky-mix – [12.3.15]

Maria Torres – 57 yrs old – Gridley, CA – Pit Bulls – [12.16.15]

Nyjah Espinosa – 2 yrs old – Miami-Dade, Fl – Pit Bull Type (American Bulldog) – [12.20.15]

On average in 2015 someone was killed by a pit bull every 13 days. Some of these pit bull attacks were from the family dog that was well trained and had never shown signs of aggression before. The only common factor in these severe and often fatal attacks is not abuse or lack of training, it is breed. Choose the breed of dog you trust the lives of your loved ones with wisely.