Man killed by Boxer in Florida

[turtle]

I just saw this, it sort of follows on the heels of the other FL fatal dog attack of the Persa that killed its owner when the owner washed the dog. Shows any large dog can attack and kill...

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15395074.htm

Man's death from attack by dog is investigated
A 56-year-old Southwest Miami-Dade man died when a boxer dog attacked him, marking South Florida's second fatal dog mauling in two weeks.
BY EVAN S. BENN AND BREANNE GILPATRICK
ebenn@MiamiHerald.com
Authorities destroyed a dog Tuesday that fatally mauled a man in Southwest Miami-Dade.

The dog, a 5-year-old male boxer, had the blood of Pablo Rudolfo Fleites, 56, all over its body when police found Fleites dead Monday night in the dog's pen at 20280 SW 190th St.

The county's animal services department euthanized the dog Tuesday and is awaiting the results of a rabies test.

A second dog, a 6-month-old female boxer, also was in the pen but was not believed to have been involved in the attack, police said. The puppy was not taken by animal officers.

Fleites lived in a shed on the property, a three-acre farm, which records show is owned by the Ynigo family. A man who answered a telephone number listed for that address declined to comment Tuesday.

Police are investigating what may have provoked the attack and what Fleites was doing in the dog pen.

It was the second fatal dog attack in less than two weeks in South Florida.

A 120-pound male Presa Canario killed its owner, Broward County resident Shawna Willey, 30, at Willey's Coral Springs home on Aug. 18. Willey was trying to give the dog, Xeno, a bath when it turned on her. Police fatally shot the Presa Canario at the scene when it acted aggressively toward officers trying to approach the victim.

Boxers are not known for being aggressive, said Debi Laibe, a member of Florida Boxer Rescue in New Smyrna Beach and owner of a 10-year-old female boxer.

''My heart broke when I saw that on the news,'' Laibe said of Monday's mauling. ``Boxers are wonderful dogs. It's just not in their nature to want to hurt anyone.''

The rescue group has saved boxers that were being used as bait to train pit bulls and other breeds to fight, Laibe said. But she has not seen boxers being bred to attack.

''You have to keep in mind that just about any breed will attack under given circumstances,'' Laibe said. ``But I have never known boxers to have the propensity to fight.''

On Aug. 22, a boxer and an American pit bull attacked a 10-year-old boy in Akron, Ohio, as the child walked home from a friend's house. A Hickman County, Tenn., woman had to get 83 stitches and 15 staples June 3 after three boxers and a mixed-breed dog mauled her.

Boxers typically are about two feet high and range from about 55 to 75 pounds.

The American Kennel Club describes the breed as ``fundamentally playful yet patient and stoical with children. Deliberate and wary with strangers, he will exhibit curiousity, but, most importantly, fearless courage if threatened.''

Pedigreed puppies sell for between $400 and $1,000. A Centers for Disease Control study of 238 fatal dog attacks from 1979 to 1998 attributed three deaths to boxers.

[cheekymunkee]

How horrible.

[bahamutt99]

Miami-Dade has some kind of Pit Bull ban, doesn't it? Well, I guess its working. Now its not the Pit Bulls killing people. They should pat themselves on the back for clearing the way for other breeds to attack people.

[pibblegrl]

I wonder when those who like bans are finally going to 'get it'..

Prolly never...you know boxers'll be next on the list of evil dogs down there..

[Malli]

I love this, from someone in BOXER RESCUE :

Boxers are wonderful dogs. It's just not in their nature to want to hurt anyone.

From the AKC description of Breed Standard :

Developed to serve as guard, working, and companion dog, he combines strength and agility with elegance and style... Instinctively a hearing guard dog, his bearing is alert, dignified, and self-assured... Deliberate and wary with strangers

This website lists these as how they are (were) used:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Know-A ... s?&id=2705

hunting dog
- police dog
- seeing-eye dog for the blind
- guard dog
- circus dog
- courier dog on the battlefields during World War
I and World War II
- fighting dog in the once popular sport of dog fighting.
history could be traced back to
feudal Germany, where it was a small hunting dog that
could tenaciously hold onto a bull, boar, or bear till
the master arrived...

WOW, sounds a lot like a Pit Bull...

Hello? ITS A GUARD DOG, hearing or not, he has that instinct.

You simply cannot deny your dog's ancestry, to do that is unfair to the dog and a recipe for disaster. People just don't get it.

[Marinepits]

People just don't get it.

Ain't that the truth!

[lellis34]

Can we send this to the people in Memphis? They might want to add Boxers to their list.