https://nypost.com/2018/05/16/pack-of-wiener-dogs-mauls-woman-to-death/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3978410&forum_id=2#36062944)

https://gfnc1kn6pi-flywheel.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/puppyexercise.jpg

probably not

https://cdn20.patchcdn.com/users/22965241/20180308/035025/styles/T800x600/public/processed_images/54715_baxter_profile25-1520541675-9069.jpg

probably

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3978410&forum_id=2#36063009)

GAS ALL PITS!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3978410&forum_id=2#36064694)

https://s-i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/249635/slide_249635_1497185_free.jpg

Imagine what 4 of these beasts could do to an adult woman.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3978410&forum_id=2#36064708)

http://media.graytvinc.com/images/810*455/attack+dogs+web.jpg

http://www.kxii.com/content/news/Woman-killed-by-dogs-in-Ardmore-482386251.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3978410&forum_id=2#36075708)

How tabloids turned the pits who killed Tracy Garcia into “dachshunds”

“Hot-dogging” headlines amplify claims of pit bull advocates

ARDMORE, Oklahoma––Killed by a pit bull and a pack of pit mixes on the evening of May 10, 2018, Tracy Janine Garcia, 52, had by May 16, 2018 passed into legend via “hot-dogging” and flagrantly inaccurate tabloid headlines as the purported victim of an attack by dachshunds.

Though the circumstances of the fatal attack near Ardmore, in rural Carter County, Oklahoma, are still unclear, Garcia was mauled outside her home by seven allegedly neglected and mostly pit dogs belonging to an unidentified neighbor, with little trace of any dachshund ancestry evident among them.

Above: bull terrier.

Below: the dogs who killed Tracy Garcia.

Bull terriers

The very short legs of some of the dogs, shown in photos of their remains, in combination with their erect, pointed ears and long, sloped muzzles, are characteristic of bull terriers, the smallest common pit bull body type.

The dogs’ reported weights, said to be all under 40 pounds––though the pit appeared to be bigger––were within the normal range for fighting bull terriers, but up to twice the size of most dachshunds.

Ardmore Animal Shelter photos of the dogs who killed Tracy Garcia.

Bull excrement

Nonetheless, bannered The Sun, of London, England, “Sausage dogs maul mum-of-two to death at Oklahoma home.”

Elaborated the Daily Mail, also of London, “Oklahoma woman dies after being mauled by flea-infested dachshunds.”

Not to be topped, The Mirror of London screamed “Mum-of-two mauled to death by pack of vicious DACHSHUNDS that had legs shorter than an adult human’s hand.”

Said the New York Post, “Pack of wiener dogs mauls woman to death.”

Georgia Ruth Morgan

(Laquita Maxwell photo)

Upstaged Gulfport pit bull fatality

The tabloid claims upstaged coverage of the May 16, 2018 death of Georgia Ruth Morgan, 76, killed by two pit bulls in Gulfport, Mississippi while collecting cans and bottles to raise funds for her church. Morgan was the ninth person to be killed by a pit bull in the U.S. this year.

Emily Craft, 32, whose pit bulls killed Morgan, was arrested “on an outstanding warrant on charges of having a dog at large and having a vicious animal after an incident last summer where her dogs got into a neighbor’s yard,” reported Wesley Muller, John Fitzhugh, and Anita Lee of the Biloxi Sun-Herald.

Tena Layton, the Ardmore Animal Shelter employee who said the pits who killed Tracy Garcia were “dachshunds.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Fake news” or just sloppy reporting?

How the pit bull and pit mixes who killed Tracy Garcia meanwhile metamorphized over less than a week’s time into “sausage dogs,” “dachshunds,” or “wiener dogs” might represent a study in the manufacture of “fake news”––or just a series of reporting errors breathlessly amplified by social media and picked up by the tabloids with insufficient attention to accurately identifying sources with possible conflicts of interest and verifying claims.

Reporting errors began with the earliest published account reaching ANIMALS 24-7, by Andrew Freeman of KXII television in Texoma, Oklahoma.

Broadcast Freeman, at 10:04 a.m. on May 11, 2018, “The shelter that later received the dogs identified one as a collie mix, the other dachshund mixes, none weighing more than forty pounds.”

What was missed

What Freeman did not mention, and apparently did not realize, is that the Ardmore Animal Shelter did not receive the dogs alive, did not euthanize them, and––most important––did not perform the veterinary identification, which had already been done before the remains were transported to the Ardmore Animal Shelter as evidence and for eventual disposal.

Clarified Ari James of The Ardmorite at 11:31 a.m., also on May 11, 2018, “All seven of the dogs involved were rounded up by Ardmore police department’s animal control officers. According to Ardmore Police Department records, the animals were taken to Westwood Veterinary Hospital, then were delivered deceased later to the Ardmore Animal Shelter.”

C. Douglas Aldridge, DVM.

(Westwood Veterinary Hospital photo)

DVM: pit bull & four pit-mix pups

Stated Westwood Veterinary Hospital senior veterinarian C. Douglas Aldridge, DVM, via Facebook on May 15, 2018, after controversy over the dogs’ identities arose, “The dogs appeared to me to be a pit bull and four pit bull mix puppies. Who knows what the female was?” Aldridge said of the one dog whose ancestry appeared to be uncertain. “She looked to me like an Australian shepherd mixed with something with short legs.”

Aldridge, a 1987 graduate of Oklahoma State University, “has practiced at Westwood Veterinary Hospital since graduating,” according to the animal hospital web site, “is actively involved in the Oklahoma State Veterinary Medical Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association,” and has “also served on the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission.”

Tena Layton with one of her pit bulls.

(Beth Clifton collage)

But as of mid-morning on May 11, “The veterinarian was not available yet for comment,” James wrote.

Quotes from pit bull advocate

In absence of input from Aldridge, Ardmore Animal Shelter co-director Tena Layton––herself owner of multiple pit bulls, according to Facebook postings––suggested that “All of the animals appeared to be a mix of dachshund and some sort of terrier. The oldest of the dogs was reportedly slightly larger,” James reported, “and could have been mixed with border collie or similar.

Another of Tena Layton’s pit bulls.

(Beth Clifton collage)

“None of the dogs had legs longer than an adult’s hand per photos retained by the shelter,” James continued. “All seven animals were heavily infested with fleas and ticks, Layton said. It is unclear at this time whether the animals suffered any other illnesses. The animals are currently being held at the shelter pending release for cremation.”

Layton’s statements appear to have been the über source for the tabloid headlines, but they were not supported by the photos.

Sheriff: “One of the dogs was a pit bull.”

While one image showed that one dog’s foreleg was shorter than a human hand wearing a latex glove, all of the dogs’ legs were longer than the widest “plank” in the imitation “random plank” wall paneling behind them, which would be seven to nine inches wide in a standard nine-groove pattern.

Zilla, yet another of Tena Layton’s pit bulls.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Carter County sheriff Chris Bryant told McKenna Eubank of KTEN News in Texoma that “one of the dogs was a pit bull; the others were medium-sized dogs of other breeds, all with the same owner.”

That account aired at 2:59 p.m. on May 11, 2018.

Confirmed pit, then changed mind?

At 4:51 p.m., also on May 11, Today In Fort Smith reported that “Carter County, Oklahoma Sheriff Chris Bryant has confirmed that one of the dogs involved in the mauling death of an Ardmore-area woman last night was a pit bull.”

Sheriff Chris Bryant

Three days later, however, reported Colton Thompson of KTEN News on May 14, 2018, “Sheriff Chris Bryant said all seven dogs involved in the attack were mixed breeds, and all were under 40 pounds. The initial report that a pit bull was among the dogs was inaccurate, he said.”

Pit breeder’s wife says “standard dachshunds”

Crystal Martinez of KXII later on May 14, 2018 extensively quoted a second Ardmore Animal Shelter source arguing that the dogs were not pit bulls or pit mixes: euthanasia technician Amanda Dinwiddie.

Her husband John Dinwiddie advertised nine pit bull puppies for sale via Facebook in April 2014, and in August 2014 showed off a pit bull the Dinwiddies had “rescued.”

Claimed Dinwiddie, “A predominant breed in these dogs is definitely standard dachshund. They have really noticeable characteristics like their knobby legs, knees, very short legged dogs, and their coats.”

But none of the dogs had standard dachshund coloration, muzzles, or ears.

John & Amanda Dinwiddie.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Urban legend

And Westwood Veterinary Hospital vet Aldridge had not changed his mind, as his May 15, 2018 Facebook posting clarified, despite receiving a storm of protest from pit bull advocates about his breed identifications.

Aldridge, however, had little chance of being heard above the growing Facebook frenzy from pit bull advocates about the purported dachshund attack, which supposedly showed that any dog can kill.

Regardless of any subsequent clarifications and corrections that any media may publish, the pit bull mauling death of Tracy Janine Garcia appears likely to be misremembered in urban legend as a dachshund death.

http://www.animals24-7.org/2018/05/17/how-tabloids-turned-the-pits-who-killed-tracy-garcia-into-dachshunds/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3978410&forum_id=2#36078721)

The newfound willingness of every Tom, Dick, Joe, and Sally to engage in political advocacy for their own personal causes is destroying our society.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3978410&forum_id=2#36078976)

Yup.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3978410&forum_id=2#36091729)