Killer dog received mixed messages

A dog that killed its owner was trying to "sort out the status of its relationship with the victim once and for all", a coroner's court has heard.

Carol Leann Taylor died at her Dunedin home in August after her bull mastiff cross viciously attacked, causing severe injuries to her head, neck, jaw, arms, hands and legs.

It was the first fatal attack of an owner by their own pet for six years. An expert in domestic animal behaviour, Professor Kevin Stafford, told coroner Jim Conradson in Dunedin yesterday that such an event happened only once a decade in this country.

In evidence from Ms Taylor's family and friends, Mr Conradson heard that the dog, which was registered as Sytan but affectionately called Tutties, was often overloaded with affection but at other times kicked and hit, or locked in a kitchen for days. The "mixed messages" caused it to become confused about its role.

Ms Taylor, 39, a sickness beneficiary, did not socialise and the dog "was her life", one friend said. She got him as a pup and he slept in her bed. He was "a total inside dog", her sister Lynda said.

On request from the family, Mr Conradson suppressed information, including a health problem Ms Taylor suffered which may have contributed to her lack of control over the dog.

Professor Stafford said there were various reasons that would prompt a dog to attack its owner, including the dog having concerns about the hierarchy in its family, fear, inexplicable rage, concerns about food, and to display dominance.

The five-year-old dog had bitten Ms Taylor before. It had also bitten a painter working at Ms Taylor's home and aggressively chased the paper boy and a neighbour's child.

On one occasion Ms Taylor called the Dunedin City Council to remove the animal. A dog controller arrived and found Tutties down the road, but once he offered the dog a biscuit it jumped into the council truck and did not show any signs of aggression.

Once the controller returned Tutties to Ms Taylor, she changed her mind and decided to give the dog another chance. He tried to dissuade her, but she would not let him take it.

Professor Stafford said it was common for dogs given mixed messages "to ask its owner to define its status", which they could do only by being disobedient and pushing the limits of what was allowed by the owner.

 

Mr Conradson ruled that the cause of death was dog attack.