Lindsey Holden The Tribune Sun, 18 Dec 2016 15:26 UTC
A 64-year-old man critically injured in a Grover Beach dog attack died late Friday night, leaving friends and family saddened and in disbelief.
At 10:57 p.m., David Fear succumbed to injuries suffered during the Tuesday attack, said Ron Yukelson, a Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center spokesman.
The San Luis Obispo County Coroner's Office is investigating the death, Sgt. Jeff Nichols of the county Sheriff's Office said.
Police and fire officials arrived on the scene to find Fear and Long suffering from serious injuries and two dogs โ a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois and a German shepherd โ running in the area.
The Belgian Malinois was found to be the primary aggressor and was euthanized with the owner's permission. The German shepherd did not appear to be aggressive and is being held by its owner.
Fear's family and neighbors said Thursday that Long was attacked first while standing outside her home with a small dog. Fear was trying to help her when the dogs attacking Long turned on him, causing severe injuries and blood loss.
Yukelson said Long is expected to be discharged from the hospital later Saturday.
The dogs were owned by a Grover Beach police officer and were not city-owned animals, Anderson said. Grover Beach does not have a police canine program.
The city of Grover Beach released a statement Saturday afternoon about the incident.
"The city of Grover Beach would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr. David Fear," the statement read. "Today's news of Mr. Fear's passing from injuries sustained earlier this week during a tragic and unfortunate dog attack has brought sadness to our hearts. Our prayers are with the Fear family during this difficult time and with Ms. Betty Long and her family during her recovery."
Diana Smaw and Rene Davino, sisters of Terry Lopez, Fear's partner of 25 years, said complications ensued after he received blood transfusions to replace what he lost during the attack. He had bite wounds on his legs and torso, although those on his arms were the worst, Smaw said.
Fear's family and friends remembered him as a kind man who was always willing to help those in need.
Bill Hortillosa, a childhood friend, called Fear a hero when he stopped by the family's home to pay his respects.
"He put his life on the line for the old lady," he said.
Fear lived in San Luis Obispo County most of his life, served in the Army and made his living installing carpeting and flooring, Davino said.
Fear had three children, including a daughter who was preparing to get married, she said.
"He was just an All-American good person," Davino said.
Investigating the attack
Animal Services will continue its investigation into the attack, which should wrap up toward the middle of the week, Anderson said Saturday. No conclusive assessments have been made at this time, he said.
Deaths caused by dog bites are very rare. There were only 40 dog bite-related fatalities in 2014, according to the National Canine Research Council. The organization defines such a fatality as "a death resulting from the mechanical trauma of a dog bite."
Rabies testing is the first step in any dog bite investigation, Anderson said.
Anderson said tests conducted on the Belgian Malinois came back negative. The German shepherd is being quarantined โ kept inside or directly monitored in a fenced-in area โ for rabies observation through next week, he said.
The next steps will involve assessing the circumstances leading up to the attack and determining whether the German shepherd poses a continued threat to public safety, he said.
Animal Services will pass the information gathered to the county District Attorney's Office, which will decide whether to press criminal charges, Anderson said. He declined to release the name of the dogs' owner because charges have not been filed.
"It's very tragic and unfortunate," Anderson said.
Ya know it's legal to shoot dogs running lose in some states, and not just because they will begin to act in packs and kill other animals needlessly, but because they can and will attack children.
People are losing their senses. Your dog just killed another human. What's his responsibility? They kill the dog but what about the owner?
I agree, the owner should be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
What is the deal with dogs these days? Is this type of occurrence happening more often or is it a conceived increase because the stories are being reported more frequently?
It seems to me that Nature is turning against man and that those creatures which are most closely associated with humans are the first to succumb.
it's a real increase in the number of fatal and serious maulings of humans by man's best friend. This article states that deaths due to dog bites are rare, and then give statistics for 2014. Totally misleading, every 13 days or thereabouts a life is lost to a killer dog. About every day, sometimes several times a day, someone goes to the hospital with dog bite trauma. Pit bulls kill 10s of thousands of pets and livestock annually. The pit bull nutters will have a hey day with this article because for a change it's not a pit bull that did the killing, but a Malinois dog owned by a K9 officer. Good that the owner surrendered the dog for euthanasia but what I don't understand is why they didn't euthanize him immediately. Why do they delay putting these offending dogs down? The owner also needs to pay restitution, or go to jail. Unfortunately, story after story after story of owners of dogs who maul and kill are alike in that the owners are careless (they deny their dog could do such a thing and fail to contain it) and irresponsible (after the dogs do the damage they not only want their maulers back, they don't believe they should have to make restitution to the victims). Until laws are enacted to make jail mandatory for anyone whose dog sends anyone to the hospital for anything more than stitches, these stories will keep on increasing. Just take a look at a local paper or on FB pet sales sites and see how many pit bulls are being unleashed on the unsuspecting public. These dogs have litters of 10 or more and backyard breeding is rampant. I'm surprised that the public isn't taking up arms and shooting these dogs.
Ya know I've been following the on-going extinction and general animal holocaust for some time now. I am quite sure that there are more dog attacks, and just animals acting crazy in general.
Could this be radiation induced? Radiation is known to cause violent behavior. Are we seeing a consequence of the radioactive pollution form Japan and the rest of the cursed nuke plants?
Something isn't right. Could the food supply be contaminated? The fish byproducts in animal foods are certain to have a raised radiation level.
"owned by a K9 Officer" is an incorrect statement. The dog owner is a police officer as Grover Beach has no police canine unit. That flippant remark insulted all the highly trained K9 officers worldwide. You owe them an apology.
People are losing their senses. Your dog just killed another human. What's his responsibility? They kill the dog but what about the owner?