Related To Story Two pit bulls attacked and killed the woman who had raised them from puppies. They attacked her son and lunged at a responding sheriff's deputy before they were shot and killed. VIDEO AUDIO |
Middleburg Woman Killed By Her Pit Bulls
POSTED: 9:56 am EDT October 2,
2007
MIDDLEBURG, Fla. -- A 42-year-old woman was fatally mauled by her two pit bulls, which also attacked the victim's son and a sheriff's deputy before both dogs were shot and killed on Tuesday morning, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.Tina Marie Canterbury was dead by 8:15 a.m. when Clay deputies arrived at the scene in the 2400 block of Cosmos Avenue, off county Road 218 West."She was a wonderful, wonderful person to be around -- always smiling and always happy. It brightened up the room when she walked in," said Billie Cantebury, the victim's cousin.
The victim's 21-year-old son, Cody Canterbury, was also attacked by one of the dogs -- bitten in the throat -- but was not severely injured."We have two full-blooded red-nosed pits and they just attacked our mom," a second son is heard saying on one of the 911 calls. "We can't get to my mom and my brother just went out there and they attacked him too. They don't need to get out of the ambulance or the dogs will try to get them, too."The dogs could be heard in the background of one of the 911 calls."As soon as I heard it, I stood up and made sure the primary dispatcher had dispatched the call because you could tell the urgency of it," said Director of Communication Diane Pickering, who took the call. "It's attention to detail. It's what the dispatchers do everyday. We hear everything, we don't get to see everything."A family friend at the home at the time shot at the dogs with a 9mm handgun, but they were still alive and one of them lunged at an arriving deputy before it was shot and killed.The other dog got loose. The sheriff's office issued a dangerous dog alert while Clay County animal control officers and sheriff's deputies tracked down and the second dog. It was found in a wooded area about two hours later, shot and killed. "It is a tragic and horrific situation that brings to light the danger of these type of animals," Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said. "These dogs had never bitten a human before, but they did today -- they did turn on their owner."Authorities said they did not know what circumstances caused the dogs to attack Canterbury."This was a responsible owner. These animals never had any history of any type of aggression," said Animal Crimes Detective Annie Henderson.Billie Cantebury said the dogs were his cousin's companions when her husband was away on business."They were house pets, and they literally slept with her when he wasn't home. She would take them out and put them in their pen and walk them and stuff," he said.The dogs were two years old and had been raised since puppies by Cantebury.Beseler said the dogs were behind a fence that had a beware-of-dogs sign and the county had never had an animal complaint at the home.
Copyright 2007 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2007 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.










