Wolves Kill Owner in PA

SALEM TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A woman was reportedly eaten alive by the wolf pups she was raising in Salem Township Monday. The body of Sandra Piovesan, 50, was discovered by family members inside a large fenced in area where the victim kept six hybrid wolves. Channel 11s Alan Jennings reported the victim was feeding her wolves Monday morning when she was mauled to death. At the time wolf pups and 7 to 8 adult wolves were in the cage. Piovesan was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Westmoreland County coroner it is currently unknown if the victim suffered a sudden medical event and was subsequently mauled, or if the animals fatally attacked her. The cause of death is to be determined in an autopsy. http://www.wpxi.com/

wow, I wonder if they were more dog then wolf or wolf then dog...??? That is very tradgic

I doubt THAT would ever happen from just one dog. Those guys were working as a pack after something upset them.

Although I agree pack mindset is likly to have played into this attack. Lone attacks have happened with hybred wolf/dogs. Children,pets have been attacked by a lone dog loose and hunting.

There was a photo I found in Google (not trying to look for it of course) and it showed a couple of dogs laying next to their owner. He apparently died of a heart attack, and they began eating him. The theory was that animals try to protect the bodies of their humans by eating them. I'm not sure, but that is what some have said. Many times when animals know they will die, they will run off and hide, protecting their bodies. Maybe that is what they were doing with the person you specified, and with the man I did. This is a very sad story. It could be that she died from something prior to them doing what they did, but of course nobody will know until the autopsy is done. Tragic...

Ok, I have 3 ginormous Pyrs. What do I need to start considering? The living arrangment is Mahtob and Lothar are inseparable. Together since puppyhood and only 4 months difference in age. Rudie doesn't hang around with them much, but lots of times is out in their yard with them. They are all 2 1/2 years old. It's pretty funny to go out at feeding times and have nearly 300 lbs of dog jumping against me (they don't jump up ON me, but raise up and bump into me sideways just because they can't handle being in complete self control lol) all vying for attention. Is there behavior I should watch for? I don't think little dogs would attack a person like that. Could be wrong though. I do know though that there was a case where this old woman had an insane number of Chihuahuas and although they didn't attack her, they did kill alot of their own kind territorially within the household. I think she had something like a 100. I'll have to see if I can find that article again....

Yea bumping is really all I get. On occasion one of them will be in a mood where they REALLY want to jump up on me to say hello, so they'll sit down and put their front paws up on me. You can tell they want to cut loose and go wild, but they're just too dignified! lol And I can just immagine a fericious pack of like 5 poodles going into rage/attack mode and shredding someone's jeans. lol. Not funny, but funny.

Mattress will sometimes get TOO excited and can't help herself so she insists that she has to jump on me, even though she knows it's a no no. I correct her though, so all is well. That put the strangest image in my head...Poodles I've been bitten by a very small dog at one point, and a bigger dog as well. The small dog didn't really do any damage other than maybe a few scratches that didn't even bleed. The bigger dog was CJ, the one that bit me about 5-6 times her entire stay here lol. Now THOSE bites definitely hurt.

Doggypassion: They pose a threat simply because they are DOGS. They are not humans, they are not wolves. Dogs still have a pack mentality, this has NOT ever been bred out of them. Dogs are not solitary creatures unlike the fox and the cyote, etc. ANY dog can become dangerous or angry and act out a bit harsher then he/she normally would under a unusual circumstance, much like a human could harm or kill someone if the right reason came along. But dogs do not have the ability to REASON, so the chance of them leashing out on a bad day is highetned. This is a very simplified way to explain why even domesticated dogs are dangerous. An update for this story, it was found that the wolves/hybrids did indeed kill her. And the only domestic dogs on her property were rotties. They do not yet know what the genetic make up is of the pups.

Don't be sorry, I was just confused. Sorry if I upset you, I had just honestly never heard that before. Just because I was thinking about owning 3 dogs at some point, and when you said that I got nervous. That's all.