Death reports from July 4, 2024: 3 by dog, 1 by crocodile and a famous bull

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

The toll announced on July 4, 2024 was almost the same as on July 4, 2023

FRESNO, California; ARCADELPHIA, Arkansas; LORAIN, Ohio––One year ago today, on July 6, 2023, ANIMALS 24-7 headline Number of fatalities on July 4th: 1 death by bull, 2 by pit bulls, 1 by alligator.

The number of fatalities in the week of July 4, 2024, differs little. There was only one death of a bull, two deaths of a pit bull, one death from a suspected husky, and one death from a crocodile.

Bushwacker, the bull. (Collage by Beth Clifton)

Bucking bull Bushwacker died peacefully

The first fatality, announced by rodeo ranchers Julio Moreno and Dallas Schott of Oakdale, California, on July 2, 2024, was that of 18-year-old Bushwacker, who threw 64 riders on the head, butt and various other body parts in 66 professional bull riding competitions from 2009 to 2014.

Note that bull riding was never a real ranch skill in the Old West and was grounds for dismissal on better-run ranches.

Bushwacker was celebrated for knocking down 42 riders in a row during a winning streak that was ended by JB Mauney on August 17, 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Mauney, who completed just an eight-second ride before landing on his head, got his place forever on September 6, 2023, in Lewiston, Idaho, when a bull named Arctic Assassin “slingshotted him into the dirt right on his hat,” Sally Jenkins wrote for the WashingtonPost.

“After emergency surgery to stabilize his head on his shoulders, Mauney retreated to his ranch with his wife, Samantha, and five-year-old son, Jagger, to recover,” Jenkins said.

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

Crocodile attack in Australia

On the evening of July 2, 2024, a 12-year-old girl disappeared while swimming in a stream near Palumpa, an indigenous community southwest of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory.

Her crocodile-torn remains were found on July 4, 2024, after a 36-hour search.

Javeon Nelson (breeder) on Facebook on October 9, 2022: “Special thanks this morning to Ms. Amber Fontenot for purchasing one of my beautiful males! You will not be disappointed as the quality from Nelson Bullies, LLC is XL.” (Facebook photo)

Bully XL kills owner in Arkadelphia

The deaths from dog attacks began, Joel Phelps reported for the Arkadelphia Daily News in Arkadelphia, southern Arkansas, when “following a 911 call from a woman on July 3, 2024 at 7:20 a.m. from Evergreen Drive,” police and paramedics “discovered the body of a deceased 41-year-old man lying in the driveway.”

“It was determined that the deceased victim was assaulted during the night,” Arkadephia police said in a media statement.

“The dog was identified as Bully XL, a pit bull variant bred to be larger than its known counterpart,” Arkadephia police added.

The Pitbull variant Bully XL was banned in the UK with effect from the beginning of 2024 after killing 14 people since 2021.

(See Deaths from dog attacks in the United Kingdom, 1991-present.)

Clint and Amber Fontenot.
(GoFundMe photo)

Victim named by family

The Arkadelphia victim’s name was not released, but Phelps identified the home’s owners from property records as Johnny Clint Fontenot, 41, and Amber Gail Fontenot, 47.

Social media posts from friends and family members confirmed that Johnny Clint Fontenot, mostly known by his middle name, was the fatality.

Clint and Amber Fontenot married on February 25, 2020, after spending more than ten consecutive years together, and purchased Bully XL from former local high school basketball star and current pit bull breeder Javeon Nelson on October 9, 2022.

Advertisement for Nelson Bullies and breeder Jaevon Nelson. (Collage by Beth Clifton)

Bully XL is kept in violation of regulations

“The dog was being kept indoors,” Phelps reported, “where he was when police arrived. The male was neutered but not registered with the city’s animal control department.

“Arkadelphia residents who own a pit bull breed dog are required by city ordinance to register their dog with animal control,” Phelps explained.

“Registration includes microchip implantation by a licensed veterinarian, proof of vaccination and castration of the animal.

Clint Fontenot. (Facebook photo)

Apparently not insured

“Other conditions for owning a pit bull within city limits,” Phelps reported, “include keeping the dog indoors or in an enclosed and locked enclosure that is secure on both the top and bottom. The breed must be leashed and muzzled when not confined.”

“Pit bull owners in Arkadelphia are also required to carry $100,000 in liability insurance.”

If the Fontenots had such a policy, it obviously did not cover them.

Her daughter Abreanna Aguilar posted in a GoFundMe appeal: “My mother recently had to cope with the heartbreaking loss of her husband and is now in a very difficult financial situation. She is struggling to cover basic living expenses and bills.”

Jaxson Dvorak. (Collage by Beth Clifton)

Six-year-old killed by family pit bulls

Shortly after 4:00 p.m. on July 3, 2024, Carissa Woytach reported for the Chronicle Telegram In Lorain, Ohio, “Lorain Police responded to 1773 East 31st Street shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday for a report of a child being attacked by a family dog.

“The child, identified by Lorain County Coroner Frank Miller as Jaxson Dvorak,” the six-year-old son of Brittany and Len Dvorak, “was pronounced dead at the scene.”

“Greg Willey, executive director of the Friendship Animal Protective League, and his staff removed an adult pit bull, an adult German Shepherd mix and six puppies from the home,” Woytach continued.

No German Shepherds are visible in this photo provided to the media by the Friendship Animal Protective League, which shows the dogs that killed Jaxson Dvorak being removed from the house.

No German Shepherd ancestry recognizable

Photos of the dogs removed from the premises show that both were actually pit bulls and no German shepherd ancestry was evident.

“The puppies,” which are housed separately from the adult dogs and were not involved in the fatal attack, “are three to four months old, Willey said, and appear to be a litter from the two adult dogs,” Woytach added.

Lorain Police Lt. Jacob Morris told Woytach that the Lorain County dog ​​catcher did not respond to the call for unknown reasons.

Jaxson Dvorak was the second known dog attack death in Lorain County. The first, pit bull rescuer Michael Winters, was killed in a pack attack on June 16, 2010. Police shot two pit bulls rescued by Winters to get to his body.

Coyote. (Photo by Beth Clifton)

Coyote?!

The third fatal dog attack reported on July 4, 2024, occurred in Fresno County, California, just outside the city of Fresno, when, according to KFSN television news, “officials received a call just before 5 a.m. about a man suffering from multiple dog bites.

The unidentified homeless victim was “found near an orchard” and “told authorities he thought it was a coyote that attacked him.” This is unlikely considering that coyotes have only killed three people in the entire recorded history of North America, none of them adult males.

Husky. (Photo by Beth Clifton)

Hoarse?!

Dom McAndrew soon reported a slightly different version of events to KSEE/KGPE.

McAndrew reported: “Deputies say the unidentified homeless man was found after screaming was heard around 5 a.m.

“When officers found the injured man, he told them that a husky-like dog had attacked him. The man was taken to hospital but died shortly afterward due to significant blood loss. The dog that attacked the man was not found.”

Since 1982, at least 40 people have been killed by lone huskies and husky mixes in the United States and Canada, but 36 of them (90%) were children, three were women, and only one victim was an adult man.

The victim, Leon Julian Peysen, 70, of Hewitt, Texas, died in a car crash in a parking lot on May 6, 2021, after his own husky inflicted a bite on his neck so severe that police initially believed he had inflicted a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Peysen had just picked up the husky and two other unidentified dogs after seeing them running loose.

(See “Six dog-related deaths announced within 24 hours, but key information withheld.”)

Richard “Hutch” Barry.

Richard “Hutch” Barry

The unidentified victim was the first fatal dog attack in Fresno County since five “English bulldogs” owned by breeder Victor Carranza of 4 Brothers Bulldogs escaped from Carranza’s home on July 31, 2022, ran across the street and killed neighbor Richard “Hutch” Barry, 59, as he walked home from his brother’s house around the corner.

(See“English Bulldog”: Two dog breeds, one name and a growing number of victims.)

Robert Lee Simonian.

Ninth dog attack death in Fresno County in 20 years

Previous victims in Fresno County include:

Jaysiah Chavez2, killed by two Rottweilers in his Fresno home on March 22, 2019;

Woman82, name not disclosed, killed by two family pit bulls in a Fresno yard on December 13, 2018.

Robert Lee Simonian74, was killed on July 5, 2017 in Fresno by the same five loose pit bulls that killed Valente Lopez Aguirre on April 14, 2016.

These two Pitbull/Sharpei mixes killed Susie Kirby on June 27, 2016.

Susie Kirbythree days old, killed on June 27, 2016 in her uncle’s house in Fresno by two Shar-Pei-Pitbull mixes.

Valente Lopez Aguirre58, was killed by five loose pit bulls in Fresno on April 14, 2016.

Estaban Alvarez34, a farm worker who was killed by four loose pit bulls in Selma on December 11, 2012.

Tyler Babcock6, was killed by two pit bulls and possibly a German shepherd in a field next to his grandparents’ house in Clovis on January 2, 2005.

Beth, Merritt and Teddy Clifton.

(See Three dead, two seriously injured, in strongholds of pit bull supporters.)

Please support our work with a donation:

Related