Man dies after apparent dog attack, Ohio

[Rene Allegrini]

Man dies after apparent dog attack

AKRON, Ohio - A man who apparently was attacked by his girlfriend's dogs died as a result of bites to the head and neck, according to preliminary results from the Summit County medical examiner's office.

Sandra Ross said she heard some noises in the basement early Saturday and found James Eisaman, 40, lying on the basement stairs and bleeding from his head.

Ross said she believes Eisamen went to the basement to feed her two Rottweilers and was on his way back up when he was attacked.

Police officers responding to the emergency call said they shot and killed one of the dogs when the animal charged at them.

AP Wire | 11/13/2006 | Man dies after apparent dog attack

[Cdn1050]

This is an odd story. There really are no details. The girlfriend owned two Rotties, nothing states that they were obedience trained. I get the feeling that they weren't and because of that grew into adults that may have been too much for them to handle. How long did she date this guy for? Did she just meet him and to the dogs he was still a stranger? If the dogs were in the basement, why weren't they crated? Too many questions and really no answers. I will personally admit that I would never purchase more than one dog of any breed, I would find it extremely challenging to give them both equal attention required for them to become canine good citizens.

[LavenderRott]

cleveland.com: Everything Cleveland

Man killed by dogs inside home defended them as he lay dying

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Karen Farkas
Plain Dealer Reporter

Akron- "Please don't destroy them" were James Eisaman's last words as he lay face down on a stairwell, dying from injuries inflicted by two Rottweilers.

Sandra Ross, who owned the dogs, tearfully said she can't honor that wish.

"I loved him more than those dogs, and they took him from me," she said Monday. "I may never have an animal again."

Eisaman's death on Saturday was ruled accidental, but an expert on Rottweilers said keeping two males together was asking for trouble because they often fight to establish dominance.

"If he got in there, he could have been bitten accidentally, and once he was down and flailing, then dog nature takes over," said Catherine Thompson, past president of the American Rottweiler Club.

Eisaman, 40, moved into Ross' Blaine Avenue home shortly after he met her five months ago. Ross, 48, lived there with dogs Randy, 4, and Kyle, 7.

Ross had raised Rottweilers in the past and got Randy as a puppy. She did not plan to have more than one dog, but she took Kyle back several years ago after the person whom she sold him to had abandoned him.

"I couldn't have him sent to the pound and thought I could find him a home," she said. But he stayed with her, generally living outside in a doghouse in a fenced area while Randy, more docile, lived inside.

Eisaman adored Randy and often took him for walks, Ross said. Ross said that Randy, about 125 pounds, and Kyle, about 110 pounds, often fought to the point where one bled but that they would separate when she or Eisaman issued a command.

Ross believes this is what occurred Saturday:

Eisaman, who had a broken right leg in a cast, awoke around 4 a.m. The dogs were in the basement. The door to the basement was closed, and a basement door to the back yard was open.

Eisaman went outside and got the dogs' bowls. As he washed the bowls in the kitchen, he apparently heard the dogs fighting. He went into the basement, closing the kitchen door behind him. As he tried to break up the fight, he was attacked near the furnace.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pound man crawled up seven stairs, collapsing on the wooden landing, three steps from the door to the kitchen.

Ross said she awoke when she heard a thump. She opened the door and saw Eisaman, with Randy sitting by his side. He told her to save the dogs. She called 9-1-1 and put the dogs in a room in the basement.

She tried to perform CPR.

"His hands were warm, but his lips were cold," she said.

When police arrived, Randy escaped from the room and rushed up the stairs. Police shot and killed him. Kyle was taken to the Summit County Humane Society. Ross wants him destroyed.

So does Vicky Oakes, Eisaman's mother.

"He was completely mauled," said Oakes, who saw her son at the funeral home. "He had said they were good dogs. She couldn't control them."

Eisaman is survived by a daughter and son. His mother said he was trusting and helpful. She spoke to him Friday night.

"His last words were 'Mom, I love you,' " she said.

[Cdn1050]

Thanks LavenderRott for posting that, it makes more sense now as to what might have happened.

[spidey]

Wow...lots of red flags there. Poor guy. I wonder why it is that people don't take dog ownership seriously, especially in light of these regular reminders of the very real dangers of irresponsible or ignorant dog management.

[GypsysMom]

I have read this story and do you guy think that the 2 dogs got into a fight and he got in the middles as suggessted and that is how he suffered the fatal wounds? Maybe he tried to break it up and got thrown down somehow, its a sad story, this is one reason I did not break up my dogs fight with the other male, My neighbor told me that a dog knows the difference between human flesh and dog I am so against that and told him that made no sense, and so did my trainer.

I think that may have been the case in this sad story, I read the dog was shot as he charged upstairs, Im wondering if he "charged" as in attack mode or just ran like my dogs do when they come from down stairs

Anyways I feel for the family and it was a terrible thing to have happen

[jute]

I used to raise pit bulls for a long time. And every now and then, one of them would get a hair up the keester, and start a fight. I never let them to continue to fight because of the damage they can do to each other. That being said, I have never even come close to being bitten while breaking them up. It always "seemed" like they knew the difference between my body and theirs.

[jojapeach]

I tried to break up a fight with my two male cockers once and got bit on the shin. Rocky seemed to know that he had got my leg instead of Jackson because his dimeanor changed immediately.

Coincidently, that was the last time I tried to break up a fight that way. After that, I doused them with a glass of cold water if they started (which thankfully only happened a handful of times). The water worked like a charm.

[fostermom]

I know of SEVERAL people who have gotten in the middle of two dogs fighting...and they WERE bitten. This past Saturday friends of mine who have three dogs had a fight. The two in the house broke through a closed window to get at the one in the yard...when the husband pinned the primary aggressor one of the other dogs bit his thigh in an effort to get at the dog beneath him. Someone told me to pull a dogs back legs out from under him to break up a fight but I don't know if that works as I've never seen one.

[buckeye96]

well I know what I was told to break up a fight but don't know if I should type it here.

[jute]

Its very hard to break up 2 dogs fighting unless one is on a leash or chain. You pull one apart, and the other bites the one your holding.