Java, beloved companion dog
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How many dogs served their masters faithfully in West Virginia can never be known. What is known, is that throughout the years many people in West Virginia have relied on dogs to assist in everyday life and to provide companionship.
While dogs continue to serve in many of their traditional functions, dogs have taken on new and unique tasks that enhance the lives of their owners and the community. Therapy, medical assistance, and search and rescue are only a few of the many services dogs provide to the residents of West Virginia.
Today, dogs contribute more to the welfare of individuals and society than perhaps any other time in the history of the human-dog bond. Additionally, over the past three decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in drastically lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide.
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People of West Virginia find all types of ways to have fun and include their dogs in their celebrations. Here the local weekend festivities include a "wiener race."
National Canine Research Council
What is a dog bite?
While the question seems simple enough, the answer is often not what we imagine.
Over the past 3 decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide.
National Canine Research Council
Over the past 45 years (1965 - present) there have been six (6) dog bite-related fatalities in West Virginia, an average of one (1) fatality every 8 years.
NCRC's 2011 Preliminary Report on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities illustrates the challenge of accurately reporting on these extremely rare, tragic events. Our mission of preserving the human-canine bond obligates us to be as accurate about these emotionally charged incidents as we can, so that they are calmly, correctly and, therefore, usefully understood. Accuracy takes time.
At least three (3) different breeds/types of dogs have been reported to be involved in these incidents.*
The victims were 3 adults and 3 children.
None of the dogs involved in dog bite-related fatalities in West Virginia had been spayed or neutered by their owners.
In 1973, an unsupervised 3-year-old boy wandered into the rural backyard where his family kept their hunting dogs chained. One of the dogs attacked and killed the child. (Mason County)
In 1981, A woman, Doris Pentchev, was erecting a fence on her property. Her neighbor had two of her show dogs in a kennel near the fence line. Doris asked if she could release the dogs from the kennel as she felt this would calm the agitated dogs down. The dogs attacked her as she released them from the kennel. (Jefferson County)
In 2005, in Huntington, a 2-year-old girl was killed by a dog, which was already under quarantine for a previous episode of aggression/biting. Despite its history of aggression, the owners had nevertheless bred the dog to one of its own female offspring. The female and her litter of eleven puppies were also on the premises. The owner, D. Brewer, was charged with, and convicted of, involuntary manslaughter. Brewer received a 1-year sentence for failing to properly confine and supervise a dangerous dog with a documented history of aggression.
In 2009, 70-year-old Lowell Bowden died a week after being attacked by his neighbors' loose roaming dogs in Monroe County. Four dog owners/neighbors have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Mr. Bowden. (Crinimal case pending as of November 2010.)
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*Note: In recent years, scientists have established that visual identification of dogs of unknown origin is extremely unreliable; therefore, while we can be sure these listed incidents involved varied types of dogs, we cannot be certain of the accuracy of most breed identifications.
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In spite of the reckless and dangerous ownership practices of some dog owners, dogs still pose an incredibly low risk for causing a fatality in West Virginia:
| West Virginia: Recognized Risks |
Year 2007 |
| Tobacco-related fatalities: |
3,900 |
| Total (alcohol & non) traffic deaths: |
432 |
| Alcohol-related traffic fatalities: |
138 |
| ATV-related fatalities: |
42 |
| Bicycle-related fatalities: |
3 |
| Fatal hunting accidents: |
2 |
| Persons drowned in swimming pools: |
1 |
| Death after contact w/bees, hornets, wasps: |
1 |
| Persons killed by dogs: |
0 |
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
In 2007, twelve (12) West Virginia children died as the result of maltreatment (abuse, neglect).
In the single year 2007, 4 times as many West Virginia children died from maltreatment than the total of all children killed by dogs in the state over the past 45 years.
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Fact is, people in West Virginia routinely accept far greater risks from ATVs and bicycles than any that are associated with companion animals.
National Canine Research Council
