List of fatal dog attacks in the United States (before 2000)
Date Category of Dog Victim 's name Victim 's age Circumstances
1950 Bulldog Unnamed girl 3 years Killeen , Texas . Attacked and killed by a bulldog . Mentioned in an article about another fatal attack
March 1950 Siberian Husky Donald A. Boucher 5 years Portland , Maine - The dog was chained at the time of the attack
June 1 , 1955 Doberman Pinschers ( 2 ) Winifred W. L. Bacon 64 years Toms River , New Jersey - Victim was found dead on the beach with her two dogs racing madly about , and the male had blood on his face and mouth . The coroner listed cause of death as a massive hemorrhage from dog bites
August 11 , 1955 Alaskan Husky ( 6 ) Danny Betz 21 months Anchorage , Alaska - Victim killed just 500 feet from his home . It 's unclear from the news reports if the boy wandered into the area where the sled dogs were staked out or whether one of the dogs had gotten loose and dragged the boy over to the kennel area . The father of the dogs ' owner refused to surrender the dogs without a court order
November 24 , 1958 German Shepherd Michael Kaminski 3 years Erie , Pennsylvania - The dog was 6 months old and had been acquired by the boy 's family two weeks prior to the attack . The family said the dog had not shown any previous aggression . A veterinarian suggested that Michael may have made a sudden movement interpreted by the dog as a threatening gesture
March 24 , 1959 Siberian Husky Billy Stillions 5 years Olympia , Washington - Attacked when the boy crawled into a shed where the dog was chained
April 27 , 1959 Pack of stray dogs Unnamed woman 58 years St. Louis , Missouri - The woman was knocked down and mauled by a pack of dogs on April 5 and died on April 27
May 23 , 1959 Pack of stray dogs ( 7-10 ) Mark Draper 30 months St. Louis , Missouri - A neighbor found the pack attacking the child . This death , on the heels of another dog mauling fatality the prior month , caused local officials to organize a roundup up of stray dogs . A group of 100-150 people ( including police ) armed with guns and clubs searched the area and killed 15 dogs and wounded or captured 3 more . The pack was a known nuisance in the area and they may have attacked the boy for food , as they were found eating his body
1950s
These are lists of fatal dog attacks in the United States reported by the news media, published in scholarly papers, or mentioned through other sources. In the lists below, the breed is assigned by the sources.