Home > Crime > Man Returns Home To Find Wife Killed By Mastiff They Adopted A Week Earlier

Man Returns Home To Find Wife Killed By Mastiff They Adopted A Week Earlier

November 15, 2012 at 10:31 am by Morbid

BIG ROCK, IL – A man in Illinois returned home to find that his 44-year-old wife had been killed by a mastiff they had adopted from a family member a week earlier.

The body of Dawn Brown was discovered by her husband Monday afternoon. She had suffered fatal bite wound to the neck, apparently inflicted by a Mastiff they had recently brought into the home.

Brown had been alone in the home with the dog and the couple’s two other dogs, a boxer and a pit bull mix. Her husband tried to resuscitate Brown, but she had died had died hours before he found her.

Police are investigating what may have prompted the attack and if the animal, which weighed an estimated 130 to 140 pounds, had shown any violent behavior in the past.

The previous owners say the dog had never been violent and that they only gave the dog up because they simply couldn’t care for it any longer.

Dawn was firefighter and paramedic for the Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District, and her co-workers are the ones who responded to the call. “To pronounce one of your own dead is probably one of the hardest things we have to do,” said Big Rock Fire Cpt. Debra Raymond.

All three of the couple’s dogs were taken by animal control. The fate of the mastiff is currently undecided, but Kane County Sheriff’s police Lt. Pat Gengler said that, ultimately, that decision would be left to Dawn’s husband.

Stories like this is why I don’t own any animals that I can’t kill with a solid kick.

Tags: Crime, Dawn Brown, Illinois, Mastiff, When Animals Attack

77 Comments

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OutOfBubbleGum

Perfume de Filet Minion – Exzotic and entancing to any hungry man.

Warning:
Do Not Use Around Big Dog
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736546181 Michael Heldman

Dogs of this size need the care of a professional to be “re-trained” no matter what background they come from. Just because it was a gentle giant with the previous family doesn’t mean it will have that kind of connection with it’s new owner. Most people under estimate animals. Unless you raise it as a puppy, it will be very unpredictable, even then you never know.
Sam

I guess the mastiff didn’t agree with the pecking order in his new family.
Sam

Are they certain it was the mastiff who killed her? Maybe one of the other dogs hatched a dastardly plan to get rid of the new intrusion on it’s cushy life, and/or an owner it wasn’t overly enamored with?
chikonanklemonitor

I need to apply that ‘solid kick’ theory when I go to choose a boyfriend.
She is SO fired from her job if she can’t even save herself……
OutOfBubbleGum

The mastiff failed the polygraph/lie detector because he missed that day in school that taught lying down.
curiousalways

That is so sad. I will stick to my kitty who woke me up with little kisses this morn. I love dogs, but it seems like sometimes they can just turn.
Andyman

“The fate of the mastiff is currently undecided.. …ultimately, that decision would be left to Dawn’s husband.” – Well that’s a nobrainer. If I owned a dog a week and it killed my wife, I’d have killed the fucker already.
Clyde The Dog

Cat’s are nature’s serial killers. They murder for the shits and giggles, even just rip of legs off things to watch them squirm. “little kisses”? That was a warning, and so are the little gifts they bring their owners.
Sam

She’s fired after not saving herself? You mean they normally employ zombies in the Illinois fire department?
curiousalways

I hope I’m not the next DD story! Woman killed by 3 pound cat!!!
newstarshipsmell

What the hell, Andy? That’s the sort of dog you give to a friend to watch, you know, that friend you can’t stand.
Clyde The Dog

You’ll be okay. I think?
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/cats_actually_kill
JohnQknowitall

The previous owners say the dog had never been violent and that they only gave the dog up because they simply couldn’t care for it any longer.

hmmhmm
chikonanklemonitor

Well it’s something to consider. She’d still be alive, or dead and alive…. u know what i mean.
JohnQknowitall

It occurred to me that could have been an issue. Breaking up a dog fight can be very dangerous. I would only use a pan of cold water – even in the house.
CT

Well, if you are to believe the cat – it was the Mastiff.
CT

No kidding. My cat, who has to be one of the laziest animals out there, waited until all of the baby birds in my yard were learning to fly this Spring and got every single one of them. Lazy fuck is just a cover.
JohnQknowitall

If my dog killed anyone except to protect a family member or a friend in my home from a legitimate threat (no matter how much I love it) it would be euthanized painlessly and quickly.
http://www.facebook.com/Leashaness Alicia Lynee’

I’m surprised the boxer & pit didn’t save her :/
Andyman

Couldn’t agree more.
Andyman

I’m surprised they didn’t blame the Pit!
curiousalways

LOL! You made my day. How funny.
daMonBrooks

Human chow gets expensive.
Rachel Ann

Call me scary but I’m not one for having an animal the size of a grown woman. 130lbs? No thanks, I like my dogs smaller than me by a good margin lol.
EveryVillainIsLemons

That’s why, as much as I feel bad for older dogs up for adoption, I would never adopt one myself. I have a small child, and it just isn’t worth the risk, even with retraining.
Clyde The Dog

Fur covered, evil genius is what he is.
LeaveMeBe

I love dogs and cats. With that being said, cats are way more unpredictable and aggressive than dogs, they just don’t have the means to murder all of us and take over the world. I know that’s what my little grey cat fantasizes about regardless of how much she acts like she adores me.
deadskinmask213

LOL! I was just getting ready to post the very same thing.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mikhail-Kolitwenzew/100001461591216 Mikhail Kolitwenzew

That’s messed up, you’re an idiot. Have fun rotting in jail you hateful bastard.
Clyde The Dog

Hey, why so hostile? Tomorrow’s friday, chill, comrad.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736546181 Michael Heldman

I agree. It takes a special circumstance (ie. no children, elderly, small pets, have a big yard, etc.) to be able to accommodate a situation like this.
Clyde The Dog

Steak scented women? hmm..at first I thought how awesome that would be, then I over analized the fuck out of it. I’ll think more about it after I eat some nachos.
newstarshipsmell

Haha, dumbass, why would I rot in jail for cracking a joke online, you moron?

Also, sounds like you’re judging me, hypocrite.
http://www.facebook.com/migamboagomez Mirta I. Gamboa

The husband is blaming the dog.. I bet you he did it.
alphatroll

Are you new here?
Chinchillazilla

Yeah. I have two rescued dogs now. I never had one before these guys, and I’m glad they’re smallish (15-20 lb range). They aren’t particularly aggressive (only food aggression, mostly, and they don’t really attack as much as warn you away), but they are more unpredictable than dogs I’ve gotten as puppies from breeders. Not that I’ll go back, because they’re more rewarding too, but I wouldn’t want to have a large dog with an unknown background until/unless I was a much better dog trainer than I am now.
Chinchillazilla

Doubt it, unless he has enormous jaws.
alphatroll

I’m sure she could have LEARNED to handle that big dog… but don’t just ASSUME you can. And especially don’t sit around alone with an animal you’ve barely met that outweighs you. Chances are she was “playing” with it & it got out of hand before she realized how stupid she’d been. Dogs don’t know how “soft” people are!
Chinchillazilla

My cat recently sent a vet tech to the ER. (In fairness, I told them at least five times that she bites and is blind in one eye and they should muzzle her. They didn’t muzzle her and then approached her from her blind spot. Of course she bit!)
http://twitter.com/christop999 christopher whiteman

its a perfect murder sinario
Dionna Jones

not to mention, when an animal changes ownership, it causes them stress. I agree they need a professional trainer to help them overcome any obstacles during the transition
JGo555

Food or shegot in the way of a dog fight for pack leadership.
JGo555

Not you again! Mr.I-Love-To-Recite-Bible-Verses-For-The-Fuck-Of-It.
Kudos on not reciting a bible verse though.
wastintime

Maybe the dog will be spared. Maybe you should adopt a new dog. Perhaps a mastiff?
LeaveMeBe

Uh-oh! Sounds like Satian is sitting on your shoulder. Better repent!
LeaveMeBe

No, he’s been around. He’s kinda like a chronic STD. You can’t always see him, but he’s always there and he just flares up occasionally.
ShelbySP

I’d rather have a dog that could kill me than a chihuahua any day. My boyfriend has one and that little fucker makes me wish I were dead.
ShelbySP

Taking “blaming it on the dog” to a whooole nother level.
Sam

hehehe, hehehehe, hehehe
“ANALized”
hehehehe, hehehehe
alitat

I had a saint Bernard/mastiff mix and she was around 130 pounds. I had her and a small baby when my ex was deployed. Not one time I’d I ever feel threatened by her, she knew who was in charge. And most mastiffs that I’ve ever been around are pretty docile. The one and only time Shasta ever bit any of us was for food (handing her something or my daughter stuck her hand in her bowl to get out a toy car) but she got her ass beat for it and since then has always backed up if anyone reaches toward her bowl. She went with the ex in the divorce, but I always secretly wish he wouldn’t have trained her to back away from the new girlfriend’s hand and that she’d bite her, bitch deserves it for smacking my kid around.
midniteshadows

That made me shoot coffee out the nose. ROFLMAO!!! I needed that laugh.
midniteshadows

You guys crack me up. Too funny.
midniteshadows

Cold pan of water? Never heard of that. I was thinking more along the lines of a katana, machete, shotgun, uzi, grenade, flamethrower. Something a little more substantial.
midniteshadows

Ugh. Chiweewee’s. Nasty little things.
Jenn

As I type this I am sitting in a room with 3 Mastiffs and feel safer than ever ;p. Was the lady only bit in the neck? It seems kind of odd to me that a dog would bite someone in one spot and that would be it. Were the other dogs hurt at all?
http://www.facebook.com/Moonphaz Debbie Singer

I would wait for the Autopsy because Ving Rhames mastiffs were accused of killing their caretaker, but the autopsy showed he died of natural causes and the dogs had grabbed him and dragged him around trying to “help” him. I would not be so quick to judge until it is confirmed. Also, this story is very negligent in not saying which type of Mastiff it was. Cane Corsos are known for being aggressive while English Mastiffs are “Gentle Giants” who do not have a history of this type behavior without some provocation or human mistreatment. That would tell us volumes about whether this dog would have a propensity to do this. We have 3 English Mastiffs and they would rather die before they would hurt us…. literally. The point of this is don’t jump to conclusions until the final determination is made.
http://www.facebook.com/Moonphaz Debbie Singer

You guys – I would wait for the Autopsy because Ving Rhames mastiffs were accused
of killing their caretaker, but the autopsy showed he died of natural
causes and the dogs had grabbed him and dragged him around trying to
“help” him. I would not be so quick to judge until it is confirmed.
Also, this story is very negligent in not saying which type of Mastiff
it was. Cane Corsos are known for being aggressive while English
Mastiffs are “Gentle Giants” who do not have a history of this type
behavior without some provocation or human mistreatment. That would tell
us volumes about whether this dog would have a propensity to do this.
We have 3 English Mastiffs and they would rather die before they would
hurt us…. literally. The point of this is don’t jump to conclusions
until the final determination is made.
http://www.facebook.com/Moonphaz Debbie Singer

Clearly you know nothing about dogs and with that uneducated opinion you should stick to cats.
Andyman

Dually noted. We are adopting a dog this weekend. I love doggies. We are getting a beagle and basset hound mix. I can’t wait.
http://www.facebook.com/Moonphaz Debbie Singer

Thank you – totally true and anyone with any education about dogs knows that dogs are super loyal. This is a strange and confusing case – there is much more to this story that the brief article and lack of information tells and anyone who thinks this dog attacked, just to be attacking needs to read about the different types of Mastiffs. They conveniently didn’t list the type of Mastiff it was so we have no clue and they are all totally different even though they are a Mastiff, i.e. Cane Corso, Neopolitan, English, French, German, etc, etc.. Ving Rhames Mastiffs were accused of killing their caretaker and they didn’t – he died of natural causes. Sounds more like a dog fight that she got in the middle of and you just don’t do that. But that is speculation because we don’t know what the evidence is, what type of Mastiff it was, what the background of the previous owners is, etc. Don’t judge until you get the facts.
Andyman

We are naming her bagel. Lol
http://www.facebook.com/Moonphaz Debbie Singer

Wow, clearly you need to educate yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/Moonphaz Debbie Singer

Clearly you need to educate yourself too.
http://www.facebook.com/Moonphaz Debbie Singer

Ditto my previous comment. Again, you have no idea what you are talking about.
Sugarglider1

In truth, most dogs/animals do not require this, actually.
Sugarglider1

“The fate of the mastiff is currently undecided, but Kane County Sheriff’s police Lt. Pat Gengler said that, ultimately, that decision would be left to Dawn’s husband.”

WTF with this state’s apparent laws? The dog should be in fucking quarantine, so I hope it is. And, if it DID kill a person by biting her neck like she was a damn rat, well, then, the dog needs to be euthanized for the good of society.
Gee

Cane Cosrsos! Are you kidding me. You pick out the the most obscure mastiff breed that almost no one here in the states owns or knows of…. More then likely it was a Bull Mastiff which can be just as aggressive. I don’t see the negligence in the story. Simple reporting there was a new dog in the house and right now it looks like that was the culprit. More then likely it was.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736546181 Michael Heldman

Actually, I DO know what I am talking about. You clearly have no idea that ANY animal can be unpredictable. They are animals, not humans. We are talking about being in the right circumstance to take a chance on a large dog in your home when you aren’t bringing it up as a puppy. We aren’t condemning a breed or putting down dogs in any way. Reading comprehension is a tricky thing. It might be harder for you than most but if you keep at it, I’m sure you’ll get it eventually.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736546181 Michael Heldman

More often the human requires training. People, like Debbie above, think they know everything. Having a trainer present allows both the animal and human to interact in a controlled environment. A proper trainer will go over some of the triggers of animals that can cause them to behave on instinct. (ie. quick movements, small animals, children, smells, the way you approach them, etc.)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736546181 Michael Heldman

I see. You have 3 mastiffs. Clearly a qualified expert. So when this autopsy comes back conclusive will you come back here to eat crow? Doubt it. If you have never seen an animal behave on animal instinct then you have no place to talk. You can sneak up on and spook 50 large breed dogs. You may be fine through 40 of them until you come upon the one that just goes off it’s natural instincts, suddenly you are walking around with a large scar if you are lucky, faceless if you aren’t.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736546181 Michael Heldman

While you are out on your high horse trying to “educate” everyone else, keep your eyes open, you may learn something yourself.
Athena

I’m glad you can take this seriously. I’m still cracking up because there’s such a thing as a Ving Rhames mastiff.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736546181 Michael Heldman

Good catch. I read her sentence and my brain automatically corrected her bad grammar. I glazed right over it because it’s so insignificant to point to one instance to support her argument while ignoring hundreds of other instances that would shatter her point.
*From Webster’s: Ving Rhames Mastiff – good supporting dog, usually type cast as the tough but gentle dog. Never really the star of the show but can steal the spotlight if placed next to the “Tom Cruise Dog”. (see also, scienbarktology)
Reiko Kanaki

I bet he feels guilty for adopting the fucking mastiff lolz.
http://www.facebook.com/cheshiredreams Andrea Pizzuto

This, ma’am, is complete and utter bullshit. I owned a Cane Corso (an italian mastiff) for 12 wonderful years. He was the best dog I ever had. My friend came over one day and her toddler was sleeping on the floor, my dog came up, curled up around her and “protected” her until they left. It’s ALL about socialization and they way that they are treated.
Shep

What a waste. The perfect woman killed by a big ugly dog