The Canary Island Mastiff

"Headline News SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A San Francisco woman died Friday night after being mauled by two bullmastiff dogs inside her apartment building, police said. Diane Whipple, 32, was returning home from work Friday afternoon when the dogs attacked her, biting her repeatedly in the neck and upper torso. She was unconscious when taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Doctors pronounced her dead about 9 p.m. The leashed dogs -- with a combined weight of 233 pounds -- bolted from Marjorie Knoller's Pacific Heights apartment, dragged her down the hallway and lunged for the 32-year-old victim's throat as she frantically tried to open her front door, police and witnesses said. Neighbors said Whipple had recently moved into the posh apartment building. Witnesses said the animals mauled the victim for about 10 minutes before Knoller, who was also bloodied in the melee, could pull them back into her apartment The owners of the two dogs, Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel, brought them home three months ago from a Los Angeles breeding facility where they felt they were being ignored. They had to sue the facility to win the dogs' freedom. Both canines are a rare mix of English Mastiff and a Canary Island cattle dog. The owners said they had never before shown such aggression. The dogs have been put down after the deadly attack. "I'm devastated," Noel said. "These two dogs were like kids." Paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation as they raced the unconscious woman, who was near death and bleeding profusely, to the hospital. Surgeons spent almost two hours repairing the veins and arteries of her neck but could not save Whipple. "When she arrived ... she was in full cardiac arrest," said Dr. S. Marshall Isaacs, an emergency room physician. "There were no signs of life." Knoller was returning from a walk with the dogs when one of them -- 2 1/2-year-old Bane -- broke toward the victim, dragging Knoller along. Knoller, who at 125 pounds is only a few pounds heavier than Bane, frantically tried to restrain the dog, then used her own body to shield the screaming woman. The female dog, Hera, tore at the victim's clothes but didn't bite her. Knoller suffered minor injuries during the attack. David Kuenzi, who witnessed the attack from a third-story apartment, dialed 911. Police arrived about five minutes later. Investigators interviewed the owners, but no charges were lodged. Despite the owners' claim that the dogs had never displayed aggressive behavior before, a neighbor, Diana Curtis, said one of them recently lunged at her toy poodle and nearly "bit its head off.""

As we now know Bane was destroyed and Hera was spared for observation purposes. The article described the dogs as Bullmastiffs, when in reality they were Canary Island Mastiffs, Canary Dogs, or more precisely "Perro de Presa Canario". Encyclopedia of the Dog by Bruce Fogle, DVM states: "The Canary Dog is a typical fighting dog, thick skinned, densely boned, muscular, and with a massive head, housing exceptionally large jaw muscles. This breed was developed specifically for dog fighting. Its ancestry probably includes the now-extinct local breed, the Bardino Majero, crossed with imported English mastiffs. By the 1960s the breed was nearly extinct, but it was revived by the American veterinarian Dr. Carl Semencic."

Other information on this breed can be found on a variety of web sites, the best of which seemed to be Showstopper Kennels. Unfortunately, as a result of this tragic incident, there has been some strong sentiment against all dogs in San Francisco. The circumstances surrounding these two particular dogs are highly unusual and should not prejudice people against large dogs, or mastiffs, which are frequently very gentle guard dogs. It is important to understand that dogs are conditioned by their breeders and early rearing to grow into the kind of adult dogs they are. Anyone owning a dog with fighting in its heredity must be exceptionally diligent in raising the dog to be a responsible citizen.