Four more fatalities, at least 3 by pit bull, raise 2026 dog attack toll to 50

“Pittie Moms” member Kathleen Noll,  79,  was #50.  Rescuer Amanda Nobiss,  37,  was #48.

            PENN HILLS,  Pennsylvania;  HENNING,  Tennessee;  SANDY BAY FIRST NATION,  Manitoba;  SODDY DAISY,  Tennessee––The 2026 U.S. and Canadian dog attack fatality count on July 21,  2026 reached 50 for the sixth year in a row,  eight days earlier in the year than ever before,  with the death of retired hairdresser Kathleen Noll,  79,  killed by her own pit bull in her own backyard in Penn Hills,  Pennsylvania.

Noll’s death was the fourth in a row involving someone trying to be kind to pit bulls and stray packs believed to include pit bulls,  perceived as underdogs.

Noll,  a member of the Facebook group Pittie Moms,  “had two dogs,  and they were always by her side,”  reported WPXI television from Pittsburgh.

One of those dogs,  neighbors told WPXI,  was apparently not involved.

Cops shot pit bull to reach body

But “When officers got there,  we’re told,”  the WPXI report continued,  “they had to shoot the dog that attacked the woman just to get to her body.

“When Kathleen Noll’s daughter arrived at their home,”  WPXI continued,  “she discovered a horrific scene. According to the 911 calls obtained by Channel 11,”  WPAI reported,  “Noll’s daughter wasn’t even able to get to her mother’s body.”

Noll,  “according to the medical examiner,  was killed after the dog attacked her and bit her multiple times on her head and neck,”  WPAI detailed.

There was some evident confusion about who discovered Noll’s remains.  Posting to Facebook as Kathy Noll,  Noll on June 15,  2026 recalled the 2017 death of her “only child,”  daughter Jessica Lyn Bechtel,  at age 42.

But multiple acquaintances affirmed that Noll’s adopted pit bull killed her.

Marko Bursey died near historic school

Noll died just one day after Marko Bursey,  43,  was fatally mauled at about 7:00 a.m. on July 20,  2026 by a pack of allegedly feral dogs including multiple pit bulls and pix mixes.

Bursey,  who lived nearby,  was alone on a walking and jogging trail behind the historic Palmer Turner School,  now the Palmer Turner Community Center,  in Henning,  Tennessee,  just east of Memphis.

The dogs were well known to local residents.  Henning resident Joan Mancini alleged on Facebook that one had bitten her niece three times,  inflicting an injury on one occasion that required hospital treatment when the bite became infected.

Dog trapper named pack as “priority” two days earlier

Pamela J Edwards,  who with her husband James Edwards operates GloryHound Trapping in central Mississippi,  posted to Facebook on July 18,  2026,  two days before Bursey was killed,  that trapping the Henning pack would be “priority when James Edwards is released from the Dr. from having knee surgery.

“For nearly two years,”  Pamela J. Edwards said,  the “group of feral dogs in Henning has been fighting to survive.  Some of those puppies have already been hit by cars and killed.  Local animal control has tried to catch them.  There are still five adults and three litters of puppies out there.

“Threatening to shoot them”

“Now we’ve been told people are tired of them and are threatening to shoot them.  Now the situation has become even more urgent,”  but more so,  actually,  than Pamela J. Edwards could have known.

The owner of the dogs who became the deadly pack is believed to be deceased.

If not,  posted Marko Bursey relative Shana Payton,  “If these dogs belonged to someone,  we want you to know who he [Bursey] was.  We want his name to stay on your mind and weigh on your conscience every single day until you get right with God and find it in your heart to do the right thing and come forward.”

The Palmer Turner School

The Palmer Turner School,  where the dogs attacked Bursey,  was founded during the Reconstruction Era after the U.S. Civil War by Jim and Carrie Turner,   with their friend Bertha Palmer.

Jim Turner,  a white farmer,  in defiance of the social norms of the day,  married and raised three sons with Carrie Turner,  an African-American teacher.  The Turners and Palmer started the school so that their sons and other African-American children could get an education.

One of the Turner sons,  Hardin Turner,  named after a local Methodist evangelist of note,  became a medical doctor.  But Hardin Turner was scarcely the best known of many distinguished Palmer Turner alumni.

Roots

Bertha Palmer’s son,  with husband Alabama A&M University agriculture professor Simon Haley,  was Alexander Murray Palmer Haley,  1921-1992.

Alex Haley’s 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family,  became a national best-seller and a 1977 ABC television mini-series that attracted a record 130 million viewers.

Recalled John Shaw in The Delta Review of August 17,  2015,  “A museum was opened on the Main Street of the little town just across the Forked Deer River from Tipton County,  and residents of Henning waited for the tourists they hoped would be coming.  They even renamed State Highway 211 “Chicken George Trail” after one of the characters in Haley’s novel.

“But the tourists never arrived,  and Henning seems to be in the grip of a depression,”  Shaw observed,  a description which seems not to have changed in the 11 years since.

“No More Maulings” rally planned

A week after animal rescue volunteer Amanda Nobiss,  37,  “died doing what she loved at Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation,”  about 111 miles northwest of Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  reported Carol Sanders for the Winnipeg Free Press on July 24,  2026,  “the charity she dedicated herself to has paused rescues as groups rally to prevent another mauling.

“A ‘No More Maulings’ rally is planned for July 29,  2026 outside the Manitoba legislature,”  Sanders detailed.  A social media notice for the event hosted by Project Artemis Advocates Winnipeg and Manitoba Animal Save features a photo of Nobiss embracing a dog,”  calling for “prevention, collaboration and change.”

Participating organizations also including the Winnipeg Humane Society,  Save A Dog Network Canada,  Every Dog Matters Alberta,  and K9 Advocacy Manitoba are “begging for the government to step in and help in terms of bylaws,  funding for spay and neuter clinics —the things that need to be in place for the overpopulation to get under control,” K9 Advocacy Manitoba president Chelsea Kork told Sanders.

Overnight search

Nobiss,  a K9 Advocacy Manitoba volunteer,  was found dead on July 17,  2026 from an apparent pack attack after an overnight search.

Save A Dog Network Canada said Nobiss often travelled to northern Manitoba communities to help with “preventative spay/neuter programs,”  also “working passionately to end dog shootings across the province,”  which are often the only means of dangerous dog control in remote First Nations settlements.

Crystal Pariseau,  director of clinic operations for the Winnipeg Humane Society,  told media that Winnipeg Humane Society collaborations with 13 First Nations had in in 2025-2026 performed 1,018 spay/neuter surgeries,  1,499 vaccinations,  and 99 canine birth control implants.

The Winnipeg Humane Society outreach program,  however,  has reportedly not yet reached the Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation.

“Reignited conversations”

“While investigators continue working to determine exactly what happened,”  wrote Maryssa McFadden for PortageOnline.com,  Nobiss’ death “has reignited conversations about the longstanding challenges posed by stray and aggressive dogs in some Manitoba communities and the need for sustainable solutions that protect both people and animals.”

Hushed up,  so far anyhow,  is any breed identification of what PortageOnline.com said were “several aggressive dogs observed in the area where Nobiss was found.”

In the 20th century,  fatal dog attacks in Canada overwhelmingly occurred on First Nations reservations and involved semi-feral and/or chained husky or Malamute sled dogs attacking children.

(See Fatal & disfiguring dog attacks in Canada, 2004-present.)

Pit bulls are now at least equal threat

In the present century,  however,  pit bulls have become common in First Nations communities accessible by car,  have mingled with the indigenous huskies and Malamutes,  and are now involved in as many fatal attacks as huskies and Malamutes,  including fatal attacks on adults.

The Canadian fatal dog attack toll since 2004 is 45,  about 5% of the U.S. fatal dog attack toll over the same years,  including 12 people killed in unwitnessed attacks by dogs never identified,  13 killed by huskies or Malamutes,  11 killed by pit bulls,  four killed by Rottweilers,  and seven by other breeds.

A foster volunteer for Nobiss’ organization,  K9 Advocacy Manitoba,  on June 22,  2026 lost control of a pit bull near Chornick Park in the North Kildonan district of Winnipeg.  The pit bull then killed a three-year-old goldendoodle belonging to resident Linda Smith,  73,  and “bit Linda’s hand when she tried to stop the attack,”  reported Lauren Scott for CBC News.

Tennessee fatality disclosed in Massachusetts

The fourth fatal dog attack coming to light in mid-July 2026 actually occurred on March 17,  2026,  St. Patrick’s Day,  in Soddy Daisy,  Tennessee,  but was not disclosed until July 15,  2026,  when Addison Howard of the non-commercial radio station WCRB in Lowell,  Massachusetts obtained her autopsy report.

Howard appears to have family links to Tennessee.

Explained Howard,  “Susan Eaton, 58, was found unresponsive by a family member.  First responders arrived and declared her deceased on scene.

“Three dogs lived in the house,  including two pit bull mixes and a Great Dane—the latter being known for his aggressiveness toward the others.

Did Eaton try to break up fight over food?

“The family member told investigators that it is possible the dogs had not eaten in the past few days,  as Eaton typically fed the dogs three cups of food a day but could not move the large bag of dog food from the top of the refrigerator,  as she was disabled and had recently sustained a wrist injury.

“Investigators found no visible signs of foul play or overdose.

“The report says Eaton had numerous bite marks on her legs, arms, chest, neck, head, and face.  She also had multiple bruises on her body.”

Added Howard,  “Soddy Daisy police stated that an anonymous person emailed the department’s tip line complaining about three dogs running loose” on the street where Eaton lived,  “but did not say when.  Both Eaton and the family member have previously been cited for dogs running at large.”

Please donate to help our work:

More related posts: