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American Morning

Dog Mauling Trial Starts Today; Why Do Dogs Kill?

Aired February 19, 2002 - 08:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COOPER ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: In California this morning, opening statements scheduled in a gruesome San Francisco murder trial that's attracted national attention. The alleged killers, though, are not on trial, their owners are.

CNN's Anne McDermott has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bitten and mauled by one, maybe both of these dogs, dogs which weighed more than Whipple did. Some of the cops at the scene, the bloody hallway of Whipple's San Francisco apartment building, had to get counseling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the victim lying face down, naked, her clothing was shredded.

MCDERMOTT: The dog's owners, a married couple named Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller, are charged with involuntary manslaughter. Knoller, who was with the dogs during the attack and was dragged down the hall by them as they lunged for Whipple, was also charged with second degree murder. The couple claims the dogs were not aggressive.

MARJORIE KNOLLER, DEFENDANT: That only happened, unfortunately, Ms. Whipple hit me in my right eye and then he became aggressive towards her.

MCDERMOTT: But the victim's domestic partner doesn't buy that scenario, she says Whipple was bitten once before.

SHARON SMITH, VICTIM'S PARTNER: I believe that they knew that these dogs were dangerous. And I believe that because these dogs had lunged at people before, they had bitten people before.

MCDERMOTT: The dogs have since been destroyed, despite protests by Noel and Knoller, both of whom are lawyers. The prosecutors who are trying those lawyers are glad the trial is finally getting underway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just happy to finally...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy to get started.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to put on the evidence, yes. MCDERMOTT: The trial isn't taking place in San Francisco though, it had to be moved to L.A. because of all the publicity, bad publicity mostly, including accusations that the lawyers took in the dogs under the direction of an inmate at California's Pelican Bay State Prison. That inmate, Paul Schneider, was once accused by prison authorities of breeding attack dogs from beyond his cell. The dogs that tore into Whipple are Presa Canarios, a fighting breed.

Lawyers Noel and Knoller once represented inmate Schneider in court. Later, for reasons that are not clear, they legally adopted the man who was convicted of attempted murder and is now serving a sentence of life in prison.

Anne McDermott, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And that brings us to the big question this hour, why do dogs kill? What makes a dog capable of killing a human?

Joining us now from College Station, Texas is veterinarian Dr. Bonnie Beaver, a specialist in animal behavior.

Thanks very much for being with us this morning.

DR. BONNIE BEAVER, VETERINARIAN: Morning.

COOPER: Let me just start out very basically, why do -- why do some dogs kill?

BEAVER: Well there's a number of reasons that dogs show aggression. Unfortunately, in a few instances death is a result. The animal can become aggressive for a number of reasons. It could be something that's running away, they consider it to be prey. It could be that they were not taught appropriate behaviors. It could be that they felt threatened and were fearful. So there are many reasons that those things do happen.

ANDERSON: Is there such a thing, though, as a killer dog, a dog that's bred to do this?

BEAVER: In general dogs are not bred to do that, and there is no breed that is a bad breed. Individuals, because of lack of proper training or occasionally because they were selectively bred, usually to fight other dogs or to fight certain types of animals, can be a problem. Most of them...

ANDERSON: But what you said -- you said there's no such thing as a killer breed, but the idea that there is selective breeding, which would mean basically that the gene pool is very limited, would seem to indicate that there could potentially be a selective breed that is a killer?

BEAVER: No, breeders of most dogs are very, very careful. There can be lines within breeds that are selected for fighting, for example, or have very strong protective instincts, but they are not instinctively going to kill people.

ANDERSON: How important is socialization for a dog when it's young?

BEAVER: Socialization is extremely important. We often forget that dogs need to learn what other dogs are, they need to learn what people are and they need to have the very important lesson of becoming a canine good citizen.

ANDERSON: And if someone is attacked by a dog, I mean is there a way to prevent it, a way to lessen the impact of the attack?

BEAVER: The recommendations that we make during a dog attack is to stand like a tree or lay like a log. The concept is don't move because struggling triggers prey aggression and the actual attack can become worse.

ANDERSON: How much of these attacks are sort of a pack mentality or a pack behavior?

BEAVER: Any time you get two or more dogs together, it can overcome the instinct of an individual dog and the group can act and do things that would not be done by a lone dog. So many times when you've got situations of five or six dogs, it isn't that there is a bad or two bad dogs, it is a kind of pack philosophy taking over.

ANDERSON: So if someone is walking down the street and sees someone walking with a Presa Canario or a, you know, enormous dog that seems that -- or just looks aggressive, what should someone do? I mean is it OK to approach the dog? Should you before approaching a dog should you show it your hand or I mean how do you deal with that?

BEAVER: Well, first thing is don't be afraid of any dog that you see just because it's large. Many large dogs are the most friendly that we've got. The concern about approaching a dog, it's best to ask permission from the person who knows because they are the ones that have been involved with the dog and know how they react to strangers. The approaching of a large dog is often just as safe as it is approaching a small dog, but don't do it just because you see a dog, ask permission first.

COOPER: All right, Dr. Bonnie Beaver, we're going to leave it there -- veterinarian. Thanks very much for joining us this morning.

BEAVER: Thank you.

COOPER: Well stay with us, CNN, for live coverage of the opening statement to the dog mauling trial that's in the noon hour Eastern time, 9:00 Pacific.

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