| Diana
Whipple had no idea it was going to be her last day on earth,
none of us every really know when God is going to call us
home. Most of would like to believe that we will die peacefully,
perhaps in our sleep. In reality, the majority of people
die violent deaths, car accidents, murder and the like. However,
what happened to Diana Whipple was beyond violent. She was
mauled to death by a 100 pound Presa Canario. I was unfamiliar
with this breed of dog when Anna first placed this story
on my desk. Upon investigating the breed a little more, it
was my conclusion that most animals are inheritenly good,
it is the owners who turn them into killers. I was always
terrified of the Pit Bull breed until my sister in law talked
me into buying one, I ended up purchasing a sister to the
dog she had bought. My dog has brought me much joy and never
once have I feared her. She has been warm, loving, and more
than once my best friend. She is my protector and the protector
of my family. I have no doubt that she would sacrifice her
own life to save that of myself or my family. Animals are
just that, animals and it's up to the owner of those animals
to teach them right from wrong. The owners of Bane, the dog
in question, were not responsible in their care of this dog
and in the end, Diana Whipple paid for that lack of responsiblity
with her life. |
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| Diane Whipple was thinking about
dinner. She had stopped on her way home to pick up a few
groceries to make
tacos for herself and her partner, Sharon, maybe go to a movie
later. She got to her apartment door and looked up, and Marjorie
Knoller stared at her, her dog Bane, on a leash in her hand.
Diane immediately grabbed her keys to unlock her door, but
Marjorie’s dog; an extremely powerful animal began dragging
her down the hall toward Diane. “Your dog bit me-“ she
said to, an irate and struggling Marjorie. The dog had been
the subject of many different complaints, from various tenants,
of their Pacific Heights address. Marjorie knew who Diane was.
Her husband, had written a letter mocking Diane, to the dogs
owner, their adopted son. He is incarcerated and at the time,
the couple was caring for two of his dogs in their small apartment.
Marjorie claimed she told Diane to be still, she later claimed
she told Diane to go inside and Diane became verbally abusive.
And yet another story she told, she and Diane “got
into it”, while standing in front of Diane’s
door. Her husband was out of town and he later lied under
oath and said that Diane hit his wife. A complete and total
lie! All these were changed when told in front of a jury.
Bane attacked Diane. This dog, that weighed over 100 pounds,
began to bite and tear her flesh. Marjorie claims that she
threw her body over Diane’s to help shield her from
the attack. This is obviously untrue, since Marjorie was
not injured in the attack, except for a few scratches. Diane
screamed for help, and several people in the building called
911. One was an elderly lady who was “Scared to death…I
don’t dare open my door, please, hurry…” One
man thought it was a rape. The paramedics and the police
arrived, but it was far too late. Diane was bleeding to death
from her multiple deep bites, lying naked in her doorway,
as she saw the paramedics. Her braided pink key chain holding
her keys were stuck in the door. “Help me,” she
whispered. Those may have been her last words.
The city’s animal control officers arrived when they
realized it was an animal attack. Marjorie was talking to
the police, and although she was covered with blood, none
of it was her own. The blood on the walls was almost 3 feet
in height and smeared all down the hall, to Marjorie’s
apartment. She explained to animal control officers that
she had trapped her dogs Bane and Hera in the bathroom apartment
for fear that she could not control them. She stated that
only Bane had been involved in the attack but both dogs were
in the bathroom. The officers took a tranquilizer gun and
cautiously opened the door. The sight that met them was one
of disgust and horror. Both dogs had defecated all over the
room and there was blood and fur everywhere. Both dogs’ mouths
were foamy and looked near rabid. Bane had two shots from
the tranquilizer gun, which had little effect on him. The
officers were astounded. It was enough to put down any large
animal, but Bane was not affected in the least. They finally
used two “collars” strong sticks with a loop
at the end to put around the animal’s neck, so the
animal could be controlled at a distance, and this is how
they finally got Bane out of the filthy bathroom. He was
euthanized on the spot. Diane was rushed to the hospital,
but it was too late. The lovely La Crosse coach and marathon
runner, beloved partner and daughter, was dead.
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