During an April 2016 Arcane Radio show, Sean Forker and I discussed that we had not heard of an upright or cryptid canine attack. A few days later I found one instance that raised my attention since it occurred in an urban area. The following is the newspaper account:
Search Continues For Dogs That Killed Tulsa Man
Monday, March 29, 1999
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Tulsa police remained confident Sunday that they would locate two large dogs that attacked and killed a man on Saturday.
"I think eventually we will find the dogs," said Sgt. Wayne Allen. "We are still looking in the area."
Allen said authorities had expanded the search area from the immediate area where the attack occurred about 4:30 a.m. Saturday and that police and animal control officers would continue to actively look for the animals through Sunday.
He identified the victim as Darrel Roberson, 42, who lived a few blocks from where the attack occurred about 4:30 a.m. Saturday. Allen said police were sure Roberson was killed by the dogs.
"We know the throat wounds were premortem. He was still alive then," Allen said. "Some of the others were postmortem but the wounds that probably killed him were the throat bites."
He said a newspaper carrier called police after he chased off the dogs as they chewed on Roberson's body, which was found in the middle of a north Tulsa street.
The carrier chased the dogs off again when he returned and saw that they had resumed their chewing.
Allen said police weren't sure what kind of dogs were involved in the attack, but were "relatively sure" they were Rottweilers.
The newspaper carrier, Allen said, could only identify the dogs in the pre-dawn darkness as either large, black Rottweilers or Doberman pinchers with bobbed tails.
Sgt. Greg Matthews said Roberson apparently had not been in the street long when the newspaper carrier found him.
The investigating officers said "it was a terrible scene. It was very traumatic," Matthews said. "The officers said he was not a small guy. Had it been a child ... "
Police advised people in the area to careful with their young children until the dogs are captured.
"We are advising people that we possibly have two Rottweilers who attacked a grown man and caused his death, and to use their own judgment in letting their small children outside," Allen said.
Please note that fatal dog attacks have seemed to have increased every year since data was kept. This particular attack occurred in an urban area, and it seems that neither dog was ever captured. Most of the dogs described in these reports are said to be 'large and dark' and some of the victims have been removed by the predator to other locations. In some cases, the carnage has been likened to a 'shark attack.'
There has never been a documented case of a wild wolf killing a human being in the United States. But canine fatal-attack statistics, compiled by the Humane Society, rank wolf hybrids in sixth place behind malamutes, huskies, shepherds, Rottweilers, and pit bulls. So yes, it's true that domestic dogs have been known to attack and kill humans. But some of these attacks seem to be more than mere attacks by domestic animals. Sure, there has been a variety of anecdotal evidence or word-of-mouth accounts, for instance, the Land Between the Lakes tales where multiple people were said to have been attacked and/or mauled.
I'm not sure if any of this information can be designated as an upright or cryptid canine attack since we have scant evidence at this point. Nonetheless, I believe that all avenues need to be taken into consideration.
I'd be interested in the readers' thoughts. Lon
American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America
Lost on Skinwalker Ranch: The True Story of a Property Guard and His Encounter with the Paranormal
Real Wolfmen: True Encounters in Modern America
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