It’s tough to be a pit bull

Thanks to KV, who provided the following information:

Oct 18, 2010, Deuce the Neopolitan mastiff, Corvallis, Wa. Bit officer, tased, died of suffocation (in his regular muzzle) while being transported to Humane Society. A previous injury caused swelling in his throat. First report said he was a pit bull.

July 12, 2010, Apollo the pit bull, Altoona Pa. Also was pepper sprayed. “After attempts to find the dog's owner failed, Cpl Boyles said Sgt. William Gibbons struck one of the dogs with a Taser. Boyles said he assumed that is what killed the animal."

Jan 3, 2010, Hershey the pit bull, Salem, Or. Fighting another pit bull, still fighting after 4 shocks, collapsed after 5th one.

Aug 27, 2009, Peatross’s pit bull, Danville, Va. Fighting pitbulls were tased, one lived, one died immediately. Also pepper sprayed. Catch pole choking was blamed.

June 5, 2007, Muscub the boxer, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Tasered, died en route to SPCA Police thought he was a pit bull.

June 5, 2005, Palfoss's pit bull, Portland, Or. 3 or more shocks. The Oregon State University's veterinary lab performed a necropsy on the dog. A preliminarly report concludes the pit bull died from circulatory collapse but reaches no judgement on whether repeated taser shocks killed it. Police insist that tasers didn't kill the dog; rather, they say it died from "over-excitement" after multiple 50,000-volt zaps. Earlier that week (June 1) Portland had issued tasers to all street police.

Oct 3, 2003, unidentified pit bull, Albany, NY. 30 sec+ in 5 second bursts, dead when tasing ended. Could not be revived with heart compressions.

In a September 2008 letter, entitled "Taser safety", published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Mark Kroll explains to Canadian doctors why dogs are better models for the human heart than pigs are: “The second erroneous implication is that small swine provide a reasonable model with which to measure the risk of electrical induction of ventricular fibrillation in humans. Swine, especially small ones, are extremely sensitive to the electrical induction of ventricular fibrillation. In pigs, the Purkinje fibers cross the entire ventricular wall whereas in dogs and humans they are confined to a very thin endocardial layer. Activation in swine proceeds from the epicardium to the endocardium, whereas it occurs in the reverse direction in dogs and humans. Thus, swine are much more sensitive to external electrical currents. In humans, even if the barbs of an electronic control device are placed directly on the cardiac axis, no effect is captured with echocardiographic monitoring.”