Larry Armstrong, New Mexico Man, Killed By Pack Of Dogs

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Bites from a relentless pack of dogs killed a 55-year-old man with a history of seizures who was found lying unconscious along the side of a road while the animals mauled him, a medical examiner's report said.

McKinley County deputies had to chase the dogs away so emergency medical technicians could help Larry Armstrong, who was found lying on the ground Dec. 8 in the small community of Sundance, on Navajo Nation land near Gallup.

"The dogs tried to come back, so we had to use pepper spray to keep them away while the EMTs attended to the victim," sheriff's Lt. Tom Mumford told KOAT television in December. "The dogs, they were downright angry. You could see their ribs sticking out."

Armstrong later was pronounced dead at a hospital. The state Office of the Medical Investigator found multiple puncture wounds, tears and scrapes on his head, neck, abdomen, arms and legs.

An autopsy report said Anderson suffered from seizures and had been taken to the hospital because of that problem the day before his death.

Medical investigators wrote in their report that they didn't know whether Armstrong suffered a seizure before the dogs attacked or whether he was conscious when they started mauling him.

His death was ruled an accident.

Rob Platero, the Navajo Nation's chief of criminal investigations in Window Rock, Ariz., said a number of dogs were rounded up and killed after Armstrong's death. He could only say "several" dogs were involved in the attack and he did not know how many animals from the area were destroyed.

Samples from the dogs were sent for examination to check for rabies or other diseases, Platero said.

Once the results of the tests are in, an investigator will meet with a tribal prosecutor to decide whether a complaint will be filed against the owners of the dogs, Platero said.

Investigators could not verify allegations of previous problems involving dogs in the area, he said.

Comments

[WarriorLemming]

05:45 PM on 04/03/2011

The dogs ribs were showing but yet they had owners.....I guess if the economy is bad outside the Rez then it must be hideous inside the Rez. Dogs would be feed after humans and then only if there were enough money--no money then dogs go hungry and left to fend for themselves. That's the problem--what's the solution..... :(

[alexis101]

04:28 PM on 04/01/2011

The human pet industry and the sad pathetic souls who perpetuate the myth that the pet "idea" somehow is humane to anything or anyone is patently preposterous. No animal species is improved by the fallacy, and only the pet owner seems to benefit, as most pets never get to enjoy the life their breed knew in nature, and the overflow die a terrible death. People are lonely pathetic useless creatures who will manipulate nature in any way that suits them to overcome their guilt for their worthless lives.

[classique2]

12:30 AM on 04/02/2011

lol irl

[carnegie]

10:56 PM on 04/02/2011

Bit of a generalization don't you think?

[alexis101]

10:41 AM on 04/03/2011

Okay, then, 99% of all people who have ever lived.

[PhD 1]

02:32 PM on 04/01/2011

Were these resevoir dogs?

[WarriorLemming]

05:47 PM on 04/03/2011

Racist remark.

[eyelashviper]

01:15 PM on 04/01/2011

Dogs running in packs, even pets, will revert to a pack mentality and easily become aggressive, forgetting their socialization skills and relying on instinct......all very dangerous, and certainly lethal if the animals are hungry and have been mistreated by humans.
The pack mentality is powerful, so it is crucial that owners of dogs be the Alpha dog...

[unique]

12:38 PM on 04/01/2011

Their ribs were sticking out, they were angry.

How about they were hungry.

[PhD 1]

02:41 PM on 04/01/2011

They were Mcrib angry.

[capitaldysfunction]

11:58 AM on 04/01/2011

I love dogs, but as a former dog scout trainee in the US Army, I feel qualified to say people underestimate the danger this animal can present.

[avg american]

03:08 PM on 04/01/2011

fanned and fav'ed...
Thank you for adding your wisdom and street credit.

~fellow veteran

[alexis101]

07:54 AM on 04/04/2011

Oh, puh-lease!

[earthotter]

11:21 AM on 04/01/2011

I used to have a dog who had seizures. Right before he had a seizure the other dogs would try and attack him. This was their natural reaction for some reason. The dogs probably attacked this guy for the same reason.

[kylie523]

11:11 AM on 04/01/2011

jeez i thought it said lance armstrong

[freedom1947]

10:50 AM on 04/01/2011

People not wanting their pets anymore or no longer able to feed them, have a tendancy to dump them in the desert here in the southwest. The dogs like people in packs become unruly and reverert to survivalist instincts.

[Glenn Osborne]

06:46 AM on 04/01/2011

The southwest leads the country when it comes to cuuting taxes for the rich and for corporations. That means they also have to cut frivolous services like animal control. Very sad that our once great nation has been reduced to the level where we are today. A few years ago you might read about something like this happening in a third world country, not in the USA.

[mamacat]

03:06 AM on 04/01/2011

A very sad story.

[YoBear]

12:45 AM on 04/01/2011

Dogs are pack animals at heart. Our city outlaws owning more than 3 dogs probably for just this reason. I feel bad for the victims family. The bad animal owners do an injustice to the good ones.

[Mark Wesly Mason]

08:13 PM on 03/31/2011

I though AZ had the gun law where you can carry it right on your hip or in your car in plain sight. If you can carry the thing USE IT. And as far as everywhere eles, put a bounty on fearal dogs running in pack's. #1 you will make you comunity safer, and #2 people will start looking after thier beloved pet's. yea, yea, I'm not that fond of cat's either.

[Johnny Heller]

07:35 PM on 03/31/2011

what is with you people? These are no longer house pets these are wild dogs! They would attack and kill you or your kids. With no remorse. I know from personal experience. Once a dog has attack and tasted human blood they will do it again. The ones that attack me where cought retured to there owers and in less then a month these same dogs attack two more childen, killing one and disfigureing the other one.
So I beleive what they should do now is what my mother, the local sheriff and a group concerned parents did and "their parents befor them" had done. They got their guns and went pack dog hunting!

[freedom1947]

10:57 AM on 04/01/2011

Should that be done to human religious, and survivalist packs that go around killing for the survival of their kind? Once they have a taste of blood they think its ok to.

[hallowtim3493]

07:10 PM on 03/31/2011

Ok, so let me get this straight. I guy was mauled by a pack of dogs, so then the rounded up a bunch of dogs and put them down, not knowing if they were some, all or none of the dogs involved. Sounds pretty stupid to me! Kill dogs just because some bad dogs killed a person. With that logic should we kill 'people', just because someone killed another person..

[BigSlick674]

07:49 PM on 03/31/2011

Texas does that

[carnegie]

11:00 PM on 04/02/2011

And Florida.

Bush country.

[O Dannyboy]

09:18 PM on 03/31/2011

Yeah. If the feral dog with it's ribs sticking out and very likely a newly acquired taste for human blood can't be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before a jury of other feral dogs then it should be allowed to roam free

.... wherever your toddler likes to play.

[Rinalia]

07:19 PM on 04/01/2011

Alternatively, reasonable efforts could have been made to ascertain whether the dogs were a) feral; b) directly linked to the attack and c) exhibiting the behavioral qualities of a dangerous dog.

It's not rocket science nor does it require one to move mountains.