Dogsbite.org Making Victims of Victims?
By WhoIsColleen
Updated: January 31, 2014
If the mountaine will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the mountaine. ~ John Owen, 1643
We’ve touched on the exploitation of victims that Dogsbite.org members have displayed. But today we have another (dis)advantage point to share.
What happens to the victim of a serious dog attack that doesn’t want to partake in the Dogsbite.org groups? As we have covered in other articles, some are demonized the same as the alleged pit bull or its owner when the victim doesn’t blame the dog and join the witch hunt.
But what about the victim of a serious dog attack that just wants to focus on healing?
We’ve had stories repeated to us over the years, and have witnessed it personally behind the closed doors of Dogsbite. The way the group members berate the victim or the victims family for not taking up their cause is best outlined in the Michael Cook case, or the little dog that prompted Arizona’s dangerous dog law known as Fabian’s Law, or Charles Hagerman’s case. While Dogsbite.org does post the stories as though the families support them, it has been witnessed that when the victim or family choose to manage their grief and pursue other avenues to accomplish change, Dogsbite.org’s member in fact do not provide support.
Michael Cook‘s family suffered the devastating loss in 2011 after their mixed breed dog attacked him. Because the family suggested the dog was in pain after a neuter procedure Dogsbite.org and it’s members had little compassion for them or regard for Mr. Cook.
After using Mr. Cooks story to further the image of dangerous pit bulls, even though the breed of the dog was undetermined by DNA testing, the First (and only) Victim’s Walk planning was underway when he was again mentioned by newer members who didn’t realize their was more to Dogsbite than what one might see at just a glance.
Members not only mocked the family and the victim, but escalated to name-calling. Like the old “telephone game” the story grew from speculation and name-calling to something more libel.
Fabian’s Law champion’s Richard and Sally Andrade were chastised by Colleen Lynn for going away from breed-specific-legislation to breedless dangerous dog law that would hold any type of dog owner accountable. During the planning of the 2012 Walk in Tucson, the Andrades left a long and detailed message on one of the many promotional blogs. It prompted a heated rebuttal by those more seasoned members including Colleen.
*Note: The entire conversation, including the now deleted comment from the original article, is available here.
Perhaps the best example of victim victimization is the case of Charles Hagerman of Chicago. Police leaked a photo of Mr. Hagerman that washighly criticized by his family. Even though his family’s outrage and plea to have the photo removed from the internet was well publicized by media, Dogsbite.org’s members decided to use the graphic image as a Facebook meme.
NOTE: Whoiscolleenlynn.com blurred the image in effort to protect the Hagerman families request. We are displaying this image strictly for the purpose of bringing the real DOGSBITE.ORG nature to light.
In the most recent example of Dogsbite.org’s members victimizing victims, a mother reached out to Jeff Borchardt to ask him to remove an image of her daughter that depicted wounds from a dog attack. The mother also contacted Dogsbite.org requesting the organization’s assistance to have the image removed from the site and pages Borchardt has created.
Dogsbite.org’s answer? Forward the personal plea on to Borchardt. The email , along with the name and personal contact information was then promptly shared by Bordchardt with other members.
EMAIL PLEA FOR ASSISTANCE TO DOGSBITE.ORG:
After spending some time on your website, I admire and respect the efforts put into your cause. Pit bulls attacks had not been on my radar since my southern California city has strong ordinances regarding specific dog breeds and dogs in general. My husband has been a mail carrier for many years so I do understand the dangers of dog attacks especially since his job puts him at higher risk then most.My daughter became victim to a pit bull attack less then two weeks ago while visiting a friend’s home. Her face was severely damaged and she will required extensive reconstructive surgery. Both the physical and emotional trauma has been extremely difficult. Since she is a young adult, I fear that it will be a slow recovery process for her.The reason that I’m writing is that my own cause and profession has always been victim’s rights, specifically the rights of sexual assault victims. I am hoping that you can address the issue of pit bull attack victims and their rights to heal and recover in a private way and some of the psychological processes they may be experiencing. Unfortunately, there are groups out there that reference your website, but are exploiting and demonizing victims as they try to further their agenda.I had taken a photo of my daughter’s injuries and posted it on Facebook for only relatives and close friends to see. The photo appeared on her Facebook page as well with limited viewing options. This photo was not publicly posted on Facebook or anywhere else. Somehow a person got access to this photo who knows the dog owner. This photo was then posted on The Pit Bull Propaganda Machine Revealed Facebook page for public viewing. My daughter is not only devastated at how horrific her face looks, but now has to deal with her picture being posted publicly.After numerous requests by myself being the author of the photo, friends, family and my daughter to remove the photo, she was quickly demonized and accused of being a pit bull supporter on this website. When a person goes through a traumatic event like this, there’s a process similar to grief. Time is required to process it all such as handling the physical injuries, legal processes, emotional healing and go on living not to neglect financial and family obligations. It’s a very similar to the process a sexual assault victim goes through.Ironically, the father of the victim in your feature story on Daxton Borchardt has been the biggest offender. He reposted my daughter’s frustrated request that she sent him via message to take her photo down, reposted the pictures of her injuries again without permission from myself or her and then proceeded to mock her and her supporters that also requested the picture be taken down to respect her privacy. As a mother, my primary concern is my daughter and her well being. She needs time to come to terms with what has happened to her before being the face of a controversial issue.Would we demonize and exploit a victim of sexual assault though we know she may not want to immediately condemn her perpetrator? I encourage you to read the comments on their page https://www.facebook.com/groups/240277562791489/ and consider writing a piece on encouraging support for pit bull attack victims. This whole experience has been really negative, but I’m hoping through your good work you can help educate people on the psychological healing that is critically important for pit bull attack victims. My hope is that my daughter will share her own story/pictures with you when she is ready.Thank You,
Crystal’s Mom
The Pit Bull Propaganda Machine Revealed
Unmasking the world’s most dangerous dog and those that protect, own, advocate, …
Instead of respecting a victim’s wishes to remove an image they were using without permission, members made the following comments:
John Tawaroa wrote:
I got this*NAME WITHHELD TO PROTECT VICTIM*I appreciate your concern. I am the mother of the victim. This occurred while she stopped in to visit a friend on her way to a family Christmas dinner. She doesn’t have frequent contact with the owner of the dog. Neither her, nor I live locally to the dog owner. I have never met the dog owner but trust the authorities will make the best determination on what needs to happen to this dog. She is an adult and all I can do as a mother is protect her privacy, advise and support her as she tries to recover. Ultimately though, she makes her own decisions.Regarding the re-posting of the photos, I have a large network of support of friends including law enforcement and my husband works for the federal government. We are trying to locate and have the pictures removed as they are located. Having these photos put up on sites without her being comfortable with that or giving consent is just an additional stress that she really shouldn’t have to deal with right now.
Jaime Brunkan added:
This lady should be thanking her lucky stars that her daughter wasn’t killed…too bad she is wrapped up in her picture being shared and not advocating to teach others. I think all FB users know that once we ‘upload’ a picture; we have no control over where it goes. Sorry you are having to deal with this.
4 hours ago · Like · 2
You read that right!! Jaime is sorry that Borchardt is having to “deal with this!”
Even more astonishing is Velvet N Dewayne Rouse’s curiosity to see the picture, still no concern from a Dogsbite.org member for the victim or her families wishes.
Was this ever a online report? I would like to see what picture is so bad she is doing all this….I think she is full of it!!!
We don’t think it could be said any better! This mother summed it all up in one single post, and with this article we hope to allow other victimized victims the strength and knowledge to stop internet harassment.
Each website has policy for complaints, or at least they should, such as WhoIsColleenLynn.com’s Legal Notice, the three most popular social network information is provided below.
WhoIsColleenLynn.com welcomes any personal experiences from individuals that would like their story shared in effort to raise awareness to this behavior.
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