A pit bull owner mauled to death by his own pets died from massive blood loss and exhaustion in his back yard, a report states.
The L.A. County Medical Examiner's Office states that the autopsy report for Dominic Cooper, 35, is complete and that the man's cause of death was physical weariness and blood loss, both of which were directly related to the injuries he had incurred during the mauling.
The documents state that one evening at around 7 P.M., Cooper's pit bulls went on him. They claim that the biting continued for five to six minutes. Cooper managed to hide himself in an abandoned kennel after he was eventually able to escape the dogs, but it ended up being his final resting place, and his body was discovered there the next day.
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The M.E. reports that all of this was seen on house security footage. They claim that when he entered the kennel, he showed extreme lethargy, though they also add that he moved for a further 12 to 13 minutes before becoming motionless.
Regarding the injuries Cooper sustained, they seem severe. The M.E. said he had several bite marks, including ones on his feet, legs, and upper limbs. The M.E. said that the bites were between 1/4 and 3/4 inches deep, therefore they were also rather deep. Although none of Cooper's major blood vessels or internal organs were punctured, according to the M.E., he nonetheless bled to death.
Animal Control apprehended all 13 of the dogs, and they were all subsequently put to death. Cooper's longtime friend Glenda Ford said he wasn't "mauled." Instead, she claimed, he died from internal bleeding inside the outdoor kennel where he kept the dogs after one of them bit him squarely on an artery in his leg.
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After Cooper's death, the dogs were given to the L.A. County Department of Animal Care and Control. “We are committed to conducting a thorough investigation to determine the facts and ensure the safety and well-being of both the community and the animals involved,” the department’s director Marcia Mayeda had said in a statement to multiple media organizations.
Ford claimed that Cooper had been raising dogs and selling them for profit, a practice that critics have long maintained can result in behavioral and health problems in dogs as well as overcrowding. Cooper's three daughters need financial assistance, so his parents have set up a GoFundMe page.
"We are setting up a trust for the daughters of our son who was killed in a tragic accident," the family said, adding that any donation will go directly to helping Cooper's daughters.