The autopsy revealed that the dogs were not attacking the man, rather they knew something was wrong with him and were trying to pull and prod him to revive him.

Looks like the LA Times for taking the facts and filling out the story with speculation, and congratulations to US for spreading the drivel.

I've never known a truly aggressive golden in my life but can't say it's not possible. this breed is recommended for families and has little strength when it bites. as any breed you can never predict exactly how they will react in any given situation. i've owned more than 20 goldens, two afghans and lots of mixed breeds. i've lost control of my goldens. they've reacted badly a couple of times. each time they have seemed to feel my children or i were being threatened by other animals. i was surprised by their reactions. i felt badly for the other dogs owner and was very apologetic. each time the other dog approached us in a way my dogs felt threatened. twice by pugs. one border mix, one boxer and one yelping puppy. i know you can be the most responsible pet owner and things happen. another reason to know your breed. know your breeder.

fila for me,
by the way, why do you need a guard dog? as i stated some filas are very sweet. i've known quite a few. however genetics plays a big part in temperament. obviously you already know this. large breeds such as yours do not fully develop physically or personality until they are 3 or 4 years old. this breed does have a terrible track record and it is important to look at breed characteristics when purchasing a family pet. filas are not and should not be recommended as family pets. period. i understand you are very responsible but i can not believe that people own animals they lock up when guests arrive. maybe i am wrong. maybe you need the protection. when living in s america i lived in a neighborhood where i experienced 6 attempted break-ins in less than 3 months. usually while my family was sleeping inside. these are the types of robberies that filas protect against. people so desperate for survival that they stole my imported dog food to sell on the black market. of course my goldens did not protect our home nor their gourmet meals. but i wouldn't have wanted a fila to protect me either.

I am very sorry to hear of the horrible trauma that your daughter and your family endured. I understand your feelings of dislike for the breed. However, I also know that the some (not all) Brazilians prefer a less controlable animal than most of the breeders/owners in the US. Please try to understand that bad breeders and irresponsible owners are a large majority of the problem in animal bite circumstances. Your daughter did nothing wrong, but the owner of that Fila was irresponsible, at a minimum. As much as I trust and love my own, he is NEVER allowed outside to roam freely, and he is placed in his kennel if I have company, EVERY TIME!!! I do this for his safety as well as for those around me, and most of the Fila owners that I know have the same practices! It is simply being responsible and knowing the breed that you own. All of that being said, I understand and appreciate your concern/fear/anger in regards to your daughters incident, but please do not be so bold as to tell me that I am not informed or educated in regards to my animals or personal life. You do not know me, and you have no right to make that type of comment.

Best wishes to your daughter and your family...

FYI...the dogs DID NOT attack the caretaker...just as I suspected...see the article by clicking the link below for yourself...

www.canyon-news.com/artman2/publish/Local_News_10/CORONER_MAN_NOT_MAULED_BY_VING_RHAMES_DOGS.php

Fila for me,
Have you known a lot of Filas? other than your own? It's true they can be calm and sweet but they are often aggressive and disloyal. They were bred to kill not to hunt. This instinct is not bred out of them in one or two generations. I have known quite of few of them from living in S America where they are quite popular. My neighbors fila 'puppy' attacked my daughter when she was on my property. She had to have surgery on her leg from a single bite wound. Did you know that dogs often she small children and other small animals as prey? I did a lot of research on the breed after my daughter was attacked. While your dog may be a wonderful animal Filas are not dogs that most people should own and NEVER with small children. Do some research. Go to Brazil. Find out about the history of your dogs parents, grandparents, great grandparents. It just might scare you.

THE DOGS THAT HE OWN ARE AS FOLLOWS.....

"Ambullneo" mastiff named Samson
"mastiff puppies" -- Storm, and Scorsese
170-pound "Fila Brasileiro" named Kong.

I certainly agree with many of the previous comments. The pictures are not of bullmastiffs, the Brazilian mastiffs are more agressive and territorial than the other breeds, and it's all about socialization. I myself own an English Mastiff and also have four children, three under the age of six. I can speak with utmost conviction that my mastiff would never do anything to hurt any one of my children. Mastiffs are loyal, protective, caring dogs that want nothing more than to be near their masters. I can't stand the way the media is (for one) grouping all mastiffs together when there are several different breeds, and as stated earlier, the Brazilian is a more agressive breed. And two, maybe we should look at the owner in this instance. In this situation, considering the types of dogs involved-blame the owner for not having the responsiblity to properly socialize his dogs. I enjoy Ving Raimes as an actor, but time and time again-it has been proven that to some, a dog is nothing more than a way to prove social status, like collecting fancy cars. When one owns a dog of this size, it is that owner's responsibilty to raise that dog to be what their true nature is-a GENTLE giant.

I agree with Peter, as previously stated,...these dogs aren't Bullmastiffs (at least the one shown in the pic isn't). Before I began breeding Pit Bulls, I owned and trained Bullmastiffs and what's listed above is an English Mastiff. Yet, this is my point, we love to categorize dogs by their breed and group them all into "good" or "bad" based on their breed, but just like with people, you cannot accurately do that. Certain dogs are prone to certain traits because it's been bred in to that specific breed, but no dog, I repeat, NO DOG is immune to potentially biting someone, especially if the dog isn't properly supervised and/or socialized. I think that we should re-evaluate ourselves on categorizing breeds based off of society's skewed and uninformed viewpoints. As I always say, any large breed of dog, not properly raised is a threat to hurting someone. I wasn't there, so I can't speculate on Mr. Rhames' dogs, but I'm asking those of the media and anybody reading this....please don't stereotype this breed (English Mastiff), as you have already done with my breed (APBT). Each case is unique to itself. We shouldn't say that all Blacks are criminals, all Muslims are terrorists, or all Whites are biggots or racist...and the same holds true with dogs, they're personality is shaped by their owners/handlers just like our personalities may be shaped by our parents/families or friends.

Any dog lover can look at this pic and see it's not a BULL mastiff, its to big!!! At any rate, Mastiffs are NOT an aggressive breed!! I own a bull mastiff, and they ARE gentle giants!!

I think the reason that you keep hearing BULL mastiff is just to get people thinking that this dog is realted to a pitBULL, and thats just plain old media hype BULLSH#T!!!

These guys should get the facts in order, that dog in the pic above is NOT a BULL Mastiff. More like an English!!! But still a gentle dog!!

I HAVE AN ENGLISH MASTIFF THAT IS 6 YEARS OLD. HE WOULDN'T HURT A FLY. IT IS HARD TO BELEIVE THAT THESE DOGS KILLED HIM. DID ANYONE EVER THINK HE DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES AND THEY WERE TRYING TO MOVE HIM OR FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG.... WHY HE WASN'T MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bulldogs and Mastiffs are not known to attack. I would bet green money that the animal responsible for the death of this man was the Fila. Anyone who knows dog breeds would agree with this.

the little mutt is my wifes, it bites my feet, finally she got rid of it. I'm allergic to cats, dogs are ok. People are what matter.

There are so many errors in this report and follow-up that it is impossible to make sense of it. None of these dogs are bullmastiffs. That is an entirely different breed. Two were English Mastiffs; one was an English bulldog which is NOT a pit bull. The 4th dog was a Brazilian mastiff- a very rare breed that I know little about. I have had several English bulldogs and English Mastiffs. It will take an expert in dog and pack behavior to make any sense out of this tragedy. None of my Mastiffs or bulldogs ever bit anyone, even strangers or delivery people who suddenly surprised them. They did bark and guard my house, but not one nip ever. I brought them to obedience training and I controlled my dogs. They were not left to fend for themselves as simply my possessions. I don't know what happened in this case, but something went horribly wrong. If only one dog caused the attack, my worst fear is the authorities will kill all four dogs without a proper investigation. Please leave pit bulls and bullmastiffs out of this discussion because they were not involved.