STRANGE DEATHS
An Italian pensioner was mauled to death by her pet Czechoslovakian wolfdogs. Mariangela Zaffino, 74, of Grugliasco, near Turin, was attacked by the five dogs in her apartment; some of her neighbours had expressed concern about Mrs Zaffino and her daughter keeping five large dogs in a small flat. She was found by her daughter, who stated that the dogs had never before shown any signs of being dangerous. Police officer Massimo Penz confirmed the dogs had been legally registered with the authorities, adding: “We had never had any complaints about the dogs’ behaviour.” Police are now trying to ascertain what may have prompted Ares, Aylen, Artù, Aragorn and Apache to attack their owner.
The five animals have been taken into care while the authorities decide what to do with them, and Mrs Zaffino’s death has prompted a debate as to whether the breed should remain legal. The increasingly popular crossbreed was recognised as a distinct breed in 1982; it was created in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s when an Alsatian was crossed with a Carpathian wolf in an attempt to produce aggressive animals to be used as guard dogs along the Iron Curtain. Slenderer than wolves, they share many of the same physical characteristics; they are highly intelligent, hard to train, need a lot of exercise, and are renowned for their strength and stamina. Males can weigh more than 50lb (23kg) while females weigh up to 45lb (20kg).
Fabrizio Rondalino, a professional dog trainer, said that while wolfdogs are loyal to their trainers, they can quickly turn on and attack anyone else. “The breed has a highly developed predatory instinct. It should not be allowed to exist. It is a man-made invention, one of the worst breeds created.” He believes all remaining wolfdogs in Italy should be sterilised and the breed allowed to die out. D.Telegraph, 21 Dec 2020.
Sam Mazzola, an exotic animal owner who made headlines when one of his black bears fatally mauled one of his staff, died the following year after apparently choking on a sex toy. Brent Kandra, 24, was attacked after she opened the bear’s enclosure for a routine feeding.
In 2011 Mr Mazzola, 49, was found dead in his Ohio home face down on a water bed. He was bound to the bed with handcuffs, chains and padlocks. He was wearing a leather mask with the eyes and mouth zipped shut and a two-piece metal sphere covering his head. A sex toy was found in his throat and the autopsy determined the preliminary cause of death to be asphyxia due to airway obstruction by a foreign object. It appeared that Mr Mazzola had died from an accident during sexual role play that would have required an assistant. “He had done this by request according to the story we were given,” the coroner reported. msnbc.com, 13 July 2011.
A Russian oligarch known as the ‘Sausage King’ was murdered with a crossbow while in his home sauna. Meat tycoon Vladimir Marugov, 54, was in the sauna with his girlfriend Sabina Gaziyeva,
36, when a masked gang stormed his home and demanded cash. Ms Gaziyeva managed to escape and call for help, but by the time police officers arrived at the scene, Mr Marugov was found dead in the sauna. It appeared he had been tortured before being shot by the crossbow. D.Mail, 3 Nov 2020.
A two-year- old suffered massive internal bleeding and died after accidentally swallowing a toilet freshener. Arietta- Grace Barnett is believed to be the first person to die after ingesting such a product, in this case a Toilet Duck disc-shaped tablet made of gel. After she began vomiting bright pink liquid she was rushed to hospital where doctors debated whether she had actually swallowed the capsule, despite her four-year- old sister saying she had seen Arietta- Grace do so. Deciding it was unlikely the toilet cleaning product was toxic, doctors instead treated her for a stomach bug; her condition improved and she was discharged after five days. A week later, however, her mother, Ms Lucy Cook, discovered Arietta- Grace in bed, bleeding from the mouth and nose. She was again taken to hospital but suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
An inquest heard how the Toilet Duck product, designed to adhere to a lavatory bowl while slowly releasing chemicals for up to 12 weeks, may have attached itself to the two-year- old’s oesophagus. A post-mortem established that she had died after an ulcer on her oesophagus had created a hole in a major blood vessel. D.Mail; , 6 Nov 2020.