Fort Washington Woman Left Critical After Double Pit Bull Attack

A woman sustained critical injuries after two American Pit Bull Terriers attacked her inside a residence in Fort Washington, Maryland, on the evening of Nov. 13, 2019, according to The Washington Post ^[1]. The incident occurred at approximately 8 p.m. in the 11000 block of McKay Road in Fort Washington, according to Prince George's County police. Officers were dispatched after a neighbor called police; neighbors had reported hearing a female screaming inside the residence.

Prince George's County Police Chief Henry Stawinski said neighbors heard screams and phoned police, adding that the intervention may be the reason the woman survived; when officers arrived, the dogs were still attacking her. Police fired at the dogs to stop the attack and protect the victim. One dog was shot and died on the scene; bullets missed the second animal, and officers captured it approximately one hour later. According to Prince George's County Animal Control Chief Rodney Taylor, the surviving dog was placed in Animal Control custody and was to be euthanized.

Taylor also stated that the woman who was attacked was the owner of the dogs. A third dog, a puppy, was removed from the home, but it was not involved in the attack. The puppy was expected to be released to a rescue organization outside the county, because the breed is banned in the area. A neighbor, identified by WUSA9 as Adewole Ogundepo, said he believed the dogs were new to the block and that he had encountered them just two days before the attack, when he said he had to fend them off ^[3].

The attack carries significant civil liability implications under Maryland law. Maryland's dog bite statute, codified in Section 3-1901 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code, establishes strict liability for dog owners, meaning they can be held responsible for injuries caused by their dogs without the need to prove negligence or prior knowledge of the animal's dangerous tendencies. In 2014, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law overturning a prior ruling that had classified pit bulls as inherently dangerous, reinstating a rebuttable presumption standard for all breeds, under which the dog's owner must demonstrate the animal showed no prior vicious behavior. The victim-as-owner dynamic in this case may complicate any civil recovery, as Maryland courts recognize defenses where harm is self-inflicted or where the injured party assumed a degree of risk ^[13].

The Fort Washington attack occurred in a county with particularly strict breed regulations at the time. Prince George's County maintained long-standing legislation banning the ownership of pit bulls. Data from the Prince George's County Health Department, reported in October 2019, showed a 43 percent reduction in overall dog bites since the ban took effect in 1997. Despite the ban, the presence of the dogs at the McKay Road address raises questions about enforcement and potential liability for anyone who housed or harbored the animals, issues that Prince George's County Animal Control said it was continuing to investigate at the time of the incident ^[1][3].

References

[1] The Washington Post. (2019, November 14). Woman critically injured in Maryland pit bull attack. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/dog-shot-dead-after-attack-on-woman-in-maryland/2019/11/14/8499f0a6-06da-11ea-ac12-3325d49eacaa_story.html

[2] WTOP News. (2019, November 15). Woman mauled by 2 American Pit Bull Terriers in Fort Washington. https://wtop.com/prince-william-county/2019/11/woman-critically-injured-in-dog-attack-in-prince-georges-co/

[3] WUSA9. (2019, November 15). A Fort Washington woman is fighting for her life after vicious dog attack. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/woman-critical-condition-after-dog-attack-fort-washington/65-0d5f3d13-b517-4be8-a2de-1b1201b85225

[4] Maryland People's Law Library. (n.d.). Maryland Dog Bite Law. https://www.peoples-law.org/maryland-dog-bite-law

[5] Alpert Schreyer Personal Injury Lawyers. (2026, February 24). Prince George's County Pit Bull Ban Repealed: New Rules for Owners and What to Do After a Dog Bite in Maryland. https://dcmdlaw.com/blog/prince-georges-county-pit-bull-ban-repealed-new-rules-for-owners-and-what-to-do-after-a-dog-bite-in-maryland/