Dog Owner Can’t Explain Fatal Attack

The lawyer who owned the two dogs that attacked and killed a 33-year-old woman said the animals were generally gentle and showed no previous signs of aggression. But neighbors who called Bane “Killer Dog” or “Dog of Death,” said they often avoided the dogs and regret not reporting them.

One unidentified neighbor said she went so far as to work out a schedule with Bane’s owner, Robert Noel, so their quarreling canines would not cross paths.

“None of us ever filed a complaint, and that’s what makes me sick now,” said Cydnee Dubrof, a dog owner who lives a few doors away from Noel and his wife, Marjorie Knoller. “This woman died from our negligence.”

On Friday, the 123-pound dog lunged at Diane Whipple, who lived next door to Bane’s owners in an upscale apartment building at Pacific Avenue and Fillmore Street. Whipple had just returned home from her job as women’s lacrosse coach at St. Mary’s College.

“Marjorie just about had the dogs completely in the apartment when the elevator door opened and our neighbor came out,” said Noel, who arrived home shortly after the attack. “Bane sort of perked up and headed down to the end of the hall. The woman had the apartment door open and was just standing there” when the dog attacked.

Despite the efforts of Noel’s wife to come between the two, Whipple sustained deep bites to her neck and died at San Francisco General Hospital about five hours later.

Bane, a mix of English mastiff and Canary Island cattle dog, was euthanized at the city’s animal shelter. The couple’s other dog, Hera, that was also in the hallway but, according to Noel, did not join in the attack, remained at the shelter.

A shelter spokesman said the fate of 112-pound Hera, also a Canary mix, depended on the outcome of a police investigation.

No charges have been filed against the owners.

“He looked like the beast of death,” said Dubrof, who referred to Bane as “Killer Dog” to her friends. Whenever she and her shepherd-Doberman mutt neared Bane, Noel would try to keep his distance, she said.

Another neighbor who worked out the dog-walking schedule with Noel said she began walking her dog in tennis shoes and bought pepper spray in case she ever needed to react quickly.

Despite neighbors’ fears, Noel insisted that neither dog had ever shown aggression toward humans. In fact, Bane had in the past befriended a kitten, whom he would gently carry around in his mouth.

“If Bane had shown any aggression toward people, he wouldn’t have been here,” Noel said.

Noel said he adopted the dogs three months ago after suing pro bono for a client to have them released from a breeding facility that was leaving them chained outdoors. When it was discovered that Bane and Hera were ineligible for breeding because of health problems, Noel adopted them to keep them from being destroyed.