Excerpts From UPS Driver’s 911 Call During Vicious Attack By Pit Bulls
PHOTOS: Investigation photos obtained by the Seattle dog bite attorneys at Davis Law Group, P.S. show the trailer that Kevin Backlund climbed on to try to escape from the attacking pit bulls and the tiny and obscured "beware of dog" sign on the propety.
Through public disclosure requests Davis Law Group obtained audio recordings of UPS driver Kevin Backlund’s desperate 911 call as he was attacked by four pit bulls in the Puyallup area on September 13th 2017.
We had not planned to release the audio as Mr. Backlund will not be making any public statements until the dangerous dog hearing. However, earlier today we received word that a local media outlet had also obtained the recording and had posted a story online. So we went ahead and made the recording available here.
911 Call Recordings
Backlund climbed on top of a nearby trailer to try to escape from the pack of attacking dogs. Once on the trailer he called 911.
His 5 years of experience as a Nevada Highway Patrol patrol officer taught him that trying to remain calm in the face of a crisis is the best path to survival.
But as the call progressed he clearly became more and more frantic as he realized how much blood he had lost and as the dogs became more aggressive and started attacking him again.
After more than 2 minutes on the line with a 911 operator the call abruptly ended as Backlund tried to fight off the dogs which were trying to pull him off the trailer.
The 911 operator made several attempts to call Backlund but he did not answer.
Some time later he was rescued by Orting Fire & Rescue personnel.
Approximately 30 seconds of clips from the call can be heard here. There are brief silent pauses between each segment.
Note: The audio tag is not supported in Internet Explorer 8 and earlier versions.
Excerpts From Dog Caretaker’s Call With Police
The following day property resident Daryll Burgess (animal control documents list Burgess' cousin Jason Owens as the dog owner) called media outlets, animal control and police to say that he was unhappy with TV news reports about the attack and claimed that the woman who prevented rescuers . His calls to Pierce County Police were recorded and released as part of the public disclosure requests.
During the call he claimed that the woman who was on his property during the attack on the UPS driver was not his sister as was reported by some media outlets. He claimed that the woman who had refused to allow rescue workers on the property was actually a neighbor.
Several times during the call with police he said that the dogs were doing their job when they attacked the UPS driver who was on the property that day to deliver a package.
"....those dogs were doing their job. We have $3 million dollars worth of equipment in that lot and those dogs were doing their job.....I am real sad that they guy has 138 stitches....the dogs did what they were trained to do."
Two clips from his call with police can be heard in the audio file below.
Note: The audio tag is not supported in Internet Explorer 8 and earlier versions.
FULL AUDIO: UPS Driver’s 911 Call During Vicious Attack By Pit Bulls
Members of the news media may request the full audio by contacting Davis Law Group at 206-727-4000.