Some other U.S. dog-mauling cases in which homicide charges were brought:

— Sabine Davidson of Milford, Kan., was convicted of second-degree murder in 1997 after her three Rottweilers killed an 11-year-old boy. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

— Jeffrey Mann of Cleveland was sentenced to 15 years to life in 1993 for murder after he knocked his wife unconscious and ordered his pit bull to attack her.

— Two years ago, James Chiavetta of San Bernardino County, Calif., was charged with second-degree murder but convicted instead of involuntary manslaughter after his pit bull mix killed a 10-year-old boy. He had left the dog unleashed in the yard with an open gate while he napped. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

— In 1989, Michael Berry of Morgan Hill, Calif., was convicted of manslaughter after his pit bull mauled a 2-year-old child to death. That jury refused to convict Berry of second-degree murder.

— On Wednesday, a Wisconsin couple whose six Rottweilers mauled a 10-year-old girl to death while she was playing at their home were charged with homicide resulting from a vicious animal. Prosecutors said Wayne Hardy and Shanda McCracken knew the dogs were vicious and failed to take "ordinary care" to protect the girl.