Pam Rock Story
Dangerous Dogs Killed my Sister
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By Tom Rock
Pamela Jane Rock was the youngest of the 14 Rock children. She was born and raised in Plantation, Florida. She showed her commitment to helping others from an early age.
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After graduating from the University of Florida, she served in the Alachua County Women, Infants & Children (WIC) program. She also served for three years in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer and later worked on an Indian reservation teaching nutrition, before returning to the WIC program in North Carolina and Georgia. She became an ardent advocate on Capitol Hill for the needs of women and children caught in the grip of poverty.
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Pamela joined the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier in January of 2022. Seven months later, on August 21, 2022, she was delivering packages in Interlachen, Florida when she had car trouble.
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She called for help and was delivering mail on foot when she was attacked by a pack of five large and vicious pit bull dogs. Hearing her horrific screams, the dog owner and a neighbor tried to help, but could not separate her from the pack.
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A local EMT responded quickly. Pam's heart stopped, but she was successfully resuscitated. She was airlifted to the University of Florida Shands Trauma Unit.
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A special team of doctors and nurses at Shands worked to keep her alive despite savage wounds. Her injuries required the amputation of her right leg; the amputation of her right arm; the loss of her left ear, and multiple deep bites all over her body.
Despite the heroic efforts of the Shands staff, she died on August 22, 2022. A part of us died, too.
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Pam's death was not just "bad luck" or a case of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Her death was completely preventable. Had any of these four simple steps been taken, she would be alive today:
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1. Putnam County Sheriff's Department failed to notify Animal Control or follow up on a seriously injured victim—200 stitches—attacked six months before Pam's death by the same dogs that killed her.
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2. The dogs' owner had a duty to control his animals. When he realized he could not control them, his duty was to have them euthanized after the documented attack mentioned above.
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3. Putnam County Animal Control failed on multiple occasions to enforce the county's Dangerous Dog ordinance. The USPS has a warning system available to warn and protect letter carriers but, despite the first vicious attack, the animals were never classified as dangerous, so the warnings were never activated.
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4. Putnam County Animal Shelter is a "no-kill" facility. Animal Control is therefore reluctant to take in dangerous dogs. Their facility was "too full" for more than one year. So the dogs that killed our sister, already demonstrated to be dangerous, were knowingly allowed to roam free.
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Photo caption: Pam Rock, 61-years old, was mauled to death by 5 pit bulls while on her mail route in Putnam County, Florida, on August 22, 2022. Read more about her attack in our Media section.
Photo caption: Pam Rock, 61-years old, was mauled to death by 5 pit bulls while on her mail route in Putnam County, Florida, on August 22, 2022. Read more about her attack in our Media section.