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After a fatal dog attack, Kansas City reconsidered animal control policy

Stories by Kansas City Star journalists, with AI summarization

After a deadly dog attack in south Kansas City, the local animal control system faces a reckoning and calls for change.

This list of stories outlines how complaints pushed city leaders to end the nonprofit KC Pet Project’s animal control contract —even as the group may continue running the city animal shelter.

Residents describe keeping clubs handy and racing inside as aggressive dogs roamed, while court records allege a dog breeding operation was linked to the fatal mauling of cyclist Chris Culbertson.

Lawsuits allege KC Pet Project ignored repeated warnings about threats in the Marlborough East neighborhood.

In another neighborhood in Kansas City's Northland, residents similarly describe how the city has failed to protect them from dangerous dogs.

As the city prepares to take control once more, questions have been raised about whether the laws on the books are adequate to the challenge.

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.

A photo of Chris Culbertson.

NO. 1: QUESTIONS REMAIN WEEKS AFTER KC MAN WAS MAULED TO DEATH BY PACK OF DOGS

Three weeks after Chris Culbertson was killed by seven dogs in south Kansas City, many questions remain as to who is responsible when dogs kill people in Kansas City. | Published November 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by Noelle Alviz-Gransee

A photo of Chris Culbertson in the hospital after he was attacked by a pack of dogs.

NO. 2: KC PET PROJECT SUED FOR NEGLIGENCE IN NOVEMBER FATAL DOG ATTACK: COURT RECORDS

The nonprofit lost their animal control contract with the city on Thursday. | Published March 7, 2025 | Read Full Story by Eleanor Nash Nathan Pilling

A dog was tied to a car at the Thibeaux residence in the Marlborough East neighborhood of Kansas City on March 26, 2025, almost five months after Chris Culbertson was mauled to death nearby. By Eleanor Nash

NO. 3: KC MEN CHARGED IN DEADLY MAULING USED DOGS FOR BREEDING, COURT DOCUMENTS SAY

The aggressive dogs had long terrorized residents in Kansas City’s Marlborough East neighborhood, neighbors have said. | Published April 18, 2025 | Read Full Story by Kendrick Calfee

Natalie Martinez’s chickens roam in her south Kansas City yard. Dogs allegedly owned by John Thibeaux Jr. killed one of Martinez’s birds before they fatally mauled Chris Culbertson in November. March 26, 2025. By Noelle Alviz-Gransee

NO. 4: NEIGHBORS SAY THEY FEARED DOGS WHO FATALLY ATTACKED KC MAN: ‘WE RAN INSIDE’

Kids and pets were kept under close supervision, and some adults even carried weapons for self-defense. | Published April 20, 2025 | Read Full Story by Eleanor Nash

Kansas City Councilman Eric Bunch said he believes that Kansas City is still at a phase where its admitting that it has a problem when it comes to traffic fatalities. He said the crashes are preventable and its time for the city to put its money where its mouth is and prevent unnecessary traffic violence and deaths. His comments came during a news conference on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, announcing Kansas City’s commitment of $4 million for its Vision Zero initiative. Mayor Quinton Lucas and Councilman Johnathan Duncan also spoke at the event. By Robert A. Cronkleton

NO. 5: KANSAS CITY SET TO TAKE BACK ANIMAL CONTROL FROM KC PET PROJECT: ‘LEARNED FROM A MISTAKE’

Kansas City is ending a four-year experiment in outsourcing animal-control services to an animal welfare group. | Published March 5, 2025 | Read Full Story by Mike Hendricks

Members of KC Pet Project’s Animal Services Division, were brought in to help wrangle loose goats that have been living along side the Riverfront Trail in Kansas City, Missouri. By Dominick Williams

NO. 6: ON VERGE OF LOSING CONTRACT AFTER FATAL DOG ATTACK, KC PET PROJECT BLAMES FLAWED CITY LAW

“Looking briefly at the Kansas City ordinance, it’s clear that the intent was good back in the day, but it does not empower their animal service officers to really protect the community,” a lawyer said. | Published March 5, 2025 | Read Full Story by Noelle Alviz-Gransee

Members of KC Pet Project’s Animal Services Division, were brought in Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, to help wrangle loose goats that have been living along side the Riverfront Trail in Kansas City, Missouri. By Dominick Williams

NO. 7: KC ANIMAL CONTROL DUTIES SHIFT BACK TO CITY AFTER COMPLAINTS ABOUT KC PET PROJECT

KC Pet Project was criticized for slow response times and loose enforcement of the city’s pet ordinances | Published March 7, 2025 | Read Full Story by Mike Hendricks

Puppies such as these, kittens and cats are being adopted quickly at KC Pet Project and other area shelters. But larger dogs are a different story. By Nick Wagner

NO. 8: AFTER LOSING ANIMAL CONTROL CONTRACT, KC PET PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO KEEP RUNNING SHELTER

The troubled nonprofit is expected to receive about $4 million under a new deal with the city. | Published April 2, 2025 | Read Full Story by Eleanor Nash

A signing declaring ‘Potentially Dangerous Dogs’ hangs on the fence of a home known to keep several large dogs in the 3700 block of N.E. Russell Rd., in the Chaumiere neighborhood located north of the river in Kansas City. By Tammy Ljungblad

NO. 9: KC NEIGHBORS ARE LIVING IN FEAR AFTER DOG ATTACKS MAN. WHY WON’T CITY DO MORE?

James Hughes was attacked while walking his dog in a neighborhood in Kansas City’s Northland last October, the same week another Kansas City man was mauled to death by a pack of dogs. | Published April 23, 2025 | Read Full Story by Noelle Alviz-Gransee

This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.