An area of Dirt World near the location of a dog attack that killed Joseph Taylor Keeton, 56, Bend early Wednesday morning.

A 56-year-old Bend man died after he was severely mauled by three dogs at a homeless encampment early Wednesday morning, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said.

Joseph Taylor Keeton, died after sustaining life-threatening injuries in the area locals know as “Dirt World.” Officials also call it Juniper Ridge.

Sheriff’s office deputies responded to the area at around 1:15 a.m. after receiving a report of an “unknown problem,” sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Jason Wall said in a news release.

Deputies arrived and found Keeton, who appeared to have been attacked and “had lost a substantial amount of blood,” Wall said. He had been mauled for “a prolonged period of time,” Wall said.

“This isn’t the case of five bites or 10 bites,” Wall said. “It’s bad.” 

Deputies believe that as many as three Pitbull-Bull Mastiff mix dogs attacked Keeton. The dogs “were not restrained in any way shape or form,” Wall said.

Deputies put a tourniquet on Keeton, performed CPR and applied an automated external defibrillator, which delivers an electric shock to restore a person’s heart rhythm.

Bend Fire & Rescue paramedics took Keeton to St. Charles Bend. The sheriff’s office was notified at 7:40 a.m. that Keeton was dead.

“It’s horrible,” Wall told The Bulletin Wednesday. “I’ve been here over 16 years and I cannot recall a dog attack that resulted in the death of an individual.”

The owner of the dogs, Jessica Rae Charity, 38, helped authorities put the dogs in crates and is cooperating with the investigation.

Charity could face a felony charge of maintaining a dangerous dog, Wall said. 

A person commits this crime if the dog “without provocation and in an aggressive manner inflicts serious physical injury … on a person or kills a person,” according to state law.

Sheriff’s office detectives are investigating the incident and are looking for anyone who witnessed the attack, Wall said.

Hundreds of people experiencing homelessness live in the Juniper Ridge area. County officials told The Bulletin in October 2022 that as many as 250 people live there, up from between 150 to 200 in 2020, according to city officials.

It’s a 1,500-acre area of publicly-owned juniper forest on Bend’s northeast edge. There are unofficial roads among junipers, with campers, tents, trailers and other built-up structures similar to ad-hoc houses.

Wall said the sheriff’s office frequently receives calls for service in the area. Many are “high priority” incidents, including disputes, fights, assaults and fires.

In 2020, a wildfire tore through 39 acres of Juniper Ridge, requiring evacuations and multiple agencies and aircrafts to respond.

“The sheriff’s office is concerned about people who live in the houseless camp and the neighborhoods that are adjacent,” Wall said.