Body of Lakeview Man Found, Partially Eaten by Dog

Gosh, Chuck, these people are really dogging you.

I guess they just need to get on the Chuck Wagon.

No matter how wonderful a person is, getting eaten by your pet qualifies as "news of the weird."  I think Chicagoist is quite correct in that this is something people fear and morbidly joke about. I admit, I am somewhat puzzled. If this fellow has roommates and girlfriend, how does his body go undiscovered long enough for his dog to start eating him? It is no more or less terrible if it is some one you knew. It is out  of the ordinary.

Well, it does fall short of the whole "Man bites dog" definition of newsworthiness, but I still think it qualifies.

I decided on "news  of the weird" specifically to avoid the "man bites dog" reference. If anything, the info from posters about roommates and girlfriends makes me curious for more information on this death. 

HuffPo makes it sound all but certain that it was a drug overdose.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Of course, maybe we shouldn't talk about that either, lest we offend somebody.

That last paragraph was uncalled for.

Why?

One day I hope to die and be lampooned on Chicagoist. Then I'll truly live forever.

"Life sucks, get a fucking helmet" - Dennis Leary

I'm just seeing this article now. Holy crud. What poor taste. Not to over-react but it really makes me question why I come to Chicagoist. I hope nobody I know personally dies in a manner others see fit to mock on a news site. How awful for the family and friends.

wow what a shitstorm this is.

Chicagoist presents an irreverent, edgy look at the city's news. This kind of story is what the regular readers have come to expect from the website. Its unfortunate what happened to this guy, but that doesn't mean its not newsworthy (in a macabre sense).

This is probably the kind of thing all the complainers here would read about if it happened to someone in Mexico, or Europe, or New York. News is not off-limits just because it happened to your friend. And editorial commentary on news is never off-limits.

Bullshit to every single one of your points. This isn't what I'd hope to see on this site.

I never said it is what I "hope" to see here either, to be fair. All I said was this is pretty much what I expect to see here. And usually they deliver what I expect.

Post the article because it's "newsworthy," but have some decency and do not joke about it. How would you feel if this was one of your own family members and someone was joking about it?

I'd probably feel pretty shitty. Shit sucks when sucky shit happens to you. I get it.

There's a whole book of stories like this one (written in pretty much the same style) called The Darwin Awards. It sold millions of copies. Its not Chicagoist that invented morbid humor, and it'll be around a long time after Chicagoist goes to the great server in the sky. Somebody smarter than me once said something like the following (I am paraphrasing): "Tragedy is when something horrible happens to you. Comedy is when something horrible happens to someone else."

I get it

Nah, I doubt you do. Congrats or arguing with the deceased's understandably upset friends and relatives. Great constructive debate. Great circumstances to defend a stupid, sophomoric blog as being "irreverent" and "edgy." I understand why they're doing it, but it's completely beyond me why you're so opinionated on this issue you're now saying snarky shit to them. You (and moreso Magoo) are really coming across like a couple assholes.

"more so magoo"

The fuck did I do? I enjoy the darwin awards and chicagoist is a funny site that aggregates local media. that's all I've said here. Hopefully another religious chicken sandwich comes out today.

Opinions are like assholes, and you are one.

For those of you keeping score at home, just last week slatsg proudly expressed a complete lack of empathy for the probable future death of a person.

No one's keeping score except you. Pulitzer winning stuff you unearthed there. I don't care about thieving, violent thugs who attack people randomly. 

Anyway, I wonder how the person who took the picture above, Tommy Territt, feels about Chicagoist using this picture. Maybe he'll complain and the editors will change that too without saying anything.

Maybe he'll complain and the editors will change that too without saying anything

I think Chuck was just trying to throw the guy's friends a bone.

p.s. this comment was not written by shalamar but by matt's friend robin.  

If you had a half a brain or heart you would have taken a moment to think about how this would affect the family and friend of matt.  you have no right to write something that is so out of context.  if you knew anything about this dog's demeanor you would know that she would NEVER do anything to harm anyone and her reaction to try and help her owner is not a reaction that is exclusive to pitbulls. she is a sweet dog.  and the picture! my god could you not find anything better to write about.  pretty lame that this is how you have to make money.  i hope your family and friends read these comments and realize what a f'ing prick you are!  

i am a friend of the deceased and his girlfriend's roommate. this story is horrible and really cheapens the grief we are all feeling. what a crappy piece of journalism. 

Wow, welcome to Chicagoist everyone.

Went to gradeschool and highschool with Matt. This is garbage. As if his family isn't going through enough right now you have to write this post in such a way that takes it lightly. Total trash.

Chuck,
What the hell is wrong with you??!?

Obviously whoever wrote this awful piece of journalism does not have a sense of decency, a a shred of moral integrety, or a child.  Imagine this man's family reading an article about someone they love and cherish to find it's been used as a platform for terrible office humor.  I am thoroghly embarrassed for you and the shame you have brought to this website.

Obviously whoever wrote this awful piece of journalism does not have a sense of decency, a a shred of moral integrety, or a child.  Imagine this man's family reading an article about someone they love and cherish to find it's been used as a platform for terrible office humor.  I am thoroghly embarrassed for you and the shame you have brought to this website.

i am completely appalled by this story. i also knew matt and am a good friend of his roommates. he was an amazing person and his dog was the sweetest thing in the world. as a writer i can't even believe you would post this article. it is tasteless, insensitive and completely uncalled for. 

If he had roommates why did they leave him to be eaten by a starving pit bull?

i mistyped - he had one roommate who was out of the country for work. 

I don't know the deceased but I find it completely tasteless and without class that you would post this story in such an insensitive manner. I would like to say that I am shocked, but frankly, this type of journalism doesn't surprise me from the Chicagoist.  Everything from the headline, the (not funny at all) jokes, and the picture are appalling.  At the very least take it down and apologize to the man's family.

the headline and the jokes within the article are appalling.  i find it disgusting that you would treat the death of another human being as a joke. this was someone's brother/son/friend/loved one and deserves to be treated some some respect. please, learn to have some class.

This would not be news if the dog was not a pit bull. Please take this story down in respect for the deceased.

My Mom's friend died and her cats did the same thing to her, but it wasn't news. neither should this be.

The Sun-Times considers it newsworthy. They wrote a news story on it.

Chicagoist has an editorial viewpoint that is edgy. You can take it or leave it, but it must be made clear that Chicagoist is not an impartial, hard-nosed news service.

so edgy that they would change the name of an article after receiving negative buzz in the comments section? this used to be called "dogs get hungry." Apparently someone at chicagoist agrees with the majority of these comments

this sensational headline is appalling.

Take this story down ASAP

I graduated from high school with Matt and I am just trying to find new information about what happened then I get to read this insensitive garbage. Thanks.

I understand that it's your job to post about stories that boost your readership, and frankly I don't blame you. That's how the news works nowadays. That said, I'd just like to leave a comment and say that Matt was a great person with many friends who will miss him dearly. I feel sad that his legacy might be tarnished by a gruesome news report or a bad joke about someone's office manager. 

Agreed. Matt was a great guy and the SIHS Ice Cats will miss him dearly.