THE BOY AND THE DOG: A NEW YORK TRAGEDY
The Boy:
- A two-year old boy is bitten in the throat by his father's "guard" dog.
- The father faults his two-year-old son for crawling too close to the dog's food bowl.
- Two months later, the boy's visiting grandmother is attacked and bitten by the same dog. She requires treatment at the local hospital.
- The father is charged with owning a dangerous dog and owning an unlicensed dog.
- Child Protective Services monitors the father, child and home to ensure that his son is not exposed to the dog, which is still on the premises.
- Three months later, the boy is found, alone and unsupervised, in the backyard, crawling in high grass near the shore of a lake. His father says he is unconcerned, as the lake is not very deep.
- During the months following the guard dog is seen chained outside, but then disappears.
- Three years later, the father obtains new family dog.
The Dog:
- At five-weeks of age, the tan, male pup is sold to a man - call him Owner # 2 - for $100.00
- One month later, Owner # 2 complains the 10-week-old puppy is "hard to house train" and gives the dog to a new owner, Owner # 3.
- Owner # 3 locks the dog in the basement and "forgets" to feed him.
- After a couple of months, the dog is given to Owner # 4, who feels sorry that the dog has been locked in the basement without food.
- Owner # 4 only keeps the dog for a couple of months before giving the dog to Owner # 5. Owner # 4 explains that she is moving, and cannot be bothered to take the dog with her.
- Owner # 5, the father in question, chains the dog to a large scrap metal heap.
Boy Meets Dog:
Owner # 5 has had the dog for less than a week when he allows his son to go out and feed the dog, which is still chained to the pile of scrap metal. Fifteen minutes later, the boy is found dead, lying amid the junk, entangled in the dogs chain. The food bowl is found upside down and empty.
Two days later, Owner # 5 has the dog killed. He later pleads guilty to misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and is sentenced to one year conditional discharge he is already on probation for another offense and is prohibited from owning a dog for a year.
The news stories about this tragedy all described the dog as the family dog.