18 month old child killed by dog

Update #3: The mother in this case, Melissa Miller, was indicted on charges of injury to a child and criminally geligent homicide -- both felonies. While the media spent much of  their time focusing on trying make this a dog issue, the grand jury put the focus on the mother in this case.

Update #2: Ok, this is just maddening. So, KEYE-TV has an interview with the victim's mother in this case, where she reportedly "describes what happened" -- not that she would really know what happened, because she was asleep.  Anyway, the article is what it is and she provides and explaination of the events that led up to the attack.  The biggest problem with the article is in the last line where it says "Miller said her family is working on a bill that would help prevent pit bull attacks."

So here's the deal. We have a law in place that would have prevented this attack. It's called child endangerment -- which would include letting your 18 month old wander around outside by himself while you sleep. I have little doubt that this is a partial attempt to try to lay the blame on the dog, vs accepting responsibility and the possible criminal charges that would come with it.

Listen, I feel for this woman. Anyone who has ever been a parent has made a mistake with their child -- and fortunately, most don't have to suffer the horror of having a child die because of it. However, if we are ever going to solve this, we HAVE to insist that parents take responsibility for their children and not deflect blame in other directions. 

Update:  It turns out that the child, 18 month old Tyler Miller, awoke before the rest of the family on Thursday morning.  The boy apparently wandered outside unattended, and up to the pregnant, chained dog. The boy's mother woke up around 12:30 pm to discover the boy missing only to later find him in the back yard...dead.  No one witnessed the attack.

A truly tragic, and avoidable,  incident.

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This is the 2nd child to be killed by a dog this week -- this one in Luling, TX. The details on this one are pretty sketchy at this point, but if more info comes to light, I will update this.

It sounds as if the 2 year old boy, Tyson, was with his family visiting the people who lived in the home where he was killed. Tyson was out in the yard, and approached a pregnant female 'pit bull' that was chained up in a wooded area behind the house. It is unclear if the boy and the dog had ever met.

Authorities say there were adults with the boy in the back yard, but because the dog was pregnant, they thought the boy would be ok. ?!?!

Luling, TX is a small community of 5400 people. The community has a high level of poverty with 19% of the populuation living below the poverty level, and 9.4% of the population living on an income below 50% of the poverty level. 

There continues to be a major need for dog owner education in many of these communities to help prevent these attacks from occurring. It doesn't take a lot to realize that a pregnant, chained up dog in a wooded area behind a home isn't exactly the best place for a 2 year old toddler to be.

This attack is very similar to the one that happened on Sunday, where a 3 year old toddler was attacked by a Husky that had gotten off its chain. Both happened in very small, rural communities. There has been a big difference between how the two attacks have gotten covered though -- with the Husky incident only making it into a small community newspaper, while this more recent incident has been on virtually every TV news station and newspaper in Austin, San Antonio and Houston -- over 20 different news sources and counting. 

I wonder why?

My prayers go out to Tyson's family as they deal with their loss in this tragedy.

Comments

[YesBiscuit!]

I initially skipped over this entry because I thought I'd accidentally jumped back to the post on the OTHER tot that was killed. [sigh] I presume the dog is pregnant by whatever male(s) wandered into her chain radius when she was in heat. And I'm guessing these pups would have been given away "free to good home" and if not all taken by 6 weeks of age, dumped at the pound. Now I suppose the dam will be killed and all the pups along with her. Totally predictable and preventable tragedy.

[Sarah]

I live in Austin and I am furious that more hasn't been done to cover the NUMEROUS risk factors that likely led to this tragedy. Pregnant, intact, chained, strange, non-family pet... that in and of itself would be enough to give me pause. Combine that with a poorly-supervised, curious child and it was an absolute recipe for disaster.

The dog's owner (who didn't even live at the home where the dog was being kept) signed a voluntary euthanasia order, so the dam and the puppies will all be killed (if they haven't already).

[www.myspace.com/barbiezoo]

I think it is great that someone is finally reporting the correct information and showing how "out of reality" the media's stories are. I have been getting angry about the LACK OF FOLLOW UP on all the stories reported by the media for the last year. Goes to show how inadequate the reporters are at doing their JOB. I found an American Staffordshire Terrier from the street, he is mine now. It is MY RESPONSIBILITY to ensure his & everyone else' safety. I've been roun' children all my life, never feel asleep with infant loose. DUH!!!

[Heather Johnson]

It is not the correct information. His name was Tyson James Miller JR.
negligence homicide is the charge.
and unless you have actually spoke to her yourself you do not know of how she had checked on him multiple times. his blanket was over him every time she checked and one of the times she went in and stared at the face of an angel that he had. and when she had checked on him after that his blanket was still in the same shape of him. there was no way that ANYONE can judge her or understand what she is and has been going through. When you lose the life of your world, then you can judge but until that fateful day happens to you, you have absolutely no right to blame and judge someone who has already lost her everything. Can you not even think of his sister? How much she and his mother and all of their family must be in pain? and on today of all days, today is the day that it is marked on the hearts of many that knew him, it is marked as the day the sun burned out. the day everyone who knew him lost the light of their lives. lost the one smile that can help through everything and anything. You have no idea what these people must be going through even now..

[Brent]

Heather,

With all due respect, I think most people have suffered tremendous losses in our lives - and know the pain that comes with losing someone we care about deeply. I'm sure the pain is deep...and I do feel sorry for them and their loss.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to provide a resource that discussed the actual circumstances behind tragedies like this one so that others can learn from the cases and understand what led up to the attack so such attacks can be prevented in the future.

And in this case, the circumstances appear pretty clear about what led up to the tragedy. And you are right, the judging is probably best left up to the courts.

[Heather]

Brent,
With all due respect, you were not there and did not speak to any of the members of the family or what happened on that day. You did not supply the right facts or circumstances of what happened. Please if you are going to start a blog then supply the right information or you can/have hurt the people that lost him.

sincerely,
The Aunt

[Brent]

Heather, everything I've supplied has been straight out of the media. I confess, that I don't hold many in the media in high regard and realize they often miscommunicate details (or whole realities). It is not my intent to mislead -- but I am somewhat at the mercy of what information is made available. If I am wrong, please tell the story and set the record straight.