Update: Fatality in Rusk County, TX

Update: A new report from the Tyler Daily Telegraph has some updated info on this story. According to the new report, the child was apparently outside on a swingset (by themselves, at age 2) when the "80-90 lbs pit bull" got free from the chain it was on and attacked the child. Some of this is a little inconsistent with earlier reports when the victim's mother said they "could never keep the boy from going outside" and that they "found the dog" on top of the boy. I'll also note that 80-90 lbs would be very large for a 'pit bull' -- in a whole yard full of mixed breed dogs. 

There may also have been up to 40 dogs on the property (30 was originally reported). 

It has also been reported that two weeks prior to Kaden's uncle being murdered last year, his first cousin (Kaden's mom's niece) was also murdered in that community.

Rusk County Sheriff Danny Pirtle is quoted as saying that he feels like something needs to be done about the 'pit bulls' in his community, but no comment on the two murders (at least) and the suicide in the small county of only 47,000 people.

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Also, apparently the woman who hanged herself across town an hour after the incident was a friend of the family, and not a relative as was earlier reported -- and is not believed to be related to the incident.

Yesterday, two year old Kaden Muckleroy was tragically killed outside of his grandparent's home in Rusk County, TX.

The circumstances of the attack are a bit unclear at this point, but several comments made by the family seem to indicated that the two year old boy left his home on his own and wandered into the back yard unattended by a family member, and was attacked by one of 30 'mixed breed dogs" living in the back yard. The dog, being called a 'pit bull' by the media (even thought authorities have called all of the dogs mixed breeds) was chained to a tree in the back yard.

This isn't the first tragedy the family has endured lately.  Recently, Kaden's uncle was murdered after being locked in a home and the home was burned to the ground.  The dogs were inherited then by the grandfather after the uncle died.  Also, just an hour after meeting with the family over Kaden's death, Kaden's 18 year old cousin hanged herself.

The media has, of course, has taken this as an opportunity to try to create a pit bull controversy in the area -- instead of focusing on the issue of parents allowing 2 year olds to roam around outside unattended and keeping dogs chained to trees in the back yard.

I'll also note here that major dog attacks are often (not always) a byproduct of pretty significant social issues that exist in this country.  This attack is the second fatality in Rusk County in the past 2 years. Rusk County has a poverty rate of about 15% (which is above the national average) and obviously this family has had to deal with more than their share of tragedies over the past few years.

My heart goes out to the Muckleroy family as they deal with the multiple tragedies and my hope is that the media will start focusing more on the circumstances that led up to the attack than the type of dog involved so that more of these attacks can be avoided in the future. 

Comments

[selkie]

poor baby. But truth be told, the family should be charged! and I hope someone is looking into 30 dogs chained in the backyard! Can we say dog fighting anyone? Sorry, but WHO has 30 dogs chained in the backyard yet they claim "loving animals" is a passion! Poor baby and poor dogs.

[YesBiscuit!]

Once again, I wish we could push the meme that dogs=strangers when it comes to babies. You would never allow your toddler to wander off alone into an area of 30 strangers. Chances are, he'll be ok as most strangers, like most dogs, are just going to have the expected reaction to the kid - hi, how are you, aren't you cute, etc. But should it happen that you get unlucky and your kid encounters a dangerous stranger or dog, the consequences may be devastating.

[MichelleD]

Good Lord, not everyone with more than 4 dogs is a dog fighter. Please don't add to the hysteria.

[Keira]

How do they know it was the Pit Bull that did this? And I love the part about loving there animals & taking such good care of them!

[Jeff H]

I am an upper-middle class suburbanite who makes well above the median income for my Collin county neighborhood. I have a modest home with a fenced in back yard and I love animals. I am capable of caring for a single dog, who is loved and a valued part of our family. It astounds me that a person of modest means would have 30 dogs in their back yard and claim to be an animal lover who takes good care of all of them. I am not going to venture that they were or were not used in fighting. However, I highly doubt they were taken care of at a level appropriate to their dignity.

[Jennifer]

This link just came across my desk, and since I just read this post yesterday about the same story, I thought I'd pass it on:

http://stopbsl.com/2010/11/11/texas-pit-bull-ban-to-be-presented-to-legislators/