Dog Owner Named
UPDATE 05/22/10: James Haplin of the Anchorage Daily News provided more details about the death of Krystal Brink on May 22. It was Krystal's great uncle, 28-year old Fritz Larson who found her. Larson said he went toward the yard and saw a pink coat on the grass. As he approached, he noticed a skinny young male mutt chained on a post in the yard was chewing on a diaper. Then he saw the girl's body on the ground nearby. "I went nuts. I lost it," Larson said.
"Larson said he went to the dog owner's house to "do something stupid" but the man -- his uncle, Raymond Steven -- wasn't there. He brought the girl home. His brother, Joe Larson, grabbed a shotgun out of a boat, went over to the dog yard and shot every adult dog there, he said.
05/21/10: Victim: 3-year Old Krystal Brink
Napaskiak, AK - In a developing story, 3-year old Krystal Brink was mauled to death by a sled dog after she wandered into a Napaskiak yard while playing this past Thursday. According to Alaska State Troopers, Krystal Brink of Kasigluk was found dead in the dog yard after the other children went inside and she was discovered missing. A family member then went into the dog yard with a gun and killed six of the seven dogs there, according to the dogs' owner.
"It was a pretty emotional situation," troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said. "It's a tragic event. We're dealing with it accordingly."
The girl had been visiting relatives in Napaskiak at the time of the incident. She and some other children had been playing outside that afternoon. When adults called them in at about 5 pm, they discovered that Brink was missing. They found her in a sled dog yard at a nearby house. There were seven dogs tied up in the open yard, and the child had passed all the animals except the last one. Brink had been bitten multiple times; authorities declined to give more details.
The dog's owner told Alaska State Troopers he did not want to press charges. The relative who shot the dogs and the dog's owner remain unidentified.
Related articles:
08/19/08: 2008 Dog Bite Fatality: Isis Krieger, 6-Years Old, Killed by Family Pit Bull
04/30/08: 2008 Fatality: Abraham Jonathan Tackett, Killed by Chained Dog
That's so sad! It really makes me sad, mad, and emotionally upset when a child dies in a horrific manner.
I am glad they dealt with the dogs quickly. Shooting them was I believe the best option.
within the last few days there was a fatality in spain too. i think the grandfather hung the pit bull after the parents got the dog off.
Aggressive dogs, all tied up or chained outdoors. So many child deaths with this scenario.
The sled dog people lobby with the dog fighting people and related breeder lobbies to oppose humane laws and public safety laws.
Chaining them outside is cheap, and this is a business.
Problem dog gets even worse on a chain 24/7, and the neighbors suffer the consequences.
This guy will just fill up his yard with chained dogs again, and maybe in future we'll see a repeat performance with yet another child.
Why do we let the same people do the same stupid things over and over again, and risk our safety?
This would have to be classified as irresponsible owner, has dogs chained and allowed the child to wander into them. I've heard all my life that you make a dog mean if you chained them up. Most people know this and these people still didn't take enough care to protect this little girl.
I do not believe that the chaining of real sled dogs is quite the same as the chaining of a pit bull or rottweiler. Working sled dogs have been chained for centuries. That said, a yard of chained sled dogs is no place for a child; the situation is clearly very dangerous. This danger is reflected in the Alaska study.
"Working sled dogs have been chained for centuries"
There's a reason that the sled dog industry is the underbelly of society. Uneducated, cruel people that do this for the money.
Much like dog fighting.
The abuses in the sled dog industry have long been documented. Chaining drives these dogs nuts like any other dog. They chain them for some of the samne reasons that dog fighters chain their dogs.
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/ has a lot of information about the myriad of abuses these dogs endure.
Sled dog racing is far from admirable. It's another form of lower class abuse for profit.
Not all sled dog people chained. The lower echelons did, and that has spread to the whole community, practically. The lowest dragged everything down with it.