Dallas Walters, 20-months old, was mauled to death by a rottweiler-mix.
"Dog Just Attacked"
UPDATE 12/15/09: Just before the burial service of Dallas Walters, the boy's father clarified a few issues: "There was no cookie. My son was eating potato salad and the dog just attacked him." Essentially, the rumored "cookie" story was just that -- rumored. According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Department, the investigation into what happened is still ongoing. They say it doesn't appear anyone, including the dog's owners, will face any charges.
Dallas was at a family birthday party at his great-aunt's house Saturday night. That's when a Rotweiller-Labrador mix belonging to the great-aunt and her husband attacked the child.
Some reports said the dog was going after a cookie the boy dropped. His father says the attack was unprovoked.
"There was no cookie. My son was eating potato salad and the dog just attacked him." - Erik Waxler, ABC Action News, December 15, 2009
12/15/09: Dog Purchased Two Months Ago
New information has been released in the death of Dallas Walters. The year old rottweiler-lab mix that killed the boy was euthanized just hours later. The dog belonged to Lisa and Preston Evans -- Lisa is Dallas' mother's great-aunt. The male dog was unregistered and unaltered. The couple said they got the dog about two months ago from someone in Tampa who had placed a newspaper ad. Authorities are trying to contact the sellers of the dog.
The owners surrendered the dog, named Willie, along with a 3-month old rottweiler puppy; it is unclear from the article if the puppy came from the same seller. According to Pasco Animal Services director Denise Hilton, "[The dog's owners] said the dog had been playing all day with the kids at the party with no problems at all." Yet Andrew Walters, the father of Dallas, said that Willie was a dog he had not seen before that day and was supposed to be chained in the backyard.
Walters said his family is taking the loss "second by second." He added that he had yet to talk to the Evanses. "I can't,'' he said. "I don't trust my actions.'' Walters wants criminal charges filed. Kevin Doll, the spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, said the death is under investigation. Yet the incident looks to be another "tragic accident," despite the fact that rottweilers have the second worst safety record regarding fatal attacks, dwarfed only by pit bulls.
12/13/09: Boy Killed by Dog at Birthday Party
New Port Richey, FL - In a chilling story, Dallas Walters, 20-months old, was killed after being mauled by a pet rottweiler inside his aunt's New Port Richey home Saturday night. According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, a birthday party was going on at Dallas Walters' aunt's house in Moon Lake when the incident occured. Deputies say the boy was eating a cookie then dropped it on the floor. When he went to reach for the cookie the aunt's pet rottweiler attacked.
"I ran over there, pulled the dog off him," said the boy's father Andrew Walters, "I tried to beat the hell out of him."
This horrific scenario is very familiar readers: 1.) An aunt, uncle or grandparent's dangerous dog, often a pit bull or a rottweiler, with likely little to no experience with children. 2.) A young child visiting the dog owner's home, possibly for the first time. 3.) It's either the "cookie" (or food related) story, which blames the child for the life-altering or deadly attack or it's the "warming a bottle" story, where the adult steps away briefly and the pit bull or rottweiler kills the child.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: U.S. Fatal Rottweiler Attacks By State
Related articles:
12/03/09: 4-Year Old Boy Killed by "Pit Bull Terrier Type" Dog in United Kingdom
04/22/09: Wappingers Boy Suffers Life Altering Injures in Pit Bull Attack
04/01/09: 2009 Fatality: 7-Month Old Boy Killed by Grandmother's Pit Bulls
12/03/08: 2008 Fatality: 2-Year Old Boy Killed in Clark County, Nevada
Pay attention to this, parents. Don't take your children over to the homes of family members who own pits, rotts, and their mixes. Don't listen when they tell you their dogs wouldn't hurt a fly or would lick your child to death. Those licks all too often have teeth, and the prediction becomes all too literal. Variations of this story are sadly all too common. My heart goes out to this family in their loss.
Rottweilers.
Historically bred TO BE AGGRESSIVE.
And number two on the list for causing human fatality (although pit bulls certainly predominate in the human murder race)
Text Book …Pit bulls and Rottwielers commit 80 percent of DBRFs!
"Never had a problem…."
But many of these pit bulls and rotties DO know the child very well.
And one day they just snap.
This is becoming daily news. Just disgusting.
Sad but true– This story is on a dogster.com forum. Almost every poster is defending the dog's reaction to the dropped cookie as normal. They are DEFENDING this monstros animal!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are however agreeing that the owners should be punished. (Blame the owner, not the dog)
Apparently the grandfather said something along the lines of "I want the dog to die slowly" (not exact wording), so almost all the posters are making him out to be an absolutely horrible person for wanting this monster to die slowly for killing his grandson. I don't blame him for saying this.
Rest in peace, Dallas W.
Those same people are probably also the ones claiming that there is absolutely no way those 2 pits could have gotten out of their crates by themselves. Poor puppies, they say — they were probably just thirsty and stressed. Argghhh!
RIP, Dallas. My heart breaks for you and your family.
"The dog belonged to Lisa and Preston Evans, Hilton said. She is Dallas' mother's great-aunt. Attempts to reach the Evanses on Monday were unsuccessful…"
"He was supposed to be chained up in the back yard, but he somehow got loose," Walters said."
—
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/dog-that-killed-pasco-county-boy-is-euthanized/1058687
ANOTHER chained dog that kills.
We need anti-chaining laws! If a dog is too aggressive to be kept as a house pet, then a person has no right to chain a dog outside to make it MORE aggressive so it is more likely to kill people!
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/50-million-blinds-recall-child-deaths/story?id=9336171
Since 2000, there have been 8 kids strangled and another 16 nearly strangled by roll up blinds.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling 50 MILLION sets of blinds.
hmmmm….
WHO's THE BREEDER!
The breeder and/or seller need to be sued.
They are breeding and selling aggressive dogs, and they need to be held liable.
Excerpt From Walter's Online Obituary:
"He is survived by his father, Andrew Walters; his mother, Jessica Stafford; his baby brother Dallyn; and extended family members. Dallas was protective of his little brother, his dad said. He liked to fix up his blanket when he fussed and hold his hand. "He was the best kid," Walters said. "There was no measure of life on this planet that added up to his. He was amazing. I couldn't ask for a better son." Dallas was typical for his age, and was known to play with a rubber ball in the house – sometimes bouncing it off his father's head – and to mess with the knickknacks. But he also had a keen sense of order – like his mother, Walters said. He liked shoes to be in their proper place, picked up dirty plates and put them in the sink and would carry dirty diapers – his own or his brother's – to the trash. "He had more personality than this world," Walters said. "He had more personality than anybody claiming to be a personality on television. "He's destined for greatness, either in this life or the next."
—
http://tinyurl.com/yetntc6
I would really like to know who came up with the fabricated "cookie drop" story? (this is a familiar fabrication for those trying to blame an innocent child for a defective, aggressive dog's behavior)
A rogue reporter trying to place the blame on the child? A rogue animal control officer trying to protect the dog?
Does the reporter who included this detail have an answer for this?
I believe that citizens can THEMSELVES go down to the police station and file their own criminal complaint.
This has been done by people when law enforcement refuses to take action.
I hope that the boy's father will consult an attorney and do just this.
I also hope that he will be suing the dog's owner AND breeder.