Daxton Borchardt was mauled to death by two pit bulls belonging to his babysitter.
Police Release Details
UPDATE 04/02/13: On Monday, the Walworth County Sheriff's Office released new information about the fatal pit bull mauling of Daxton Borchardt. The reports detail the savage attack upon the 14-month old boy and the dogs' owner, Susan Iwicki, who was babysitting the boy at the time of the fatal mauling. According to reports, the two pit bulls turned from "playful and nippy" into a violent frenzy on March 6 as Iwicki took the two animals outside her home while holding Daxton.
Iwicki then lost hold of Daxton and the boy went sprawling to the ground. The dogs lunged onto Daxton and began a brutal and ultimately fatal attack on him, according to Iwicki's accounts.Iwicki screamed for help and tried to kick the dogs away as one stood on her back, mauling her. As the dogs stalked in circles around Daxton, she somehow managed to get the pit bulls and Daxton separated. Inside her house, she used baby gates to keep Daxton and the dogs in different rooms while she called 911 and shouted frantic and panicked pleas for help.By then, Daxton was critically injured and was losing massive amounts of blood, according to reports. (GazetteXtra.com)
A deputy was first to arrive at what he feared was a murder scene. Blood and fabric were all over the yard where the attack took place, according to reports. The deputy yelled for Iwicki to get the dogs out of the house and away from the scene. The officer discovered Daxton in one of the rooms in Iwicki's home. The toddler was fully naked and lying motionless on his back on the floor in a puddle of blood that was "everywhere," according to reports. The boy was still barely alive.
Daxton's father, Jeffery Borchardt, was helping Iwicki's boyfriend install carpeting at another home when his son was violently attacked. Iwicki called her boyfriend in a panic after the horrific mauling. He left right away and would NOT tell Jeffery why, only that something had happened involving Daxton, according to reports. No criminal charges against Susan Iwicki are pending. Jeffery told deputies after the attack that he never wanted to see Iwicki or her boyfriend again.
Veterinary records included in the reports showed that both dogs -- 3-year old pit bulls, a male and female -- had been spayed and neutered.
03/07/13: Father Shares Grief
As some readers already know, the father of Daxton Borchardt has been speaking out publicly on his Facebook page about the violent pit bull attack that took his son's life on Wednesday. The father's most recent post says: "What do I do now?...I don't know how I'm ever gonna continue on with life...I just want to die...why us?..why this way?" DogsBite.org and all of our readers grieve for this boy's young parents and the unbearable, life-altering loss they are suffering.1
Daxton Borchardt Fund
A memorial fund has been set up at Associated Bank. Donations can be made at any Associated Bank branch to the "Daxton Borchardt Fund."
03/07/13: Friends React to Death
Family friends tell Today's TMJ4 that the child's name is Dax. They gathered to mourn his loss and to support his parents. Dax was at his babysitter's "apartment" (a mere unit of the large home) when Susan Iwicki's two pit bulls berserked, attacking the child and their owner. The news agency is also trying to obtain the 911 call. It is unknown if Susan Iwicki may face criminal charges; she wouldn't be the first babysitter charged under similar circumstances after a child's death.
Separately, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that the boy's death is the first fatal dog attack in Wisconsin in a decade. It was just a few years ago, however, that Taylor Becker, 4-years old, was mauled to death by a chained dog while "visiting" family friends in Hubbard Township.2
03/06/13: Boy Dies After Mauling
Walworth, WI - Another young boy has been savagely killed by a pit bull. Earlier today, we began following this story. 30-year old Susan Iwicki, the owner of the two attacking pit bulls, made the 911 call. She told authorities that she and a 14-month old boy were under attack by her two dogs and had sustained multiple injuries. The boy was transported to Mercy-Walworth Medical Center and Hospital then airlifted to a Milwaukee-area hospital that treats critical injuries.
The county coroner's office confirmed that the boy died of his injuries at 3:32 pm Wednesday. A separate story stated that the attack occurred shortly before noon. WISN learned more details by speaking to the son of the property owners where the attack took place. He believes Susan Iwicki may have been babysitting at the time, and that the child was not hers. Authorities have not released the child's name. Sheriff's deputies continue to investigate the fatal dog attack.
2The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel updated their article to include Taylor Becker after DogsBite.org sent correspondence.
Related articles:
07/26/13: Beyond the Interview: Essay of a Fatal Pit Bull Mauling - DogsBite.org
02/19/13: 2013 Dog Bite Fatality: 'Nightmare' Pit Bull Kills Uvalde County Boy
01/20/13: 2013 Dog Bite Fatality: Chained Pit Bull Kills Montgomery County Boy
08/27/10: 2010 Dog Bite Fatality: Dog Kills Visiting 4-Year Old Girl in Dodge County
Photo: Facebook.com
I haven't gotten over the shock of Ryan Maxwell's death. Now, I'm just numb. When will the pit bull nightmare be over? How many more times do we need to learn this lesson? Pit bulls are dangerous dogs, and should not be pets. If all dogs were like pit bulls, we would not be allowed to own them.
Property owners, landlords, need to understand that if they allow pit bulls on their property, they will be held accountable for attacks.
They must take responsibility for their property.
This is hopelessly sad. 🙁
6 pit bull deaths so far this year, is that enough yet?
Once again I groaned out loud when I saw that the site had been updated this morning. I could not believe it.
How can this latest news article from TMJ 4 DARE to have a link to their article
"pit bull Attacks are quite rare" at the bottom of their report on this babies death?
I wonder if the mother of this child read or heard reports like that and thought nothing of leaving her child with someone that had two of these killing machines. Perhaps Coleen can contact them and tell them of the 6 RARE events already this year and if they have any sense or responsibility that is the kind of information they will link after reporting on the death of Dax.
More than 25, now, so what is the horrible and creepy plan? Why would anyone ever want these animals nearby?
The nutters are out in force sliming up the comments section. They don't realize that "It's the owner!" contradicts "Nanny dogs!"
Why do you have to train Nanny NOT to attack children???
I've also seen comments implying that this babysitter trained her dogs to attack children – that seems like something that would ruin your child care business, but I'm "uneducated" so what do I know.
There's at least one nutter claiming that she'd rather be bitten by a mini poodle.
"Any dog could do this!, The baby did something!, Other dogs kill people, we just don't hear about it – media bias! They probably aren't real pit bulls! I have a pit service dog! UR ignorant!"
I swear we could make a game called Pitnutter Bingo except it would be the easiest game ever.
I am completely saddened by these idiots complete lack of introspection after 6 deaths in two months.
If they were actually held responsible for "blame the deed" then pit ownership would drop drastically.
I think you are right, YQN. But it will take the families of the "DEAD" victims to help do this. Don't I remember reenactments of car crashes and drunk driving to scare high schoolers. There are all kinds of ads to scare kids from taking drugs. We need these dead babies with the side of their heads bitten off,their necks eaten out, their legs and arms broken to be slathered IN FRONT OF POLITICIANS AND ANIMAL CONTROL EVERYWHERE. I'll be the first to help. I want to see them EVERYWHERE !!!!!
As a high schooler, the mangled cars scared me.
That's a good tactic. Stop protecting people and show the horror.
Remember the Emmett Till murder back in the 1950s? He was the young man who was killed during a visit to Mississippi. Local rumor was that he had whistled at a white woman.
His mother decided to have an open casket funeral so that the world could see what was done to her son. Suffice it to say that the body of the deceased did not look terribly attractive.
There will come a time when the family of a pit bull victim will do the same thing. And watch public opinion of these dogs change in a hurry.
YQN, I wish I could believe that, but there is an army of pit nutters out there basically using their own kids as "bait". They are willing to take the risk, so they can be part of the persecuted pit experience. They are all too willing to throw each other under the bus, throw abuse accusations around, and make excuses for why Nanny exploded "this time".
I can't think of another breed that has this many advocacy groups – that it needs so many should make a normal person pause.
This was the 213th US Pit Bull DBRF in the 14.25 years since the last CDC report.
The entire US Canine population produced 330 deaths during the 20 year period from 1979 to 1998…Currently, the Pit bull community is on track to meet or exceed 330 DBRFs between 1999-2018.
They just need 117 more DBRFs over the next 5.75 years to do it.
Unfortunately, this should be a piece of cake for them.
*Disclaimer…You Can't Make This Up!
A picture paint a thousand words. My girlfriend was okay about pit bulls until one day she saw a picture of an attacked child that happened to be on my screen as I was perusing a news article of a death by pit bull. She was totally horrified (as any normal person would be) by the image. Needless to say she is now firmly in my camp about these horrible dogs. Anyone that can see these images and not be horrified does not have normal human compassion. Much like their dogs Nutters have a brain disorder.
Agree, people should not.be protected from disturbing pit attack images. If victims are Willing to share, the images should be shared for the victims sake.
The Local DA has decided no criminal charges are merited here.
Piticides have been the perfect crime going back to the days of Colby.
I've seen this happen with pit bull type dogs lots of times. It starts as play or cuddling, then when the arousal reaches a certain point it morphs into their inherited most loved game — the playful jumping and biting becomes determined, dedicated jumping, and the nips turn into ripping whole chunks off the body of the other creature.
Several heritable problems contribute to this:
1) extreme lack of impulse control (call it a kind of ADHD if you like)
2) inability to self-dampen a heightened state of arousal
3) heritable motor patterns, in this case the clamping down and ripping / shearing
4) physical conformation that makes it feel wonderful to the pit type dog to do this (= behavioral conformation)
5) inability to self-interrupt an on-going behavior; insensitivity to interruption of on-going behavior by external stimuli
Pit bull type dogs feel absolutely no angry or fearful emotions while doing this. This is why they're so often docile after the behavior chain has finished, exhausted itself, or they're somehow pulled out of the ADHD / OCD sensory tunnel.
When they re-direct or do serial attacks, it's because the chain isn't done yet — not enough pleasure gained to exhaust the urge.
One terrified my child like this and it was a babysitter situation, as well. Thank God the dog was fairly young. Still, I will always feel guilty for leaving my child in that situation.
Thank you Sputnik for your description of how this playfulness becomes a lethal frenzy.
This also goes down in the record as more "beloved and well cared for family pit bulls" MAULING THEIR OWN OWNER!
I miss my son dearly.
I haven't been able to read the whole story at once. Living it must be unimaginably painful. My heart goes out to you.