Police gather outside scene where two pit bulls killed 7-year old Javien Candelario.1
Victim Identified
UPDATE 10/27/17: The 7-year old boy has been identified as Javien Candelario. On October 21, he was brutally killed by two pit bulls housed behind a dilapidated gate between 56 and 58 Clare Street. Witnesses said about 15 people saw the horrific mauling. Two of them included Javien's mother and his older brother. No one knew how to save him from the jaws of the pit bulls. Five police officers that arrived too late to save Javien are also traumatized and undergoing counseling.
Lowell city councilor Rodney Elliott, who recently spoke about the attack on Nightside with Dan Rea, said the details about how the attack started remain sketchy. Javien went to pat the dogs, who were in the fenced yard. "The dogs pulled him over the fence," Elliott said. Earlier, witnesses gave different accounts of how Javien entered the yard. One claimed "he jumped the fence" and another echoed the words Elliot did, "The dog grabbed him and pulled him over the fence."
Elliott sponsored the city's pit bull ordinance that was enacted in 2011. It was nullified one year later after Massachusetts' legislators enacted a state preemption law barring cities and towns from adopting breed-specific laws. “I think if people knew the gruesome details, they might not be as quick to judge the idea of placing more restrictions on owning pit bulls," Elliott said Friday. There will be a funeral mass on Saturday at St. Michaels for Javien. He will be buried in a donated plot.
10/23/17: 15 People Witnessed Attack
New details about the boy's death were revealed over the weekend. Resident David Swiniarski, 22-years old, was one of about 15 people who witnessed the horrific dog mauling. On Saturday night, two pit bulls fatally attacked a 7-year old boy after he entered into a fenced-in area between 56 and 58 Clare Street. When Swiniarski and his roommate heard screaming, the pair ran down the street to a crowd of people standing in front of a driveway blocked by a chain-link gate.
"Two 100, 120-pound pit bulls just getting his neck, his legs ... Everyone was screaming, but no one knew what to do." - David Swiniarski
Neighbors described the pit bulls as large and territorial, one brown and one gray. No photos have been released of the dogs. Some neighbors wondered how the boy could have gotten over the dilapidated 4.5-foot fence. Answer: instantly. Other reports indicate the victim's older brother also witnessed the horrible attack. "The older boy, on the sidewalk, he said, 'I couldn't save my brother,'" recalled a 52-year old female neighbor, who moved in as recently as two weeks ago.
WHDH released parts of the 911 calls. "A child’s being attacked by some sort of animal," the operator told police. "Apparently the dog will not let go of the child." Also confirmed in the calls is that police fired on one of the pit bulls. "Lowell, shots fired, the dog is hit, it’s still coming at me," the officer told the operator. "Lowell, the dog just jumped over the fence," he added. Presumably that means after being shot, the pit bull was still able to scale the fence and continue fleeing.
Monday night, the Lowell Sun cleared up details about this injured, at large pit bull. Despite being shot, the pit bull ventured over a mile away before being killed in a hail of police gunfire. Earlier, we pointed out that an employee at UMass Lowell received a text alert at 6:43 pm about the pit bull attack. At 8:17 pm he received another text stating the dog was found. That is about 1.5 hours. We also noted that another commenter stated in response, "That explains the helicopters."
Finally, there are different accounts about whether the boy jumped the fence or if the dogs pulled him inside. Neighbor Nilda Garcia alleges a group of kids were playing with a ball, when the ball went through the fence. "He jumped the fence and the dog grabbed him and killed him," she said. Neighbor Bill Brettancourt disagreed. "The boy had leaned over the fence like this [gesture]. The dog grabbed him and pulled him over the fence. The boy did not go in there on his own," he said.
10/22/17: Boy Mauled to Death
Lowell, MA - A 7-year old boy is dead after being mauled to death by two pit bulls in the Acre section of Lowell Saturday evening. A preliminary investigation reveals the unidentified boy entered into a fenced-in area on Clare Street that housed the pit bulls, according to a press release from the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. Crime scene tape and police vehicles were seen outside homes at 56 and 58 Clare Street after the dog attack, reports the Lowell Sun.
Police received a call about the attack about 6 pm. They arrived on scene and discovered the unidentified child deceased. After the attack, one of the pit bulls escaped the fenced-in area. The dog was subsequently located and euthanized. Lowell Animal Control took the other pit bull into custody, according to the release. The investigation remains ongoing by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, the Lowell Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police.
NBC Boston interviewed Angel Argueta, who lives nearby. "I heard sirens, he said. "Then I heard something that appeared to be gunshots. That's when I came out here. The neighbors told me that two dogs had devoured a kid. I heard the owner came out and was trying to take the dogs off. They wouldn't listen. I asked if the kid was okay. They said, no, he didn't make it." Earlier, Argueta had seen the boy's mother, who he described as "trying to wake up from this nightmare."
CBS Boston was also live on scene after the attack. One neighbor, who witnessed part of the mauling, said he came outside after he heard the boy's mother screaming, "Dogs have my kid! Dogs have my kid!" The lady was hitting the dogs with a stick, he said. "The dogs would not let go of the kid; dragging him around like a ragdoll." A female neighbor, who said she always sees kids playing outside in the neighborhood, described the two pit bulls as "kinda scary and rough."
Local commenters on the WHDH Facebook thread added more details, including one who works at the university. James Donahue wrote, "I go to and work at UMass Lowell. At 6:43 PM we all got text alerts that there was a pit bull attack, then at 8:17 PM that the dog was found and euthanized. This is beyond tragic." Matty Bee wrote, "That explains the helicopters." Obviously, police were very concerned about the at large pit bull and apparently used helicopters to help locate it.
Massachusetts Background
Fatal dog maulings in Massachusetts are very rare. Our 12-year data set from 2005 though 2016 only has one other fatality, the death of 7-year old Conner Lourens in 2006. Back in 2012, humane organizations pushed through a comprehensive animal welfare bill. Deliberately buried in it was a preemption clause prohibiting jurisdictions from adopting or enforcing breed-specific laws. At that time, Lowell, Boston and several other Massachusetts cities lost their pit bull ordinances.
The Lowell pit bull ordinance was based on the City of Boston's 2004 ordinance, the Responsible Pit Bull Ownership ordinance. Lowell's ordinance required all pit bull owners to register their dogs, spay and neuter their dogs, provide proof their landlord, lessor or property owner had knowledge of the dog(s), provide "secure temporary enclosure" when transporting their animals, limited ownership to two per single household, required signage and several other regulatory conditions.
View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Massachusetts Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.Related articles:
10/10/16: Special Report: Level 1 Trauma Center Dog Bite Studies in All U.S. Geographical Regions Report Pit Bulls Highest Prevalence (2009-2016) | View Table of Studies
10/28/09: In Massachusetts, Landlords May Be Liable When Tenant's Pit Bull Attacks
It seems to me that if the child could get into the yard and the dog out they were not properly contained. If it's a liability to have a in ground pool and people have to have it fenced off why are people permitted to have bred to kill dogs and not protect children from coming into contact with them? I hope they are euthanized at least.
This is no different than if you had a neighbor who had pet lions. No one would stand for that and you know if a child climbed over a fence and was killed by them that the lion owner would rightfully be charged. I can already guess that the owner of killer dogs will not be charged because of lack of laws and the child will have been considered a trespasser. This should never happen, go into someone's yard and get killed or mained in a brutal, painful way.
Hand grenades and land mines are illegal.
These "designed to attack and not stop" dogs are worse than hand grenades as they can move about under their own power.
Pits/ bully dogs are hand grenade dogs. And it's centuries of man-made mutations to mature to suddenly attack, it's instinct, that controls the pit bull pin.
Unfortunately you are right "Christy D". In Virginia this would be considered "provocation" There are no statutes that permit charges being brought against the owners of Forever Home Animal Rehabilitation Center in VA Beach either, despite the "in your face" opening under another name. The elderly and children, always the victims.
This fence should have been secured with a lock like swimming pool areas do to keep children safe. I did not see any warning signs either.
The attractive nuisance doctrine applies to the law of torts, in the United States. It states that a landowner may be held liable for injuries to children trespassing on the land if the injury is caused by an object on the land that is likely to attract children. https://definitions.uslegal.com/a/attractive-nuisance/
I also consider this yard as a booby trap. If a person sets up such a trap to protect his/her property, he/she will be liable for any injury or death even to an unwanted intruder such as a burglar. It is illegal to set a booby trap on one's own property to prevent intruders. https://definitions.uslegal.com/b/booby-traps/
A guard/protection dog is there to warn its owner of an intruder and nothing more until it receives a command from a human. HUMANS are responsible for assessing the threat level and HUMANS are responsible for determining the appropriate response. DOGS do not get to decide if someone should get the death penalty for trespassing. Anyone who thinks this is what dogs are supposed to do is a damn lunatic.
Protecting" his owner's property to point of killing a human being should not be part of the instinct or training of any truly safely domesticated dog. Nor should it be a point of pride or grounds for defense for other dog owners to stand on. If this dog could not communicate in a more effective/less lethal way then it is NOT good dog.
The conflicting stories are interesting, because I thought it sounded odd thay the young boy climbed into the fenced area. Were the dogs barking and aggressive beforehand? If so, why would a child willingly enter an area where aggressive dogs were roaming? The idea that he was dragged in makes more sense.
Either way, it's horrible and tragic. Another of the most innocent of us slaughtered by pit bulls.
Lowell is known to be a drug infested city. I wonder if the owner of the 200+lbs of killer animals had them because he's involved in drugs. God only knows.
And to think those disgusting animals were steps from a schoolyard full of children. It's mind blowing, and terrifying to think about as a parent.
I hope this young child's mother can find peace one day. My heart breaks for her.
I would like to think that I would have been brave and crazy enough to jump the fence and try to get these dogs off of him but one, let alone two 100-120 lb. pit bulls…I don't think any of the witnesses were prepared to take those dogs on. No wonder they were standing there not knowing what to do.
So, because these dogs killed this child on "their own" property (like dogs own property!), and at least one witness says that the boy "trespassed" onto these dogs' property, the dogs' owner won't likely face any charges or even an itty bitty little fine.
It's not right. Not at all.
If those were emotional support dogs, then I'm entitled to a therapy cobra. Why? Because I'm entitled, that's why!
SICK, SICK, SICK! Some of the comments on the articles are just sick! Pit advocates keep trying to change our perceptions of what's normal when it comes to owning a dog, as if all dogs are territorial and will kill a person entering their territory. They act as if that's just to be expected…they say the kid got what was coming to him and it's the parents' fault. SICK! JulieWall is exactly right!
I’m beyond horrified that anyone would attempt to blame the parents of this innocent little boy instead of blaming the rightful culprit, this complete idiot owner of two clearly vicious, pit bulls! These dogs had NO BUISNESS living in a neighborhood with children, especially not a block away from an elementary school in an unsafe enclosure that they could jump (even after taking my a bullet) and/or pull a child over!! This is why pit bulls have a bad rap! Because every idiot wants one! All these ghetto scum (who I wouldn’t trust to care for a goldfish) get these powerful, highly unstable and unpredictable dogs with huge prey drives because they think they’ll look tough or help protect their drug stash. Many of these idiots even encourage their dogs to be more aggressive, they are constantly doing this without ANY knowledge of dog training, not even basic dog training, no ability to call them off, absolutely no knowledge of how to harness the power and prey drive this breed is SO WELL KNOWN FOR!! If I hear one more person refer to them as nanny dogs I’m going to lose it!! They were NEVER NANNY DOGS!’ This is a complete crock of shit, Made up by pit bull advocates who don’t give a shit about how many kids are attacked and killed each and every year!! If you MUST own a pit bull, please do some real
Research on this breed! Please learn how to train, contain and raise them, and make them part of your family! Do not EVER trust a breed around your small children that is known to attack unprovoked simply because of instinct! These dogs were bred to be killers!! Parents should be charged with murder if they choose to House a ticking time bomb of a dog with their precious small children and then leave them alone together!! If you really must get one, please don’t keep them outside in a back yard alone or even worse outside on a chain! They will only become more frustrated, aggressive, and unpredictable. This dog is not for a first time owner! Please just don’t get one… and for the love of god STOP BREEDING THEM!!!!
I agree w/ Ka D, if the child was ABLE to get in, it falls on the owners who did not contain their menace to the community pits.
If it's true that they were "emotional support dogs" and the owner was an Iraq war veteran, as I saw reported in one article, perhaps we're seeing here the result of the push for pit bulls as PTSD support dogs. Such a stupid decision! Even people who love pit bulls have to admit they're not known for being CALM dogs (descriptors like "goofball" and "lick you to death" do not denote a mellow dog). My uneducated guess is that someone with PTSD would be best off with a very even-tempered, non-reactive support dog. Sheesh.
The victim should not be nameless. This boy had a name and a life that it appears is being erased completely.
The pit bull owner deserves to be named.
Pit Bull advocates who blame victims as a means to defend inherently dangerous dogs are a disgusting group of people and we see far to much of it.
There were HELICOPTERS searching for the fugitive pit bull??
And they try to say BSL is too expensive to enforce. Uh huh.
Kris Makula, I agree. Although everything about pit bulls bothers me, the cost to the community is rarely spoken of. Just think of all the people that get involved in a pit attack: Police, Animal Control, EMT's, Emergency room nurses and doctors. Victims are often life-flighted to a different hospital because many hospitals are not equipped to deal with the devastating aftermath of a pit mauling. Then there's the time spent by investigators while they try to sort through what happened and find the truth.
Also to consider is the cost to people like me when their livestock is devastated by someone's choice of a pet. We farmers walk a thin line monetarily. One attack by an energetic pit can cut into not only our profit, but our ability to feed our animals through the winter.
One more thing (and I know there are many more costs to consider, but for the sake of brevity I'll stop here), the toll on people's pets is enormous.
These dogs are just too expensive to justify their existence.