Detroit Dog Owner Charged With Murder In Mauling Of Little Girl
A 9 year old Detroit girl was riding her bike with her brother when a neighbor’s 3 dogs escaped from their yard and mauled the girl to death according to reporting in the Detroit News.
The three dogs are currently in the possession of Detroit Animal Care and they are waiting for orders to euthanize the dogs.
Today the Detroit News is reporting that the owner of the dogs has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and having dangerous animals causing death of the 9 year old girl.
Not only has he been charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and having dangerous animals causing death he has also been given a $2 million cash bond that his attorney called "outrageous."
During his arraignment hearing the owner of the dogs said:
My condolences to the family.
The Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Barbara Lanning was quoted in the article stating:
Those dogs escaped multiple times even a week prior to this incident…He knew that backyard was not secure.
An investigation at the location of the dog owner’s home revealed that the fence that lined the yard was damaged and a garage side door was open and led to the alley where the victim was attacked and killed.
Detroit Animal Control has stated that one of their investigators had been to the man’s house back in March of 2018 due to an anonymous phone call stating that "two dogs loose" in the neighborhood.
Animal Control Officer Carl McClanahan said when he arrived at the home he didn't get an answer and didn't see the two dogs the caller complained about. So Mr. McClanahan said he left a note asking for the dogs' owner to call him back. That owner never called him back and Animal Control has not records of any follow-up calls from neighbors about the dogs.
Family members of the 9 year old girl tell the Detroit News that they had talked to the dogs' owner just the previous week about properly containing the animals in his yard. The also told the News that neighbors said they had filed police reports to complain about the skinny creatures who were often found roaming freely in the neighborhood. The Detroit News was unable to verify if those police reports were ever filed.
The little girl’s aunt and godmother told the Detroit News:
“The neighbors had filed reports before and last week, my brother talked to the owner of the dogs about his fence and the guy just told him the fence was high enough, but it was the sides where you could enter that were falling apart”
This is a tragic horrible story to report and I cannot image what the family is going through.
Do you believe that the owner of the dogs should have been charged with second degree murder and given a $2 million dollar cash bond?
What would justice for the little girl’s death look like to you?