Pair won't OK killing dogs in mauling of son

The Commercial Appeal ^ | April 1, 2004 | Tom Bailey Jr

[Sybeck1]

2-year-old dies of Rottweiler injuries

By Tom Bailey Jr. Contact April 1, 2004

MUNFORD, Tenn. - Parents of a toddler killed by the family's Rottweilers have refused to permit local authorities to destroy the dogs.

One or both of two Rottweilers mauled 2-year-old Samuel Jameson Trucks about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Munford Police Chief Jim Harger said.

The boy is the son of James and Erin Trucks. The tragedy happened in the garage, where the dogs were being housed, Harger said.

Tipton County animal control officers seized the black dogs, a female and a male, and put them at the animal shelter just south of Brighton.

The dogs would have received lethal injections by Wednesday, if the Truckses had signed documents allowing it, said Leon Davenport, director of the county's Public Works Department.

Davenport and Harger now plan to petition the General Sessions Court in Covington either late this week or early next week.

"It may have been the heat of the moment," Harger said. "We'll give them a few days . . . and we'll approach them again."

It's a safety issue, Davenport said. The male weighs 90 pounds and the female 70 pounds, Davenport estimated.

"The animals were very aggressive when we picked them up," he said.

They were so threatening that animal control officers did not risk moving them from cages in their truck into the shelter Tuesday night.

Erin Trucks told police she was on the phone Tuesday afternoon "when she missed the child," Harger said.

She went to the door of the attached garage, where she saw the dogs and her mortally wounded son. She put the dogs in the backyard and called 911.

"The child evidently opened the door to the garage and was attacked," Harger said. No cars were in the garage, just a motorcycle and lawn mower.

The boy was able to open the door even though the parents had placed a child-safety device on the knob. The device is supposed to just spin when a child turns it, Harger said. An adult would have to squeeze the device "just right" to open the door, he said.

The device either didn't work or was not installed properly, Harger said, adding, "it was lying on the floor."

The Truckses had three other Rott weilers at home Tuesday, but they were kept in pens in the backyard, Harger said.

The couple have an infant, Carly Grace Trucks, at home.

Davenport said James Trucks might have been breeding and training Rottweilers.

Police will meet with the district attorney after they complete their investigation. The prosecutor will decide whether negligence or other charges are pursued against the Truckses, Harger said, but so far, "I don't see anything they did wrong. It's just a bad thing that happened."

[Sybeck1]

This is my first ever post, so I hope I didn't place it wrong. It is about the owners of the 2 dogs that killed their child refusing to put the dogs down!

[dirtboy]

The couple have an infant, Carly Grace Trucks, at home.

What does it take for these idiots to get a clue?

[Spok]

The dogs need to be killed and the parents sterilized.

[Skooz]

We had some neighbors who own a Rott. He just hangs around the house and plays with their kids (all toddlers) all the time. He isn't vicious at all, but is extremely protective of the house and the kids. But, you see, he was raised right and not just kept in a pen in the backyard.

It's all in how you raise them.

[roylene]

Why is there even a choice? I have worked for animal shelters, and I can tell you any dog involved in a death would be destroyed after determining whether there was an issue with rabies. The owners would have no authority over killer dogs.

[Spruce]

I would have blown these dogs heads clean off.

Welcome to FR.

[blueminnesota]

What Spok said.

[Indie]

Anybody dumb enough to have Rots, especially untrained and ignored ones, with kids...it is THEY who need to be put to sleep w/ a lethal injection.

[HairOfTheDog]

They'll move it out of Breaking News.... because it isn't ...but otherwise.... interesting article.

Tragic situation.

[Mo1]

The device either didn't work or was not installed properly, Harger said, adding, "it was lying on the floor."

Watch ... they'll sue the company that makes this product

[MineralMan]

"Tipton County animal control officers seized the black dogs, a female and a male, and put them at the animal shelter just south of Brighton.

"

Animal Control officers should have simply shot the dogs, rather than take them into custody. This is just stupid.

[I still care]

I think the giveaway was in "tragedy happened in the garage, where the dogs were being housed" part.

Two large potentially dangerous dogs, locked in a garage all day. Talk about a recipe for disaster.

[HairOfTheDog]

There was a lot of time in the article spent on the issue of the door knob thingy rather than the dangerous dogs living beyond it, and I found it odd.

[joesnuffy]

Dogs that arent properly socialized, and taught obedience from puppy hood are useless
as family protection dogs or pets....

You cannot isolate them from their pack (family) and expect good behaviour from them..in fact this is how dogs are made vicious by those useless humans who do this to dogs and then pit them against other dogs..for sport

[Tax-chick]

My nextdoor neighbors have rottweilers. I admit I'm not entirely comfortable about it, but they are very responsible owners. I've seen them working with the dogs every day since they brought home the puppies. They keep the two (male and female siblings) in cages in the garage when they're at work, and in a chain-link dog-run in their fenced back yard when they're home but not outside with them. They even come home from work at lunchtime to take the dogs out.

I'd still rather they had hamsters or fish for a pet ... you only get one mistake with something as big as a rottweiler!

[fortunecookie]

My thoughts exactly. Who knows? The people masquerading as parents may even welcome the sterilizations. Pity the children in their neighborhood though. The judge needs to be sure the neighborhood is well advised on those animals - and their pets!

[johnfrink]

When my wife was a young girl, her family's beloved dog was destroyed by the county after it nipped (drawing no blood) at a teenager who was yanking on its ears. Yet these two idiots think the decision about two dogs who KILLED THEIR CHILD is up to them? What freakin' morons.

[Fiddlstix]

Welcome to FR J
BTTT

[Skooz]

You cannot isolate them from their pack (family) and expect good behaviour from them..in fact this is how dogs are made vicious by those useless humans who do this to dogs and then pit them against other dogs..for sport

Exactly. Dogs who are chained all the time and isolated from the family will be maladjusted and often vicious. The same dogs, if properly raised and socialized, would be wonderful and gentle pets.

I blame the human debris 100%.