Posted on 01/24/2002 10:32:35 PM PST by BigBlueJon
Eleven-year-old Michael Foley has always been an animal lover, his mother says.
He and his family have two horses and two cats. He has always been fond of his neighbor's Great Danes.
Which explains why Denise Clemente Foley wasn't concerned Wednesday afternoon when her son walked next door to feed the four dogs for the neighbor, who was out of town.
Then Foley heard her son's screams.
"(The neighbor) promised to bring Michael back a T-shirt or a souvenir if he would feed the dogs," Foley said as her son underwent emergency surgery at University Medical Center about an hour after he was savagely attacked by the animals. "The dogs always loved him. Just not today."
Michael Foley was in serious condition this morning as a result of the attack, which happened about 3:30 p.m. in a rural neighborhood off U.S. 95 near the turnoff to Mount Charleston.
The dogs are believed to be owned by Dail Kohler, the family and neighbors said. Kohler couldn't be reached for comment.
Karen Hennessy, a neighbor who lives across the street from the Foleys, said she became horrified when she saw the boy as he was placed in a medical evacuation helicopter.
"He had what looked like a 4-inch laceration on the right side of his skull and a puncture wound in the forehead," said Hennessy, who lives in the 8600 block of Rocky Avenue near Horse Drive and U.S. 95. "His whole face was covered in blood."
The boy, UMC spokesman Rick Plummer said, had "too many wounds to count."
Michael was still unconscious this morning but had been taken off a ventilator and was breathing on his own, Plummer said.
"We're in a wait-and-see mode right now, but it looks like he will be OK," Plummer said.
The boy's father, Chuck Foley, who ran from his home in response to his son's screams, managed to scare off the animals, Las Vegas Animal Control officials said.
The four dogs were taken to Lied Animal Shelter, where they will be held while animal control officials investigate the attack, Sgt. John Fudenberg, a Las Vegas City Marshal and a spokesman for animal control, said.
A 9 a.m. meeting was scheduled for this morning to discuss the dogs' fate, a spokeswoman for animal control said.
Neighbors said the woman who owns the dogs has seven Great Danes, though animal control officials found only four at her home.
The boy had known the 18-month-old dogs, which are at least 100 pounds apiece, since they were puppies.
"The dogs are all huge, but they were never a problem before this," Denise Foley said.
The boy often fed the dogs, each about 3 feet tall, Hennessy said.
"They knew his scent, and he was always over there, and that's why this is such a freak thing," Hennessy said. "I used to take my 5-year-old son over to play with the dogs, but they just got too big. They could easily knock over an adult."
The Great Danes' owner moved her pets to her back yard after the animals showed the ability to jump a 4-foot fence in the front yard, Hennessy said.
Two of the dogs last summer cleared the front-yard fence and killed a 14-year-old dachshund in a neighbor's yard, according to the dachshund's owner, Deneb Ranciato.
"My dog was on its last legs and tied to a rope when they mauled it," Ranciato said. "We had to put it to sleep because of the injuries.
"Ever since that happened my mother doesn't go for her nightly walks anymore because she's afraid of the dogs."
Hennessy said in November two of the Great Danes jumped the front-yard fence and attacked her Rottweiler.
"My father was walking my dogs, and the Great Danes bit my Rottweiler down to the bone," Hennessy said. "It's strange that they act this way, because Great Danes don't usually have this kind of personality, they're known as gentle giants."
Many of the residents who live in the ranch-style homes on the dirt street near the Las Vegas city limits own animals.
"I've never questioned Michael going over to feed the dogs," Hennessy said. "Keeping animals is the reason people live out here."
Sue Mahany, secretary of the Great Dane Club of America, said this morning she was shocked and surprised by news of the attacks. Great Danes earned the "gentle giant" nickname for their sweet dispositions and good-natured character, Mahany said.
"It's extremely unusual behavior for a Great Dane to bite anyone, especially a person the dog already knows," said Mahany in an interview from her Illinois home. "But we are talking about animals, and when dogs are in a group like that, it can be a pack mentality."
This is a real shame. I have a fast rule when it comes to kids and animals. No kid is safe around an animal without adult supervision. When it comes to violent dogs, nobody is safe 100% of the time. Sooner or later it will happen.
I always love the line, "It looks like he'll be alright." Yep, he'll have six inch scars in his scap and a lifelong indentation in his forehead, not to mention the mental scars that will haunt him forever. Yep he's going to be just fine.
FMCDH
I'm telling you, there's more to this story. There has to be. I've known too many GDanes, and none of them would be capable of something like this. The owner has some culpability obviously, since GDanes are labor-intensive. You don't go away for an extended period of time and leave seven <!> of them in the trust of somebody else. This just sounds fishy.
I used to live on a farm as a kid. Although I wasn't being mean to these animals, I have been bitten by dogs and run over by horses. I have been bucked off and knocked unconcious by horses. Folks, animals do what they want when they want, for reasons only they know. Don't kid yourself and expose your children to harm.
Be safe rather than sorry.
Great Danes are usually placid, goodnatured dogs. I wonder if this was an example of a "pack mentality" at work : 1 dog is a pet, 2 dogs are 2 pets, 3 dogs are a wolf pack. The dominance hierarchy starts kicking in, and you see more wolflike behaviour.
A more pleasant story about dachshunds and great danes : Some years back, a lady dane in heat was sleeping in her front yard when a standard dachshund decided to take advantage of her. Some weeks later, she gave birth to a litter of 'great dachshunds'. The weiner/dane combos wound up virtually identical to a pure dane, but 3" shorter in the leg, and with slightly floppier ears. I've always wondered if , personality and activity wise, they took after their father or their mother. Imagine a dog as big as a dane , but as hyperactive, noisy, aggressive, and obnoxious as a dachsie. The horror, the horror...
The best dog I ever owned was a Great Dane. I still mourn for him. He would NEVER hurt anybody. I own a St. Bernard now. She's the sweetest dog I ever saw in my life. That's why I was surprised one time when I looked up dog bites and found Danes and St. Bernards to be in the top ten list of fatal attacks. Here's the list:
1. Pit Bull
2. Rottweiler
3. German Shepherd
4. Siberian Husky
5. Alaskan Malamute
6. Doberman Pinscher
7. Chow Chow
8. Great Dane
9. Saint Bernard
10. Akita
Unneutered males are the worst offenders.
Similarly, the owners of large vicious dogs have a responsibility to secure their beasts.
Perhaps the large number of dogs together made them hostile - pack behavior.
We went to pick up our little Sheltie at a friend's house, after a vacation. No one was home, so I picked my way through the back yard. My route included an area where tractor parts and other things were stored. Our Sheltie spotted me from a distance as an intruder from a distance and barked at me. She rushed at me barking. Two Rhodesian ridgebacks (lion hounds), a lab, and an Aussie cattle dog surrounded me. I knew them all by name, so I called out their names. They were friendly and gentle, but I can imagine one of them getting the whole pack in a biting mood.
I can't imagine someone keeping large animals known for attacking without provocation.
I suspect these will be a case where the dogs were not socialized or did not receive proper obedience training. And, I suspect we will find that this was a case where "play" got out of hand. These were puppies (yes, a one year dane is still a pup). One should never "play" rough with dogs this size. It teaches them that it is OK and rough play with a dane can be very serious indeed. A nip by a small dog is one thing, a nip by a dane is real trouble. I would never allow an unsupervised child around my dogs. In fact, there are only two adults besides myself and my wife who are allowed unsupervised access. Both have known my dogs since they were a few months old and both have been around dogs all their lives. I know I can trust them not to do something stupid.
BTW, my dane is my small dog. My english mastiff outweighs him by a good fifty pounds.
My neighbors own a Siberian Husky and I've fed it table scraps over the years because our dog is fat enough. The Husky likes me and the neighbors occasionally ask me to feed him while they're gone. I have no problems with Ivan but I would never allow my children to go feed him by themselves. He's a little unstable and is never walked or socialized. They protect their little grandchildren from him.
I do have problems with the thought of this boy's parents, presumably knowing those dogs had killed before, not escorting him to feed the dogs.
Of course, the real problem is the owner, knowing that the dogs could be vicious.
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