6-year-old boy mauled to death by dog in Doña Ana County
UPDATE, Nov. 24: In two 911 calls obtained by ABC-7, a Doña Ana County grandfather called for emergency help after finding his grandson severely wounded on Monday morning.
"I’m thinking a dog attacked him," the man told the 911 operator.
The operator instructed the grandfather to cover the child's wounds to stop the bleeding as much as possible.
“For right now, it is important that your grandson know that everything’s okay," the operator told the boy's grandson. "He’s going to be conscious... He can still hear you, but we need you guys to be calm for him."
For eight agonizing minutes, the grandfather calmed his young grandson while he waited for first responders.
“That’s it, buddy," he is heard repeating over and over again. "Come on. Just keep breathing. Come on, buddy. That’s it. You’re going to be fine. Yeah. Okay.”
ORIGINAL REPORT, Nov. 23: MESILLA PARK, New Mexico — A 6-year-old boy is dead after he was mauled by at least one dog on his family’s property on Monday.
Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart on Tuesday said the death “is tragic all the way around.”
Deputies were called to a house in a quiet Mesilla Park neighborhood after reports that a small child had been mauled by a dog. When they arrived they found the boy with severe injuries to his upper body. He was taken by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in El Paso, where he died.
An investigation is ongoing. Stewart said the boy somehow managed to get his way into the dogs’ enclosure that sits in the backyard.
“The word accident comes to mind. There isn’t necessarily a person or persons to blame over this,” Stewart said.
Doña Ana County Animal Control said six dogs were euthanized from that property on Tuesday morning. It is unclear whether all six dogs had attacked the boy.
Frank Bryce, the president of the Humane Society of Southern New Mexico, has years of experience fostering dogs at his home. He says you must be careful with how you keep them kenneled to avoid packs.
“Pack dogs are just like pack people, like a mob, and they are really very dangerous in my opinion,” Bryce explained.
He said pack dogs are “more dangerous than a loaded gun” because you have no control over them. At any moment, something may set a dog off and it can snap, especially around little kids.
“Little kids got no sense of danger in some issues. They’ll put their hand out to touch the dog… they can snap at them,” Bryce said.
Bryce keeps all his dogs in separate cages to avoid any packs. He also places locks on the doors so nobody can wander in.
