Campaign to save dog in Arizona mauling

PHOENIX (AP) — A dog that mauled a 4-year-old Phoenix boy has received thousands of pleas for mercy through a Facebook campaign ahead of a court hearing to decide his fate.

A municipal court judge could rule at a March 25 hearing on whether Mickey, a pit bull that bit Kevin Vicente in the face, should be euthanized. Kevin received injuries that will require, according to doctors, months and possibly years of reconstructive surgeries.

Since the Feb. 20 attack, Mickey has become the object of a Facebook page that has gotten more than 40,000 likes and an online petition to spare his life.

Supporters say the campaign doesn't mean they value the dog's life above the child's.

"This is not Kevin versus Mickey," said attorney John Schill, who is representing the dog in the court petition. "Having Mickey killed is not going to take away Kevin's pain or injuries. The only thing this is going to do is kill a poor, innocent dog."

Pit bulls are viewed by some as a dangerous breed, a reputation their fans dispute.

Guadalupe Villa, who was at the scene of the attack, filed the vicious-animal petition to have the dog put down.

"I just looked at all this as this could have been my son, and I don't want it to be someone else," Villa said.

Schill said he is working pro bono at the request of The Lexus Project, a nonprofit that collects money to legally defend canines in danger of being euthanized. The organization has set up a trust for Mickey that has received more than $5,600, he said.

Schill said the person watching Kevin while his mother was at work should be held responsible.

"But for adults involved, this never would have happened," Schill said. "They're trying to put all the blame on Mickey."

Villa, whose boyfriend's mother was baby-sitting Kevin the day of the attack, said her friend is not to blame.



"She took amazing care of that little boy," said Villa, who claims in the petition that Mickey killed her dog last year.

According to Villa, Kevin picked up a bone lying on the ground near the dog, which was kept on a chain. That's when Mickey suddenly attacked Kevin, Villa said.

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"She took amazing care of that little boy," said Villa, who claims in the petition that Mickey killed her dog last year.

According to Villa, Kevin picked up a bone lying on the ground near the dog, which was kept on a chain. That's when Mickey suddenly attacked Kevin, Villa said.

Villa said she can't understand the Facebook attention and doesn't see Mickey as a victim.

Kevin was hospitalized at Maricopa Medical Center with a broken eye socket, cheek bone and lower jaw bone, according to doctors.

Dr. Salvatore Lettieri, a Mayo Clinic physician and chief of cosmetic surgery at Maricopa Medical Center, said he was able to fix the broken bones and reattach the muscles that allow Kevin to open and close his eye.

"He still can't open his eye. We'll need to fix the tear duct drainage system — that is if he makes tears," Lettieri said.

Kevin left the hospital after a week with a breathing tube in his throat and another tube to feed him through his nose since he can't yet swallow properly, according to Lettieri.

A family friend said a fundraising website has received about $6,000 in donations for Kevin. The Maricopa Health Foundation also established a website that has received 50 donations.

The social media support for Mickey doesn't indicate that people care more about a dog than a child, Harold Herzog, a psychology professor at Western Carolina University who studies animal interaction.

He said it's likely that lovers of pit bulls, specifically, are driving Mickey's Facebook following. Pit bulls have been saddled with a bad rap — fair or not — of being one of the most dangerous dogs. A lot of that reputation is thanks to other mauling cases, Herzog said.

"I don't think this reflects that people like dogs more than they like kids. It's a reflection that ... this is yet another instance of their breed getting blame for something it didn't do," Herzog said. "'Blame the deed, not the breed.'"

Support for Mickey intensified after an employee at the Maricopa County Animal Control and Care Center, which has custody of the dog, wrote on Facebook that Mickey was "going night night."

Melissa Gable, a center spokeswoman, said the employee will face administrative action but declined to elaborate.

Campaign to save dog in Arizona mauling

I love dogs, Pitts included, but there's something wrong when an animal does this to a little boy. I hate to say it but I'd put the dog to sleep. This is not typical behavior and it shouldn't be overlooked. My sympathy for that child and his family. This shouldn't have happened.

Laura

I would have the dog put down too. Any breed that inflicts that injury on a person has a problem.

It may be with the owners, but unfortunately the dog needs to pay the price in that kind of situation.

Two reasons: The adult caring for the boy should have prevented him from picking up the dog's bone. The boy picked up the dog's bone.

Some dogs are very territorial when it comes to bones/food. As they said, blame the deed, not the dog. I have to agree with that in this case.

Should the dog be put to sleep? I don't know. It was the actions of the boy that caused it. It wasn't as if the dog attacked for no reason like I hear about in other cases.

I had an ex friend who had a dog that was a food guarder. He would guard his food while he ate and this probably stems from being placed in a home when he was 4 weeks old because his owners were tired of taking care of a huge litter of dogs that their female dog ignored. She got pregnant because they tied her up outside during her heat, they were obviously not very responsible.

Anyway, this poor dumped puppy (about half the litter didn't make it to much more than a year, mostly from problems from being separated so early from the litter) was taken care of by poorly chosen owners. Every time their toddler boy dug his hands in the dog's food while the dog was eating, the dog would growl. I warned her that he needs to be separated while eating otherwise the behavior would escalate, and she needs to start on changing his behavior. Anyway, he started biting the kid because the kid would not stop digging in his food bowl despite being warned by the dog. The parents ignored the situation until the dog bit the kid badly enough that he needed stitches. Animal control came to collect the dog and they gave it up to the shelter to be placed in a new home, but of course the shelter put the dog down since he bit someone.

It never needed to happen, but idiot owners made it happen. A dog chained up in a yard is never a healthy way to keep a dog, I don't blame the dog for guarding the bone. I wouldn't be surprised if they ignored many warnings from the dog, and the dog being at the end of his leash (hah) finally reacted more strongly. From the photo the dog looks a bit underweight. Dogs that are starving often food guard.

I find it unbelievable that some people are petitioning to keep this dog alive.....That little boy will suffer many, many surgeries and may even lose the sigh of one eye and is on a breathing tube.....

If a human did this to a child, they would be locked up for a very long time....we don't have prisons for dogs.

rockin'robin said:

I find it unbelievable that some people are petitioning to keep this dog alive.....That little boy will suffer many, many surgeries and may even lose the sigh of one eye and is on a breathing tube.....

If a human did this to a child, they would be locked up for a very long time....we don't have prisons for dogs.

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Yes, I agree with you.

Any dogs that mauled the humans = death penalty (euthanization)

And on 2nd thought...the owners of this dog should be held 1/2 liable for the little boy's injuries.....The dog looks severely malnourished....and kept chained up....

The owner(s) of the dog were not good or kind to the dog. Yes, I see the picture that this poor pit bull is or was not taken care of. He was chained up. The only problem I can not see is where is the location where the pit bull attacked Kevin. Was it in the Public Park or at their home or outside of their home? It is too close to the dog. I like dogs a lot but never had pit bull. I don't think Mickey should be put down as the boy is alive but hurt badly. The boy is lucky, but not for Mickey. He need to take away from the owners who don't treat Mickey properly. Sometime if the dog don't change because of the owners, then it would ease Mickey by putting him down. I don't want that but there must be a way to help Mickey not get bad treatment from the owners. I feel sorry for both of them, Kevin and Mickey. The little boy did not know what to expect.

I recently read an article that the kid wandered onto someone else's property, and that's when he went up to the dog and the dog attacked. That's a HUGE mitigating factor in keeping the dog alive. That kid shouldn't have been in the dog's yard, period.

Eater of Worlds said:

I recently read an article that the kid wandered onto someone else's property, and that's when he went up to the dog and the dog attacked. That's a HUGE mitigating factor in keeping the dog alive. That kid shouldn't have been in the dog's yard, period.

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Yes agreed but was the property fenced?

Regardless of the breed. The dog was chained up. Not fenced in

The dog has history of killing another dog has resource guarding tendencies. And was left in the open chained up. No one put up a fence knowing he has issues. Thats not a responsible dog owner. Its the law to have swimming pools fenced so no kid wanders in n accidently drowns. Same idea having a dog like this.

Sorry but the dog needs to be put to sleep. Im tired of people putting to sleep perfect behaved pitties and waste their money training a dog that got issues n will always be a threat to the public. I love my pittie to death but if she ever bites any of my neices I will put her to sleep. A good dog temperament is important key.

Both dog and child are victims