NORTH CAROLINA -- Doris Fletcher has no explanation for why her 10-year-old pit bull mix Roxanna — a good-natured dog she had cared for since she was a puppy — so savagely attacked her great-grandson.
It happened out of the blue on an otherwise normal weekday morning. Fletcher had been holding 10-month-old Isaac inside her home and put him on the floor for a moment to pick up something, she said Wednesday.
When she turned her back, Roxanna attacked.
In a harrowing few moments, Fletcher had to fight the dog for the baby, and she said she has no doubt Roxanna would have killed the boy if she had not managed to finally pull him free.
“I just kept kicking,” Fletcher said. “By the time I got the baby away, I was covered in blood.”
The child suffered multiple bite wounds across his body but is recovering well at Mission Hospital, Fletcher said. He underwent surgery to repair a wound to his head, she said.
Fletcher voluntarily turned over Roxanna to Henderson County animal control, and the dog was euthanized Tuesday afternoon, just hours after the attack.
The animal appeared to be up-to-date on its shots, but it will be tested for rabies as a precaution, officials said.
The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office turned over the findings of its investigation Wednesday to the District Attorney’s Office to review whether charges are warranted, sheriff’s Capt. Jerry Rice said.
Isaac’s parents could not be reached for this article. Fletcher said they had given no media interviews.
Fletcher, a retired accountant, was baby-sitting Isaac when the attack occurred. He had been crying a little, and maybe that upset the dog, she said.
“The baby had been on the floor before. I just don’t know what happened. She was very friendly. She had never given any indication of being aggressive. She would bark if somebody came in the yard, but that was about it,” Fletcher said.
Roxanna was an inside dog, a pampered pet who was obedient and well-mannered. After the attack, Fletcher ordered her go outside, and Roxanna immediately obeyed.
A self-described animal lover, Fletcher had owned the dog since it was a few months old, when she found it wandering beside the road.
She also owns another female pit bull, a 6-year-old named Ouch, that she acquired from an animal rescue group, along with a male mixed-breed dog named Casey.
After what happened Tuesday, Fletcher said she is considering turning Ouch over to animal control even though the dog has never shown aggression.
“She’s a beautiful dog, but I’m thinking about getting rid of her,” she said. “I’m strongly considering it.”
It still pains her to think about Roxanna being euthanized after having her so long.
“It hurt me,” Fletcher said. “It broke my heart to have to put her down, but my grandson comes first. I will never have another dog in my house. My heart is still beating out of my chest.”
(Asheville Citizen-Times - March 7, 2012)
