The boy was standing in the foyer of a friend's home when the attack occurred, his parents said.
Rickey, who weighs 60 pounds, sustained several deep cuts to his face and inside his mouth, as well as a knot on his forehead from where his head struck the floor. He was rushed to an emergency room where 44 stitches were required to close his wounds, his mother said.
The incident happened at the home of Jay and Dawn Sweatt, who live on Remington Road in Flagler County. Now Rickey's parents, Rick and Geri Westfall, are embroiled in a legal fight with the Sweatts to have Bacchus declared dangerous.
If that designation is ordered, it would mean Bacchus must be muzzled whenever he's out of the house or around children. The Sweatts have four children, three of them minors who live with them, so the muzzle would have to be worn constantly if Bacchus is deemed dangerous, said Vincent Lyon, the Sweatts' attorney.
The first quasi-judicial hearing in front of a hearing officer took place this week at the Flagler Humane Society office in Palm Coast. A second hearing, which will include statements from Rickey, is scheduled for Wednesday. The hearing process is required to have a dog classified as dangerous under Florida law. The hearing officer will listen to testimony from both sides and recommendations from humane society officials, and then make a recommendation to the Flagler County Commission.
The hearing officer decided to continue the case to Wednesday so he could hear what happened directly from Rickey, said Flagler County spokeswoman Julie Murphy.
Each party in the case may appear in person or be represented by counsel and present witnesses and evidence. Rickey's mother, Geri Westfall, shared her evidence with The News-Journal.
The Sweatts' attorney said Rickey entered the family's home unannounced and without being let inside by the homeowners or one of their children. Bacchus, was "doing what any other dog would do in defending its home," Lyon told The News-Journal. The Labrador bit Rickey and then went back into its crate, he said.
Rickey's parents tell a different story.
The afternoon after the incident, Westfall said Dawn Sweatt sent her a text message apologizing for the dog attack, saying she would want any dog killed if it attacked one of her children, according to copies of text messages provided to the newspaper by Westfall.
"I'm so sorry that this happened and I understand completely if you want us to turn the dog in," the message reads. "I would probably shoot somebody's dog for doing that to my son. I can't apologize enough."
Westfall said the Sweatts have since changed their stance; they're now blaming the dog bite on Rickey.
"Something needs to be done," said Westfall, who is divorced from Rickey's father and no longer lives in the same neighborhood as the Sweatts. "My son will never go there. When he's with his father, he will never let him ride his bike down that road anymore. We're not doing this for us. We don't want another incident like this to happen to someone else's child."
After the attack, Rickey was in the hospital for about five hours, his mother said. He had to wait for a plastic surgeon to stitch his cuts.
Westfall said her son was close friends with one of the Sweatts' children. She said he rode his bicycle to the Sweatts' house the morning of July 5 only to find out his friend was asleep. Rickey returned an hour later and told his mom he was let into the house by one of the kids. According to his mother, Rickey then greeted Bacchus and a second or so later, the dog attacked him.
But the Sweatts' attorney said the boy was told the first time he came over that someone would call him and let him know when to come over. He rode over without getting a call and entered the house on his own.
Contacted by phone Thursday, Dawn Sweatt said her attorney would handle all questions.
Lyon said the Sweatts' eldest daughter was once bitten on the face by a dog when she wandered onto someone else's property. She was about 10 years old at the time.
"They've been through this from the other side," Lyon said of the Sweatts.
This also isn't the first time one of the Westfalls' children has been bitten by a dog. Their daughter, Amanda, suffered cuts on her face from a Labrador's bite when she was younger.
"I had to receive stitches along my eyebrows, eyelids, forehead and temples. I am still to this day very afraid of needles and have become much more timid and cautious around animals," Amanda said. "My brother has always loved animals and I feared this experience would leave him scarred for life not only physically but mentally as well."
Lyon said his clients have an electric fence, but if Bacchus is declared dangerous, the family would be required to build a fence to enclose the animal. Other legally imposed requirements would include the dog's owners having to put notices on their property. Also, if the family moves to another county or city, they must file paperwork to declare the dog dangerous. Another incident involving the dog, whether it is a bite or even an aggressive bark, could potentially lead to the dog being put down, he said.
The Sweatts own two dogs. The other is a Rottweiler.
If the hearing officer recommends that Bacchus be declared dangerous, and if that recommendation is upheld by county commissioners, the dog's owners will appeal and the case would go before a circuit court judge, said Lyon.
The attorney representing the Flagler Humane Society, Sean Moylan, declined to give a statement because the case remains active, said Murphy.
It wasn't the first time a neighbor has felt threatened by Bacchus. On July 20, 2014, Russell Schaeffer was riding bikes with his wife when he fired his gun at the dog because it was charging him, Flagler County sheriff's deputies said.
"The dogs (sic) hair was standing up on his back according to Jay (Sweatt) and (he) stated that he understands why Russell would feel threatened," according to dispatch records from the Sheriff's Office.
Schaeffer, a former law enforcement officer who has a concealed-weapons permit, fired one shot at the dog and missed "by a lot," but the animal retreated, records show. He told the Sheriff's Office it was meant to be a warning shot.
Sweatt at the time promised he would fix his electric fence so that "this incident does not occur again," according to the Sheriff's Office. No crime occurred so no charge was filed, deputies said.
The more recent incident involving Bacchus still haunts Westfall. She recalls seeing her son with his eye swollen shut and having a severely swollen cheek and mouth. He had to take antibiotics because of the bite injuries and the side effects included nausea and vomiting. It was hard for her son to vomit with a swollen mouth, she said.
"I honestly can't understand how parents of four kids would be OK with this happening to (their) child and the dog not being declared dangerous," Westfall said. "It makes no sense to me. If my dog did this I would be sad to see him go, but that's a child's face. The dog would be put down without questions."
(News Journal Online - Aug 14, 2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment