The town animal control officer’s report on the June 4 attack, released several days after it happened, said the male pit bull attacked Hunter’s throat, but the report didn’t specify the extent of the injuries.
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| Hunter Bragg |
The medical examiner’s report, however, dated June 6, details a brutal mauling, with injuries to the head, face and neck, including a perforated larynx and trachea, sharp- force injuries to the esophagus, hemorrhages in the neck and mouth, and “multiple” wounds to the scalp, face, left shoulder and armpit. It says the attack was reported on 911 at 5:13 p.m. and Hunter was pronounced dead at 5:33 p.m.
The state Medical Examiner’s Office mailed the report to the Morning Sentinel after a public records request and it was received Wednesday.
The report also provides a brief and tragic narrative not earlier detailed by law enforcement:
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| A woman enters the home at 207 Moody's Mills Road in Corinna on Monday where police are investigating the circumstances of a dog attack that left a 7-year-old dead at the home. Staff photo by David Leaming |
Hunter’s father, Jason Bragg, 35, who lived in a camper on the 207 Moody’s Mill Road property, carried his son inside after the attack, called 911 and started CPR. When Sgt. Andrew Whitehouse of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office arrived, Bragg was still attempting to revive his son.
The boy had been playing with two other children in the yard at the time of the attack.
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| This is believed to be the attacking pit bull |
The dog was believed to be chained when it attacked the boy, Charles Gould, Corinna’s animal control officer, said shortly after the attack. The animal was euthanized after the attack at Merchant’s request.
The report says that Hunter was visiting his father, who lived on the property owned by Gary Merchant, the owner of the dog. Merchant had been caring for the dog, which belonged to his daughter in Vermont and wasn’t registered with the town.
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| Photo: David Learning, Morning Sentinel |
Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton said on June 28 that police were still compiling state agency reports on the attack, and no update has been available since then.
State animal welfare officials at the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry were investigating whether the pit bull, Dakota, had attacked other dogs before being given to Merchant by his daughter, according to Gould.
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| According to Dogsbite.org, the family was regularly breeding pit bulls and selling the puppies online. This photo is from April 2016. |
Merchant had seven other dogs on the property that were all registered, according to Corinna Town Manager Serena Bemis-Goodall.
Gould said in June that he had never dealt with the dog before the fatal attack.
(Press Herald - Aug 24, 2016)
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