Family devastated after dogs kill boy
Ethan Baron
December 29, 2004

VANCOUVER -- The mother of a three-year-old boy killed in a Maple Ridge dog attack was taken by ambulance to hospital Tuesday.

"The family is devastated," said a close friend of the mother, who refused to give her name. "The mother is having a very difficult time, as are the other family members."

The boy, Cody, died Monday after suffering multiple bites to the face and neck, inflicted by one or more of three Rottweilers in the home, police said.

"Our Serious Crimes section is actively investigating this file,"said Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Bill Dalzell.

The mother was taken from the house to hospital Tuesday afternoon.

"She's just going for help, professional help," Dalzell said, adding that it was premature to say if charges would be laid in relation to the boy's death.

A Rottweiler and collie that lived in the house, and two other Rottweilers, had been kept in the basement, but got out and Cody was attacked, police said. The three Rottweilers were involved in the killing, but it was unclear which caused the trauma to the boy, Dalzell said.

Someone in the house found Cody and 911 was called, but the child was pronounced dead at Ridge-Meadows Hospital. Three other children of the mother are staying with relatives.

Neighbour Missie Hall said her daughter Rykki, 10, often played at the house with one of the children, a 10-year-old boy, and stayed for a sleep-over once.

"Besides the dog, they seemed very kid-oriented," Hall said. "I can't believe I let her spend the night there."

Rykki described the Rottweiler as "vicious," and said she was told never to go near it. "Nobody pets the Rottweiler," Rykki said.

Her young friend would throw dog treats from his bedroom window into the Rottweiler's fenced enclosure next to the house, she said.

On Tuesday a bouquet of flowers lay outside the front door, next to a baby car seat lying on a tattered garbage bag in a box next to a sack of trash. On the window of the front door was a sign saying, "We don't dial 911," with a picture of a handgun. "Guard Dog"signs hung in the yard, one obscured by a coil of rope.

Neighbours said the home was a hub of late-night activity. They said men were sometimes heard fighting inside, and one man said several times men were sleeping in the yard early in the morning.