Dogs bite up 5-y-o boy

Afive-year-old boy is battling for life in the St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital after being savagely attacked and mauled by dogs in St D’Acre, near Alexandria, St Ann, on Sunday.

The little boy, Mickele Allen, went to a nearby shop around 1:30 p.m. to purchase sweets, and was attacked by the dogs on his way back. His condition is said to be serious.

“He tried running back but they swarmed him and ripped him up,” the victim’s cousin, Samantha Beaumont, said.

“I don’t even know how to say it. We are shocked; everybody is like at a standstill. I guess the worse part of it is trying to explain to his twin sister when he’s coming back,” Beaumont added.

Head of the St Ann police, Superintendent Carlos Russell, said that it is unclear who owns the dogs.

“Nobody can confirm who owns the dogs; I heard they are mongrels,” Russell said. “We have to continue investigations to see if we can find out if anybody knows who owns these dogs,” he added.

CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE

The incident comes even as the Government seeks to enact the Dogs (Liability for Attacks) Act 2020 which would make owners of dogs in a case such as this civil and criminally responsible.

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, who is piloting the bill, said in Parliament that “There have been, over the years, too many cases of debilitating injury and death caused by attacking dogs”. He said that all dog owners have a responsibility to ensure that their animals do not pose a danger to members of the public.

“Every dog owner, which means in virtually every Jamaican home, is hereby put on notice to ensure their dogs are properly and effectively kept under control and in their private space.