-- THAT'S what we need --
-- these trips used to be fun -- one bad apple spoiling the bunch --
e
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Dog mauls girl's face
5-year-old has surgery to restore part of her lip after PETCO customer's rottweiler attacked her in store
BY ANN GIVENS
STAFF WRITER
January 27, 2006
Diane Christian knows how her daughter loves dogs. So when she saw little Danielle patting a friendly looking rottweiler in PETCO Monday afternoon, she thought nothing of it.
Then she heard a horrible sound - a growl and the snapping of teeth - and looked down to see 5-year-old Danielle's face covered in blood.
"It was very traumatic," said Christian, 41, of Bay Shore. "I picked her up and started running around, looking for someone to help. There was a lot of blood."
After a four-hour surgery to reattach her upper lip, Danielle is still recovering at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore. And Christian said more surgeries lie ahead.
"My child will never look the same because of this," she said.
The rottweiler was not on sale at the Bay Shore PETCO; it belonged to a shopper. PETCO has a policy of inviting animals to shop with their owners, a company spokesman said.
But Christian said letting pets interact with customers invites trouble. She's retained a lawyer, Kenneth Mollins of Melville, and plans to take legal action against the dog's owner and/or PETCO, possibly as early as today.
"The store invites consumers in with pets; they encourage interaction. That's a prescription for problems," Mollins said, adding that the dog's caretaker should have known that it was dangerous. The man who took the rottweiler to PETCO was not its owner, Mollins said. The owner is Lori Koch, of Merrick, he said.
Koch could not be reached for comment yesterday, and Mollins said he hasn't been able to reach her since the incident.
Hempstead Town spokesman Mike Deery said the owner took the dog to the town's animal shelter after the incident, and asked that it be euthanized. Deery said the shelter plans to put the dog down within about a week, although there has been no court order mandating the dog be destroyed.
PETCO spokesman Don Cowan said the store allows pets to accompany their owners shopping because it's fun, and they haven't had enough serious incidents over the years to discourage that policy. He said he doesn't know the details of the Bay Shore incident, but PETCO has launched an investigation.
In general, however, he said PETCO expects pet owners to take responsibility for their pets. "It's up to the pet parents to decide whether their pet is docile enough to come into the store."
For Christian, what is especially sad is that her daughter, who loves animals and has a dog and three cats herself, suddenly is afraid of them. "She keeps saying, 'Mommy, he was so cute. Why did he bite at me?'" Christian said.
-- these trips used to be fun -- one bad apple spoiling the bunch --
e
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dog mauls girl's face
5-year-old has surgery to restore part of her lip after PETCO customer's rottweiler attacked her in store
BY ANN GIVENS
STAFF WRITER
January 27, 2006
Diane Christian knows how her daughter loves dogs. So when she saw little Danielle patting a friendly looking rottweiler in PETCO Monday afternoon, she thought nothing of it.
Then she heard a horrible sound - a growl and the snapping of teeth - and looked down to see 5-year-old Danielle's face covered in blood.
"It was very traumatic," said Christian, 41, of Bay Shore. "I picked her up and started running around, looking for someone to help. There was a lot of blood."
After a four-hour surgery to reattach her upper lip, Danielle is still recovering at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore. And Christian said more surgeries lie ahead.
"My child will never look the same because of this," she said.
The rottweiler was not on sale at the Bay Shore PETCO; it belonged to a shopper. PETCO has a policy of inviting animals to shop with their owners, a company spokesman said.
But Christian said letting pets interact with customers invites trouble. She's retained a lawyer, Kenneth Mollins of Melville, and plans to take legal action against the dog's owner and/or PETCO, possibly as early as today.
"The store invites consumers in with pets; they encourage interaction. That's a prescription for problems," Mollins said, adding that the dog's caretaker should have known that it was dangerous. The man who took the rottweiler to PETCO was not its owner, Mollins said. The owner is Lori Koch, of Merrick, he said.
Koch could not be reached for comment yesterday, and Mollins said he hasn't been able to reach her since the incident.
Hempstead Town spokesman Mike Deery said the owner took the dog to the town's animal shelter after the incident, and asked that it be euthanized. Deery said the shelter plans to put the dog down within about a week, although there has been no court order mandating the dog be destroyed.
PETCO spokesman Don Cowan said the store allows pets to accompany their owners shopping because it's fun, and they haven't had enough serious incidents over the years to discourage that policy. He said he doesn't know the details of the Bay Shore incident, but PETCO has launched an investigation.
In general, however, he said PETCO expects pet owners to take responsibility for their pets. "It's up to the pet parents to decide whether their pet is docile enough to come into the store."
For Christian, what is especially sad is that her daughter, who loves animals and has a dog and three cats herself, suddenly is afraid of them. "She keeps saying, 'Mommy, he was so cute. Why did he bite at me?'" Christian said.
