Toddler Mauled By 4 Dogs; Family Surprised
Lena Walker / one of the dogs
911 call: The neighbor sounds more upset than the baby's family seems to be http://cbsdallas.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/7820-eastland-ave-tarrant-county.wav
Patricia Walker (2): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001202859566&sk=wall
and https://www.facebook.com/tweetybug07?sk=wall
Chance Walker: https://www.facebook.com/chanceneace519?sk=wall
Lena Walker: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000151819156&sk=wall
Lena Walker / one of the dogs
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/Dogs-That-Mauled-Child-To-Be-Put-Down-013112Monday afternoon, 18-month-old Chance Walker, Jr., was severely bitten when he crawled through a doggie door at his family's home and into the back yard where four Boxer dogs attacked him.
The accident happened in the about 4 p.m. behind the family's home in the 7800 block of Eastland Ave., near Lake Worth. That's in unincorporated Tarrant County, but the City of Fort Worth has custody of the animals.
A neighbor called 911 yesterday after hearing a woman scream. The toddler's parents were sleeping inside the home when the accident happened. According to their Facebook pages, they both work at Dunkin Donuts.
"When I got to the back yard, I saw the grandfather and he had the baby in his arms," said neighbor Linda Kucker. "His ear was bit almost completely off. It was hanging by a little piece of skin in the back."
Four generations of the Walker family live on the street, and emotions ran high in the aftermath of the tragic accident. At one point, the child's great-grandfather crossed the street where television crews were set up and threatened reporters and photographers.
Then the boy's grandmother flew into a rage when a neighbor made a remark about the accident, and allegedly assaulted the woman in front of deputies and FOX 4's camera.
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/01/tarrant-county-toddler-listed.htmlThe neighbor made a remark about the incidents, Grisham said, and her words were not well received. The two women exchanged obscenities and Walker grasped the other woman's throat, authorities said.
Walker, 45, briefly resisted arrest but was eventually taken into custody on an assault charge, Grisham said.
The neighbor refused treatment at the scene but later called an ambulance and was taken to a hospital.
http://www.ktul.com/story/16650400/ft-worth-toddler-mauled-dogs-put-downNeighbors told authorities this wasn't the dogs' first attack and police have previously responded.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's department confirmed Tuesday that eight separate calls about dangerous dogs in the neighborhood were made in the last two years.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/01/3704670/toddler-injured-in-dog-attack.htmlAn 18-month-old boy attacked by four dogs at his grandparents' home as his parents slept will be placed in a foster home once he is released from the hospital, officials said Wednesday.
Custody of Chance Walker Jr. was transferred to Child Protective Services on Wednesday afternoon after a judge signed the order, CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said.
Chance was recovering at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth after suffering numerous bite wounds to his ears and face during the Monday afternoon attack.
"When he's released, he'll go to a foster home, unless a suitable relative can be found," Gonzales said in an email.
[...]
Seven dogs were in the yard but four mixed-breed boxers were determined to have been involved in the attack and were euthanized, a city official said Tuesday night.
On Tuesday, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department released a recording of the 911 call made by neighbor Elaine Kucker.
As Chance screams nearby, Kucker shouts that the dogs had ripped holes in the boy's face.
"His ears are chewed up," Kucker tells the 911 dispatcher. "Please hurry."
[...]
Chance's parents were asleep, but the mother was awakened by the commotion and "got between the child and the dogs, saving the child from further injury," said Terry Grisham, a sheriff's spokesman.
[...]
The owner, who was not identified, voluntarily gave the dogs to the city, according to a news release.
Because the injuries are so serious and the victim so young, officials decided to euthanize the animals, the news release stated. Also, by law, any dog in a biting incident must be quarantined for at least 10 days to be watched for signs of rabies.
Animal control officials decided to "take the utmost precaution" and test the dogs for rabies immediately. That requires the animals to be dead.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/01/3705462/toddler-mauled-by-dogs-was-ignored.htmlThe parents of an 18-month-old boy who was mauled by his grandparents' dogs this week routinely sleep through the day while the toddler goes unsupervised, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday by a Child Protective Services investigator.
Chance Wayne Walker, 25, and Patricia Walker, 23, have a history of methamphetamine use and knew that the dogs were aggressive but did not take adequate safety measures, according to the affidavit.
The state agency was granted temporary custody of Chance Walker Jr., who remains in Cook Children's Medical Center. He was bitten numerous times and will likely lose his left ear, a physician told the CPS investigator.
[...]
According to the investigator's report, Chance Walker is unemployed, and Patricia Walker has a job. The couple and their child usually live with Patricia Walker's mother, but about two weeks ago, an 18-year-old who also lives there developed scabies, and a doctor told them that the toddler should not stay there.
They moved into the elder Walkers' house in the 7800 block of Eastland Avenue in unincorporated Tarrant County near Lakeside. Other relatives live next door.
At the hospital Monday evening, Patricia Walker told a CPS investigator that she and her husband were asleep that afternoon when she was awakened by "aggressive barking," went to the back door and saw four dogs on top of her son. She pulled the dogs off her son.
She said that her son must have climbed out of the playpen where she left him, climbed over a gate blocking access to the back door and then crawled through a pet door to go outside, which he had done in the past, the affidavit stated.
The father gave essentially the same account to the CPS investigator but ended the conversation, saying he and his wife had not eaten all day.
Both were questioned about drug use. Patricia Walker said she hadn't used meth since March, but a drug test administered Monday evening showed the presence of methamphetamine and amphetamines, according to the affidavit. Her husband, who stated he had smoked meth off and on since he was 12, refused to submit to a drug test.
A nurse told the CPS investigator that the couple left for lunch Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and that no one stayed with the child. The nurse also noted that they were not changing his diapers while in the room.
In 2010, CPS investigated Chance and Patricia Walker starting in September. Both tested positive for methamphetamine and there was "reason to believe" that the parents and his mother, Lena Walker, 45, physically abused the infant. They voluntarily placed Chance Jr. with Patricia Walker's mother and completed outpatient drug treatment. However, they twice tested positive for meth use later, the affidavit states.
"CPS worked with the parents for several months to ensure that the domestic violence and substance abuse allegations were addressed," Gonzales said.
That case was closed in June 2011, Gonzales said.
[...]
According to the affidavit, a Tarrant County sheriff's deputy told the CPS official that the department had had several reports of dangerous dogs at the home, including a complaint that a neighbor child was bitten in September 2010. The dog was quarantined for the required time and returned.
"He states that the Walkers felt it was the child's fault because they should know not to run from dogs," the affidavit states.
An older relative who lives next door to the Walkers showed the investigator a "large pen area with an approximate 8 foot fence surrounding it and advised this is Chance's area where he is able to play in the mud." In her findings, the investigator noted that the penned area indicates that the family realizes Chance needed a place to play that the dogs could not get to.
A Tarrant County sheriff's deputy noted that when Lena Walker arrived home and was told that her grandson had been mauled, her first response was to ask why her dogs were being taken away, the affidavit stated.
911 call: The neighbor sounds more upset than the baby's family seems to be http://cbsdallas.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/7820-eastland-ave-tarrant-county.wav
Patricia Walker (2): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001202859566&sk=wall
and https://www.facebook.com/tweetybug07?sk=wall
Chance Walker: https://www.facebook.com/chanceneace519?sk=wall
Lena Walker: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000151819156&sk=wall