Dog Police attacks are not uncommon on Kaua‘i, and a child is usually the victim, according to Kaua‘i Department records. The most notable recent incident of a dog attacking, and killing, a child is the case of the late Trusten
Dog Police attacks are not uncommon on Kaua‘i, and a child is usually the victim, according to Kaua‘i Department records.
The most notable recent incident of a dog attacking, and killing, a child is the case of the late Trusten Heart Liddle.
Trusten – the son of Raven and Damon “Love” Liddle of Moloa‘a – was only 17 months old when he was killed by a basset hound/shepherd mix near his home in February, 2004.
According to the Liddle family lawyer, Susan Marshall, the dog was kept on a 22-foot-long chain, and “the chain was long enough to allow the dog to create its own ‘territory’ on the Liddle property.”
The boy was mauled by the most dangerous of dogs, regardless of breed: an unneutered male on a chain, said Dr. Rebecca “Becky” Rhoades, executive director of the Kaua‘i Humane Society.
According to Rhoades, a veterinarian, any breed of dog that spends his or her life on a chain and is not neutered can be a danger.
“There really isn’t ever a bad dog,” Rhoades said. “It’s just a dog that’s not socialized, not played with, not handled.”
Rhoades said dogs on chains become fiercely territorial of their small world where they patrol. And when they bark and people stay away, they become more confident that their world is theirs. When someone enters that world, Rhoades said, there is a good chance they’ll be bit.
“They go nuts on that chain,” she said.
However, with 40 percent of Kaua‘i households having a dog as a member of the family, the vast majority of dogs are well-behaved and members of the family, Rhoades added.
And, therefore, it’s usually a member of the family that gets bit.
Rhoades said that dogs usually bite out of fear, that someone is going to take away their food, water or toys, or threaten their physical body.
“The majority of dog bites occur within the family,” she said, when roughhousing or taking away an item can be seen as an aggressive act.
Dog bites outside the family can get an owner cited or even sent to jail.
The owner of the mixed-breed dog that attacked Liddle, Buenaventura Ednilao, is facing a dangerous-dog-prohibition charge, a petty misdemeanor which carries a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. He has pleaded not guilty, and is awaiting trial in Hanalei District Court. A hearing on the status of the trial is scheduled for next week.
