Fit to be tied

By BRANDY MURRAY/Staff Writer
www.middlesborodailynews.com

PINEVILLE— Holli Frericks was terrified when her son was mauled by a neighbor’s dog on Thursday.

But she is fit to be tied now that she has discovered that the dog will not be euthanized.

Frericks said she was inside doing dishes when she heard her five-year-old son, Cameron Hughett, scream through the window. When she ran outside, she found a bloody scene: Cameron was still being attacked by Pudgy, an 11-year-old male Chow Chow. The dog’s owner, Joe Miracle — Frericks’ neighbor and landlord — was pulling Cameron away from the dog while Cameron’s seven-year-old brother was beating Pudgy away from Cameron.

Cameron sustained seven bite marks in total: Three on his left arm, one on his hip, and four on his buttocks and legs. The dog ripped his clothing off of him.

“He has been such a trooper,” Frericks said of Cameron, and for a moment, sympathy for her child prevailed over the anger on her face. “When he stopped crying, [Cameron] said, ‘Mommy, I’m so sorry. Mommy, Pudgy hurt me.’”

“I want (Pudgy) put to sleep,” Frericks said repetitively.

The incident was reported to the Bell County Health Department. An animal quarantine notice was issued by Tim Good, environmental programs director. The notice keeps the animal in confinement for 10 days and then Pudgy will receive a rabies vaccination.

Joe Miracle’s daughter, Tina Miracle, lives in the same home with her parents and said that Pudgy is a family dog. She said that the family have no intentions to euthanize Pudgy. In fact, she is outraged at the suggestion.

“What’s really crazy is that our dog was on private property and was tied up,” Tina Miracle said. “The child pursued the dog, the dog did not pursue the child. He [Pudgy] is 11-years-old, and has never harmed a child. He’s a family dog that my kids have played with all their lives. He was chained up, and no adult was outside at the time, so we may never know exactly what happened.”

Miracle finds the situation regretful, but took a stand for Pudgy.

“I know little boys are rough and that this was just an accident, but you know, (Frericks’ family has) a pit bull up there that runs loose,” she said.

Miracle says that Pudgy will stay where he is quarantined, in the same lot where he attacked Cameron, and live out the rest of his life.

Good says that this story is not unusual.

“A large percentage of bites that we get [reported] involve children,” he said. “It is unfortunate, but it happens on a regular basis.”

Good advises all dog owners that the law requires “anybody that owns a dog must vaccinate it for rabies,” he said.

Brandy Murray is a staff writer for the Daily News. E-mail her at bmurray@middlesborodailynews.com.

Photo submitted by Holli Frericks.