Rottweiler Kills Toddler

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
By CONNIE BAGGETT
Press-Register Staff Reporter

BREWTON -- An 18-month-old girl died Sunday after a 117-pound male Rottweiler tied in the child's yard attacked her and her 2-year-old brother.

Authorities said Monday that an investigation was under way to determine who owned the dog that was tied up at the home in the McGougin Road neighborhood near Brewton, where Taylor Kitlica and her brother were attacked.

The brother survived with minor injuries, said authorities, who declined to release the boy's first name.

Escambia County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Maj. Mike Murphy said in a news release that officers got a call at 5 p.m. Sunday and found the children at the home of their parents, Thomas William Kitlica and Ashley Kitlica. The large male dog was still tied nearby, Murphy said.

Officers said the Kitlicas own another Rottweiler -- a female -- that was tied in the yard a few feet from the stake where the male dog was tied.

Kitlica family members told authorities that they did not own the male dog. Murphy noted that the family told them that the dog was a stray they had tied up in the hope that its owner would reclaim it.

Two pit bulls, which Kitlica family members acknowledged owning, also were in the yard when officers arrived, authorities said.

Officers called the Escambia County Humane Society, which took the dog that attacked the children to the office of Brewton veterinarian Kerry Parker, where it was destroyed.

Rosemary Ard, who works at the veterinarian's office, said the animal's remains were sent to Auburn University for rabies testing.

At the time of the attack, the children's father was working on a vehicle in the yard, just feet from where the male Rottweiler was tied, said Renee Jones, director of the local Humane Society.

The Press-Register was unable to contact the parents for comment.
Murphy said the girl sustained "massive head injuries" in the attack, and the boy sustained minor bites on his back.

The family told investigators that they had found the male Rottweiler roaming in the neighborhood early Sunday and chained it to a stake in their front yard, Murphy said.

Jones said she arrived to find the male dog tethered near the female.

"I drove up and got out of my truck and realized I was in the dog's area," Jones said. "One thing people need to realize is any time they tether a dog, they increase the chance of it biting someone by four times. With power breeds like Rottweilers or German shepherds that are highly territorial, tethering decreases their area and their ability to run from a threat."

The dog involved in the attack did not appear to be accustomed to interacting with people, Jones said.

"When a dog is not socialized to people," Jones said, "bad things can happen."

Jones said the other dogs in the yard responded to people there, and appeared to be well-behaved. The male Rottweiler, however, did not make eye contact with anyone, and ignored the people in the yard.
The animal did not appear to be neglected, or to have been scrounging for meals, she said.

"It was a beautiful animal, like a show quality male dog," Jones said. "It had not been neutered."

Jones said she has appealed to local officials for months to pass an ordinance addressing dangerous dogs. She said this case may spur some action.

"I've been saying for two years we needed some law on the books about vicious dogs. I kept telling people a bullet was coming," Jones said. "Well, it got here yesterday."

Jones said there had been no report to her office that the dog was running loose in the area.

"Dogs are animals with all the behaviors and instincts that go with that," Jones said. "It's wonderful to love dogs and take in strays or rescue them off the street, but you must always remember they are animals."

Hubert Petty, who lives about a mile from where the attack happened, said he often sees large dogs ranging through the area.

Some, he said, are intimidating. He has called the Humane Society on previous occasions and "they always get here to take care of it," Petty said.

"I think everyone should have to keep their dogs fenced. I keep my dog inside or on a leash," Petty said. "I wish everyone would. We need some kind of ordinance. I guess for that child, it's too late."