First day of inquest details final moments of toddler mauled

[cheekymunkee]

'They were ready to attack me'
First day of inquest details final moments of toddler who was mauled by Rottweilers
ROD MICKLEBURGH
PORT COQUITLAM -- The last terrifying moments of Cody Anger's young life went unnoticed in his crowded, chaotic home, full of adults, children and Rottweilers.

"I heard a little commotion," Sean Lund, an overnight guest the morning Cody was killed, told a coroner's inquest here yesterday. "I assumed that some kids or someone had gotten out of bed."

The commotion that failed to register on Mr. Lund or anyone else was a savage, deadly mauling of three-year-old Cody by one or more adult male Rottweilers left free to roam inside the house while adults slept.
The horrific incident shocked the nearby community of Maple Ridge where Cody lived with his mother, her live-in boyfriend and three older siblings, and sparked an outcry throughout the Lower Mainland for tougher bylaws against the keeping of dangerous dogs.
After Cody's bloody body was eventually discovered by one of the other children and rushed to hospital, Mr. Lund went down to the basement. He was greeted by two snarling Rottweilers, baring their teeth and lunging at him.
"The smaller, skinnier one . . . his chest was covered in blood," Mr. Lund testified during the first day of an emotional inquest into the circumstances of Cody's death on Dec. 27, 2004. "They were ready to attack me."
Earlier, relatives of the toddler -- described by neighbours as "a beautiful little child" -- had wept softly as they listened to forensic pathologist Sharon Boone's lengthy, gruesome list of Cody's wounds.
Later in the day, Cody's mother Sheri Fontaine broke down in tears while testifying, recalling events during the frenzied moments after she was wakened by her screaming children to what she called "the worst nightmare of my life."
"Mom! Mom! The dogs got Cody! The dogs got Cody!" they yelled, according to her testimony.
She remembered rushing to the living room where Cody had gone to watch morning cartoons on TV. "I seen my little baby lying there on his back on the couch. I wrapped him in a blanket and laid him on my bed."
She and her boyfriend then made a frantic dash to the hospital with her lifeless son, to no avail.
"They told me he was gone," Ms. Fontaine said, between sobs. "I just wanted to hold him, kiss him all over and tell him I loved him. I didn't want to let him go. I didn't want to leave him there."
After Cody's death, Ms. Fontaine, who has a past record of drug dealing and theft, lost custody of her other three children. They remain in foster care.
In total, there were four dogs in the house when Cody died: the two adult Rottweilers that Ms. Fontaine was looking after for a friend, and two family dogs, a border collie and a year-old Rottweiler called Baby.
Ms. Fontaine testified that the family dogs had slept in her room overnight and were not involved in Cody's mauling.
All four dogs were put down after the youngster's death.
Ms. Fontaine said she gave clear instructions to her boyfriend before going to bed to make sure the adult Rottweilers were put into the basement before he turned in. Plywood barricades were put up in the house to keep the dogs out of the living room.
Only Cody, in the living room, and Mr. Lund, in the basement, were awake at the time of the fatal dog attack.
In a lengthy police interview, a transcript of which was read to the inquest, the Rottweilers' owner, Jenny Babee, expressed disbelief that they would have attacked Cody.
"I mean, they liked Cody. They liked to jump on him and lick his face," Ms. Babee told police. "I can't see them doing that [attacking him]."
Ms. Babee had been staying at Ms. Fontaine's house, along with her Rottweilers, for about a month, and left the dogs in the care of Cody's mother while she travelled to her parents' home for Christmas.
"They like everybody. . . . They just want to be petted and hugged," she said. "But I just had this feeling when I left that something was going to happen."
Ms. Babee called the Fontaine household "kind of crazy, with kids jumping around and screaming. You got the feeling anything could happen."
She added that she believed Ms. Fontaine's collie was a "crack dog" that one of her previous boyfriends had tormented by putting him in a box and "throwing crack in there."
Ms. Fontaine denied the allegation during her testimony.
Dr. Boone, the pathologist, said Cody suffered hundreds of sharp wounds and punctures, running from his scalp to his lower body. The attack severed his left and right jugular veins and tore his windpipe, causing a fatal loss of blood.
"The cause of death was acute bleeding due to multiple punctures and incise wounds due to an animal attack," she concluded.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... y/National



Jodi Preis
Bless the Bullys Pit Bull Rescue & Education

[msvette2u]

Cody suffered hundreds of sharp wounds and punctures, running from his scalp to his lower body. The attack severed his left and right jugular veins and tore his windpipe, causing a fatal loss of blood.

How tragic...and preventable...

[mnp13]

how freekin responsible. those dogs should not have been left out for one minute without strict supervision, especially since they were not resident dogs.