Tucson toddler attacked, killed by family's rottweilers

[Rene Allegrini]

OMG! A two year old outside unattended! This is just too horrible for words.

Tucson toddler attacked, killed by family's rottweilers

Nov 6, 2006 01:12 PM CST

A two-year-old Drexel Heights boy is dead after being mauled by his family's two adult rottweilers.

It happened Monday morning at a home near Cabello and Valencia Roads.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department says his mother found Luis Fernando Romero Jr. when the dogs were attacking the toddler in the front yard.

Romero's parents tried driving him to the hospital, but saw a sheriff's vehicle and stopped.

A helicopter was called to take the boy to the hospital, but he died before arriving at University Medical Center.

The dogs have been taken to Pima County Animal Care.

KVOA News 4, Tucson, Arizona - Tucson toddler attacked, killed by family's rottweilers

[IRIE'S MAMA]

That is horrible!
There is quite a bit of info missing from this story..right now it is just a blurb..
I wish they would post all of the details before making it a headline..

[GypsysMom]

Regardless, Should a 2yr old be left alone?? NO especially with dogs, but again the dogs shouldnt be the main concern, I have 4 kids and I will be the first to say sometimes they escape your view and it only takes that split second for a terrible incindent to occur.... I cant imagine a sane person leaving a 2yr old alone with a rottweiler let alone 2 of them or 2 of any large breed dog, but again not all people are sane

[Dugganmom]

GEEZ!!!! Sound like alot of info is missing...like what the heck was a 2yr old left with large animals for and why did the dog all the sudden turn...HMMM...

[jazzharper]

In my line of work I come across so many stories like this. I know it's not good to generalize but I have heard about more stories like this in the south western US especially, AZ than anywhere else. I don't know what it is about AZ but there is a reason we have our office in Phoenix and not LA or Denver or New York etc....

People in this part of the country don't seem to be able to use their brains as well.

[observer]

Here's the article that is currently on the Tucson Citizen (newspaper) website:

Dogs that killed toddler turned over to Animal Care | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

Something as simple as a quick trip to the store may have left a family in tragedy, mourning the loss of their 2-year-old son who was fatally mauled by family dogs in his front yard.

Luis Fernando Romero Jr.'s father went to the store Monday morning, possibly leaving the family home's front door open or unlocked, said Detective Sgt. Brad Foust.

That, Foust said, may have allowed the toddler to get into the yard where the family's two pet Rottweilers, one purebred and one mixed breed, attacked the child, wounding him on his neck, back and buttocks.

Detectives by this afternoon had not been able to interview the parents in detail. They were at University Medical Center, where their son was pronounced dead, and were too distraught to answer many questions, Foust said.

Foust spoke about the boy's death as other detectives milled around the family's home, a light beige mobile home in a highly rural area near West Valencia Road and South Camino de Oeste.

Nine cars and trucks and a faded cabin cruiser on a trailer were parked around the quiet home, but no people were there other than sheriff's deputies.

"it is terrible, it really is," Foust said of the child's death.
After the father left for the store, Foust said, the child's mother heard a commotion in the yard about 9 a.m., looked outside and saw her son being attacked by the dogs.

She ran into the yard and either pried her son from the animals or the dogs just let him go, Foust said, adding they may have been protecting a large bone found in the yard.

About that time the child's father returned home and he and his wife bundled their son and daughter, about 4- or 5-years old, into the vehicle and headed toward a hospital, Foust said.

On Valencia, near South Westover Avenue, they spotted a deputy on a traffic stop, told him what had happened and after looking at the child he immediately called for Drexel Heights Fire Department medics, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a sheriff's spokeswoman.

The medics called in a helicopter ambulance that took Luis to University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Pima Animal Care Center had no history of complaints the the family at that address, Faust said. The family has lived there for about a year.

The Rottweilers were on an electric restraint system in which they get a shock if they go too close to a marked perimeter wire, Foust said. Two other family dogs were in a backyard kennel, he said. The Rottweilers were turned over to the animal care center and Barkman said she expected them to be destroyed.

[DaveS]

I just saw a local news clip from a Tucson affiliate station about the child mauling death. The newscast featured a very emotional neighbor lady who said, “ The dogs were very aggressive when they were together. I knew it was just a matter of time before something like this happened”.

It looked as though the dogs were tied up outside of a mobile home located in the outskirts of the Tucson desert. Another very tragic story! It makes me that much more determined to do everything in my power to make sure that my 11 week old is the best that he can be. I wish everyone did and felt the same.

[IRIE'S MAMA]

Wow, now that there is more to the story, It is even worse!
It's so sad what happened to that 2 year old boy....There is no doubt about that. It's too bad that our breed is made out to look so bad yet again from irresponsible dog ownership, and parenting to boot! I understand that a child can get out of sight in a split second, but it sounds like those rotties lived in that yard and guarded it... You know they had no training whatsoever..and what about the other 2 dogs kept in kennels outside....Really sad! Poor child!

[damp]

Originally Posted by Dugganmom

GEEZ!!!! Sound like alot of info is missing...like what the heck was a 2yr old left with large animals for and why did the dog all the sudden turn...HMMM...

What info do you miss???? I don't think the reporters just sit and make up stories.... but the truth is ... a poor little child was mauled and killed!
I guess that is the sad fact?????

It is beyond my understanding any one can ask for more information when the fact is: A child is killed!!!

What facts/excuses are you asking for to excuse/save the dogs???????????????

I have said it more than one times: There are so many reasons, why I only have one dog at the time… and the more I read "Rottweiler News Forum" and the news about mauling/attacking/killing… I know I have yet an other reason and an other good argument to only have one dog at the time.
Please read back and notice…. most mauling/attack involves more than one dog... but dogs packing up.
One Rottweiler is a great responsibility… but a pack of Rottweilers in drives ARE NOT PETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MARYDVM]

The dogs were loose inside the front yard, contained by invisible fencing. In the local culture of southern AZ, most dogs larger than a Chihuahua are kept entirely outside, as yard dogs. There is no training, very little socialization. The way most pit bulls, chows and Rottweilers are raised and kept in Tucson, its a wonder there aren't more fatalities.

[Dugganmom]

Originally Posted by damp

What info do you miss???? I don't think the reporters just sit and make up stories.... but the truth is ... a poor little child was mauled and killed!
I guess that is the sad fact?????

It is beyond my understanding any one can ask for more information when the fact is: A child is killed!!!

What facts/excuses are you asking for to excuse/save the dogs???????????????

I have said it more than one times: There are so many reasons, why I only have one dog at the time… and the more I read "Rottweiler News Forum" and the news about mauling/attacking/killing… I know I have yet an other reason and an other good argument to only have one dog at the time.
Please read back and notice…. most mauling/attack involves more than one dog... but dogs packing up.
One Rottweiler is a great responsibility… but a pack of Rottweilers in drives ARE NOT PETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What I was getting at was how were the dogs treated ect.... I agree with what you said about the pack of dogs....and I was not implying that the reporters were not tellin the whole story...Just wondering about the owners ect. I was not looking for excuses to EXCUSE/SAVE the dogs...But the dogs did have owners....very irresponsible owners..