Child found dead in neighbor's yard near Rottweiler (Clem, GA)

[Rene Allegrini]

What a tragedy. :-( And, sadly, the dog is guilty by association. It doesn't say she had any signs of being mauled by the dog in this article. Perhaps a follow up article with clearify. Just so sad all the way around. :-(

Missing child found dead in neighbor's yard near Rottweiler

Associated Press - July 12, 2007 4:14 PM ET

CLEM, Ga. (AP) - Carroll County authorities say a 5-year-old girl was found dead today in a neighbor's yard a couple of hours after she was reported missing from her home, and officials believe she was killed by a chained Rottweiler dog.

Sheriff Terry Langley says the searchy for Tiffany Pauley began after a 911 call from her mother just after eleven am.

The girl, who had Down syndrome, was last seen at her home in Clem, just south of Carrollton.

A helicopter and search dogs were used to look for Tiffany, and a recorded phone message was sent to homes in the area.

A resident found Tiffany a few houses from her home. Langley said she was dead in the backyard, lying close to a Rottweiler that was on a chain. The initial investigation indicates she had wandered up to the dog and was killed.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6781739

[RottieGirl86]

By TOM OPDYKE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 07/12/07

The backyard gate that was supposed to be locked was ajar, the garage's back door was open.

While mother Florence Pauley and her two other children slept, tiny Tiffany wandered out of the house early Thursday and into the damp morning.


Family photo
(ENLARGE)
Tiffany Pauley was found dead in her neighbor's yard in Carroll County.


BRANT SANDERLIN/Staff
(ENLARGE)
Robert Turner, shown with his mother, Patricia Cook, found Tiffany's body.


BRANT SANDERLIN/Staff
(ENLARGE)
Turner said authorities took the Rottweiler and the two other dogs chained in his yard, but he was allowed to keep two because they were in kennels.

Nobody knows what happened next, but authorities and family members think Tiffany walked about 200 yards up the street from her wood-framed ranch home and into an unfenced yard where at least five dogs were kept.

She walked to the back of the yard, past two other chained dogs to a Rottweiler on a 15-foot chain. Tiffany, 5, has a miniature French poodle of her own, and her family thinks she may have tried to pet the Rottweiler.

In the coming hours, no one reported hearing barking or a child's cry. Neighbors and police would comb the neighborhood looking for the girl with Down syndrome, but they didn't find her body until about 1 p.m. She was lying near the dog, under a tree.

A neighbor helping with the search had knocked on the door of Robert Turner, who owns the dogs, and explained they were looking for Tiffany and wanted to look in his back yard. As the searchers walked around the house, Turner stepped out onto his deck.

"When I got right there, I saw her laying over there. I ran to her. She was just laying there," said Turner, who owns the dogs.

Carroll County Sheriff's deputies said the girl appeared to have been mauled. An autopsy will be performed Friday.

Turner said authorities took the 10-year-old Rottweiler named Foxie and the two other dogs, a Labrador retriever/chow mix and a pit bull mix. He said he was allowed to keep two other dogs because they were in kennels.

Lt. Guy Pope said no decision has been made on charges. The three dogs are being kept at animal control shelter.

Turner said his dogs had never caused trouble before.

"My kids play with them dogs all the time and never get hurt," Turner said. He said his four children are ages 11, 7, 3 and 8 months old.

Turner's mother, Patricia Cook, said her son always kept the dogs chained and cared for them. "Nothing wrong happened here," Cook said.

Tiffany's grandmother, Annette Steere, said the family is trying to piece together what led to the tragedy. She said Tiffany had never wandered away before.

Tiffany had not developed verbal skills, Steere said, but "had a smile of grace."

Steere, of McDonough, said the little girl was missing when the family awakened that morning. Tiffany's brother, 7, and sister, 12, hadn't heard her leave.

The girl was reported missing at 11 a.m. from the family's home on Cypress Circle in a neighborhood off Newnan Road; a curling subdivision of clapboard houses behind a chemical plant.

"She woke up and just wandered out. Nobody knows what time or for how long," Steere said. She said the family usually keeps the back door closed and the fence gate locked.

Turner said he had moved to Cypress Circle home three months ago and did not know the girl or her family.

Next-door neighbor Andre Kotze said the dogs barked anytime he was out in his own yard and sometimes were a nuisance at night.

"If there was a squirrel walking in my yard, they'd be barking," Kotze said.

Just two doors down the street at the Pauley home, relatives stood guard at the door as the engines of media trucks rumbled outside.

"I guess this was an act of God," Steere said. "I can't say anything else. She was the sweetest, loving child."

Tiffany would've turned six next month.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...ge_tab_newstab


------------------------

Why do people keep dogs tied up!!!! I'm sick of it.

The only saving grace is that the Georgia Governor is himself a vet. So, I doubt there will be an outcry for BSL. This was so avoidable. She was 200 yards away from home!! And they could not find her for hours??? And why wasn't the house secure, anyone with kids knows they have to keep doors kid proof.

[hokisteph5]

Hopefully if anything happens it will be to outlaw chaining. This is yet another prime example of how dangerous it is.

[Barb and Raven]

I have been seeing this on the news. I also agree about the chaining of the dogs or any dogs for that matter. That is no life for a dog. I have copied a pasted this part (not sure how to do the quote thing). This is what the dogs' owner's mother said:
Turner's mother, Patricia Cook, said her son always kept the dogs chained and cared for them. "Nothing wrong happened here," Cook said. Well, in my book chaining the dogs is all wrong. It's a disaster waiting to happen. I know there are some places where chaining is outlawed and I say it should be outlawed nationwide.

I read an updated version of this stating that the mother of this little girl is on probation for meth use. I wonder what kind of family this might be.

[Mavides]

What a terrible thing to have happened. I disagree with chaining completely - but if the dogs were on their own property, I hardly think they were at terrible fault. ALSO - wonder why the title of the article says that is was a ROTTWEILER that killed the girl...yet there were two other dogs in the backyard and nobody saw the attack happen -it's so frustrating that the media jumps on the word Rottweiler immediately. Also - you can't ignore the fact that the girl wandered out of her house unattended - she could have just as easily gotten hit by a car or abducted -- again, too bad the media takes the opportunity once again to make our breed look bad. :(

[observer]

One of the other chained dogs was a pit mix, the other a chow mix. Under the circumstance, those dogs were just as likely to hurt this child. How DO they know which dog or dogs was responsible???

One of the TV station's sites had a story that said she was found "lying near" the Rottweiler.

Here's a story from one of the other TV station sites, that takes a broader view that the other dogs may have been involved:



5-year-old girl who went missing Thursday morning in Carroll County was later found dead, according to police.

Chief Deputy Brad Robinson with the Carroll County Sheriff Department said that Tiffany Pauley, who has Downs Syndrome, was reported missing by her mother around 11 a.m. Thursday. She was found around 1 p.m., three houses away.

Authorities report Pauley died due to injuries sustained from an apparent dog attack. It's believed multiple dogs, including at least one Rottweiler, were involved.

Robinson told 11Alive News that the owner of the dogs is most likely not facing charges because the dogs were properly restrained in the yard. He said the yard was not fenced, but the dogs were restrained on long chains so they could roam the yard.

Though the sheriff's department said their investigation would look into who was responsible for Pauley at the time of her death, they told 11Alive that charges may not be filed against the person who was supposed to be supervising Pauley.

Many officers and volunteers searched the area; it was a volunteer who found Pauley.

According to Carroll County Sheriff Terry Langley, a reverse-911 call was used to notify the community. One resident who got the call went outside to tell the owner of the dogs that he should bring them inside in case the girl wandered into his yard; however, when the owner went outside to collect his dogs, he found Pauley's body.

Langley said it was most likely that the rottweiler fatally mauled Pauley, because the chains restraining the other two dogs were too short to reach the area where she was found.

The three dogs – a rottweiler, a pitbull, and a shepherd mix – were in custody Thursday at the animal shelter.

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_...?storyid=99966

[denverday]

It bothers me that this family was not more vigilant about protecting their own daughter. I have children that sleepwalk, and I have simple high locks on the doors incase I happen to not hear them when they are up at night. Is it right that the dogs live a life chained up? No, however if they were being kept on their own property, and did not get loose, how can you blame the owner.
I do understand that we know tethering a dog all the time is not fair or healthy, but not everyone knows this.
You cannot always blame people for what they are raised to believe. If you are never shown any different....well how can they know any better?
I feel for the little girls family, but I can't blame the owners without knowing their history too.

[Barb and Raven]

All three dogs were swabbed for testing to see if just the one dog or all three were involved in this incident.
Also, on the news they put out information that in GA only Dekalb county bans the use of chains. They also stated how chains make dogs more aggresive. At least someone is putting out some right information for a change.
They will know next week about whether or not the dog or dogs will be euthanized.
A very sad situation which could have been avoided.

[JoJo]

This is so sad. What caught my eye was that they found her at 1:00 pm! The owner of the dogs never once checked on them up until they were asked if they could look in the backyard?!! And the mother reported her missing at 11:00 am. Don't you think a 5 year old needs to be checked on much sooner then that?!!! Whatever happened to breakfast? This whole tragic situation could have been avoided all the way around. Makes my heart hurt for that little angel. And they want to make a spay/neuter law for dogs and cats. They have the wrong mammal.

[lecuyer]

And they want to make a spay/neuter law for dogs and cats. They have the wrong mammal. [/quote]

Boy, do you have that one right.

[trish603a]

i agree! the mother's two other children were taken voluntarily from the home, because the mother has had previous run ins with CPS. when i saw this on local news, they were not making it out to be the dogs fault, they were focusing primarily on the mother. matter of fact when they showed a picture of the dog, it looked pretty sweet. so sad...

[Barb and Raven]

The following is an update on this terrible incident. I've not seen any more news as to what will happen to the dog or dogs.



Mother of girl killed by dog charged with involuntary manslaughter

By JUANITA COUSINS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 07/16/07

The mother of the Carroll County girl with Down syndrome killed by a Rottweiler last week was arrested Monday afternoon and charged in connection with her daughter's death after she admitted doing drugs.

Florence Pauley, 41, is being charged with reckless conduct and involuntary manslaughter.

Tiffany Pauley, 5, wandered from her Cypress Circle home early Thursday to an unfenced yard where she was mauled to death. The dog's owner found the girl's body that afternoon.

County Sheriff's Capt. Shane Taylor said Florence Pauley admitted to doing methamphetamine the morning before and at 3 a.m. on the day of her daughter's disappearance.

"We believe it obviously affected her in providing adequate supervision," Taylor said.

She will appear before a judge Tuesday morning for a bond hearing, he said.

Pauley pleaded guilty in April to possession of methamphetamine, Taylor said. She also pleaded guilty to DUI and child endangerment after Carrollton police stopped her for driving drunk with her children in the car a few years ago.

[TR Young]

Maybe I am missing something here, but have they PROVEN that the Rottweiler mauled this little girl? What has been brought to light? I have to agree that I hope this sheds light on the fact that chaining out or tieing out instead of kenneling or housing is a breeding ground for aggression.

[Bucky's Mom]

Originally Posted by Barb and Raven

County Sheriff's Capt. Shane Taylor said Florence Pauley admitted to doing methamphetamine the morning before and at 3 a.m. on the day of her daughter's disappearance.

"We believe it obviously affected her in providing adequate supervision," Taylor said.

She will appear before a judge Tuesday morning for a bond hearing, he said.

Pauley pleaded guilty in April to possession of methamphetamine, Taylor said. She also pleaded guilty to DUI and child endangerment after Carrollton police stopped her for driving drunk with her children in the car a few years ago.

And her children were left with her? WHEN will CPS do their job and realize that every person who happened to give birth does not desserve to keep those children if they have proven to be a danger - especially a child with special needs

[Bucky's Mom]

Originally Posted by TR Young

Maybe I am missing something here, but have they PROVEN that the Rottweiler mauled this little girl? What has been brought to light? I have to agree that I hope this sheds light on the fact that chaining out or tieing out instead of kenneling or housing is a breeding ground for aggression.

Just this:

Langley said it was most likely that the rottweiler fatally mauled Pauley, because the chains restraining the other two dogs were too short to reach the area where she was found

Just a shame.