Dog mauls
6-year-old
Maui boy

The Humane Society is searching
for the dog and its owner

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By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU >> Maui Humane Society investigators are looking for a dog that attacked a 6-year-old boy in Makawao and left him with a gaping wound on his head and face.

"He could have been bitten on the throat and been dead," said the boy's father, David Pyle.

Pyle said his son Alex, recuperating at home after undergoing plastic surgery for four hours Monday, had muscle and nerve damage from the wound on his left cheek.

Alex's mother, Kuniko, said her son had a small breakfast yesterday.

"He's starting to talk little by little," she said. "He's recovering day by day."

Alex was playing outside his residence at 3:15 p.m. Monday at Ulele Street in Makawao and went across the street to a neighbor's residence.

Family members say they do not know why Alex went across the street, but he visits the neighbors frequently and loves to play with their dog.

The dog that attacked Alex was tethered to a rope on a fence near the neighbor's dog.

Pyle said the dog, perhaps a mixed-breed Akita, attacked without barking and mauled his son for five to 10 seconds.

Pyle said he heard his son screaming and running away.

Humane Society animal control supervisor Aimee Anderson said the attack occurred on the neighbor's property about 10 feet from the street.

Anderson said there is no indication the child provoked the attack.

She said the dog belonged to a house painter who was working at a nearby residence, and the neighbors did not know where the dog and owner lived.

Humane Society investigators are looking for the dog and its owner, described as Caucasian, 30 to 35 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, thin and with slightly blond hair, possibly with missing front teeth. He was driving a Suzuki Samurai.

Pyle said he is afraid the dog will attack again and hurt someone else.

"That's the part that bothers me," he said.