Fatal dog mauling
may bring no chargesKauai authorities plan to meet
to decide how to handle the death
of a 17-month-old boy
LIHUE >> Kauai police detectives and prosecutors were scheduled to meet today to decide whether criminal charges should be filed against a Moloaa man whose dog fatally injured a 17-month-old boy on Saturday.
"So far, I don't think we see anything criminal," acting Police Chief Willie Ihu said late yesterday.
The parents of Trusten Heart Liddle issued a statement through their attorney, Susan Marshall, asking for privacy and time to heal.
"We request peace and quiet while we mourn the death of our cherished loved one," wrote Dove and Raven Liddle. "We appreciate your prayers. Our only request is for people to light a candle in memory of Trusten at sunset."
The dog, which belongs to a neighbor who has not been identified by police, was on a chain anchored on the neighbor's property.
There are conflicting accounts whether Trusten wandered on to the neighbor's property or whether the chain was long enough to allow the dog on to his parents' farm.
"That's part of the investigation: how long was the chain and did it end on the owner's property?" Ihu said.
Trusten died in the emergency room at Wilcox Memorial Hospital. He had suffered extensive head, throat and chest wounds, Kauai police said.
His parents' statement said: "Trusten did not wander onto the neighbor's property."
But Marshall would not say whether the child was attacked on the Liddle's property.
There is no fence between the two farms. Moloaa, which is on Kauai's northeast shore, is a rugged area containing numerous small farms, most secluded from public roads.
The dog was taken to the Kauai Humane Society, where it is being held. Dr. Becky Rhoades, the veterinarian who is the shelter's executive director, said she does not know if the dog has a name and she had not heard from its owner as of yesterday.
She said the dog appears to be a Labrador-Bassett hound mix, with a long body and short legs.
"He's still very stressed but he's not hard to handle. He hasn't been aggressive at all," Rhoades said.
Rhoades said dogs who are chained for a long period of time can become very territorial about the area within the radius of the chain and attack anyone who comes within their territory.
The fate of the dog will be decided either by the owner or a judge, she said. Many dogs involved in serious attacks have been euthanized but that is not her decision to make, Rhoades said.
"Right now, it's KPD's case and they asked that we hold him. Legally, the dog is the property of its owner," she said.
The Liddle family had been expected to announce a memorial service yesterday but decided against it, said Tracy Schavone, who co-hosts a weekly organic gardening program with Dove Liddle on KKCR, a nonprofit radio station.
"They're just not up to it," she said. KKCR hosted an hour-long call-in program yesterday during which friends of the Liddles expressed their sympathy.
