A Long Island girl who just celebrated her 6th birthday last weekend was strangled by her playful pet pooch, who dragged the child by her scarf in a fatal tug-of-war, police said yesterday.
Kaitlyn Hassard of Manorville came home from kindergarten at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to be greeted by the family’s golden retriever, Jesse. The dog playfully yanked on the scarf looped around her neck, said Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, commander of the Suffolk County Homicide Squad.
Her mom, Korey, ordered the 18-month-old pup be put in the back yard while she made a phone call. But, unknown to her, Kaitlyn followed Jesse out the door, Fitzpatrick said.
About 10 minutes later, Mrs. Hassard asked her 11-year-old son, Kevin, to get Kaitlyn for a trip to the post office, Fitzpatrick said. The boy found the 70-pound dog “running around the back yard.” His 40-pound sister was lying on the ground. “There were indications she was dragged,” said Fitzpatrick. “The dog was probably pulling on the scarf and it tightened when it was pulled.”
The distraught boy screamed for his mother, who performed CPR on her lifeless daughter as her husband, Richard, called 911.
Police and rescue units arrived within seven minutes, Fitzpatrick said. Kaitlyn was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The dog was taken to the Brookhaven Animal Shelter “because we couldn’t leave it there and the parents didn’t want it in the house,” Fitzpatrick said.
Officials at the shelter declined to say what would happen to Jesse. “If the family doesn’t want the dog back, I would assume they would put it up for adoption, rather than euthanize it,” said Fitzpatrick. “We don’t regard it as a vicious animal” because “he did not bite the girl.”
Kaitlyn and her family celebrated her 6th birthday on Saturday with a party.
Although Kaitlyn’s parents were too distraught to speak yesterday, family friends described the young girl as full of life, love and happiness. “She was an energetic, beautiful young girl,” said family spokesman James Talamini, 34, standing outside the family home. “She always had a smile on her face, a skip in her step, and a heart filled with love.”
“This is a loss that’s inconceivable to most people and a loss that’s impossible to recover from,” he added, fighting back tears.
Talamini added that the family views the death as a tragic accident and doesn’t blame the pet. “This was a very good dog,” hesaid. “This was simply a terrible tragedy.”
Next-door neighbor Matt Winkeleer, 20, said the dead girl “was always outside with the dog, playing.”
“It was really a friendly dog. It was always outside with the kids.” This had to be an accident. That dog never bit anyone or had any problems,” he said.