An Alabama boy is dead after police say a neighbor’s dogs attacked him last week while at a neighbor’s New Hope home.
The child, identified as Mark Alan Partain, 2, died last Friday after possibly up to three dogs attacked him, according to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Police said the boy wandered from his home to the neighbor’s home and opened the gate, where two of the dogs lived.
The neighbor Ricky Clark, said he noticed the gate open and then saw Mark unresponsive in front of a dog pen.
“He was laying on the ground there in front of the dog pen, and he wasn’t moving or nothing and the gate was open,” Clark told ABC 31, adding that his dogs, a Husky and a German Shepherd/Golden Retriever mixed breed, had never attacked or hurt anyone before.
Mark’s mother, mom, Kayla Hughey Partain, posted Saturday on Facebook and said she didn’t blame anyone for the “very tragic accident.”
“The hurt is unreal. I don’t even feel like I’m living in reality. My children’s hearts are so broken. I’d like to thank everyone that has messaged, prayed, or sent kind words,” she wrote.
“I’ve spoken with all of the police and investigators. There will be a full investigation but it looks as if this was just a very tragic accident with no one to be held at fault.”
Clark said that his dogs may have been trying to protect Mark from a brown bulldog roaming around the neighborhood.
“There’s a brown bulldog running around in the neighborhood, and it was running around in the yard. When I got my dog put up, I saw her running out of the yard, and I don’t know if she had anything to do with it.”
Clark’s dogs have since been removed and taken by animal control but are expected to be returned to him in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help with the family’s expenses.
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[Feature Photo: Mark Partain/GoFundMe]
