By Hector Flores
The first words out of her son¹s mouth, Henriques recounted, were, ³The dogs tried to eat me.² ³I know as a mother that no parent should have to go through this,² she said. ³I don¹t want any other mother to have to go through this.²
Surgeons at Nassau University Medical Center treated Matthew¹s injuries, which included two torn ears and lacerations on his right cheek, eye, forehead, buttocks, back, leg and stomach.
³Part of his left ear is missing,² Carina said. ³They might have to do some skin graft on his cheek. And his back is stitched up and will heal.²
Matthew¹s ordeal began at about 1:30 last Friday afternoon outside his Barkley Avenue home, where he was walking with his 14-month-old sister and his grandparents, who were visiting from Portugal. All of a sudden they were approached by three dogs, two Rottweilers and a bulldog.
³I was in the basement doing laundry,² Carina remembered. ³I thought I heard screaming or playing, and then I heard crying. I went upstairs and saw my father-in-law struggling with two dogs. I then saw a big dog on top of my son, gnawing at him.²
In that moment, Carina said, she lunged at the dog, pried open its jaws and dragged her helpless son inside to her kitchen, but the dogs followed. ³I was screaming, ŒGod help me! God help me!¹² she said.
Carina punched the dogs repeatedly, but to no avail. The attack finally ended when her father-in-law grabbed a hose and sprayed the dogs with water, chasing them away.
³When I looked [at my son], his ear and cheek were hanging,² Carina said. ³I tried to keep my son together.²
Mitchell Shapiro, Carina¹s next-door neighbor described the ordeal as ³very tragic.² ³I was in the basement, faxing paperwork, when I heard screams,² Shapiro said. ³I opened the back deck door and saw an elderly man running. I then went to my front door and saw a Rottweiler in front of my house.²
Shapiro believes that the dogs approached his home after they had mauled Matthew. ³My wife was in my truck with two gardeners [hiding from the dogs],² Shapiro said. ³I came out with a bat and started fighting both dogs.²
When police officers finally arrived, Shapiro said, the dogs were still out of control. ³A cop finally came and tried pepper spray, but it had no affect,² he said. ³These dogs were vicious. If I had known that they were attacking Matthew, I would have gone to [his] aid right away.²
The Town of Hempstead confiscated the dogs and placed them in the town¹s animal control facility. Their owner, Lawrence Kelly, 25, who lives around the block from the Henriqueses, on Buchanan Road, turned himself in to police last Sunday, and was ordered to appear in First District Court on May 15. He was charged under New York state Agriculture and Markets Law with having a ³dangerous dog,² which is an unclassified misdemeanor.
Susie Trenkle, spokeswoman for the Town of Hempstead, said that the dogs were confiscated because Kelly had failed to comply with a previous court order that called for the confinement of one of the Rottweilers. ³There was a previous complaint with one of the dogs,² she said. ³We are waiting for a judge to decide the fate of the dogs this Thursday.²
According to Kate Murray, Town of Hempstead supervisor, a town case against the dogs ‹ separate from the county¹s case against Kelly ‹ was to be heard May 4 in First District Court in Hempstead. ³The town makes the petition, and a town attorney ... will represent the victims,² Murray explained. ³The attorney then presents his case in front of the judge, and presents testimony. If the dog owner wants to put up a defense on behalf of his dog, he can. After the judge hears the testimony, he will render a decision on the fate of the three dogs.²
Carina said that this was not the first time the dogs had gotten out of control. ³That same dog was in my older son¹s school bus,² she said. ³[The owners] keep the front window open. They are asking for this to happen.²
Giancarlo Terilli, Carina¹s attorney, said that he plans to attend Thursday¹s hearing and ask the judge to order that the three dogs be put to sleep. ³We are in the process of getting witnesses,² he said. ³There was a neighbor whose pet rabbit was mauled by the same Rottweiler. We intend to show that these dogs showed violent tendencies and the owners did nothing to protect the community.²
Terilli added that Matthew may need more surgery in the future, but the damage to his psyche has been done. His mother said that Matthew continues to have nightmares about the event. ³He is damaged,² she said. ³I can reassure him, but the fear is still there.²
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
