by Hector Flores
Duke and two rottweilers, who were owned by Lawrence Kelly, 25, attacked Matthew Henriques and left him with two torn ears and cuts on his right cheek, eye, forehead, buttocks, back, leg and stomach. The two rottweilers were put down by the Town of Hempstead, but Duke was spared after the involvement of the Long Island Bulldog Rescue Inc.
Glen Faber, attorney for the Henriques family, said that the agreement was made because he wanted to spare the family "the trauma of a legal proceeding" and to ensure that Duke would never be around children again.
As part of the agreement, the bulldog rescue group was giving full custody of Duke, and agreed to send him to Elite Animal Trainers in Islip Terrace to be evaluated and retrained. After the retraining, Duke would be put up for adoption out of state.
"Duke will only be put up for adoption only after he has been deemed adoptable," Faber said. "He must also be adopted out of state by adults, and not allowed to be near any children."
The prospective adoptee will also be given a copy of the eyewitness account by Carina Henriques, Matthew's mother, of Duke's part in the attack. In addition, the bulldog rescue group will make annual visits to the adoptee's home to ensure compliance with the agreement.
Laurette Richin, executive director of the Long Island Bulldog Rescue, was glad that an agreement was reached and said that she first became involved with the case after reading newspaper accounts.
"I have also been a victim of a dog attack," she said. "I understand how difficult it is to ascertain what is going on. Since Duke is only a year old and neutered, I felt that it was worthwhile to look into the case."
The bulldog rescue group was born seven years, and rescues bulldogs that are abused and abandoned. "These dogs need a lot of human attention," Richin said. "They are gentle dogs and have their own opinion."
Richin added that in a dog attack, there are varying degrees of involvement, and Duke's participation in the boy's assault was probably minimal. "I don't take dogs that fight people," she said. "This is an extraordinary circumstance, and I felt that Duke was a subordinate of the other dogs."
Richin said that the attack on the 4-year-old is not a typical bulldog aggression. "They don't have a prey drive," she said. "They do bite people, but it's usually within the home and owner."
Richin added, "Some people think that because I have an interest in the dog that I don't care about the boy and his mother, but I'm a mother myself. I really do understand what they are going through and they have my sympathy. I just felt that Duke was not the initiator and that he should have a chance to prove himself."
Had an agreement not been reached, Duke's fate would have been decided by a risky dog hearing at Nassau County District Court. Depending on the outcome of the case, Duke would have been euthanized, detained or released.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
