[babywillow]

Hi everyone i know this is on old thread but i came across this site while doing a bit of research on the attack last year... i suppose i should introduce myself ... My name is Tina and i am little Willows mother . It has been nearly a year now since my daughter was attacked and periodically i search the net looking for sites such as this. Unfortunately the media does not cover the entire story but only informs the people on what they feel is important without getting all of the facts out to the public .. The information that the media got was from my mother who was not even present when the attack occurred and did not have all of the information herself on what happened she mearly made assumptions ...it was nearly 2 weeks after the attack that i finally spoke to the media and i only did it to stop the allegations made against my neighbors ...unfortunately the media did not publicise this they only focused on the damage done by the dog and the fact that the animal in question was under supervision... so I would like to set the story strait..
First of all i would like to thank everyone for their concern for little willow she has recovered wonderfully the surgeons who worked on her did an amazing job..

The attack happened at a neighbors farm where i was visiting with my 5 children last winter there were 7 children present at the time of the attack the oldest being 17..The children were not unsupervised myself and my neighbor were watching them play.. the dog in question was pulling the kids around the yard on a toboggan..the other dogs which were 6 month old pups were tied on the yard ..Willow and her oldest sister were riding in the sled when the babies boot fell off and when they stopped to put it on her the dog turned and grabbed her by the face she was not dragged off or mauled as the media indicated.. my oldest daughter imidiately grabbed her sister and took her to me when it happened .. we do not know why the dog attacked she was always good around the kids before but unfortunately animals can be unpredictable.. the decision to euthanise the remaining dogs on the yard was a personal choice made by the owner and the dog that bit Willow was held under supervision untill it could be determined if she was infected with rabies .. once the quarentine period was over she was euthanised as well..Willow spent 16 hours in surgery and recieved more than 300 stitches to her face she had a broken jaw lost 2 teeth suffered partial paralysisto the right side of her face and has extensive scarring over her face. but the scars are now fading and unless you look closely you can hardly tell they are there at all ..she is still a beutifull little girl.. while she was still in the hospital i made the decision to find homes for my own dogs as i was unsure how she would react to them at the time i had 5 wonderful dogs a 12 yr old collie, an11yr old goldren retriever, a 6 yr old rott and, and two 8 month old terriers all of my dogs were placed with friends..When willow returned home the first thing she did was look for her puppies and was quite upset that they were gone so i spoke to my friends and brought home all of my dogs exept the terriers the family who took them had a small boy who had become quite attached to them so i left gizmo and chewy with them ..willow has no fear of dogs and our rottwieler sousance is still her best friend... The family who owened the dog that bit her. are kind hearted,wonderfull people who love thier pets and were very supportive to me and my children during our time of crisis ..I deeply regret all of the bad publicity that befell on them.. the attack was an unfortunate accident and a painfull reminder that all animals can be unpredicatable regardless of breed or species.. My daughter Kaylara still remains a hero in my eyes as well as in the eyes of her siblings she was very brave that day and her quick reponce saved her baby sister...Willow never forgot that and now the two of them are virtually inseperable.. unfortunately Kayla now has a very strong fear of dogs.. she is fine with ours but is now terrified of any others.. i hope that some day she will be able to overcome this fear as she once had dreams of becoming a veterinarian...