Thursday, August 31, 2006

Man Dies As Dog Attacks In Pen

FLORIDA -- A penned Boxer dog fatally mauled a man in south Miami-Dade County on Monday night, the second such attack in South Florida in 10 days.

Officers found Pablo Fleites, 56, dead inside a dog pen behind a house at 20280 SW 190th St. Also inside the pen: a 5-year-old male Boxer covered in the man's blood, Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Joanne Duncan said. The department's Animal Services Unit took custody of the Boxer.

Investigators say Fleites, who lived at the address, may have been intoxicated when he entered the pen Monday evening and the dog attacked him. The pen also was home to a 6-month-old female Boxer that was not injured.

The property is owned by Daysi, Adelfina and Jesus Ynigo, according to Miami-Dade County property records. No one witnessed the attack, but one of the family members found Fleites' body about 9:30 p.m. and called police, Duncan said.

On Aug. 18, Shawna Willey's 120-pound Presa Canario attacked her while she was giving it a bath behind her Coral Springs home in The Hills neighborhood. In that incident, there was a witness: Willey's 9-year-old daughter.

Willey, 30, also had a 14-year-old son and lived with her boyfriend. She owned the large dog, named Xino, and another Presa Canario because she felt they could protect her from her husband, whom she was separated from.

Coral Springs police officers shot Xino when they found it standing over Willey's lifeless body.

(Sun Sentinel - August 30, 2006)