Girl killed by pet dogs

Bloodstains and her fallen bicycle mark the spot where 4-year-old Thanyalak Salittakun was mauled to death by a neighbour's three pet dogs in a village in Chaiyaphum's Ban Khwao district on Tuesday evening. (Photo: Makkawan Wannakul)

CHAIYAPHUM: A 4-year-old girl died after she was savaged by three dogs which broke loose from a nearby house in Ban Khwao district on Tuesday evening.

The young girl, Thanyalak Salittakun, was riding her small bicycle, with trainer wheels attached, along a path in Moo 2 of Khwao village when she was attacked.

Ban Khwao police inspector Pol Maj Thongsuk Ratsiwo said on Wednesday that charges will be laid against the animals' owner, Piyanat Daengsoi, for caressly failing to keep her dogs - a poodle and two Thai breeds - under control, causing harm to other people.

Neighour Nopphadon Kunthanawat said he heard a scream and saw the three dogs crowding around the girl and attacking her.

The dogs were usually well chained and detained on the house grounds. For some reason "they broke loose and mauled the child", he said.

The child had severe bites to her face and neck and was rushed to Ban Khwao hospital, but succumbed to her injuries and was declared dead on arrival.

Family members collapsed in anguish when they arrived at the hospital and saw her body.

"She died only a few days before Sept 30, when the family planned a celebration for her fifth birthday," the girl's greiving grandmother, Darani Phetson, said.

The death of the 4-year-old follows an attack on a 19-day-old infant by a rabies-infected dog in a village in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Chalerm Prakiat district earlier this month. The conmmunity was declared a rabies control zone.