The family of an 10-year-old boy, who suffered life changing injuries when he was savaged by an XL Bully dog, has urged legislators to ensure that no other family has to go through the same experience by outlawing the breed which has recently been banned in England and Wales.
Raul Mizsan said nothing would change what happened to his younger brother Alejandro, who suffered horrendous facial injuries when he was attacked by the dog while playing with friends in a green area at the Forgelands Estate in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford on November 27th, 2022.
Alejandro was just nine-years-old when the XL Bully belonging to Karen Miller (38) broke free from a leash to chase a smaller dog but instead attacked Alejandro and three young friends, two of whom managed to escape by jumping on to a fence but Alejandro was not so fortunate.
Alejandro had to be airlifted by Irish Coastguard helicopter Rescue 117 to Crumlin children’s hospital in Dublin where he underwent surgery on the horrific injuries. The attack lasted for minutes before a neighbour armed with a baseball bat hit the dog and forced him to release the boy.
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On Friday at Wexford Circuit Criminal Court, Judge James McCourt heard evidence from a report by consultant plastic surgeon, David Orr in which he told how Alejandro suffered serious tear injuries on each cheek running back to his ears while he also lost up to 60 per cent of his lower lip in the attack.
Raul and his mother, Otilia, sat in court and listened as Judge McCourt sentenced Miller to three years jail with one year suspended on two counts of endangerment when her XL Bully attacked Alejandro and another boy, Daniel Whelan (10), who suffered only minor injuries in an attack four days earlier.
Speaking afterwards flanked by his mother, Raul gave his reaction to the two-year sentence handed down to Miller and a three-year sentence handed down to her then partner, Niall Byrne (29) for threats to kill two people in the wake of the horrific attack by the dog on Alejandro.
“We are happy that there was justice for my brother – that is all I can say because even if they got more years or less years, that won’t really do anything for my brother, the way he looks now and mentally he is not very good,” said Raul.
In a victim impact statement delivered on behalf of the Mizsan family by investigating officer, Sgt Sylvia Ryan, Raul spoke about how the attack had a hugely traumatic affect on both Alejandro but also his parents, Ion Florin and Otilia and their younger sister, Estera (6).
“Alejandro is in a bad situation – his face is missing tissue, his lip is missing tissue too. He also has wounds to his legs and stomach, and he is in a massive depression after this deep trauma – he is not the same kid he was before, he doesn’t sleep well, he does not like to be alone, he is very scared.
“He doesn’t like to go to school any more. He is afraid nobody will want to talk to him because of the way he looks, and he doesn’t want to play outside because he thinks he will be bullied – he thinks he is going to be like this forever – Alejandro has this pain in his heart for he lost his childhood that day.
“I feel emotional because I have never been involved in something like this before – I hope everything will be back to normal but I don’t think it will – mentally Alejandro is not good and physically everybody can see what he looks like now – it is a very long road ahead for him.
“Every mother feels the same about their child and for my mother to see what happened and there is nothing she can do about it – when you see your child like this, it is very tough and she too is in a depression,” said Raul.
Raul’s final words were for Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys who this week set up Dog Control Stakeholder Group under the chairmanship of former Deputy Garda Commissioner John Twomey to look at restricting breeds like XL Bullies as has happened in England.
“If there is any chance that we can stop this happening again, we should do it – nobody wants to see their child go through this so if there is anything they can do, I would be happy – I don’t want what happened to my brother to happen to anyone else,” said Raul when asked if he favoured a ban.
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