Boy Mauled by Dog Was About to Be Adopted

4-year-old died after Rottweiler attack

Updated 10:30 PM CST, Mon, Jan 12, 2009

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Associated Press

A 4-year-old boy mauled to death Sunday by a Rottweiler at his Southwest Side foster home was going to be removed from the house and placed with a family who hoped to adopt him -- possibly as early as this week, officials said today.

Alex Angulo died after he was mauled by his family's Rottweiler as his father was shoveling snow. The father found his son unresponsive in the back yard.

Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris said there was a plan in place to move Alex -- who was not related to anyone in the home -- as early as Jan. 15 to a "pre-adoptive foster home."

"They had found one and he was supposed to be moving," Harris said. The family and Alex had already had five "transitional" visits as well.

Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez said the boy was found at 3:18 p.m. Sunday in the backyard of his Southwest Side home. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, but had died from his wounds by the time he arrived.

A neighbor on the block said some residents feared the Rottweilers at the two-story yellow frame house because they sometimes acted aggressively. The dogs were usually confined in the yard, but sometimes got out, said Lisette Valencia, 20.

"The dog was kind of scary," she said.

Three dogs belonging to the family have since been euthanized.

Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti said officers are investigating but no one has been charged.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the incident and has had no prior contact with the family, said spokesman Kendall Marlowe.

In a similar attack, two sisters, ages 5 and 10, were mauled by Rottweiler at their mother's Joliet home on Tuesday. The two were taken to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago for treatment.

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That attack occurred when the Rottweiler escaped from its cage and mauled one sister in the backyard and the other as she fled into the street, police have said. Will County animal control took the dog.