Family Dog Fatally Mauls 4-year-old Akiachak Boy
By Tataboline Brant, Anchorage Daily News
September 17, 2003 -- A 4-year-old Akiachak boy was mauled to death at his home Tuesday by his family's dog, Alaska State Troopers said.
Sheldon Phillip was found by his father, Eric, about 10 a.m. near the chained female husky-mix, said troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson. The child was taken to the Akiachak Community Village Clinic where he was pronounced dead, troopers said.
Eric is taking his son's death very hard, said Eddie Phillip, the child's grandfather and Eric's dad. "There's a lot of people down there trying to make him strong," Eddie said in a telephone interview from his home in Akiachak, about 18 miles from Bethel. "We've got to be around him, he's not taking it too well. He was very close to him."
Sheldon, a Yupik Eskimo, had one brother and one sister and liked to watch cartoons, where he would pick up English words, his grandfather said. "The only thing that I can say is that he always had a smiling face, all the time," Eddie said.
Wilkinson said Sheldon was known to play with the dog that killed him. He said the dog recently had a litter of pups, however, and that may have contributed to why the animal attacked the child on Tuesday.
Troopers destroyed the dog at the family's request, Wilkinson said.
Eddie said more members of his family are scheduled to arrive in Akiachak tonight. No funeral has been scheduled for Sheldon yet, Eddie said. The child's body is being sent to Anchorage for an autopsy, Wilkinson said.
News of Sheldon's death spread quickly through Akiachak, a community of about 620 people located on the west bank of the Kuskokwim River, about 18 miles northeast of Bethel.
"It is tragic," said longtime village leader Willie Kasayulie. "It was unexpected and it was a shock to the whole community."
Kasayulie said that he had not yet had a chance to stop by the family home but that he planned to.
"I drove by their house a couple times today and there are quite a few people there," he said. There will likely be a prayer and song service at the Phillips' house, he said. "Anything like this affects the whole community," he said. "The whole community just pulls together."
Daily News reporter Tataboline Brant can be reached at tbrant@adn.com or 257-4321.
