A father whose daughter was killed by an American Staffordshire Terrier has said he will press charges against the dog owner as he buried his daughter at the weekend.
Father of eight-year-old Talya, identified by local media as Sebastien Caty, 36, reported he is planning to file a complaint against the dog owner who was the partner of the girl’s mother, whose American Stafford Terrier attacked the little girl and bit her to death on 11th July.
The heartbroken father spoke about the last video call he had with his daughter the day before the incident and said: “She laughed and acted silly. I will never forget her last words: ‘Papa, I love you.”
Talya, whose parents were divorced, lived with her mother and her boyfriend whose identity has not been disclosed, but was reportedly a huge dog lover in the city of La Louviere in Belgium.
According to local media, her mother had left her home alone for less than eight minutes when one of the man’s dogs – an American Staffordshire Terrier – struck and fatally injured the small girl.
When the mother returned home, she found her daughter’s body laying on the floor and immediately called the emergency services.
However, despite the paramedics’ effort to resuscitate her, Talya succumbed to the injuries less than an hour after she arrived at the hospital.
An autopsy revealed that as well as the bite injures, the girl had also suffered a heart attack.
After the girl’s death police officers put down the American Staffordshire Terrier due to its aggressive nature, while seizing the other three dogs.
In an interview with a local paper Sudpresse, the girl’s father Sebastien Caty said he was angry that the mother had left his daughter alone with the animals.
Regarding what his ex-wife had told him, he said: “I’ve also heard other versions of other people’s facts, but regarding those eight minutes which she told me about, I don’t know more.”
Sebastien Caty said he decided to file a complaint against his ex-wife’s boyfriend and added: “My daughter never told me about a dog. I understand that her mother often walked with it when she went to school. I don’t know any more about it.”
The Public Prosecutor of the city of Bergen started an investigation against the mother’s partner, who has not been arrested yet.
Eight-year-old Talya’s funeral was held at the Bracquegnies church in the city of La Louviere on Saturday on 17th July.
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Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: James King, Agency: Newsflash
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