Lowell police are charging an Iowa Street couple whose American bulldog critically injured a 7-year-old girl in the basement of their home with child endangerment and animal cruelty.
Lt. Randall Humphrey said Lisa Rego, 31, and Todd Fratus Sr., 25, both of 2 Iowa St., will each be summonsed to court to face the charges. A date for arraignment will be assigned by court officials at a later date.
Rego and Fratus are the owners of Panda, an American bulldog who mauled Naomi Libareas about 9 a.m. on Sept 4 after she had gone into the couple's basement with their 6-year-old daughter, Brianne.
Naomi's family remained with her at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was upgraded from critical to serious condition.
Supporting the little girl is the family's first priority, said Mary Pelczar, her grandmother.
Finding out how and why the tragedy happened is a close second. The family is considering whether to file civil charges, Pelczar said.
Police are still investigating the attack. Police say they also found 18 dogs and various other animals there. Rego and Fratus, operated a dog breeding business called Fratus' American Bulldogs.
Police said Brianne and Naomi, who had spent the night at her friend's home, were playing with Panda when the dog turned on Naomi, ripping into her neck, abdominal area and upper arm.
Pelczar, the family's spokesperson, left Mass. General yesterday morning feeling optimistic.
"She woke up a little bit," said the grandmother. "I said, 'Naomi, it's GG. If you hear me, squeeze my hand.' And she did."
Naomi underwent surgery. Pelczar said the damage to the child's abdominal wall wasn't as bad as doctors first feared. One of Naomi's legs was also injured in the attack and doctors planned to test the feeling in her foot yesterday. It will take several weeks before Naomi walks again, Pelczar said, and she may always have a limp.
"(Her mother) is upset, because (Naomi) wants to be a ballerina," Pelczar said.
Whether the breeding business and kennels at 2 Iowa St. were a legal operation is still unclear. Police and city health officials forced the home's residents to evacuate the property Saturday when they found "deplorable" conditions inside, including urine and feces stains throughout the house.
The dogs were kept on one side of the house, separated from the residents' living quarters, Pelczar said.
The house was condemned, and the phone number was disconnected.
Police euthanized Panda, the dog that attacked Naomi. Panda was rescued from an abusive family and kept by the Iowa Street couple for rehabilitation, according to the couple's Web site, which was inoperable later in Sept.
When Naomi's mother Christina Cozzone moved to Lowell three years ago, she had a dispute with Rego and Fratus regarding the dogs, Pelczar said.
The fence surrounding the animals was four feet high two feet short of the requirements for kennels, Pelczar said. The owners eventually raised the fence. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
Back to Top References« MA State Animal Cruelty Map
|
