A Yazoo City resident appeared before the city council “angry and frustrated beyond any stretch of the imagination,” following an animal attack upon her young grandson.
Cynthia Walker spoke with the Board of Mayor and Aldermen during its open meeting Monday afternoon about the aftermath following her nine-year-old grandson being attacked by a dog within Yazoo City.
“My nine-year-old grandson was with a group of adults that we have prayed and hoped would be responsible,” Walker said. “They failed him. The property owner tells a nine-year-old, ‘my dog will bite you.’ He leaves the nine-year-old unattended after he has acknowledged that he has an aggressive dog.”
Walker said her grandson was then attacked by the dog and had to receive medical attention at an emergency room. She said following the attack, on her way to the hospital, she telephoned Police Chief Kenny Hampton.
“The chief tells me that before he could make a decision, if he should pick up a ferocious dog that has injured my nine-year-old, he (Hampton) has to call the mayor,” Walker said. “You need to follow what the law says. I spent an hour looking for a law that says if your dog bites your nine-year-old to call the mayor. There is no law that says that. Animal control is to be called. If the dog is vaccinated, that dog goes into a 10-day quarantine that night. If he is not vaccinated, they cut the mutt’s head off…head off.”
Walker also said her grandson will soon be heading to Memphis for reconstructive surgery.
“There is a lot of things that has me offended right now,” she continued. “A nine-year-old should not even be a part of a Dallas Cowboy drunk fest. When the property owner said…he told the child, and he leaves him unattended, his ass should have went to jail, no disrespect to you all, for endangerment of a child.”
Walker said if Hampton can’t make decisions on his own, then he does not need the position.
“And yes, miss lady who reports to the paper, tell the whole truth,” Walker said to The Herald reporter in attendance. “Don’t cut my statement. My voice is elevated. I am angry. I am upset because we grew up as children saying ‘don’t mess with my man. Don’t mess with my money.’ But my grandchildren and anybody else’s child are due respect. Every police officer I talked to knew the dogs, knew the owner. But not one can give me if he is registered or if he has got the vaccination. Not one could even tell me if they gathered the property owner’s insurance. But they told me they have to call you.”
“But I am telling you, these police officers have to do their job,” she added. “Put both of your feet in learning how to be the mayor. But let them arrest these people with these vicious ass dogs. Our children are not safe. That is your notice. But Chief Hampton ain’t gonna tell me ever again he has to call you first. He has to follow the damn law.”
“I am going to ask for the same respect that you were given,” replied Mayor David Starling. “And I am going to speak on this matter. He (Hampton) did call me. Animal control does not work on Saturdays and Sundays here in Yazoo City, even if there is a call. However, the ordinance is that all animals must be leashed or on a chain. The person or people whose house this was at, they had the dogs on a secured chain. But what we are going to do is be fair to all our community members. I can’t circumvent what is down in black and white, but what I can offer to you and your family is that you get legal representation.”
With the dog being properly secured within the yard and the dog owner providing a warning, Starling said a legal route for Walker and her family is probably the best option.
“I am so very sorry about your grandson, truly I am,” Starling said. “We certainly don’t want anything happening to a child or adult concerning a dog. However, at this particular time, we are going to say that legal representation obtained by you would be the best way to go.”
“It also says when there is a biting incident, those rules forego,” Walker replied. “The law says that the dog is picked up, and you seek legal advice.”
Walker contacted The Yazoo Herald via email as of press time, following the city council meeting, stating that the dog will be picked up by the city of Yazoo City.
“As the mayor called me last night and said, ‘he has ordered for the dog to be picked up and be sent to quarantine,’” Walker writes. “The mayor apologized for not knowing the dog bitting law. He only knew the leash ordinance. So please print the whole of this situation or do not print at all, if you can’t used professionally writing ethics because time and time again, you misrepresent my comments. Common sense and the law dictates. There is no way to know if the dog has rabies if the dog is not tested. I am unapologetic. Just know, I will always kick the damn doors down about my child and the children in Yazoo City, and pay later by fine/by jail or by going to hell. Now print the whole truth.”
