Dog Owners Plead Guilty in Attack That Mauled Boy

The owners of two dogs that mauled an 8-year-old North Hollywood boy, leaving him partially paralyzed in one arm, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges stemming from the attack and were sentenced in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

Edward Gillen, 72, and his grandson Robby Edward Gillen, 25, each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of permitting a dog to run free on public property and cause an injury.

Robby Gillen was sentenced to 25 days in jail and placed on three years probation.

Edward Gillen was ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service, placed on three years probation and banned from owning a dog for three years. He was also ordered to pay for the boy’s medical expenses.

Edward Gillen also pleaded guilty to two counts of inhumane treatment of animals.

The victim, whose name was not released, was riding his bike in the 6400 block of Riverton Avenue in North Hollywood on June 19 when the attack occurred.

Witnesses said the Gillens’ malamute named Shadow attacked the boy as he rode past the Gillen house. The dog bit the boy on the left wrist, pulled him off his bicycle then continued biting him on his left shoulder and armpit. The dog dragged the boy along the sidewalk toward the Gillen residence, where another of the Gillens’ dogs--a Staffordshire terrier called Smiley--bit the boy as well, witnesses said.

Timothy Risdon, a neighbor, and Alan Gaar, a construction worker who was at a nearby building site, heard the boy’s screams and fought the dogs off.

The boy was hospitalized for two weeks and is still undergoing physical therapy.

“The child was seriously hurt and may never have full normal use of his left arm due to nerve damage,” City Atty. James K. Hahn said. “But the quick action of Risdon and Gaar . . . saved him from further injury and maybe even death.”

After the attack, animal regulation officials found the two dogs at the Gillens’ residence with three Staffordshire terriers. The animals were being kept in “cruelly inhumane conditions” with no water and improper shelter. Broken gates on the property allowed the dogs to escape from the yard, Hahn said. All five dogs were impounded.