| 1. |
At about 7 am
of the sunny Sunday, August 23, 1998, Seiko Ikuma was out to the west side
of the yard. The front door was kept open but the outer storm door was
latched. Ikuma's dogs had never opened the latched door by themselves unless
somebody opened the storm door. Ikumas' dogs enjoyed to watch the front
yard, and they often kept the storm door latched but with the main door
opened, particularly during the summer months. The storm door is made of
double glasses that are surrounded by the aluminium fram. |
| 2. |
At about 7;30
am, Seiko heard a commotion in the front of the house causing her to come
to the house front. She saw a man and a boy standing, about 12-15 feet
from the front door, while the family dog, Ato, sat next to them looking
toward the sky. The man shouted at Seiko, "Your dog bit my son !", "Oh,
no. I'm sorry," and took Ato inside the house. She then woke up her husband,
Hiroshi, shouting "Hiroshi-san, wake up ! Ato bit somebody. I'm going to
the hospital." She then went out to go their hospital. The boy and the
father were about to leave the scene with the boy in the backseat. When
Seiko was walking toward the driveway, the father came out of the car and
shouted, "Where is the dog? I'm going to kill him". He walked towards Seiko
and making her back-pedal to the corner of the front walkway that bends
the driveway. While his anger was expressed in this way, Seiko said, "My
first priority is your son's medical attention". While he was going back
to his car, Seiko offered to pay the medical expenses. He said simply "Later
!". She saw the car leaving. She then wondered which emergency service
was the father going to take, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital or University of
Michigan Hospital. She decided to go to St. Joseph Hospital first. During
her driving , she was completely puzzled, why was Ato, who had been inside
the house, was out and why could he get out. |
| 3. |
After Seiko
left the house, Hiroshi came down to the main floor. He found the newspaper
in a neat pile about 5 feet inside the front door, except two advertising
fliers near the entrance. There was one copy of the newspaper just outside
of the front porch, through a copy slipped out of the newspaper bag he
was carrying. Hiroshi decided to wait for Seiko to return to know more
about what had happened. |
| 4. |
Seiko arrived
at about 8:15 at the Emergency Room of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, shortly
after the arrival of the father and son. The father ignored Seiko while
she expressed her regret and apology for what had happened. To Seiko's
question, "How is your son?" the father replied "Fine" curtly, then said,
"Do you want to see my son?" When she responded affirmativey, he lead her
to the boy on the bed and showed a puncture wound on his left buttocks
(about ¾ inch long and ½ inch deep). The doctor had not dressed
the wounds yest, and Seiko could see the injury well. The father was understandably
so upset that Seiko could not speak to him and thus came out of the room,
but she still could not comprehend why and how Ato was outside the house.
She mumbled to herself, "Was something wrong on the latch of the storm
door?" Hearing this, "That's your business," said the father of the boy. |
| 5. |
As soon as Seiko
started walking in the corridor, she was stopped by Ms. Joan Brown, a nurse
and social worker, and led to her small office. She warned Seiko that the
father may charge her, but after hearing Seiko's story, Ms. Brown promised
to investigate into the incident. At about 9;45 am, Ms. Brown called Seiko
at home and said, "The boy acknowledged that he entered the house. Both
parties are hurt by the incident." Ms. Brown information and based Alex's
explanation were exactly what Seiko had thought. Later, Seiko wrote a "Thank-you
note" to Ms. Brown who gave us the information on the incident. |
| 6. |
At about 8:45
am, on her way back from the hospital Seiko went to the Ann Arbor City
police headquarter to report the incident. By this time, the boy's parents
had already reported the incident, but the officer at the front counter
took the description from Seiko. |
| 7. |
About 9:10 am,
Officer Walker came to the Ikuma residence to learn what happened. Hiroshi's
information was incomplete, and the Officer waited in his car until Seiko
returned. She came home shortly, and talked with the Officer. The Officer
would not release the name and address of the boy, but took some notes
in his small notebook based on what Seiko told him. He left with the remark
that an animal control officer on the following day would contact her. |
| 8. |
Monday, August
24th. was a busy day for Seiko. After Hiroshi left for his work, Seiko
called the Circulation Department of the Ann Arbor News and talked with
the manager, Mr. Joe Holz. She reported the incident and inquired the name
and address of the newspaper boy, but Mr. Holz did not release the information.
Seiko then asked Mr. Holz to have the Ann Arbor News take a flower and
a get-well card to the family, if she brought them to him. He said that
he would check with the family and get back to her. She never carried out
what he promised to do. He ignored Seiko's request completely. She then
went to AAA office, with whom the Ikumas have the home owner's insurance,
to report the incident of the day before. She then waited the rest of the
day for a telephone call from the animal control officer in cahrge of the
case. But the officer never called the Ikumas. |
| 9. |
The officer
in charge was officer Cheryl Christopher who contacted the Ikumas at about
8:15 am on Tuesday, August 25th. for the first time. The Officer the called
everyday for about 10 days by telephone, never came to the residence to
investigate the site of the accident. She also did not give trhe name and
address of the newspaper boy.
Her calls came once between
7:30 am and 8:00 am, then some days again in the afternoon. From August
26th. on, Officer Christopher was only interested in whether or not the
Ikumas decided to euthanize Ato. She refused to talk with the Ikuma's attorney,
saying "The case has not come to the stage to involve attorneys". From
August 27th. on, she insisted on asking the same question to the Ikumas,
"Have you decided to destroy your dog ?". The Ikumas were very affected
psychologically by the same question repeated daily sometimes twice a day. |
| 10. |
Due to the strong
insistence of the Officer Christopher on August 26th., the Ikumas had to
confine Ato either in the Humane Society of Huron Valley or in another
animal clinic which Officer Christopher approved. After a furious search,
the Ikumas decided to choose the Dexter Animal Clinic, some 20 miles away
from their hoe. Then the daily vigil of the Ikumas started; they visit
the clinic to feed and groom the dog, clean the cage, and exercise Ato.
This was necessary because
the clinic personnel did very little to care ato. Ato stayed in the clinic
for 14 months until October 19, 1999 when Ato was suddenly and mysteriously
transferred to the Humane Society of Huron Valley without telling anything
to the Ikumas, where animal control officers have a ready access. only
Ato's cage has a quarter inch plastic on the door in such a way nobody
could touch him. The Ikumas are continuing their daily visit to take care
of Ato. Ato has very little freedom on the Humane Society with double padlocked
door on the cage with clear signs of BITE CASE and DO NOT TOUCH THE DOG. |
| 11. |
On August 27th.,
Seiko was surprised by an abgry telephone call by a neighbor of 30 years
insisting to destroy Ato. The neighbor learned from the boy's mother who
visited the neighborhood door-to-door with her story and photographs of
the wound. Her story was essentially the same story as their police reports
and the Alert note. |
| 12. |
According to
the police narrative entered on August 28th., animal control Officer Christopher
went to the newspaper boy's residence and talked with the parents in the
presence of their attorney, Darlene O'Brien about the incident.
The officer never came to
the Ikuma's residence to investigate the bite case. Although the boy's
father dated his report as 8/27/98, the information therein include a case
which only the police department knew. Curious inded !!!!!! |
| 13. |
The Ikumas received
a note from the O'Brien and O'Brien law firm on Saturday, August 29th.,
requesting that the Ikumas immediately contact the home-owner's insurance.
This was the firts time the Ikumas came to know the boy's and parents'
name and address. |
| 14. |
On September
4th., the animal control Officer Christopher ordered the dexter Animal
Clinic to continue confining Ato and the condition cannot be changed withoutr
her approval. |
| 15. |
On Saturday,
September 5th., of the Labor Day weekend, Ikumas immediate neighbor, Dr.
Barry Fishman handed a copy of the note which is posted. |
|
