My son, 9, was mauled to death by dog while his mum was on cocaine binge… more kids will die unless there’s major change
THE DAD of a nine-year-old boy who was mauled to death by a dog has warned more children will die unless changes are made.
Frankie MacRitchie suffered “devastating” injuries and died when he was attacked by an American bulldog in April 2019.
He had been on holiday with his family at Tencreek Holiday Park, Cornwall, with his mum Tawney Willis and her friend Sadie Totterdell when the horror incident took place.
The American bulldog, which belonged to Ms Totterdell, was known to have attacked three other people.
But they left Frankie alone in a caravan with the dog while they enjoyed a night of alcohol, cocaine and partying.
When the pair returned, they found Frankie covered in blood on the kitchen floor.
His dad Billy, 36, who had split from Willis, has called for change to avoid a similarly devastating attack taking place in the future.
He told The Mirror: “There has to be change. I don’t want to see another child die needlessly at the hands of careless adults and dangerous dogs.
“I don’t want another family living the nightmare my family and I live every day of our lives. Frankie didn’t stand a chance.
“Our only hope is that his tragic death wasn’t for nothing and it may help save other children.”
Frankie’s aunt Danielle had hoped her nephew’s death would have have helped stop similar incidents in the future.
But the family have been left disturbed by figures revealing dog attacks rose by six per cent last year to 9,336.
It comes as MPs have called for a ban on the American Bully XL breed blamed for recent fatal attacks, with one of the victims a year old.
Danielle also described the horror of the last image of Frankie and “the state of him” following the traumatic injuries.
She added: “We have never revealed this before but we want people to know the true horror of dog attacks.
“They kill, they don’t snap, they don’t bite, they kill. My message to all breeders is if they saw what we saw they would not breed dogs.”
The family are now calling for tougher sentences for owners of dangerous dogs who carry out fatal attacks.
Frankie suffered 54 injury wounds to his face, head, neck, chest, back, leg and had defensive wounds to his arm.
A post-mortem examination revealed he had died from blood loss caused by multiple dog bites.
Willis and Totterdell were later prosecuted and jailed.
Frankie’s mum was jailed for two years at Truro Crown Court after admitting child neglect in 2020.
Totterdell was also jailed for three years in the same case after admitting being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death.