The owners of the dogs which attacked and killed 46-year-old Denise Rackal in Chaguanas last Monday are receiving counselling to deal with the trauma arising from the incident. The son of the police officer who owned the pit bulls said yesterday the family was remorseful for what happened. The son did not wish to be identified. He said his entire family is receiving counselling. He noted, too, that his family had reached out and personally extended their sympathy to Rackal's relatives on Wednesday night. He described the tragedy as a horrible mistake saying his mother had fallen ill and was now warded at hospital arising out of the stressful situation.
When asked if the family had received an eviction notice from officials of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the young man said no. "That is a mistake being reported, we have not been evicted," he said. Meanwhile, the policeman's neighbour, Alissa De Roche, in an interview outside her home yesterday, said she owns four pit bulls. She said she was unsure whether the HDC would move to evict dog owners from the community. De Roche said dogs like pit bulls and rottweilers are absolutely necessary in protecting property in Edinburgh 500. She said when her husband had just moved in, he was held up at gunpoint and robbed.
She said because of this the family felt it necessary to secure themselves.
De Roche said if the HDC chose to evict dog owners they would have a lot of people to evict as most people along the street owned dogs. De Roche, who claims she breeds pit bulls at her Flambuoyant Street home, said she did not believe that all pit bulls should be labelled as monsters because of the act of her neighbour's dogs. "Pit bulls are good dogs. They are protectors, but their behaviour depends on how they are trained, taken care of and loved," she said. She said she has three children, the youngest a toddler, and she felt safe having her children interact with the animals. In fact, while De Roche was being interviewed her young daughter was in her arms and the pit bulls, two of which were puppies ran happily around her.