Fruita girl, 7, dies in dog attack

Pair of malamutes had been bought just 3 weeks ago

Ellen Miller, Special To The News

Monday, May 9, 2005

FRUITA - A 7-year-old girl was mauled to death in her backyard by one of two Alaskan malamutes her parents had purchased just three weeks ago, police and a family acquaintance said Sunday.

"They were friendly dogs, but the male got her by the throat," said Don Page, who shared his house with the girl and her parents. "The dogs weren't aggressive, not protective at all."

The girl, whose name was not released by Police Chief Mark Angelo, was pronounced dead Saturday night at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction after she was attacked just before 8 p.m.

Page identified her as Kate-Lynn Logel, a kindergarten student "who was a beautiful girl."

Page said the dogs - Ice, the male, and Timber - had lived as a pair and were sold as a pair. One was 7 years old and the other 4, although he did not know which was which.

Only the male dog attacked, Angelo said, but both dogs were quarantined at Mesa County animal control.

"After the killing, the police had me put them on a leash, and they were still friendly, wagging their tails, happy to see everybody," Page said.

Page, 48, said he got to know the family when he and the girl's father were co-workers in Fruita.

He said the family had moved in with him last June.

On his couch were two signed notes he said the child had given him on Saturday. In block letters on both she wrote, "Happy Friends Day Don I Love You." One note was decorated with a hand-drawn tree, flower, the sun and a heart.

"She wrote those all the time for people," Page said.

Kate-Lynn was an only child, Page said, and her parents were secluded with relatives elsewhere in Fruita, a town of about 8,000 people 10 miles northwest of Grand Junction.

Page and Angelo said that the girl's mother, Shelly Logel, was outside in the yard with Kate-Lynn and the dogs but left briefly to use the bathroom.

When she went back out, Ice had attacked the girl.

"Lloyd (the father) brought her in here, and we called 911," Page said.

"There was nothing abnormal about those dogs before. They never showed any aggression, and they were around a lot of kids, Kate-Lynn and her cousins, even high school kids."

Angelo said officers continued to investigate the incident on Sunday.