Four-year-old Kiyana McNeal had grown up with her family’s old Doberman, Willow, so when the dog died of cancer two months ago, she was distraught.
Her mother, Jacey McNeal Wolkins, immediately began making plans to find another dog for the family.
The family ultimately decided to purchase a three-year-old Doberman Pinscher or Doberman mix from a man in Illinois. They agreed that he would drive the dog to their home in Michigan on Sunday.
The man hung around after the dog delivery for about 45 minutes, ensuring that Kiyana and Wolkins had both bonded with the dog before he left.
But less than five minutes after the seller left, the dog attacked Kiyana.
“[Wolkins] said she had just bought the dog and the [seller] probably hadn’t been gone five minutes — and just that fast the dog attacked,” a neighbor said.
Kiyana had, according to neighbors who witnessed the gruesome scene, simply been trying to give the dog a treat when he lunged and attacked out of nowhere.
The neighbors recall hearing Kiyana and her mother’s screams, and then Wolkins’ hysterical sobbing immediately afterward.
Wolkins tried desperately to get the dog to stop attacking, not caring that she was getting scratched and bitten in the process. The dog seller had rushed back to the family’s home after hearing what had happened, and even tried to perform CPR on Kiyana – but it was to no avail.
Kiyana died at the scene of the attack.
“It’s something nobody should see. Nobody,” a neighbor said. “You just don’t expect nothing like that to happen to a child.”
A close friend of the family has set up a GoFundMe page, hoping to raise money for Kiyana’s funeral arrangements.
Our hearts go out to those who will be sorely missing this darling young girl, who had a passion for animals, was “vibrant, smart, funny, and the sweetest little girl you’d ever know.”
