Father of 7-year-old wants answers after dog attack in Jackson

A seven-year-old is in hospital after his father said he was attacked on his way home from school.

Ricky Nelson said his son, Myxtretic Abney, was on his way home from Lester Elementary School when the dog attacked. After calling police, he said he was transferred to EMS; After he responded, an ambulance took Abney to UMMC to have his wounds treated.

The family moved to Jackson from Dothan, Alabama, three months ago, not knowing there were so many released dogs in the neighborhood.

“I mean, no one talked to me about having to pick up my child because these dogs would bite you, and where we come from, we’re just not used to dogs being able to bite us,” Nelson said.

Nelson said Abney has to walk home from school every day and pass the dogs because the school district does not provide transportation given the distance to school.

“When you live so close to the school, you don’t have transportation available to you,” Nelson said.

As 16 WAPT teams were on Cummins Street in Oakhurst near the school, they noticed the same dog that Nelson said was involved in the attack sitting in a cage on the porch of a home. A police unit drove past twice but never stopped when we saw the incident while our teams were outside.

Nelson said the attack occurred around 2:30 p.m., but according to JPD officials, officers arrived at the hospital around 5:45 p.m. to meet the victim and his family

Jackson police have not yet provided an update on what will happen to the dog or if this is a common occurrence.