Leashed Dog Mauled In Trailer Park: Cops

OAK LAWN, IL -- A small, leashed poodle was mauled to death by a dog at large in an Oak Lawn trailer park. The owner was walking his dog when a tan-and-white husky grabbed the little dog in its mouth. The mauled poodle named Molly was euthanized a few hours later.

“It happened so quick, in a matter of seconds,” Chester Sedevic, 58, said. “If I saw the dog coming I would have picked Molly up right away, but I didn’t have the chance.”

Sedevic said Molly was a 12-year-old, apricot-colored toy poodle. He took her out on her leash around 11 a.m. April 30 in the Airway Mobile Home Park at 90th Street and Cicero Avenue. He was about 40 feet away from his mobile home when he saw a shadow flash by. When he looked down at the ground, Molly was lying in a pool of blood. The tan-and-white husky, later identified in an Oak Lawn police report as Coco, bit the little dog again.

“I didn’t know if I should hit [the husky] or not,” Sedevic said. “As soon as I got him off I picked her up and took her into the house.”

Molly was still alive. Sedevic wrapped his dog up in a blanket and brought her to the Premier Veterinary Group pet emergency clinic in Crestwood. Veterinarians there told Sedevic that Molly had a punctured lung. Her ribs were also crushed.

“When I brought her into [Premier] they were like, ‘Oh my, God, she’s so small and full of blood,” Sedevic wept. “The vet told me she would need multiple surgeries. At her age, he didn’t think she’d pull through. He recommended that I have her put to sleep. I didn’t want her to suffer.”

The vet left Sedevic alone with Molly, who had already been sedated for pain. He petted her and talked to her. He kissed her bloody head.

“That’s when the doctor came in with the injection,” Sedevic said. “He put it into the IV. She jerked a little bit. Her eyes were still open so I closed them.”

According to a heavily redacted Oak Lawn police report, officers answered to an “animal problem” call of two huskies running loose in the trailer park around 11:06 a.m. Police said the owners, who live on 49th Court behind McDonald’s, were coming by to pick up their dogs. The owners told police their dogs, Coco and Okami, had run away from them moments earlier. They were also aware that Coco had bitten another dog, according to the report.

The owners were issued unspecified citations. The police report lists the offense as “animal bite.” There was no court date or village adjudication hearing indicated on the report. Police gave Sedevic’s contact information to the huskies’ owners. A Cook County Animal Bite card was also completed.

Sedevic reminisced about the tiny apricot poodle, whom he had acquired nine years ago when Molly's first owner passed away. He and Molly bonded immediately. When he'd come home from work at night, Molly would be so happy to see Sedevic, she'd curtsey to him in the middle of the living room. He says he doesn't want another dog. He feels he like he let Molly down by not protecting her.

“Every time I close my eyes, I see Molly laying in a pool of blood,” he said.