Boy, 8, mauled to death by stray dogs he stopped to pet in his neighborhood
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An eight-year-old boy riding a bicycle with his friend was mauled to death by two loose dogs he tried to pet in his neighborhood. Michael Millett stopped to interact with the dogs in the Berry’s Ridge area of Deland, Florida, on Monday. As he approached the dogs a second time, they turned aggressive, and his mother tried to fight them off unsuccessfully.
![[Michael Millett (Picture: Karly Connell/Facebook)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236086813-d84c.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘She went out there and had to kick the dog, and punch the dog… and you know, protect her son… but unfortunately, it… she wasn’t able to,’ Michael’s great aunt Jackie Hart told Fox 35. One 911 caller asked dispatchers if she would face consequences if she shot the animals.
![[Officers captured the dogs believed to be involved in deadly attack (Picture: Volusia County Sheriff's Office)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236087553-c8fd.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. ‘They’ve pinned him down on the ground, and now they’re like biting him, but he’s not moving, and he’s not responding,’ said the caller.
![[Michael Millett (Picture: Michael Millett Jr/Facebook)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236086814-99b8.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Michael suffered 12 bite wounds and died of his injuries. ‘Our family is devastated with the loss of Michael,’ wrote Hart in a GoFundMe page she set up for his funeral and other expenses. ‘He was incredibly smart, funny, caring, loving, and so adventurous. Michael’s contagious laugh and light will be missed tremendously.’.
Michael’s mother said they have resided in the neighborhood in Volusia County for six years and had never before seen the two dogs. However, neighbors said they had encountered them before. ‘As soon as you drive in the driveway, you’d start hearing the dogs, and they’d be going crazy,’ a resident, Frank Tuttle, told Fox 35.
