AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2011
VIC:Where is she? Dog attack schoolmates ask
By Belinda Merhab
MELBOURNE, Aug 22 AAP - Classmates of four-year-old Ayen Chol, mauled to death by a
neighbour's pit bull mastiff dog in her Melbourne home, are asking where their friend
is and why she's gone.
Betty Black, director of the St Albans Main Road East Early Learning Centre, said Ayen's
four and five-year-old classmates were inquiring about her, anxious to know where she
is.
And why she isn't at the centre she attended full-time.
She said the children had already been spoken to by staff from the Department of Education
following last week's attack but still don't quite understand.
"The children are asking a lot of questions, we'll have to sit down with them this
afternoon and answer their questions," Ms Black said on Monday.
"They're just inquisitive, where is she, why isn't she here.
"The concept of death to them, they still don't understand."
She said staff were very supporting of each other.
"The more we talk about it, the better we feel," she said.
Ayen, described by her mother Jaclin Appok as an artistic and talkative child, was
watching television with several other children when the dog chased her older cousin into
the St Albans home.
Her cousin Angelina Mayout, 31, was outside when the dog attacked her and followed
her as she ran into the house just after 8pm on Wednesday.
The dog first attacked Ms Mayout's five-year-old daughter Nyadeng Goaer and when Ms
Appok tried to intervene, the dog turned on Ayen, who had been clinging to her mother's
leg.
Ms Black said she was disgusted to hear reports on Monday that racist posts had been
left on a Facebook tribute site dedicated to Ayen.
"When you hear about these people putting these racist remarks, it makes me sick, it's
a child, an innocent child," she said.
"Children are precious, a child has died, the parents are grieving. It's just disgusting."
Ms Black said the centre and its sister centres around the country will release pink
and silver balloons in Ayen's memory on Tuesday.
She said everyone would wear pink and red because pink was Ayen's favourite colour.
Ayen's family arrived in Australia as refugees from Sudan in 2004 and were living at
their cousins' house in St Albans after their own home burned down last month.
The unregistered pit bull mastiff was put down on Thursday by Brimbank City Council.
Victoria Police said the owner of the dog, a 30-year-old St Albans man, had been questioned
and is expected to be charged on summons with offences relating to the Domestic Animals
Act.
AAP bm/gfr/it
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