Cassandra Ware waited nervously Tuesday afternoon to pick up her 7-year-old son from his bus stop. He was mauled last month by a neighbor’s dog on his short walk home in Parker County, she said.
It was Conner Landers’ first full day back in class, and Ware said he was excited. But she was anxious.
“I’ve been terrified to let him out of my sight,” she told on Tuesday.“I’ve been having panic attacks today.”
A 49-year-old woman was also released Tuesday on bond after authorities say her dog — a boxer and bullmastiff mixed-breed — attacked Conner on Jan. 21.
The county sheriff’s office said Patti Jean Bell-Neveling was arrested Monday and charged with attack by dog resulting in serious bodily injury. She is free on a $10,000 bond, according to jail records.
Due to the severity of the attack, the dog was euthanized last week after it was quarantined, the Parker County Sheriff’s office said in a news release. The dog tested negative for rabies.
Ware stressed that blame shouldn’t fall on the dog’s breed, but its owner.
“I have met hundreds of pitbulls that are the sweetest little babies, and Boxers, too,” Ware said.
‘Strong and brave’ but struggling
Ware’s son underwent over three hours of surgery to repair nerve damage to his face and more than two dozen cuts. The single mother described what happened to her son as a “mauling.”
The dog left cuts on the boy’s face and arms, and puncture wounds on his scalp and neck, she said. Weeks after the attack, Ware said, her son is still sore and experiencing nerve pain.
“If you bump his arm, or touch his arm, or try to grab him real quick, he screams because it’s a quick shock of pain,” Ware said.
The dog also ripped open Conner’s mouth, so he had to have stitches inside and out, she said.
More surgeries are expected, in addition to physical therapy and help from an occupational therapist to regain use of his arm, she said.
“He’s having to relearn how to write again,” Ware said.
She said Conner has been “strong, and brave and resilient” but he is still struggling mentally.
“When he sees a strange dog, even if it’s a service dog, he starts to have a panic attack,” Ware said. “His heart starts to race, he starts to hyperventilate, screaming, and it’s very hard for him to calm down afterward.”
Dog escaped fenced yard
Conner got off his school bus and was walking home in the 1400 block of Lynock Lane near Reno when the brown and black brindle dog is said to have attacked him after escaping its fenced yard, deputies said in a news release.
A neighbor heard her dogs “creating a ruckus” and went to see what the barking was about. That’s when she saw the dog attacking Conner in the street in front of her home, deputies said.
The first time the neighbor tried to stop the attack, the dog went toward her and she retreated back to her yard. Then, the dog began dragging Conner down the street. That’s when she ran toward the dog and hit it with a large stick to free Conner, deputies said in the news release.
“We commend Conner’s neighbor for her bravery and quick actions in saving him,” Sheriff Russ Authier said. “We are praying for Conner to make a full recovery.”
Conner was taken to a hospital in Fort Worth where he spent several days, his mother said. Doctors credited the neighbor for saving his life.
“If it had been a few seconds later, the doctors said that my son wouldn’t be here today,” Ware said. “He would not be running around. … He would’ve been gone.”
Ware said the community support she’s received has been “absolutely amazing.”
“I am extremely grateful for all of the love and the support that I’ve gotten from the community, from Parker County Animal Control and Parker County Sheriff, and for my neighbor who saved my son’s life,” Ware said.
Karen Kessler, the office’s animal control supervisor, started fundraising to help ease Conner’s medical bills and thank the neighbor for saving Conner’s life. The neighbor was awarded $500, the office said.
“We just wanted to do something to help Conner on his long road to recovery,” Kessler said.
Ware, who also has a daughter and stepson, who are both 13, and a 17-year-old stepdaughter, said she missed several days of work caring for Conner. Ware has made several trips from her home outside the city limits of Azle to downtown Fort Worth for her son’s appointments.
She said the donations for her son’s care “will help out immensely.”
How to help
An account was set up by Kessler for Conner at Plains Capital Bank 1001 Santa Fe Drive in Weatherford. Contributions can be made by calling the bank at (817) 598-5400 and donating to the Conner Lander’s Benefit Account.
