PEOPLE islandwide have been left shocked and horrified after a five-year-old boy was killed by an Akita dog while visiting a family friend’s home in the village of Skarinou on Easter Monday.

The boy was buried yesterday afternoon and the dog’s owner was released without charge until police complete their investigations, while the one-year-old dog has been put down.

The incident happened on Monday at around 1.30pm in front of the boy’s 20-year-old half-sister according to police. The two families were due to have a meal to mark the Easter celebrations, as both the owner of the dog and the child’s father have been close friends for decades.
State-pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous said the boy, Eantas Loizou, had died from shock after having his carotid artery severed. Sophocleous also revealed the child had other bites on his neck, his right arm, his head and his back.

According to reports young Eantas had been playing with the dog under the watchful eye of his sister who however did not manage to react in time once the dog began attacking.

The boy was taken to Kofinou medical centre by his father and then by a police patrol car to Larnaca General Hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The funeral took place yesterday at 5pm in Larnaca and the parents asked for those attending to dress in white to represent little Eantas’ innocent soul. Instead of wreaths they asked people to make contributions to the Anti Cancer Society where the boy was a young volunteer.

The dog was put down by veterinary services and the owner, who was arrested by police for not keeping the Akita on a leash, was released yesterday without charge.

The owner, and the boy’s father both serve at the same army unit in the Larnaca area and had been friends from a young age.