Dogs were ‘whipping my son across the yard,’ mom says after terrifying attack

“Jace is at home resting and recovering,” his mother, Alexa Bunkoske, said Tuesday. “He is starting to get back his bright and funny personality each day. He will be out of school for a few weeks as his arm and head heal.”

Bunkoske and Jace had just returned from Fond du Lac, where they went after school on Friday, when Jace went outside to play with a friend, Willow, from next door.

“Around 6 p.m., I was heading out to check on the kids when Willow ran up screaming and upset saying, ‘The dogs are attacking Jace!”

Bunkoske ran to the corner of the backyard, where “I saw three dogs whipping my son across the yard so hard that his pants and underwear came off him and his scalp was flapping,” she said. “I ran as fast as I could and jumped on top of him to shield him from the dogs.”

Bunkoske tried to hold her son’s scalp down while striking at the dogs. At that point, she said, a neighbor, Berto Guimarais, ran to help.

“He starts kicking, hitting, yelling trying to get the dogs off of us,” Bunkoske said. As Bunkoske’s husband, Casey Bunkoske, also ran up, Guimarais yelled to him to call an ambulance. “As he turned to go get his phone from the house, one of the dogs latched onto his arm. He was able to get away and call 911.”

Another neighbor ran out with a first aid kit, and the adults tried to comfort Jace while they waited for the ambulance. The dogs’ owner, a 42-year-old woman, was outside and witnessed the entire incident and did not try to intervene, Bunkoske said. Police said she did eventually manage to secure the dogs in her house.

But after first responders saw the extent of Jace’s injuries, a medical helicopter was called. The helicopter was originally going to take the boy to Neenah, but the extent of Jace’s injuries he was taken to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee instead so he could undergo surgery. 

“We were told the two puncture wounds to Jace’s right arm had possibly crushed or punctured his brachial artery,” Bunkoske said. “Because of this, he had to be Med Flighted to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee where he had surgery to explore and repair the damage to his brachial artery and reattach his scalp.”

Police ordered the dogs’ owner to quarantine the dogs at a secure facility outside of Waupun, Waupun Police Chief Jeremy Rasch said in a statement.

The owner has been issued several ordinance citations for allowing animals at large, failure to license her dogs, and remain up to date on their rabies vaccinations. Criminal charges are being reviewed for a referral to the Fond du Lac County District Attorney’s Office. The dog owner is also civilly liable for any damages, Rasch said, who added that the incident remains under investigation.

Police have been called on the owner and her dogs at least two other times for being aggressive, Bunkoske said.

“One of those incidences resulted in paramedics being called,” Bunkoske said. “The owner did nothing to rectify or change the situation and continued to let her dogs roam free.”

Bunkoske said she is grateful to the officers and first responders who came to the scene and feel they did an amazing job.

“The outpouring of love and help from the community has been overwhelming in such a good way and we are forever grateful,” Bunkoske said. “Jace has a huge heart and can make anyone laugh. He loves animals, especially dogs, which has made this attack even more difficult.”