ILLINOIS -- The two pit bulls who mauled an 8-year-old Roseland boy in his parents' yard have been given to the city by their owners to be euthanized, a city official said.
Joshua Dixon of the 10100 block of South State Street was attacked by his family's two pit bulls inside his home's gated yard Wednesday evening, police said. Joshua was returning from school when he was attacked.
The dogs knocked the boy down and bit him multiple times, injuring his face, police said.
From Animal Care and Control's investigation, it appears that both dogs -- one male, one female -- bit the boy during the attack, said Mark Rosenthal, the operations manager at Animal Care and Control.
"I think it was ... somewhat of a chaotic situation," Rosenthal said.
He was taken to the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, where he remained in critical condition Thursday, hospital spokesman John Easton said.
Family members who were contacted declined to comment.
By law, dogs that bite other dogs or humans must be quarantined for 10 days to be checked for rabies, Rosenthal said. But because the owners of the dogs relinquished custody of them to Animal Care and Control, they will be euthanized, Rosenthal said.
"They are biting dogs involved in a very severe mauling," Rosenthal said. "There's no rescue agency or no home that we would feel comfortable placing the dogs in."
After the pair is euthanized, their heads will be sent to a city laboratory so they can be checked for rabies.
Chicago has a large pit bull population, and many of those dogs end up in Animal Care and Control's custody, Rosenthal said.
"Obviously, pit bulls are different than dachshunds or Malteses, or a big, physical dog," Rosenthal said. "They have the potential to do damage if they are in a situation where there's a bite involved. ... Owners have to assume responsibility for their animals, be it a snake, a dog or a cat."
(Chicago Tribune - December 7, 2007)
