BRONX, NY -- A skittish English bull terrier tethered to an iron fence at a Bronx neighborhood park lunged at a friendly 4-year-old girl who tried to pet him, tearing into her face, authorities said.
The terrifying attack on little Ishay Stevens occurred around 4:30 p.m. at Third Avenue and East 170th Street near Gouverneur Playground in the Claremont section of The Bronx.
The male dog, named "Fifty," was tied up to the park fence, his owner nearby, when the preschooler — who lives across the street from the playground — spotted the animal lying down and sprinted over to to pet him, witnesses said.
She was carrying a red balloon in her hand — and her gesture apparently riled the tied-up pooch.
He lunged at the little girl and sunk his teeth in her face.
Stunned and bleeding after the sudden attack, the child was rushed to Lincoln Hospital with her mother by her side.
Mom Nicki Fuller later said the girl needed four stitches to close the rips in her upper left cheek — and "the crease of her smile."
"My daughter is going to be okay, but she is still going to be scarred for life after this," an irate Fuller told The Post last night.
"This should have never happened. It’s upsetting.
"This dog is constantly barking. It has been a big problem around the neighborhood and the park for some time, so we are planning to take [legal] action to finally get something done about it."
But the owner of the dog, who didn’t want to be named, disagreed that "Fifty" was a problem — or vicious.
He said the dog bit the girl once in the nose – and only after she ran up to him while the dog was lying down and vulnerable.
The mom of the girl, he added, then ran into her apartment building across the street and returned franticallywielding a two-by-four.
"Go ahead and beat my dog, but it’s a felony!" he said he screamed at her.
Fuller confirmed she came out looking to swing the two-by-four but "only because I was frantic, and I heard the dog was loose."
"I just wanted to protect my daughter," Fuller added.
"He has some nerve telling people about that."
The dog was never hit after the attack, and cops responded quickly to the chaotic scene to calm freyed nerves.
Both the dog and its owner were taken to an Animal Control center.
But authorities said they didn’t expect the canine would be taken from its owner.
Cops said the dog was legally licensed and its owner had all the necessary proof of vaccinations.
Both the owner and dog were home by last night.
The dog will, however, be tested for rabies, cops said.
Results will be known in 45 days, although he previously had been vaccinated for rabies, the owner said.
"I will compensate her family in any way if she needs it," he said.
(NY Post - July 29, 2011)