EDWARDSVILLE, PA - Police are looking for a large black and white dog that bit a 6-year-old girl in the face Saturday morning.Tyrus Day said his daughter Briauna was playing in the backyard of their Church Street home when a dog that looked like a pit bull or a Labrador bit her below her right eye and punctured her cheek.
"I waved my finger in front of her eye to make sure it was still working," Day said. "I knew then that she was going to be OK."
The yard was partially fenced. Briauna went to the side of the house - just out of sight - to grab her bike, Day said, and the dog approached her from the front of the house. Day compared his daughter to the cartoon character Elmyra Duff, saying she has grown up around animals and always likes to play with them.
"No fear," Day said. "Any animal, she'll want to go and hug it."
Briauna was taken to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and will hopefully see a plastic surgeon in the next day or two, Day said.
"She's taking it like a champ," he added.
Edwardsville police Officer Mike Lehman said finding the dog would help determine if Briauna will need any shots.
"We're just concerned about rabies," he said.
Day said many residents in the area own dogs, but he had never seen this one before.
"I could have gone after it," he said, "but I would have had to leave my daughter alone."
Anyone with information about the dog can reach Edwardsville police at 570-288-8463.
(Citizens Voice - July 10, 2011)
