TENNESSEE -- A 10-year-old Cocke County boy received serious head injuries Wednesday evening when he was attacked by a pit bull mix.
Brandon Williams was attacked at a home on Branch Road. Officers also say they found his ears in the roadway.
"Both of his ears are ripped off," said Christopher Williams, Brandon's brother. "He was bitten in the face. His arm was bitten. His ligaments were tore on his thumb. His leg was bitten."
"They got the cartilage back to his ear, trying to get it to attach," said Tony Williams, Brandon's father. "He is doing good. He is eating. He's alert. He can talk to you. He can hear."
Tony Williams says he had to fight off the dog when he arrived to help his son. He was also bitten on the hand.
He used tape to tie the dog up until animal control officers arrived.
Brandon's family says he was carrying a UPS package to a neighbor's house when the dog ran up to him from another location. It attacked him as he ran down the driveway, about 333 feet from where he dropped the package.
He was taken to UT Medical Center where doctors are trying to save his ears.
The dog's owners, Anthony Lugar and Jennifer Switzer, were arrested on a charge of allowing animals to run at large.
A jail officer said they were each being held on $15,000 bonds and there was no record of them having a lawyer.
Animal Control dealt with three dogs at the scene. The sheriff's office says a neighbor tried to help catch a black dog that became aggressive. The neighbor shot that dog.
The pit bull mix was taken to the Newport Animal Shelter. She will be held in quarantine for ten days. A judge will make the final call if the dog will be put down.
The dog was not up-to-date on its rabies shots.
Animal control officers say if certain laws were followed this attack would not have happened.
One of those laws is a state law requiring owners of any female dog who is in heat to put that dog up.
"The state law is they are supposed to be confined for 24 days, which means they have to be put up without accessibility to a male dog," said Newport Animal Control Director Lisa Layman.
Layman says dogs are much more aggressive during this time, and they see an increase of dog bites when dogs are loose.
Another law that was not followed in this case was the leash law for Cocke County.
Brandon's family is just glad he is going to be OK.
"He asked me how I was doing," said Christopher Williams. "I was like I am doing fine how are you."
Brandon is expected to be in the hospital for two weeks.
(WATE - August 4, 2011)
