BEAUFORT COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA -- A Lady's Island man who stepped in to save his son from an attack by a family pit bull was injured when the animal turned on him, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report.
Norman Singleton III, 26, of The Hill Road was feeding one of his two pit bulls at 5:15 p.m. Friday when the dog began to attack him.
Norman Singleton Jr. heard his son's shrieks for help and found him on his back in the yard with the dog on top of him, said Singleton Jr.'s mother, Lucille.
Singleton III, who is disabled, struggled with the male pit bull as it lunged at him, biting his arm and shoulder, she said.
"The dog had my grandson on the ground and was going for his throat," she said. "He's handicapped, and it's hard for him to move very quickly. The dog knocked him down, and he couldn't get up."
When Singleton Jr. tried to pull the dog off of his son, the pit bull turned on him, biting his left arm and legs.
"He fought him off for a long time, holding his arm up to block the dog and was slashed up bad on his arm," Lucille Singleton said. "They both got stitched up. The dog's teeth were just sinking into my grandson."
Singleton Jr. eventually retrieved his Winchester shotgun and shot the animal and another of his son's dogs, a brown and white female pit bull.
When deputies arrived, they found the female dog lying in a makeshift doghouse tied to a chain that was attached to a cinder block. She was not loose during the incident, the report stated.
The two men were taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital where they were treated and released, Lucille Singleton said.
EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY KNEW THE DOGS WERE VICIOUS
After the incident, Singleton Jr. told deputies he had told his son to get rid of the dogs several times, but he had refused.
Singleton Jr.'s sister, Norma Singleton, said the male pit bull often got loose in the neighborhood, "terrorizing it" and "eating all the animals," according to the report.
The Sheriff's Office had not received reports of any attacks involving the animal, but Singleton III was issued a rabies-vaccination warning for one of the dogs May 31 by county animal control officers, said Sgt. Robin McIntosh, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
McIntosh said animal control officers continue to investigate the incident.
Both men could not be reached Monday for comment.
Lucille Singleton said the dogs had never attacked anyone before, but they had eaten other animals on the island, including chickens and a goat owned by the family.
Oh OK... so it never attacked anyone before -- just mauled and killed and ate other animals.
She said she was afraid they might attack her younger grandchildren.
"I kept saying that something could happen," she said. "I know he loved them, but I don't know if he could handle them."
(Island Packet - August 22, 2011)
