 |
| A good reminder that pit bulls are everywhere - the attacking pit bull lived here, in a nice, quiet-looking home |
Lt. Mike Williams of the Sheboygan Police Department said the boy was interacting with the dog — reportedly hitting it at least once — when the dog bit the child’s face and began shaking him vigorously. The incident took place about 4:30 p.m. at a home in the 1400 block of South Ninth Street.
The father and the dog owner, who is the boy’s great-uncle, attempted to stop the attack but were unable to control the dog, Sgt. Scott Reineke said in a press release. The father then grabbed a knife and stabbed the dog several times in the jaw, freeing the boy.
The boy suffered serious injuries to the right side of his face and was taken by his father to Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center. A medical helicopter then took the boy to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where he underwent emergency surgery.
The dog owner, who declined to give his name, said this morning that he spent the night at the hospital with other family members as the boy underwent reconstructive surgery.
“The surgeons did a miraculous job just on the first attempt. There’s going to be several more attempts later,” the man said. “He’s still got both eyes. He’s doing good.”
The man described the attack as “unprovoked” but said the dog had been running a fever.
“The dog was feeling ill,” the owner said. “We’re thinking there’s some other things going; hopefully the vet can answer those questions for us (through a necropsy).”
The boy’s father didn’t want the dog to be put down, but the dog owner said he insisted. Police said the owner voluntarily transported the dog to a veterinarian clinic, where it was euthanized.
 |
| The family's pit bull, Dice, mauled the baby's face while the uncle tried to pry it off and the father finally began stabbing it in the jaw with a pocketknife. |
The owner — who had a bandaged finger on both hands due to injuries suffered trying to stop the attack — said the family has had the pit bull for several years. He said the dog was raised with children in the house and never attacked anyone before.
Williams said police are not aware of any prior attacks by the dog, but investigators are still looking into potential criminal liability.
“It’s obviously a tragic accident, and … there is that possibility, but the investigation is still ongoing,” he said.
(Sheboygan Press - Oct 11, 2011)
