TEXAS -- A yellow lab attacked a 6-year-old girl and tonight she's in the hospital with bite wounds to her face.
Animal Control officers say the attack happened around 1:00 p.m. Sunday in the 2400 block of Tierra Rica. The girl was playing outside of her relative's home when the attack happened.
We do know medical crews rushed the child to UMC in serious condition. Animal Control officers took possession of the dog.
"Our job is to check for rabies. That's all we're going to check for,” said Hugo Navarro of the Animal Control Center. “We'll go ahead and observe it for 10 days at this point in time. It's an ongoing investigation. We still have to see the details on what exactly happened and get the facts."
[Well, I guess we shouldn't expect much from El Paso Animal Control. Their job is NOT "just" to check for rabies. Their job is to conduct a thorough investigation, work with other agencies such as Child Protective Services and the Health Department to ensure that there is not a danger to the children in the household - from neglectful parents, other possibly unsocialized animals in the home, etc. They are also to verify that any other animals in the household are cared for properly. They're not supposed to simply be dogcatchers. Geez.]
Animal Control didn't say what's going to happen to the dog. The owner has been fined for not having the pet registered and vaccinated. There's no word on how the young girl is doing.
(KDBC - Oct 2, 2011)
