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| Deputies said her lip injuries could require reconstructive surgery. |
Deputies said the girl's grandfather, Sean Riley, subsequently stabbed the dog, a 9-year-old yellow lab named Sampson.
According to reports, Shayna Lydick, 4, was with her grandparents in the outdoor seating area of the McDonald's on 150th Avenue in Madeira Beach at 8:51 a.m. when she approached the dog, who was with its owners at the time.
The dog responded by biting the girl's lip, which is when Riley stabbed the dog once in the neck with a pocket knife, deputies said.
Riley, however, told Bay News 9 that’s not how it happened. He said his granddaughter approached the dog's owner, not the dog.
"Debbie, the owner of the dog, which we met four days ago, was sitting on the wall right behind me here and Shayna walked up to Debbie while the dog was rooting around in the bushes back here by the trees and put her hands on Debbie's knees and said, 'Hey Debbie' or 'Good Morning' or whatever a little four-year-old says and the dog reached, because Debbie was sitting on the wall like this, reached right through her arm here and bit Shayna right on the frickin' lip," he said.
"The owner ran and started screaming and shaking and the dog sat down and spit out a piece of Shayna's lip, thank God the surgeon said, and that's when he growled at her again. And she's freaking out, blood all over me, and I grabbed the dog and stabbed it in the neck."
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| The incident happened in the outdoor seating area of the McDonald's on 150th Avenue in Madeira Beach. |
The girl was taken to All Children's Hospital. Riley said surgeons were able to re-attach the piece of flesh the dog tore off but it's too soon to know if it'll take.
"It took her lip from here to here and almost to the nostril off. We had to put it in a bag of ice and take it to All Children's with us," Riley said. "Fifty-fifty if her lip goes back on. If not, it’s skin graphs from other parts of her little 4-year-old body."
Pinellas County Animal Services has taken custody of the dog and will be investigating the incident. It's too soon to know if any citations will be issued.
Pinellas County Animal Services veterinarian Caroline Thomas said the dog should be okay.
"When it came in, we clipped and cleaned it up and the bleeding stopped pretty quickly," she said.
"But it is going to require some sutures. So, we are going to go ahead and suture that up later today and then keep the dog on some antibiotics and anti-inflammatories to control for infection and pain."
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| Deputies said a 9-year-old yellow lab named Sampson bit a 4-year-old girl’s lip. The girl’s grandfather subsequently stabbed the dog. |
Animal Services is going to hold the dog for 10 days to make sure it doesn't have rabies.
The dog's owners, Robert and Debbie Moore, say they want their dog back.
Debbie Moore told Bay News 9 over the phone they feel awful about the attack and do not have any hard feelings about their dog being stabbed.
Moore says Sampson was lying at her feet when the girl ran up and put her face in the dog's face.
She says this is the first time her dog has actually bitten someone. She's very apologetic and says there are no winners here.
(CFNews - November 21, 2011)
