The girl was taken by her parents, Matthew Barlow and Pamela Sellars, to a hospital where she was treated for lacerations and bruising on her face. She was released after treatment.
One of the owners of the dog pulled him away and took the girl to her parents, said Julian Miller, Savannah-Chatham police spokesman.
Oreo, a 60-pound, black and white pit bull mix, was impounded by Savannah-Chatham police Animal Control and West Chatham Precinct officers after he bit the girl on the face on East Hopeton Court in West Chatham County about 6 p.m.
Michael and Patricia Wooten had been keeping Oreo in the pen inside the fenced yard with two other dogs since he was picked up running at large by Animal Control officers in a previous incident. The dogs escaped Sunday when the three neighborhood girls were playing and handling dishes used to feed the dogs.
Because of his history, Oreo was impounded and a hearing will be requested to designate him a “dangerous dog.”
If that occurs, his owners will be required to register him as such, have him neutered and micro-chipped, must carry a $25,000 security bond and take extra precautions to contain him. Animal Control must approve of those precautions before the dog is returned.
The statement issued by police Monday referred to Oreo as a pit bull mix, but Michael Wooten said the dog is an American Bulldog.
The Wootens said they don’t want Oreo back.
“Once a dog does that, it might do that again,” Michael Wooten said. “I hope they don’t kill it. I hope they find it a good home. I’m really sorry it happened,” he said.
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| Michael Wooten, owner of the pit bull |
The Wootens said they never saw Oreo show signs of violence before Sunday, but Barlow said he had seen the dog growl aggressively at a neighbor. Barlow also said in the years he’s lived on East Hopeton Court, he’s seen various dogs the Wootens owned behaving aggressively and even attacking smaller dogs in the neighborhood.
“But when somebody calls the law, they miraculously let them keep the dogs,” Barlow said.
Barlow said he feels something should have been done about the dogs before now because Sunday’s incident was not the first time police have gotten involved with the Wootens regarding their dogs. He said he doesn’t blame police; he blames the laws, which he said aren’t working.
“I’m happy they came to my house and told me the dog will not be returning to the neighborhood,” Barlow said. “But it took my daughter getting attacked for that to happen.”
(Savannah Now - Jan 31, 2012)
