It happened yesterday afternoon when the two children were riding scooters up and down 61st St. right in front of their home. Neighbors who saw the terrifying attack say the pit bull jumped the fence, chased the children down a street and then pinned them down.
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| How can anyone think this crappy fencing will contain a pit bull??! |
Witnesses tell7News it was a gruesome scene. The pit bull became overly excited when he saw the children playing, and that is when they say it all unraveled and he mauled the two children.
"It looked pretty rough. You could see the puncture wounds. It was bleeding pretty excessively," said witness, Stephanie Baldridge.
"Well I was driving by and I seen something flopping around on the ground and the closer I got, it was a dog throwing this little girl around like a rag doll and had a hold of her leg. I mean, he wouldn't let go. He was swinging her back and forth," said another witness, who did not want to be identified.
That is how two eyewitnesses describe what they saw last night.
"Some children were outside playing in the street and the pit bull got excited, jumped the fence, and went after the children," said Lawton Animal Welfare Officer, Julio Poncey.
Both children suffered multiple punctures on their shins and back of their arms. Poncey says, unfortunately, the last thing you want to do with an aggressive animal is to run.
"If a dog is coming after you don't turn your back on them and run. You want to try and keep the dog in front of you if you can. Keep your hands up close to your body. Don't give the dog anything to bite. Turn your body. Keep the dog in front of you. More than likely, if you run from the dog, he's going to chase you and bite. He'll think you're trying to play," said Poncey.
The event has left neighbors are understandably shaken.
"Not let my kids outside, or out in the front yard. I mean that's pretty bad to say they can't even play in their own yard, because you never know what could happen," said Baldridge
"Everybody was panicked and screaming and the girl was screaming bloody murder and it was scary, like the dog had her if nobody was there to save her. That dog would have ate her alive," said the unidentified witness.
After the attack, Poncey tells 7News the animal was taken into custody and the owner willingly took the dog to a vet and was put down. The pit bull will be sent off for testing at the Oklahoma State Health Department.
Both children are being treated at local hospitals for their injuries.
(KSWO - Jan 11, 2012)
