OHIO -- A 5-year-old boy was bitten Tuesday by a dog at the same Fleet Street home where two other dogs were seized earlier this month.
The boy, who lives in the same 800 block, suffered a large puncture wound on his left shoulder along with some scratches and bruising about 3:39 p.m., Chillicothe police reported. He was transported later to Adena Medical Center for treatment.
According to the boy's aunt, who was baby-sitting him at the time, he was playing with his friends next door to the home where the bull mastiff was tied up with six to eight feet of chain. She said she heard her nephew yell and thought maybe the kids were fighting, but when she came outside she saw blood on his ear and shoulder.
A total of four dogs -- three pit bull mixes and the mastiff -- reportedly were found outside of the home Feb. 3, chained up and without food or water.
A man who lives there faces numerous misdemeanor criminal charges, including three counts of animal cruelty for his alleged mistreatment of the three pit bulls. His mother, who owns the mastiff, was charged with a single count of animal cruelty. Both have pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. They're scheduled to appear Feb. 27 in Chillicothe Municipal Court.
Two of the dogs were seized Feb. 3 by the Ross County Dog Warden and taken to the Ross County Humane Society while the other two, including the mastiff, remained on the property with the expectation that the mother -- who is staying in a nearby homeless shelter on Dayton Street -- would visit daily to care for them.
The mastiff will be quarantined after Tuesday's incident, according to the report.
(Chillicothe Gazette - Feb 17, 2012)
