GEORGIA -- A Homer child received a broken nose and other injuries Friday afternoon when a dog bit him and jumped at him. The dog was euthanized Tuesday at the request of the owner.
On Friday afternoon, Feb. 17, around 4:45 p.m. deputies with the Banks County Sheriff’s Office responded to Sullivan Drive off McCoy Bridge Road, Homer, in reference to the dog bite. Sheriff Charles Chapman said the deputies met a mother and her 5-year-old son that had been bitten.
“The mother told the deputies that her and her 5-year-old son were walking down the roadway and riding their bicycles,” Chapman said.
In the area of 116 Sullivan Drive, the sheriff said that the mother said that she stated to her son, “We need to turn and go back.”
“The mother said when she turned, she observed her son going to pet the dog that belongs to 116 Sullivan Drive at the base of the driveway,” Chapman said. “When she saw her son going towards the dog, she told him to stop and not to pet strange dogs or go near them.”
The sheriff said that the woman told the deputies that when she told him this, her son turned, as if to acknowledge her comment, and the dog, a black Lab/German Shepherd mix jumped at the boy and started biting him.
The child received several lacerations on his facial area and he also suffered a broken nose, Chapman stated. The child was transported by Banks County EMS to Athens Regional Medical Center where he underwent treatment and surgery on Friday night.
Chapman said the child was released from the hospital on Saturday.
Chapman said the deputies on the scene took photos of the child, the blood on the driveway and the puddle of blood a good distance down the driveway.
“The deputies, upon their arrival and having talked to the boy’s mother, called the Banks County Health Department,” Chapman said. “The health department instructed the owner of the dog to put the dog up for 10 days.”
On Monday, the owner contacted the sheriff’s office and said he had decided to have the dog euthanized. This was done on Tuesday.
(Banks News Today - Feb 21, 2012)
