OHIO -- A five week old baby's finger is bitten off by a puppy.
It was nearly 8:30 a.m. when the panicked mother 21 year old, Jena Stewart, of New Matamoras, woke up to her child covered in blood, missing a finger, and a face full of scratches.
"She said she was asleep on the couch and the baby was asleep on the bouncer next to her, close to the floor, and she said that she got woken up by her friend who came downstairs from the house and said there was blood all over her child. She investigated the blood and found that the child's finger was missing so she called 911. She said the child was not crying when it happened, she did not hear the child," explains the Washington County Sheriff's Office's Dog Warden, Deputy Kelly Schubert.
Deputy Schubert met the mother and child at Marietta Memorial Hospital looking for answers.
"I observed the child, the left finger, the pinky, was missing. They advised that a six week old lab puppy bit the child, it also had scratches on it's face, his ear, a lot of blood and they transported the child to Columbus," says Deputy Schubert.
The dog was taken to the veterinarian's office were an x-ray showed the finger... and the end of a pacifier in the dog's stomach.
The dog eventually regurgitated the finger.
Deputy Schubert says the finger was fully intact, but doctors say it is not able to be reattached.
Deputy Schubert says the puppy was one of three in the home. She says she does not see this as a vicious act.
"These dogs are not vicious, they are puppies being puppies. He just thought he was playing. They need things to chew on to occupy them. They were very well fed and they weren't miss treated [sic]," explains Deputy Schubert.
Other than the missing finger and pain... Deputy Schubert says they do not believe there to be any other serious injuries once the pinky is cleaned.
She says all three puppies were in good, health condition and will be taken to the Ohio Valley Humane Society and be put up for adoption.
The Washington County Sheriff's Department is still investigating and child services are conducting their own investigation.
(WTAP - March 9, 2012)
