TENNESSEE -- A 7-year-old Ringgold boy is recovering from a pit bull attack. His parents say it could've been prevented, if animal control dealt with the dog earlier.
7-year-old Tanner Eaves will be OK, but he has some pretty serious injuries from a dog attack on Monday. According to his parents, this dog has attacked before, and even after Tanner's attack, the owner got to keep his pet until we started asking questions.
Tanner says he and a friend were playing fetch with the dog at a house on Sparks Street in Ringgold.
Tanner chased down the ball, and says the dog wasn't far behind.
"I got there first and then the dog head butted me," Tanner told us.
The dog knocked him over, and bit Tanner's face, side, and groin. He had to have surgery, and spent the night in the hospital. The dog, got to stay at home, under a 10 day quarantine.
"With this serious of an injury, I feel like the dog should've been picked up at the pound and held at the pound," said Tanner's dad, Gerald Eaves.
Eaves said this dog has attacked before, and has spoken to the owner. We tried to, as well, but no one answered the door.
When we went to Catoosa County Animal Control on Wednesday afternoon at 3:45 for a copy of the incident report as well as why the dog wasn't taken into custody, they told us to file an open records request. The Eaves family received a phone call at 4:09 p.m. from animal control telling them the dog is now at the shelter.
Eaves said if that's what happened in the first place, he wouldn't be angry.
"I felt like my son didn't matter. That, that dog is more important. That dog attacked a kid. Not one kid, but several kids," said Eaves.
We filed an open records request with Catoosa County to get the incident report and any previous records on the dog. They told us the woman who normally handles those requests is out of of the office, so we'll have to wait to get the records until the proper personnel returns to work.
(WTVC - March 21, 2012)
