FLORIDA -- A dog that allegedly bit two people in the face last weekend has been taken by animal control and will be put down.
Mellissa Morales, of Salt Springs, the owner of the pit bull, named Diesel, said she has had him for about a year, since he was born. She described him as "gentle as a kitten," but said she believed he did bite a child.
Another person told officials the dog bit an adult.
Morales said by phone Friday that she voluntarily gave Diesel to animal control and called the episode "a horrible accident."
"He's extremely loving. He never had an aggression toward anyone," she said.
Last Friday night, Marion County Fire Rescue personnel and sheriff's deputies went to Morales' home after receiving a report about a 9-year-old being bitten in the face by a dog. Morales told a deputy the juvenile had probably been bitten by a stray dog. She then said she was baby-sitting the boy and his siblings, ages 10 and 7, when the boy went outside and shortly afterward, she heard him crying. She said she saw a mark on the child's face and called 911.
She said Diesel was chained outside and that while she did not see the dog bite the child, she believed he had done so.
The boy was taken to Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville for treatment and the Department of Children and Families was notified.
On Sunday, deputies again went to Morales' home, where a witness told them Tara Kerns was petting Diesel in the living room and had turned away to sit down when the dog lunged forward and bit her face.
The witness said he grabbed Diesel by the collar, punched the dog in the head and yanked it away from Kerns.
Kerns also was taken to Shands. Both she and the boy were treated and released.
County spokeswoman Elaine DeIorio said the boy and the woman both identified Diesel as the dog that bit them.
She said Diesel will be humanely euthanized approximately 10 days from the second incident.
"In the interest of public safety, the dog cannot be adopted out," DeIorio said.
(Ocala.com - April 6, 2012)
