The family loved this dog. All the kids played with him regularly, but this weekend, something set the dog off and he attacked 10-year-old Lucas Arnds.
We should warn you, the boy's injuries are pretty severe.
"It growled once or twice which I should have known was bad," recalls Lucas. "And then it attacked me."
These are pictures of Lucas Arnds taken just after the attack. He had to get more than 40 stitches.
"His top teeth hit my ear and then it hit this part and his bottom teeth bit into this. And I started crying. Blood was dripping down and I started banging on the door."
Lucas was at his dad's house in Laveen this weekend and was in the yard playing with the 1 year-old pit bull.
"I just heard my son with a very loud bloodcurdling scream yell out help 'dad help help!'" says Ted Arnds.
Ted got the dog from a shelter when it was a puppy, the dog was around kids all the time.
"All it took was something that you don't even think about, like the smell of another dog for that dog to reach out and grab my son and tear him to pieces."
Just before the attack, Lucas was helping out a neighbor with some yard work and also played with that neighbor's pit bull.
Animal control told the family the other dog's smell could have sparked the attack.
Despite his injuries, Lucas is doing ok.
"I have a stepbrother who is about 4 and sister who is 6 and I am glad it didn't happen to them."
Dad took the dog to animal control, and soon after he got a text from his son.
"He said 'please promise me that you'll never have a pit bull again' and I told him that I promise," says Ted.
The dog is now in quarantine at animal control. The family was told he will be put down.
(Fox10 - May 22, 2012)
