CONNECTICUT -- The parents of a 10-year-old boy who was viciously attacked by their neighbor’s pit bull mix dog are furious over the dog owner’s decision to appeal the dog’s pending euthanasia.
The boy, Brian Ozenne, was running towards his Bloomfield, Connecticut home on June 17 when the neighbor’s dog (described by police as a pit bull / mastiff mix) named Dutch, ran after the boy, severely injuring him after mauling him for several minutes. The boy suffered bite and puncture wounds to his head, neck, back and buttocks. The dog also severed part of the boy’s ear. He is now recovering with multiple staples in his head.
The boy was rescued by his father, who fought off the dog by punching and kicking it.
The boy’s parents, Yvonne and Brian Ozenne Sr., said their son will have to undergo reconstructive surgery to repair the ear he almost lost.
Now the dog’s owners are fighting the decision to put the dog down. The dog’s owners have reportedly retained an attorney to fight the police department's decision.
The victim’s parents believe the dog is dangerous and doesn’t understand why the owners would spend money fighting to have a vicious dog in a neighborhood with children.
Mr. Ozenne told the Hartford Courant, “This dog was on a mission to kill my son. If I thought he was going to still live I’d have killed him.”
Mrs. Ozenne said, “I respect animal lovers, but to want to keep a vicious dog that almost killed my son in my front yard…”
The dog owner was ticketed for harboring a nuisance doge and failing to have the dog vaccinated.
(Imperfect Parent - June 29, 2012)
