TENNESSEE -- A dog bit a young child during a ball game at Prescott South Middle School on Tuesday evening, police said.
The child was taken to the hospital by ambulance, and police investigated, says a report by Cookeville Police Officer Neil Taylor.
It happened about 6:30 p.m. near the school's football field, where a game was underway.
The victim is a three-year-old Monterey girl, and the dog, a German shepherd named "Lethal Lee," belongs to a neighbor of the girl's family, according to the police report.
"When I arrived, the child was being tended to by her mother, and she was bleeding from her neck area," the officer said.
"Fire (Cookeville Fire Department) and EMS (Putnam Ambulance Service) arrived shortly after me."
By the time the officer arrived, the dog had been secured by its owner, a Monterey woman, and the animal appeared to be "very calm and not aggressive," the report says.
The dog's owner told the officer that the dog had been on a leash and that this was the first time it had ever bitten someone.
"She stated that the girl and her mother are her next door neighbors and the child has played with the dog before."
The owner assured the officer that the dog is current on its shots, and the officer noted that the dog did have a current rabies tag. The dog's owner agreed to fax the documentation about the dog's shots to the police department, the report says.
"The child was transported to the hospital by ambulance for treatment," the officer said.
Prescott South Middle School Principal Cindy Taylor told the Herald-Citizen this morning that according to her information, the child is now recovering.
The principal, who taught school in Monterey for several years, said she was on the sidelines at the Tuesday ball game visiting with the Monterey parents and fans who attended and said she was near the scene when the child was bitten.
"Her parents grabbed her up as soon as it happened, and I was right there, so I dialed 911 immediately," Taylor said.
She praised the quick response from emergency services workers.
"I want to thank the Emergency Medical Services crew, the Fire Department crews, the Cookeville Police Department and all the first responders for their prompt response and all they did to help the child," she said. "They are our heroes."
(Cookeville Herald Citizen - Sept 6, 2012)
