CONNECTICUT -- Police are vowing to step up enforcement of unlicensed and unvaccinated dogs after a 4-year-old girl was mauled by a pit bull while visiting a family friend last week.
The girl was taken to the hospital with facial and head injuries and will likely require several surgeries to deal with her injuries, said Capt. Brian Mullins.
She and her mother were visiting the home of the owner of the dog, Ryan McCarthy, 35, of 23 Rosemont Drive, Thursday afternoon when the attack occurred. McCarthy had left his two pit bulls in the care of his 93-year-old mother, Mullins said.
A 2-year-old male pit bull, who was the more aggressive of the two dogs, was tied on a leash outside when McCarthy’s grandmother tried to bring the dog inside so she could go to lunch with the woman and her child, Animal Control Officer Gabriele Paciotti said.
“He let his 93-year-old grandmother take care of the dog which was not responsible,” Paciotti said.
The dog charged on the leash, knocking McCarthy’s grandmother to the ground, and went after the child, repeatedly biting and shaking the little girl. He stopped the attack and ran off as the bystanders were screaming for help. The child was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The dog, which was later euthanized, was unable to be captured for hours as he ran through the area charging at people, Mullins said.
McCarthy was charged with not having a current rabies vaccination, having an unlicensed dog, harboring a nuisance dog and allowing a dog to roam.
“It was unreasonable to have such an aggressive dog in the care of a 90-year-old,” Mullins said. “He was held responsible.”
The incident has prompted police officials to re-emphasize the need for residents to license and vaccinate their dogs, he said. “We’re going to be more aggressively looking into that after something of this nature,” Mullins said.
Overall in the past several years Paciotti has seen a rise in the number of pit bulls who are abandoned on town streets and end up in the town’s shelter. She’s also seen an increase in the number of wandering pit bulls who have attacked smaller dogs.
“They are being released from other towns,” she said. “And people who have dogs in Plainville aren’t taking action to keep their dogs secure.”
Paciotti and Mullins said the police department will be conducting more enforcement activities to make sure more dogs are licensed and vaccinated in the coming months.
“It’s not just pit bulls,” Mullins said. “We need to make sure that all breeds are properly licensed and vaccinated.”
(Newbritainherald - Nov 20, 2012)
