And Mike Ledford, director of Hall County Animal Services, said Tuesday he believes authorities have the dog that bit David. The dog has been placed under quarantine. Ledford said the incident is still under investigation.
Michelle Lane, whose family owns a black Labrador and a terrier mix, said she took her son and three other children to the store on Dawsonville Highway in Gainesville on Saturday.
Lane struck up a conversation with two customers who had brought their brindle pit bull into the store, and her children petted the dog, including her daughter, Olivia, “who is a pit bull advocate,” she said.
“But we let our guard down,” said Lane, of Dawsonville. David walked up to the dog and that’s when he was bit, Lane said, requiring a trip to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Lane said she started yelling for a first aid kit from the employees at the store.
“I kept putting pressure on (the nose), and then I just broke down seeing all the blood,” she said.
Lane asked that the pit bull’s owner stay in the store and cooperate with authorities, but the two men fled with their dog. A witness confronted them in the parking lot, and one of the men waved a handgun before they drove away, Lane said.
Gainesville police responded at about 5 p.m., police spokesman Cpl. Kevin Holbrook said Monday, and were told that witnesses tried to stop the two men with the dog from leaving before the handgun was pulled.
“Witnesses were able to identify the vehicle and got a possible tag (number),” he said. Lane said it was a red Chevrolet four-door truck.
The report has been turned over to criminal investigations for follow-up. The Gainesville Police Department said Tuesday that no further information is available on the owner of the dog or the other man who pulled the gun.
At the medical center, Lane said the doctor told her to “wait to see what happens with the dog or any other dogs” before starting any treatment for rabies.
Ledford said in any dog bite investigation, victim and witness statements are taken and usually the owner admits the bite happened. He said the county’s Animal Services has jurisdiction over dogs accused of biting people and that they must be quarantined 10 days under county and state ordinances.
“It is highly unlikely that a dog will have rabies,” Ledford said.
If any dog has rabies, the dog will be put down, he said.
“All I wanted the man to do was to see if my kid was OK and to cooperate with the authorities,” Lane said. She said he did neither.
(Gainesville Times - Mar 20, 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment