Des Moines family's dog bites child in face

IOWA -- A 22-month-old was transported to a Des Moines hospital late Tuesday afternoon after a dog bit the child in the face, officials said.

The incident occurred around 4:40 p.m. Tuesday in the 1500 block of Des Moines Street.

The adult dog, a rottweiler mix, was taken to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa where it was quarantined, said Josh Colvin, ARL’s animal control services manager. The dog will be held for 10 days.

Colvin said the dog belongs to the family of the child who was bit.

Scant information about the incident was available late Tuesday. A police report was not available and officials at Iowa Methodist Medical Center did not have information available to release.

Rottweiler’s are robust and powerful, protective of their territory, according to the American Kennel Club’s web site.

A neighbor of the residence where the incident occurred said he was surprised the dog would attack a child, based on his limited interaction with it.

“It was always a friendly dog,” John Hoskins said. “They would let it out and it would do its thing and go back inside.”

Candice Robinson said she saw her distressed neighbor rush out to the curb holding her young child before getting into an ambulance.

In April, a 4-year-old Prairie City girl died after she was mauled by her baby sitter’s American Staffordshire terrier. The girl’s baby sitter was charged with child endangerment causing death.

(Shreveport Times - June 11, 2013)