Tips lead to dog that attacked Providence boy

RHODE ISLAND -- Tipped off by an anonymous caller, the police on Thursday located and took into a custody two dogs, one of which had attacked and seriously injured a Little Leaguer on Saturday.

The attacking dog, a pit-bull / Labrador mix, is being held for a vicious-dog hearing in two weeks.

The other dog will be held until it can be confirmed that it’s properly registered and vaccinated, said Maj. Thomas Verdi of the Providence Police.

Verdi said that the police found both dogs at 175 Governor St. They fit the description and the coach who witnessed the attack identified them, he said.

Jason Feit needed 36 stitches in his leg and arm after he was attacked

The dogs’ owner, Ariella Palumbo, 22, is out of town until next week. The man who was attending the dogs at the time of the attack has not been identified. He let the dogs run off the leash and he left the scene after the attack.

Verdi said he was looking into whether the owner or the person who was with the dogs can be charged with any crime. “The owner is a female. Whoever had control of dogs at the time of attack was a male. That person just failed to render aid,” Verdi said. “He took the dogs and left. That’s very disconcerting.”

[Turns out the coward who fled with the pit bull is Ariella's own brother.]

Meanwhile, the victim, 12-year-old Jason Feit, had to undergo his first round of rabies shots on Wednesday, said his father, David Feit. Four nurses administered four shots simultaneously, one in each limb. If the dogs are confirmed to be rabies-free, Jason probably won’t need further shots.

The attack took place as the Fox Point/East Side Little League team was running laps inside a fence at a Gano Street ball field. The unleashed dog was outside the fence running along with them, until it discovered a gap in the fence. “The dog just went in and went after Jason,” Feit said, “unprovoked, unexpected. Jason likes dogs.”

The dog bit through to the bone on Jason’s lower leg and tore at his forearm. The wound was so severe that Jason needed several hours of surgery at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Feit said.

“As far as we can tell now, there’s no permanent damage,” Feit said. Jason still can’t walk, however, and on Thursday was feeling under the weather, his father said.

Feit said that Officer Frank Moody came to the family’s Tenth Street home Thursday morning to tell them that the dogs had been found. “The Providence police have been awesome,” Feit said.

(Providence Journal - July 5, 2013)