Dog attack sends toddler to hospital

WISCONSIN -- A 2-year-old girl was injured after being attacked by a dog at her Campbellsport home.

The girl’s mother reported that the child was being cared for by a 12-year-old cousin from West Bend at the time of the Nov. 2 attack. The older girl said she was sitting on the couch reading a story to the child when the family’s American Bulldog “Zeus” got up from behind the couch and approached the girls, according to a police report.

She said the dog jumped up and bit the 2-year-old in the face without any warning. The older girl grabbed the toddler and locked the two of them in a bathroom and called 911.

The girl was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in West Bend where she was treated for multiple bite wounds to the face, according to the report.

The dog’s owner and stepfather of the toddler, Patrick Hennessey, 28, of Fond du Lac, said the dog was vaccinated and had never attacked a person before.

However, Hennessey was cited after Zeus attacked a neighbor’s dog, the report said.

[Owners in denial: yes, he attacked my neighbor's dog but he was provoked. Or, yes, it killed our cat but that's what dogs do isn't it? But he wouldn't hurt anyone. The kids climb all over him!]

Hennessey told police he was going to surrender the dog to the Fond du Lac Humane Society. A Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s deputy told the man he could not surrender the dog until the animal went through the quarantine process and correct testing paperwork from a veterinarian was submitted to the Sheriff’s Office.

(Fond du Lac Reporter - Nov 6, 2013)