One of the owners of the dog says as far as he knows, it's never attacked anybody before, but Thursday night it did attack, as a boy and his mom were walking to the restroom.
Michael Winn lives in the River Haven RV Park and says the boy attacked, 6-year-old Ryan Baxter, is like a nephew to him. While he didn't see the attack, he did see the wounds.
"How disturbing were the wounds?" asked KTVB.
"It made me nauseous. It really did. He had a really deep gash in his right arm, and it terrified me," said Winn.
Kathy Gannuscio is one of the owners of the RV Park where the attack happened. She was one of the first people to the scene and took Ryan to the hospital.
"His little arm was ripped open, it was ripped open," said Gannuscio. "It was a good amount of blood. It was enough to let you know that you had better get something done for this little guy.”
The medium-sized dog named Halo is said to be a terrier-hound mix. Gannuscio’s husband Joe had the dog and the woman who owns him leave the park Thursday night.
"The dog is dangerous, that's all there is to it," said Joe Gannuscio.
KTVB found and spoke to the other owner of the dog as he was packing up to leave Friday morning.
"Has the dog every attacked anybody before?” asked KTVB.
“No,” the man responded.
“Have you seen the kid?” KTVB asked again.
“I've seen his arm,” the main said.
“And what's your reaction to that?” asked KTVB.
“I wanted to destroy the dog," said the man.
Winn agrees. "I think he needs to be euthanized. He's not a dog for children, and he's not a dog for an owner that can't take care of his dog.”
Before that happens, the Owyhee County Sheriff's Office needs to conduct an investigation, which makes sure the dog doesn't have any sicknesses, including rabies.
Ryan received stitches to close the hole in his arm and is now back home recovering with his family.
"We have a really peaceful park, this is why this has upset us all so much. We all kind of take care of each other, and this kind of blindsided us all,” said Kathy Gannuscio.
The sheriff's office says this investigation should not take too long. The hope is to have it done by Monday, looking into whether this dog involved is a vicious dog at large.
If the sheriff's office investigation determines the dog is vicious, the owners face misdemeanor charges.
As for the fate of the dog, the owner can choose to put the dog down or a judge would make that decision based on the outcome of the investigation.
(KREM - Feb 14, 2014)
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