Samantha Luzier told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 her daughter, Sabrina Snyder, was visiting a neighbor next door when the attack happened Wednesday evening.
The little girl lives in the yellow house
The owners of the Rottweiler live right next door
As her daughter was walking out the front door, Luzier said, one of two dogs attacked the girl from behind, biting her several times in the head and the side of her arm.
The girl's older sister ran outside and encountered neighbors Sarah and Timothy Guttuso, who heard horrific screams. Sarah Guttuso said her husband grabbed a pipe and ran over, shoving it in the dog's mouth to get it to let go of the child.
"There was screaming. screaming like you wouldn't believe. A little girl ran out of the back door of our next-door neighbor's house, crying hysterically and shaking. We asked her what was wrong," said Sarah Gattuso.
Sarah Gattuso and her husband Tim heard the screaming
from their house and ran to help the little girl
"Our neighbor was trying to also pull the dog off the little girl. But this dog was dragging the little girl and my neighbor, until my husband stopped him," said Sarah Gattuso.
“He heard the scream, ran over,” said Tardio. “The dog had the little girl’s head in its mouth and he was biting down, and as he was biting down, the kid ran over and hit him with a metal pipe, and the dog never let go, and then he proceeded to hit him again with the metal pipe.”
"I just held it down, and I kept screaming at him, 'Let her go.' I put the pipe in its mouth and tried to pry it open a little bit and she got loose and I held it down, while they ran away. It kept trying to go after her," said Timothy Gattuso.
Luzier told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 her daughter was treated at UPMC's Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for two lacerations and many puncture wounds to her skull. She said her child has stitches on both ears and a bite on her arm that penetrated down into muscle.
"Thank goodness a neighbor came out and interfered, got one dog away from the little girl and very possibly saved her from more severe damage," Pittsburgh Pubic Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said.
Police said the pet owners, who have not been charged, handed both of their dogs over to Animal Control.
Neighbors, concerned about how vicious the dog behaved,
had called Animal Control, which ignored their calls
The Gattusos describe the dogs as having previously seemed "out of control," aggressively barking and trying to jump their backyard fence. They said they'd contacted Animal Control weeks earlier about the dogs, leaving messages, but had not heard back.
"I feel extremely bad for that little girl. She was just curious. She wanted to pet every dog in the neighborhood. She loved dogs, and now I'm sure she doesn't like them too much," said Timothy Gattuso.
"We just hope the little girl is OK. We hope her family is okay," said Sarah Gattuso.
The girl underwent surgery and has been released from the hospital. Her mother says the child has an appointment to see a plastic surgeon next week.
(WTAE - Aug 20, 2014)
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