Pit bull attacks toddler, father in Springfield home

OREGON -- A 2-year-old girl was seriously injured by a family member’s pit bull Sunday at a Springfield home and was airlifted to a Portland hospital in critical condition, according to police.

Springfield police responded to a call in the 1100 block of Olympia Street just before 6 p.m. Sunday.

 Officers found the child and her 28-year-old father with injuries, according to a Springfield Police Department report. The father had attempted to rescue his daughter from the large, adult male pit bull and was bitten in the face, according to the report. A second dog at the scene growled at the child but did not bite her or her father, police said.

The child was taken to McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center several blocks away and then via Life Flight to Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland.

A news release from Springfield police Monday said she was in critical condition.

Police did not immediately release the names of the victims, and the father’s condition was unknown Monday evening. A woman who answered the door at the address listed on police records declined to comment. A sign on the house said “WARNING! SECURITY DOG.”

 A Springfield Police Department official who answered the phone Monday said no officers were available to discuss the case. She declined to discuss the child’s status.

The department posted a notice of the incident on its Facebook page early Monday.

In response to comments posted by members of the public — including one that said, “I wonder why the springfield police department hasnt ever posted about all the other dog attack that happen locally” — the police department said:

“In this situation a child was sent via life flight to the hospital in critical condition, we have not had other cases of such seriousness to post.”

Springfield Animal Control said that the dog that attacked the toddler was a large adult pit bull, that the second dog at the scene was a lab-collie mix and that both dogs were being held in its kennels.
  

“To clear a small amount of confusion among the uninvolved persons posting, the dog that attacked the girl is a large, white male pit bull,” Springfield Animal Control posted on Facebook. “The second dog, which was growling and nipping the involved parties during the attack, is a male lab/collie mix.

The only dog that we know actually bit the female is the pit bull, and there is no question of the breed. The owner of the dogs, a family member of the victim, has been completely cooperative, and we have the dogs currently quarantined in our kennels. Our investigation is continuing into this incident.”

A message left with Springfield Animal Control wasn’t immediately returned Monday afternoon.
Sunday’s reported attack was the second Springfield incident involving a pit bull in three weeks. On Aug. 12, a Springfield police officer responded to a report of an aggressive pit bull running loose through a neighborhood at South 41st and Camellia streets.

As the officer in that incident went toward the owners’ presumed home, the pit bull reportedly charged toward the officer, who fired one round from his gun, hitting the dog in the shoulder.

The dog survived, and about 30 people protested outside the Springfield Police Department later that week, saying police should have used nets or catchpoles to subdue the pit bull instead of a firearm.
Springfield police said at the time that the incident was under review.

(The Register-Guard - Sept 2, 2014)