Mulberry boy, 5, mauled by family friend's dog

FLORIDA -- The five year old boy who was mauled by a neighbor's dog Tuesday evening is now recovering from emergency plastic surgery.

Jeremiah Ortiz suffered wounds to his face and leg after his neighbor's Australian Shepherd mix mauled him. The boy was with his family visiting their friends.

"I'm really sorry for that little boy like I said, he's a great little boy. Happy, a good person," said Crystal Giddens, who stopped by their home Wednesday to see the family.

Jeremiah's brother, Kody said it's not usually for the whole family to hang out across the street and it's certainly not the first time they've played with their dogs, including the three year old Australian Shepherd.

 

"When he starts screaming, the dog started getting hyper and barking," Kody said.

Ernie Haygood, who lives with the dog's owner, said he's never seen anything like it. The boy bent down to play and the pup went berserk.

 

"I was hitting him, I wasn't just tapping him, I was hitting him across the head, the back, and it just didn't phase him. I would get him off of one and he would get on another," he said.

Several other neighbors joined in to try and help and at least four others got bit, too.

One neighbor even received 15 stitches on his leg. Ernie said he had no other choice but to get his gun.

"When he came right here, I shot him off the porch. Right here, just bam. I killed him. I wanted to kill him," he said.

Up until this point, no one has seen the dog act in an aggressive manner.

So far no charges have been filed, however the dog's owner received a citation for failure to produce vaccination records.

(ABC Action News - Dec 9, 2015)