Texas: Fort Worth Child Recovering After Pit Bull Attack

TEXAS -- A 10-year old boy playing in the backyard of his home was attacked by a neighbor's dog in Fort Worth.

"I don't want to go back there again," said Joel Guerrero, referring to the fence line where the dog allegedly broke free.

 

 

Guerrero was hospitalized at Cook Children's Medical Center for eight days. His injuries required surgery and he'll need physical therapy to rehabilitate his knee.

"The dog bit him in the knee and he tried to run and it bit him in the back," said the boy's mother, Marlena Guerrero. "The dog also bit his arm."

 

Fort Worth animal control officers took the dog after the late October incident. The dog was quarantined for 10 days.

According to the city's animal control laws, regardless of the vaccination status of the animal at the time of the bite, the biting animal must be placed in quarantine for 10 days from the day of the bite.

State law requires owners to pay for quarantine.

The dog's owner told NBC DFW his pit bull isn't dangerous and it has never attacked anyone in the past.

He was not cited.

Why not? The dog left its property, went to the neighbor's property and attacked their child.

"It just worries me because it could be somebody else if they're not protected," said Marlena. "I'm a mother before anything. My son comes first and his health."

(NBCDFW - Jan 16, 2016)