California: Three-year-old Oakdale boy taken to hospital after being bitten in face by pit bull. Parents say they were "pet sitting" for a "friend" but conveniently didn't have any contact information for their "friend"

CALIFORNIA -- A 3-year-old Oakdale boy was taken to a hospital Tuesday after he was bitten in the face by a pit bull.

Oakdale police and animal control officers were dispatched to an apartment complex in the 200 block of North Fourth Street after a witness reported seeing a man beating the dog, said animal control officer Danielle Merritt.

When they arrived, the dog had been chained up.

The boy’s parents told officers they’d been dog-sitting the pit bull for a friend for about a week, Merritt said. The dog bit the child when the parents briefly left them unattended together in front of the complex, Merritt said.

The boy suffered two lacerations above his eye and one underneath, Merritt said. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

The dog will be quarantined at Oakdale Animal Shelter for 10 days. The child’s parents said they didn’t have contact information for the dog’s owner.

“If the actual owner does not reclaim him, he will be euthanized,” Merritt said.

(modbee.com - Oct 4, 2016)