Tennessee: Neighbor say child, 2, severely mauled by neighbor's chained pit bull - which was nursing puppies - is "often unsupervised"

TENNESSEE -- A child is in the hospital tonight, after wandering into a neighbor's yard and being bitten by a dog.

The child is extremely critical condition at LeBonheur Children's Hospital.  After we were told he was attacked in the face by a dog.

Police responded to a 911 call in 3300 block of Carrington around 6:30 Saturday evening.  Neighbors reported that a 2-year-old child had been bitten by a dog that was chained in another backyard.

Police say the owner of a pit bull terrier got the unconscious child away from his dog and other neighbors who had gathered around immediately began CPR.  The child was transported by ambulance in extremely critical condition with injuries to the head.

Last night, the mother was at the hospital with the child.  Police say the child's father is being detained for questioning.

Neighbors say they were saddened by the news, and that this young child and his siblings often are not supervised. 

"I own a pit bull, that's why I am so concerned about the child and I hope the child is alright.  But the kids run around a lot and they are all over the neighborhood doing what they want," said neighbor John Paige.

"The little boy went in the backyard to play with the puppies of the dog that just had puppies, and I guess the dog was protecting the puppies," neighbor Angela Stockton stated.

Investigators on the scene say the dog will be transported and examined by animal control services as part of routine procedure.

Action News 5 has also learned police responded to the same home about 2 weeks ago on a report that the same two year old was missing. 

Neighbors say the child was found hours later in the same backyard with the same dog.

Police would only confirm that they responded to the neighborhood but would not say it was regarding a missing toddler.

(WMCTV - Jan 15, 2017)