Monday, January 30, 2012

Child hospitalized after suspected dog attack

TEXAS -- A 10-year-old boy in Dallas Children's Hospital is recovering from wounds his mother said was caused by a neighbor's dogs.

"He's going to be disfigured for the rest of his life."


Angela Milliorn's son Triston  said two dogs attacked him next door to her home. 

The woman who lives next door said the wife of the dog owner called Triston and some children playing in the area to help catch one of her dogs that got loose.

"She had told me that she hollered for the kids to help her ( get the dogs up)," Milliorn said. "The pit bull dog turned on Triston and got a hold of him and couldn't get him off."

Dona Voluntine didn't see the attack but knew about a pit bull in the neighbor's yard.

"If you're going to have a dog like that you need to make sure that it can't get out," she said.  

Owner Michael Pirtle said he had both restrained by leashes and that one was even in a kennel. But one got out anyway.

"I asked the Upshur County Sheriff's Office what do I need to do," he said. "They said, 'you had the dogs confined in your back yard what else can you do you can't put em in a concrete box.'"

Pirtle said he hopes Triston makes a full recovery but he doesn't believe the boy's wounds were caused by a dog. He said he thinks Triston got hurt climbing over a fence while trying to find the dog.


"It's [the wound] shaved off," he said. "It's not like a dog had bit jerked and tore."

But Tristan's mom does not agree.

"I want them put down," she said. "What would you want to happen if it was your child."

The Upshur County Sheriff's Office has quarantined the two dogs.

(KYTX - Jan 21, 2012)