Florida: Child in ICU after pit bull attack; owner pulled a "Pit And Run" and fled with dog

FLORIDA -- Three-year-old Payton Church is recovering at Tampa General Hospital after his mom says he was attacked by a pit bull in Clearwater last week.

Mersadis Tuttle, Payton's mother, tells News Channel 8 her son was with his grandmother last Wednesday when it happened. The two were sitting on a bench, eating lunch near the RCS Food Bank on South Myrtle Avenue and Druid Road.

The child went to throw away trash when the grandmother said a medium-sized pit bull came up to the child, licked his face and then attacked him.

The dog's owner did not have the dog on a leash.

The grandmother asked a witness to dial 911 while she rushed the child to the nearest hospital - Morton Plant ER. Payton received 11 stitches.

According to Tuttle, the witness never called police and the dog and owner disappeared. She filed a police report Saturday after leaving the hospital.

Unfortunately, Payton had to return to the emergency room after his wounds became infected. He is currently in the ICU at Tampa General Hospital.

Tuttle is asking anyone with any information on the dog and it's owner to contact authorities.

She has created a GoFundMe page to help with his care.

GOFUNDME: Paytons Dog Bite Recovery
Created April 28, 2018
Mersadis Tuttle
  Emergencies
  TAMPA, FL

Hello everyone. I have been very over whelmed as this is the most traumatizing thing as a parent I have ever dealt with. There are no words to describe truly the mental agony this has put on our family.

On April 25th, Payton was bitten by a Pit bull on his face. The Pit bull was on a leash, however the leash was not being held on to as it should. The Pit bull licked Payton and then snapped him in the face at the same instance.

"PIT AND RUN"
The owner and the dog left when Payton was taken to the hospital and have not been found. Clearwater Animal Control and Clearwater Police Department are doing what they can to locate them. Unfortunately the odds of finding them is extremely low.

Payton is expected to recover but has since been put back in the hospital due to an infection in the tissue around his eyelids and in one of the lacerations.

Unfortunately with dog bites, infection is very common. Hopefully we will have answers as soon as tomorrow rather plastic surgery is needed. We have quite a lot ahead of us in the coming weeks. This has put a huge unexpected financial strain on our family. I have had so many people reach out asking if there is anything they can do to help.

Previously I have declined any help however the circumstances have continually changed. All I ask of anyone and everyone is too please not harm your own family's financial well being to help mine. We appreciate anything. Pictures following the attack.    

Update 1
I want to say thank you to everyone. It is a blessing to have people we have never met, help us. It really means a lot to our family.

It has almost been a week since Payton was bit by a dog. Unfortunately we still have absolutely no idea who the owner is or where the dog may be.

A Clearwater Police Department Officer has said, "The chances of finding them are extremely low."

We really hope someone takes responsibility for what their pet has done to our son.

Payton has been such a brave and strong kiddo through all of this. It has taken a couple different antibiotics to get the infection under control. This has been our upmost concern. Infections from dog bites can potentially be fatal. There will also be no more procedures which is a huge relief!

The swelling in his face continues to go down along with the bruising. I am so thankful his grandmother was holding his hand when this happened and reacted in the manner she did as it could have been so much worse.

Payton is such a lucky kid to have only abstained the injuries he did. It is common for dog bites to take 6 months to 1 year to fully heal and we do still have a long road ahead of us to full recovery. We ask that everyone please continue to pray for our family and again, your help means so much to us.

(WKRG - April 30, 2018)

North Carolina: Four-year-old nearly loses eye after family's newly adopted Pit Bull attacks

LENOIR, NORTH CAROLINA -- A 4-year-old Caldwell County girl was attacked inside her home by the family pet Wednesday.

Family members said they had just recently adopted the Pit Bull from the Humane Society in Catawba County.

Justina Turner, the child's mother, said she and her daughter were in the living room of her home south of Lenoir when the three-year-old 60-pound Pit Bull suddenly attacked the child, biting her face.

She said the dog bit down so hard on her daughter that she wasn't sure at first how she was going to get the animal off her.

Turner said the dog nearly ripped her daughter's right eye out, and the girl had to get several stitches around her eye.

"I was in such shock,” Turner said. “I didn't know what was going on. Once I got the dog away from my daughter and saw the blood, it was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen in my life."

The dog is in quarantine for 10 days to be checked for rabies at the Caldwell County Animal Shelter.

Turner said she didn’t know the dog posed a threat because it seemed friendly when she adopted it.

"They really didn't tell us much about the dog,” Turner said. “They just told us to pick out a dog and to take it to the play yard to play with it. The dog seemed kid-friendly."

The humane society handles all adoptions in Catawba County from the intake to temperament screening prior to adoption.

SUPPOSED 'RANDOM VISITOR' WITH PIT BULL INTERVIEWED 

"They're around these animals every day,” said Paris Wright, a visitor at the Catawba County Humane Society (who just happened to be walking a Pit Bull). “They see their temperament. They see how they carry themselves. So, I figured that's what they would be able to give me insight and they did."

Humane society officials said an adopted dog can act differently once it's in a home and around children.

Turner said people need to be careful adopting older dogs.

"I just wanted him out of the house,” she said.

The Catawba County Humane Society adopts more than 1,000 dogs each year and has not had an issue like this.

The dog had been in the humane society for more than two months prior to being adopted.

Notice the Catawba County Humane Society didn't say they would euthanize the dog. That's because after its quarantine period, they'll send him home with some other unsuspecting family or put him into the "shelter shuffle" - where they ship vicious dogs to rescues or other shelters in other counties and states, hiding the dog's history so someone else can end up taking it home without knowing it likes to attack children.

(WSOC - May 4, 2018)

Texas: Four months later, San Angelo boy mauled by pit bull hasn't received money from GoFundMe

TEXAS -- Four months after donors raised over $1,600 in support of a San Angelo boy who was mauled by a pit bull, neither he nor the family have received the money.

Forty-one donors in January gave a total of $1,666 with a goal of reaching $10,000 to benefit a Israel Costilla, according to a screenshot taken of the page before the account was deactivated.

The GoFundMe campaign for Israel was created by Shannon Jolene Carpenter on Jan. 6.

Carpenter, who did not know the Costilla family personally, launched the campaign after seeing the extent of Israel's injuries in a photo provided by Rayetta Trigg, whose pit bull attacked Israel.

"When (Trigg) let me see the picture I literally almost fell off of my stool. I showed the picture to my husband and friend Adam and they were shocked as well," Carpenter said.

Israel needed more than 300 stitches, surgery and physical therapy.

In a statement on the GoFundMe page, Carpenter noted donations would go "directly to (Israel's) well being and help the parents with any extra costs they may have due to this tragic event."

On Jan. 13, Andreana Costilla — Israel's mother — contacted GoFundMe and requested the campaign be deactivated after reaching out to Carperter via text message. Costilla wanted the page deleted for personal reasons.

"I shut the page down immediately once I got that text," Carpenter said.

Four months later, the funds remain held by GoFundMe.

"A lot of the donors have reached out to us," said Ana Costilla — Israel's grandmother, "and I explained the situation to them, and they were very understanding — upset, but understanding."

GoFundMe said Tuesday a payment processor would "continue working with both (Carpenter) and the family to ensure a safe transfer of funds."

Emails between the Costilla family from GoFundMe, however, suggest the funds may never reach the family.

No one in the Costilla family was established as a beneficiary on the campaign, emails between the Costilla family and GoFundMe note. The company urged Costilla to reach out to Carpenter to privately settle the matter.

Multiple attempts of reaching out to Carpenter went unanswered, the family says.

Carpenter thought the issue was settled.

"I assume(d) (GoFundMe) gave the family the money," Carpenter said Tuesday.

Carpenter stated she would contact GoFundMe soon to get the issue worked out.

"I will give (GoFundMe) a call for sure because this situation needs to be resolved immediately," she said.

(San Angelo Standard Times - April 19, 2018)

Earlier:

• Texas: Little boy's face ripped open by Pit Bull that owner claims is a service dog
• Texas: Pit bull that owner claims is a "service dog" will be euthanized after gruesome attack of San Angelo boy
• Texas: Mother of little boy mauled by Pit Bull tells fundraiser to shut down donation page
  

Alabama: Stacey Jordan says she's a rescuer, brings a Pit Bull home; it attacks the neighbor's Poodle

NORTHPORT, ALABAMA -- A woman who has been running a dog rescue out of her home said she's shutting down her operation after allegedly receiving threats.

And she's telling her side after one of her Pit Bulls attacked and viciously mauled her neighbor's pet.

Stacey Jordan has been fostering dogs out of her home for nearly 5 years. But after recent events, Jordan said she's closing up shop.

“People talking about driving by and shooting the dogs in my yard. I can't continue to do this community service and have my life threatened,” said Jordan, who says she's the director of "Southern Paws Animal Rescue".

Jordan said this has been going on since one of her dogs attacked a neighbor's pet.

But she told us she's not completely to blame, sharing this surveillance video of a boy going to her yard and letting her pit bull out before the attack.

“I am not without concern for the safety of my neighbors and the safety of their pets. I'm not going to say I'm without fault or without mistakes but I've made every effort possible to correct,” said Jordan.

She said she got collars to prevent her dogs from barking so much and an electric fence to keep them in her yard. “We've also enrolled them in a training program,” said Jordan.

A former rescue worker of Jordan's said conditions were poor at her previous rescue site.

“Twenty and 30 dogs sometimes in a neighborhood residential. These people are afraid. If you're going to run something, run it right. Run it safely. You can't have vicious dogs on your property,” said Darlene Richardson.

Jordan said all she wanted to do is help animals. “I look at those little faces and I know that if I don't take them, they are going to end up having something bad happen to them,” said Jordan.

Her statement right there is your red flag. She thinks only she can save them, including the vicious Pit Bull that nearly killed her neighbor's Poodle.

Northport has an ordinance which states: you can have 3 dogs per enclosure  that's within 50 feet of another home but it doesn't specify the total number of dogs one can have.

Northport city leaders said they are taking a closer look at the rule.

(WBRC - March 28, 2018)

Florida: Boy recovering after pit bull attack in North Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA -- A boy is recovering at the hospital after, his father said, he was attacked by his neighbor’s pit bull in North Lauderdale, Wednesday afternoon.

Ten-year-old Noah Curiel suffered serious injuries to his head, face and ear, but a photo shows the boy smiling as he sat in his hospital bed at Broward Health Medical Center shortly after he underwent surgery.

His father, Dagmar Curiel, said the boy got the injuries after his ball accidentally bounced into the neighbor’s yard.

“He went to the house and knocked on the lady’s house, and the lady let him into the house,” said the elder Curiel.

What the boy didn’t know was that his neighbor’s pit bull had not been put away, even though she claims she did.

The boy lives here, next door to the Pit Bull

“Someway, somehow, the dog just came loose and attacked my son,” he said.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident in partnership with Animal Control. They claim they have not been able to contact the pit bull’s owner.

A 7News crew knocked on the owner’s front door on Friday, but the person inside refused to answer the door. When asked through a window whether she knew anything about the attack, she told the news crew to leave.

The Pit Bull owner has been hiding from authorities.

The boy’s father said he just wants the pit bull’s owner to take responsibility for what happened and to make sure it’s safe for his son when he returns home from the hospital.

“I go there at nighttime and stay with him,” said Curiel. “He looks OK, the swelling’s going down. He’s going to need some plastic surgery.”

Doctors said the boy may have to undergo a number of other surgeries in the days and weeks to come. He is expected to be released from the hospital within the next several days.

(WSVN - March 30, 2018)

Florida: Dogs which attacked little girl on Easter Sunday have been euthanized

LAKELAND, FLORIDA — Two Polk County dogs that had not been vaccinated for rabies were euthanized after they attacked a three-year-old girl in Lakeland.

Paramedics and Animal Control responded to a 911 call about a dog bite at a home on Greenwood Street on Easter Sunday.

Neighbors tell WFLA 3-year old Londyn Williams was playing outside with her sister when two dogs jumped a fence next door and attacked her.

"One of them had her by the head, the other one had her by the thigh. I didn’t know what to do so I just started screaming as loud as I could for help," one neighbor told WFLA.

She said the owner is the one who was finally able to stop the attack.

"She finally heard me calling, screaming, and she came out while I was there next door, and she got the dogs off the child."

The girl's grandmother tells WFLA she ran outside when she heard screams.

"I heard screaming. I ran to the door and her sister, who is 7, was screaming 'The dogs attacked Londyn, the dogs attacked Londyn!' Londyn was standing in the middle of the street covered in blood," Sheila Williams said.

The girl was transported to Tampa General Hospital with several puncture wounds on her arms and legs. She also suffered a serious laceration on her head and remains hospitalized.

"She’s been talking on her own and eating more," the girl's mother Javon Williams told WFLA. "She’s scared to walk, her leg is all stitched up. Her butt is all stitched up. Her head is hurt worse, she has staples."

Deputies say Kaosha Smith owned the dogs - a brown female named "Loud" and a white/brown female named "OJ.”

Smith surrendered the dogs after the attack.

Polk County Health Department officials decided that since the girl suffered a head injury and the dogs were not vaccinated, the dogs needed to be tested for rabies.

The dogs were humanely euthanized and tissue samples have been shipped for rabies testing.

Smith was issued a citation for roaming dogs, lack of animal tags and vaccinations and injury to persons.

A neighbor tells WFLA News Channel 8 that animal control officers visited the home where the dogs lived a couple of years ago. The neighbor wonders why the dog’s owner was not required to get a more secure fence.

"This time they got a child," the neighbor told WFLA.

The family also wonders why the dogs didn't have a more secure fence. They fear what Londyon will have to endure in the coming months and years.

"She will have a long recovery that's for sure," her grandmother said.

GOFUNDME: Londyns Road To Recovery
Created April 4, 2018
Javon Williams
on behalf of Sheila Williams
  Medical
  LAKELAND, FL

Hi my name is Javon Williams I’m Londyn's mother. On April 1st Londyn 3 yrs old was viciously attacked by 2 pit bulls. She had to be rushed by ambulance to Tampa General hospital where we have been since the attack happened. She’s had to have over 10 staples in her head and she has stitches all over her body.

It’s going to be a long recovery but she’s such a strong girl. Anything that anyone can do is a big help. Thank you our family really appreciates all the prayers and donations. Also keep my 7 year old Tamiah in your prayers she witnessed the whole attack and was the one to get help for her sister.

(WFLA - April 4, 2018)

Earlier:

• Florida: Three-year-old recovering from dog attack on Easter Sunday