Hesperia boy, 2, mauled by pit bulls,
officials say

Friday, May 18, 2007
By RICHARD BROOKS
The Press-Enterprise

Two pit bull dogs are suspected of mauling their owners' 2-year-old son, who was bitten so viciously on the head and neck that one of the animals broke a tooth, officials in Hesperia said Friday.

"When our officers got to the property, the dogs ... were barking and growling. And both ... had blood on them," said Tony Genovesi, the city's code compliance supervisor.

The boy suffered jaw fractures, a crushed bone around one eye, puncture wounds and gashes on his head and face during the Thursday afternoon attack, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

The child's name was withheld because of his age. The violence occurred outside the family home along the 11500 block of A Avenue.

The parents drove the boy to nearby Desert Valley Hospital. He was later transferred in critical condition to Loma Linda University Medical Center.

"The boy had gone outside to the driveway, and that's where he was confronted by the male dog," Miller said. "They couldn't determine whether the boy had done anything to provoke the attack."

A broken canine tooth belonging to the 55-pound male pit bull was found in the driveway, Genovesi said. The other dog is a 30-pound female.

"We don't know what triggered it," Genovesi said of the attack. "There are a whole variety of things that could set off something like this, ranging from (the boy) touching the dog ... to maybe the child fell, triggering the pack animal instinct of attacking a wounded animal."

The family reportedly has owned the male for about a month.

"Originally, they did keep him chained up," Genovesi said. "We were told they only recently let him off the chain."

This is not the first time the male dog has turned violent, according to the preliminary investigation.

"It was reported that it did attack a neighbor's dog two weeks ago and injured the dog," Genovesi said.

Because the pit bulls don't have current licenses and rabies shots, they'll be kept in quarantine for at least 10 days. A hearing will be held within 20 days to determine how and why the boy was attacked and what should become of the dogs, Genovesi said.

If the family relinquishes ownership, one or both of the dogs probably will be put to death, he said, rather than allow anyone to adopt the animals and run the risk of an additional attack.

If the family chooses to keep the dogs, the hearing officer can require the owners to kennel the animals on the family property and muzzle them whenever they leave the property.

As a last resort, the officer could order the animals euthanized, Genovesi said.

"We're still trying to contact the family," he said "We did get word that the family does want the female back."

Reach Richard Brooks at 909-80-3057 or rbrooks@PE.com