Pit bull mauls 3-year-old girl
Sheriff's deputy kills dog
after animal charges him


31 December 2006
By KEN CARLSON
BEE STAFF WRITER

A 3-year-old girl was seriously injured early Sunday afternoon when a pit bull mauled her at a home in south Modesto.

The girl was airlifted to the University of California Medical Center in Sacramento for treatment of severe lacerations to her head. She was in stable condition Sunday evening. Authorities did not release her name.

"The hospital said they were able to clean up the wounds and control the bleeding," said deputy Royjindar Singh, spokesman for the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. "She is stable now, and they plan to keep her overnight for observation."

The attack occurred in the 300 block of Rio Grande Avenue, near Santa Fe Avenue. The male pit bull was shot dead after it charged a deputy who responded to the scene, authorities said.

The girl lives across the street from the people who owned the dog.
As she and a number of children played in front of the neighbor's home about 1 p.m. Sunday, the dog was chained to a nearby fence. The dog's owner, Daniel Arias, and the girl's father also were at the home.

The girl had been playing on a swing set before she walked over to the dog.

Witnesses told authorities she was petting the dog when, for an unknown reason, the animal grabbed her arm with its mouth and pulled her to the ground.

The dog bit the child on the head and was shaking her, authorities said. The father and the dog owner came to her rescue. As the dog owner took the pit bull off the child, the father pulled her to safety.

The father carried his daughter across the street and into their home. Paramedics responded, transporting the girl to the Modesto Airport, where she was put aboard a medical helicopter.

After the attack, the dog owner took the pit bull behind his home, apparently to destroy the animal, Singh said. But the dog broke loose.
Deputies spotted the dog under a bush near the next-door neighbor's driveway. When deputies approached the dog, it fled behind the home.

Deputies followed the dog into the back yard. There, the dog charged deputy Ryan Jenkins. Jenkins fired one shot, killing the animal, authorities said.

A sheriff's detective was investigating the attack to determine whether criminal charges would be filed.

"As of right now, there does not seem to be any criminal intent," Singh said. "The dog was tied up, and there is no history of the dog being violent since the owner has had it."

Arias told authorities they had owned the pit bull for about a year and had never named it. Two neighbors, who live directly behind the home, said they had not known the dog to be violent.

Sheriff's Lt. Mike Richards said the girl had a deep laceration in her scalp, from the front of her head to the back. The girl was taken to the trauma unit at UC Medical Center because she had lost a lot of blood and out of concern she could have puncture wounds in her skull and neck injuries from being shaken, Richards said.

Pit bulls are known for being aggressive and are capable of causing serious injury when their jaws lock onto a victim.

Isabel Beas, a 14-year-old who lives next door, said she was concerned for the little girl and relieved no one else was injured. She watched as the deputies chased the dog behind her family's home and pointed their guns at the animal.

"That was frightening," she said. "I have a little brother who likes to be outside."

She said the dog seemed peaceful when it first came to live with her neighbor, but later she was wary of the animal.

"Sometimes it barked for no reason," she said. "There are a lot of parents who walk with their kids in the neighborhood. It would bark at people walking their dogs."