HENDERSON, TX (KLTV) - Elijahjuan Jimison, 5, has told his family he will never go outside again. That is because Sunday he was attacked by a pitbull mix just a few yards away from his home in Henderson. It happened in the 100 block of Regent Street.

"So immediately I noticed that his arm had been bitten so I grabbed his arm and was headed back over when I and saw blood gushing from his head," said Sandra Clark, Elijahjuan's mother.

Elijahjuan was playing with friends when the dog broke its chain and attacked, leaving wounds on his head and left arm, before a neighbor pulled the animal off.

"He said he turned over and the dog bit him right here," said Brenda Powell, Elijahjuan's grandmother. "He said when he turned back over, he nipped him here and then he threw his arm up and the dog bit him on the arm."

He suffered minor injuries, but his family worries his wounds go much deeper.

"He doesn't want to go outside," said Clark. "He really does not want to live here now he wants to live with his Granny because he's scared to live here. He thought the dog was actually going to kill him."

The dog is quarantined to check for rabies.

"It is a deadly disease so we need to make sure he doesn't have any, and with Rusk County having one of the highest in the state for rabies," said Ronnie Whittington, with Henderson Animal Control.

"We now have to pull into the garage, put down the garage door, open the door, then go immediately into the house," said Clark.

There is still a long way to go before the child feels safe outside.

"We'll just have to get that 5-year-old to understand that every dog is not bad."

The dog will be evaluated after the mandatory 10-day quarantine period to determine whether it has rabies or whether it is deemed "too aggressive" to be returned to its owners. The owners of the dog are cooperating with investigators and animal control officers.