Pit Bull Attack Leaves 5-Year-Old Pittsburgh Boy 'Soaked in Blood'

Submitted by Denise A Justin on Nov 21, 2011

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PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA --On Friday, November 18, 5-year-old Hayden Stoll and his 10-year-old sister were playing on their front lawn in Herminie, PA, around 11:30 a.m., when an 80-pound Pit Bull ran into the yard and attacked Hayden, pinning him to the ground and clamping its jaws around his face.

The girl ran into the home and told her father and grandfather, “There’s a dog killing Hayden!” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (Herminie is a township, located 24 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.)

William Stoll, 77, and Hayden’s father, William Stoll, Jr., 34, ran outside and tried to pry the dog’s jaws loose from the boy’s face with their hands, but the dog would not release its grip. The child appeared unconscious as the dog continued to shake him violently, they said.

Finally, the boy’s father hit the dog with a rock and it let go, knocking over the grandfather as it ran from the yard, according to WTAE.com.

In the video report, the dog appears to be a large Blue Bully, which is a heavy, stocky, designer pit bull, touted as “family dogs.” http://www.wtae.com/r/29810794/detail.html

His grandfather was crying as he talked about Hayden to the Gazette, “His [Hayden's] eyes were open, and he was just staring. Both of us were soaked in blood.”

The little boy’s father said, “It was horrible. I thought I was going to lose him...It was the worst day of my life.”

Hayden was airlifted to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, where he immediately underwent surgery. According to reports, he required numerous stitches for a large laceration from his right ear to his jaw and puncture wounds on the left side of his face, and surgeons placed a metal plate in his chin.

Although doctors feared that he would permanently lose control of his facial muscles, they said on Saturday that it appears he did not suffer permanent nerve damage, his father told reporters.

The five-year-old remains in the hospital, sedated, and will require surgeries over the next 15 years to reconstruct his face, doctors said.

The pit bull was captured two blocks away and is being held at by Sutersville Animal Control. An official stated that the dog was not wearing a collar but is probably owned because it is in good condition and appears to be healthy. Although its ears are cropped, the 80-pound Pit Bull does not have any scars that would indicate it has been used for fighting.

Fred Moran, of Sutersville Animal Control, also stated that a local postal carrier believed he recognized the dog but could not remember the address where he had seen it. The Pit Bull will be held for ten days at the shelter. The owner could be facing charges for failure to control the dog. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11324/1191286-455.stm

Boy wounded in dog attack gets better

By Paul Peirce, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, November 22, 2011

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Authorities are still searching for the owner of an 80-pound dog that attacked and critically injured a 5-year-old boy outside his home in Herminie on Friday.

Hayden Stoll, a kindergartner at H.W. Good Elementary School in Yough School District, continues to improve at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, said his father, Michael.

"We got some good news (Monday). They are taking out the breathing tube, so he should be able to get up out of his bed. That's the first good bit of news we've had since this happened Friday," Stoll said.

Sutersville dog enforcement officer Fred Moran said the pit bull attack against Hayden is among the worst he's seen in 47 years on the job.

He said the stray is an older dog, "about 8 years old, about 20 pounds overweight, with a cataract in one eye and short toenails, which weren't cut. That means to me he was probably kept tied up most of the time."

Hayden and his older sister were playing in the front yard of their home at 407 Madison Ave. when he was attacked. The children's mother, Jennifer, said Hayden ran to the door as the gray-and-white pit bull approached while his 9-year-old sister stood still.

The dog attacked Hayden, clamping on to the side of his face.

The Stolls used a bottle to beat the dog. Michael Stoll then picked up a large rock and beat the dog on the head to get the animal to let go of his son, who was flown to the hospital and immediately taken into surgery.

Family members said Hayden had numerous stitches to repair cuts from his right ear to jaw and puncture wounds on the left side of his face. "We got some good news, too, that there doesn't appear to be any permanent nerve damage," Michael Stoll said. "It's possible Hayden could come home later this week."

Hayden will have to undergo plastic surgery.

Moran captured the dog about two blocks from the Stolls' home by following blood spatter. The family, shaken by the attack, initially described the dog as a Rottweiler.

Moran searched licenses yesterday in the Westmoreland County Treasurer's Office at the courthouse in Greensburg and interviewed potential witnesses in Herminie to try to find the owner.

"We don't know who owned him at this point," he said.

"That dog snapped for some reason. He did not give me any trouble Friday when I caught him," Moran said.

Moran said the dog is under quarantine. Unless the owner comes forward in about 10 days, it will be euthanized.

"Somebody owned this particular dog. If they dump them, they usually do it on a back road in a rural area ... they don't dump them in a town," Moran said.

Anyone with information is asked to telephone Moran's kennel at 724-872-7797.