Boy, 5, Taken To Children's After
Dog Bite To Neck Coraopolis Police
Transport Boy To Hospital

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com
POSTED: 8:53 pm EDT May 13, 2009
UPDATED: 8:45 am EDT May 14, 2009

[Animal control officers quarantine a dog inCoraopolis that police say bit a 5-year-old boy,who suffered deep bites to his head, jaw, face and neck.]

CORAOPOLIS, Pa. -- A dog bit a 5-year-old boy's face and neck late Wednesday afternoon in Coraopolis, according to the police chief.

A mother ran outside the house, clinging to her 5-year-old son, who suffered deep bites to his head, jaw, face and neck, WTAE Channel 4's Shannon Perrine reported.

The boy was at his aunt's house at the time of the incident on Birch Way shortly before 5 p.m. when he went to feed the 10-year-old male pit bull.

Animal control officers quarantine a dog in Coraopolis that police say bit a 5-year-old boy, who suffered deep bites to his head, jaw, face and neck.

"It's certainly something that you don't want to hear; the screams that went on between that mother and that child," said Shelley Jones, of Coraopolis.

A police cruiser took the unidentified boy to Sewickley Valley Hospital because no ambulances were available nearby.

"The timeframe to wait was too long. So, they took it upon themselves to take the child to the hospital, which was probably the right move because it probably saved (his) life," Coraopolis Police Chief Alan DeRusso said.

The boy was since transported to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where a hospital representative said the boy was in critical but stable condition.

A whole community -- including two police officers -- reserved their thoughts and prayers for the little boy.

"(The officers) both have over 10 years experience, and by the look on their face, I could tell it was a very gruesome sight," DeRusso said.

Police said the dog was properly chained up and that the boy's aunt supervises when the boy feeds the dog. Others who know the family expressed surprise.

"The dog has never in any way shape or form ever acted like this before," said Eric Young, a family friend.

Young said the dog does not have a history of attacking people, but the dog does have mange, a hereditary condition, that could have made the animal angry and unstable.

The family rents the house on Birch Way, and the landlord told WTAE Channel 4 Action News that he does not allow pets. He said he told the family to get rid of the dog last month. Animal control officers have since quarantined the dog.

Police continued to investigate Wednesday evening to determine whether anyone should be charged.

Early on, it did not appear that anyone will face charges, Perrine reported.

 

Pittsburgh-area boy, 5, mauled by pit bull

http://www.pittsburghlive.com
- The Associated Press

CORAOPOLIS, Pa. — Police say a 5-year-old Pittsburgh-area boy is in critical but stable condition after his face was mauled by a pit bull.

The dog has been quarantined by police in Corapolis (kor-ee-AH'-poh-lis) who are not identifying the boy or his aunt, who was watching him at the time. The family told KDKA-TV the boy's name is Tyler Williams and that he underwent facial surgery Wednesday night.

Police say the boy was attacked about 5 p.m.

Wednesday when he went into the back yard to feed the dog, which was tied up. Police don't know why the animal, which weighs about 70 pounds, attacked the boy.

The dog's owner wasn't home at the time and police are not releasing his name.

Police say the 10-year-old dog, named "Stiff," was docile when animal
control officers took him away.