"The dog was actually owned by the father's brother from what we understand. The account we got was the animal takes part in hunting hogs," Sheriff Franklin said.
The child reportedly wandered out of the house while his father was in the bathroom, and got within reach of the dog. That is when the dog attacked the child, authorities say. Once the father was aware of what happened, he called 911, picked the child up, and took him near the roadway where they waited on emergency personnel to arrive. The child was then taken by medical helicopter to Children's Hospital in Birmingham.
WSFA 12 News spoke with Stephanie Jernigan, who says she is close to the family. Jernigan says a doctor's report shows there is no brain or internal damage. The child is expected to survive, but will have to undergo cosmetic surgery to repair the damage to his face.
Jernigan says both the child and his father play in the yard with their own animals and the neighbors' dogs.
"It's an unfortunate accident. He probably just stepped in to use the bathroom and said "I will be right back" and didn't think anything about it and came out. There was a dog there on a chain that is not familiar with the child, and the child being a child thinks, "I love animals, they love me. I'm going to pet the dog," and this unfortunate accident happened," Jernigan explained.
"Unfortunately there was a fatality involving a child right outside of Elmore County earlier this year and that was awful, so I hope this doesn't happen often," said Elmore County Humane Society Executive Director Rea Cord. "Our hearts go out to the family and the child."
The sheriff says his department gets about two calls per month on dog bites, but says maulings are much more rare. The dog dog in Wednesday's attack does not have a history of being violent. The sheriff added that since the dog was chained up at the time of the attack, the owner was not breaking any leash laws.
The dog, fully grown and weighing approximately 50 pounds, was taken by sheriff deputies to a vet clinic in Elmore County to be monitored for rabies. No decision will be made on the animal's fate for at least 10 days.
irrelevant if any dog is violent with any human being at any time under any circumstance. We had a dog who was quarter mexican wolf. She would not stop viciously lunging at the sliding glass door where our young visiting niece who was safely inside. She was totally focused on the child. We did not wait for an actual attack to put her down. It was the first time we'd seen her behavior in close proximity to a small child. Scared us to death! She would have attacked if the glass wasn't there. Insurance companies have dangerous pet lists and will not insure a home if a dog has up to a quarter of a dangerous breed. I am an animal lover but people must come first!
Tempting fate with a dangerous breed is ignorant folly.