Toddler hospitalized following dog attack

BUTLER, Pa. — A toddler who was bitten in the face by a dog is being treated at Children’s Hospital.

The 15-month-old boy and his parents were walking to dinner Friday on North Chestnut Street in Butler when the pit bull went after the boy.

“The dog came out of nowhere and attacked my son," said Claude Taylor, the boy’s father. "My fiancée grabbed my son and wrapped her legs around the dog. I ripped the dog’s jaws apart.”

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The boy had a deep bite mark to the left side of his head and face. He required more than 50 stitches.

 

“The dog almost locked on my son, and if he’d locked on my son, my son would have been dead,” Taylor said.

 

Channel 11’s Amy Marcinkiewicz talked to the owner of the dog. He said the animal somehow got out of his fenced yard, and he’s extremely sorry for what happened.

 

“You need to be in control of your dog at all times, no matter what,” said Deputy Chief Dave Adam of the Butler Police Department. “You are responsible for them no matter what they do, no matter when they do it.”

 

 

Taylor is just glad his boy is going to be OK.

 

“You put your dog on a leash. If he’s going to be fenced in, make sure your fence is actually secure. Just watch your dogs and be careful,” Taylor said.

 

Taylor hopes to take his son home from the hospital Tuesday.

 

The owner of the dog has been cited. The animal is also quarantined in his home for the next 10 days, which is standard in cases like this.

Cox Media Group