A child was rushed to the hospital after he was attacked by a family member’s pit bull, Tallahassee police said.
On Oct. 4, an officer with the Tallahassee Police Department responded to Volusia Street in the Griffin Heights neighborhood; upon arrival, Leon County EMS were already there, getting ready to take the child to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare.
According to the police report, family members said the child, whose age was not disclosed, was “outside next to the house when one of the dogs got loose … There was also a second dog on a leash, but in close proximity, and both attacked the child.”
The second dog was able to break free of its leash and run off as the other was wrangled by the family and placed back on a leash. Police said the child’s father, who arrived after the boy was in the ambulance, used a crowbar to strike at least one of the animals.
At the hospital, another officer spoke with the child’s father who talked about his altercation with the dogs, saying “he defended himself” and “went in on that dog.”
Later updates disclosed that in fact both dogs were recovered alive and turned over to authorities to be put down.
How to report a dangerous dog in Tallahassee/Leon County
If you see or are involved in an incident with an aggressive or dangerous dog:
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: TPD: Child hospitalized after pit bull attack in Tallahassee
Reporting by Arianna Otero, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
