RIVERSIDE (CNS) - An 18-month-old girl suffered serious wounds to her face when she was mauled by her grandmother's pit bull in Riverside, officials said today.
The toddler was hospitalized, and may have also suffered an injury to one of her eyes in the attack.
The dog had attacked a child two years ago, and was released under strict conditions to its owner, the grandmother. This time, she ordered the dog killed.
The attack was at 7:40 p.m. Friday at a home on Fern Avenue in the Casa Blanca neighborhood, said Riverside County Department of Animal Services spokesman John Welsh.
The 11-year-old pit bull, Patron, had previously bitten and seriously injured another of the owner's grandchildren in March of 2016, and the department had sought an order to put the dog down then but was denied in an administrative hearing, Welsh said.
However, the dog was declared vicious by the county, meaning that the owner had to follow certain control measure, such as keeping the dog in a secure enclosure.
“This owner should have reasonably known this dog posed a danger to a small child,” said Animal Services Director Robert Miller in a statement. “After a dog is deemed vicious, it is absolutely reckless if the owner does not take the mandated steps to protect family members -- and the general public.”
The owner surrendered the dog to animal services for euthanasia, said Welsh. Whether charges would be filed against the owner would be decided later.
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