DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. -- A family dog, a pit bull, attacked a 4-year-old child Tuesday morning, leaving the child with very serious injuries to his face.
When firefighters and paramedics arrived at the 1900 block of Addison Road South in District Heights just after 9:30 a.m., they found the child with critical injuries to his face and eyes, Prince George's County Fire and EMS spokesman Mark Brady said.
The child was taken to a hospital in Baltimore known for its specialty children's trauma center. His injuries were not considered to be life-threatening, but he could lose an eye.
To make matters worse, while en route to the hospital, a man who accompanied the child in the ambulance began fighting with paramedics, Brady said. The man demanded to be let out of the ambulance, which paramedics did, on the side of Route 295 in Howard County before they continued their trip to the hospital. He was later picked up by Park Police.
"Animal control division was notified, and the dog was picked up by them," Prince George's County police Officer Larry Johnson said.
"It's an illegal pit bull in Prince George's County," said Chief Robert Taylor, of the county's animal control division. "You can not have them in Prince George's County."
Pit bulls born after 1997 in Prince George's County are against the law.
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Because this pit bull is only a year old, it likely will be euthanized, sources said.
"I really need to do a full investigation to determine what happened, what caused the dog to bite, if anything caused him to bite," Taylor said. "We don't know. I would always suggest to parents that whenever you have a young child and they're working with an adult dog, you should certainly supervise them at all times."
The ownership of the dog is unknown at this time, but if it is determined that the dog was in the county illegally, the owner could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
