Another sad setback for pit bulls

Boy, 9, rescued from attacking pit bulls

By ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal

Quick action by Wilmington residents may have saved the life of a 9-year-old Friday afternoon, after they heard a boy screaming and ran to fight off the two dogs biting him.

Bystanders kicked and drove the two pit bulls away, but not before the boy was bitten on the cheek, head and thumb, police said. Delaware animal control officers and state police captured the dogs and are looking for the owners. The boy was in stable condition Friday night at Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland.

"I said, 'Oh, my God, these dogs are going to go after the boy,' " said Silas Jones, 29, who said he was picking up his son from the school bus when he heard the screams.

"I never experienced anything like that," Jones said. One dog was trying to knock the boy down and the other was biting him, he said. He said the incident took place near a day-care center with other children nearby.

Preliminary reports indicate the boy, who lives in the 100 block of E. 38th St., was walking on North Market Street about 4:25 p.m. Some say the boy tried to run from the dogs. Jones said he saw the dogs charging toward the boy.

The Wilmington man said that, when he saw the attack, he put his son into his car and then got out of the car to pull a tire iron from his trunk. Then he went after the dogs and started beating them.

As he ran toward the animals, police said another man kicked the dogs off and was protecting the child from further attack. Jones said a man placed his body over the child.

"He covered him up and I was just fighting the dogs off to keep him from biting either one of them," Jones said. "It felt like forever. Just the moment of trying to stop the attack felt like forever."

As more people came out to the area, the dogs fled and the boy was taken into Q B's Barbershop in the 3900 block of Market St.

The pit bulls later were spotted on 36th Street, where troopers and animal-control officers cornered and captured them. Officers said the dogs had no collars or leashes but weren't aggressive when they found them. No other injuries were reported.

Police and animal control are investigating.

I tried to link directly to the video that accompanies this story, but as usual the links and settings on the Delawareonline website are not working; click on title link to view video..

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