CLEARWATER FL - A PIT BULL ATTACKED A 3-YEAR-OLD BOY IN THE FACE WHILE EATING LUNCH WITH HIS GRANDMOTHER ..HE IS NOW IN ICU BECAUSE HIS WOUNDS BECAME INFECTED

(WFLA) - Local 3-year-old Payton Church is recovering at Tampa General Hospital after his mom says he was attacked by a  PIT BULL  in Clearwater last week.

"You give birth to a perfect kid and to have a dog maul his face and my son will have scars for the rest of his life from this," said Mersadis Tuttle, Payton's mother.

Tuttle tells News Channel 8 her son was with his grandmother last Wednesday when it happened. The two were sitting on a bench, eating lunch in front of a food bank on South Myrtle Avenue and Druid Road. The child went to throw away trash when the grandmother said a medium-sized pit bull came up to the child.

"The dog approached my son, licked him and snapped him in the face at the same instance," Tuttle said.

The dog's owner did not have the dog on a leash.

"He was by his owner, but not in the hands of his owner."

The grandmother asked a witness to dial 911 while she rushed the child to the nearest hospital - Morton Plant ER. Payton received 11 stitches.

According to Tuttle, the witness never called police and the dog and owner disappeared. She filed a police report Saturday after leaving the hospital.

"We have absolutely no information on him or the dog. We don't know if he had shots. We don't know really anything at this point about them or why they left," Tuttle said. "It is very disappointing that as an owner, you would just leave like that. It is your responsibility to maintain that dog and his actions just like it is mine as a parent for my children."

Unfortunately, Payton had to return to the emergency room after his wounds became infected. He is currently in the ICU at Tampa General Hospital.

Tuttle is asking anyone with any information on the dog and it's owner to contact authorities.

She's also warning others in the area to stay cautious.

"What's going to happen when another kid is minding his business and this dog isn't on a leash?" she said.

She has created a GoFundMe page to help with his care.

http://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/child-in-icu-after-pit-bull-attack-family-searching-for-dog-and-owner/1151452089

BRONX NEW YORK - A MOST EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF A RESPONSIBLE PIT BULL OWNER !!!

NEW YORK (WABC) --

After Ruben Roncallo, the owner of a pit bull that latched on to a 22-year-old woman's foot on a Lower Manhattan subway, was arrested Thursday, he then was turned over to detectives in the Bronx for a separate harassment charge - and it also involved his PIT BULL.

Deborah Farmer told Eyewitness News exclusively that Roncallo threatened her.

"(He) told me he was going to kill me, my granddaughter. Brought a dog here - kicked my door in, broke the banister," Farmer said.

The Bronx woman says Roncallo kept showing up to her Bronx apartment behaving violently and erratically.

By Roncallo's side is his now infamous pit bull, seen on cell phone video attacking a woman on the 4 train in Manhattan last week.

Farmer says her problems with Roncallo started in November.

"He's crazy. One minute he sits here, he talks...the next minute he's flipping out talking about oh he's Lucifer. He said Obama and Trump put him here to kill me. He gonna' slice me up," she added.

On Friday night, the Brownsville man was arraigned in the Bronx, accused of harassing Farmer. She says Roncallo thought he and her son were a couple, and that she was interfering in their relationship.

She says just last week he came beating on her door saying, 'when Ruben gets upset, the dog gets upset.'

As for whether or not his pit bull should have been allowed on the train, Roncallo says it's a service dog.

Due to ADA regulations, authorities can only ask an owner two questions. First, 'is that a service dog?' and second, 'what is that service dog trained to do?'

In New York, the owner is not required to provide proof.

Farmer says Roncallo has only had the dog for about a year. "He found the dog on the street. Downtown by 42nd Street - he wanted to give it to me, but I told him I have my own."

Roncallo was released without bail and ordered to stay away from Farmer.

He is due back in court June 14.

http://abc7ny.com/owner-of-pit-bull-that-attacked-woman-arrested-for-separate-harassment-charge/3401124/

TATE COUNTY MS - A 17-MONTH-OLD BOY WAS MAULED IN THE FACE BY A DOG DESCRIBED BY RELATIVES AS A CHOCOLATE LAB

UPDATE:  http://wreg.com/2018/04/30/he-can-be-aggressive-owner-of-dog-accused-of-attacking-17-month-old-toddler-speaks/

A 17-month-old toddler had to undergo plastic surgery and tear duct surgery after his family says he was mauled by a CHOCOLATE LAB  Thursday in Tate County, MS.

Ethan Hawk Lane Jr.'s mother tells us she was visiting her grandparents when she left her son in a room briefly.

When she came back, she walked in to him screaming.

"I came back in the house, and I heard a bang and him crying. I went down the hallway and saw blood on the door and the floor," Ethan's mother, Selena Mejia said.

She said she initially thought Ethan fell, but officers and doctors told her his injuries came from dog bites.

The chocolate lab who bit Ethan is supposed to be locked in a room when the owner, a family member, is not there.

"I did not know the owner was not there until after when I was screaming for help in the house," she said.

A neighbor, who says she has been chased by the dog twice before, will never forget the sounds of Ethan's cries.

"When I looked in he was screaming and hollering. It was not a good sight," neighbor Joiya Scott said.

Ethan's parents called the dog's actions "out of control."

"The day after the accident, when we got released from the hospital, the dog tried to bite us but ended up biting her grandfathers wife who was trying to attempt to put the dog back into the room. It just shows this has to be taken care of," Ethan's father said.

His parents are concerned, because the dog has not been tested for rabies just yet. But a neighbor tells WREG police came by Sunday night to pick up the dog for quarantine. However, Ethan's parents say they have not been contacted.

Ethan's grandmother tells us the dog belongs to her father's brother-in-law, and that Tate County authorities refused to pick it up, telling them is was up to the owner to deal with it.

The sheriff and chief deputy haven't responded to WREG's request for comment.

Ethan's family says he is going to be okay, but he has many stitches and a stint in his eyes.

He will have to have surgery to take the stent out.

His parents told us they filed a police report last week.

http://wreg.com/2018/04/29/family-1-year-old-toddler-undergoes-surgery-after-being-attacked-by-dog/

CASSOPOLIS, CASS COUNTY MI - A FUNDRAISER IS BEING HELD FOR 3-YEAR-OLD ARIAL HARRISON WHO WAS MAULED IN APRIL 2017 BY A NEIGHBOR'S PIT BULL

https://www.youcaring.com/kendracanendonaldharrison-1133829


































































































































































































































































































































































































                                                               CBS -

A Michigan community is banding together to support a young girl who survived a gruesome dog attack.

The Central Cass Fire Department is raising money for a special operation to get three-year-old Arial Harrison prosthetic ears as she continues to recover from severe injuries after she was attacked by a  PIT BULL TERRIER  in 2017.

"We've had a long year," said Kendra Canen, Arial's mom.

In that time, Canen has worked to rebuild her three-year-old daughter's life after the attack.

Harrison lost her ears and most of her head is a skin graft.

Canen said last April Arial was playing on the trampoline at her grandma's house when the neighbor's pit bull attacked.

"I'm guessing the dog had snatched her by her head, her hair or something," Canen said.

The case went to trial, but Canen feels there was never any justice.

"The owner of the dog was acquitted," she said. "We're grateful she's a live. Moving forward, we live day-by-day so we have good days and we have bad days."

Canen believes there can be better days and she wants to have prosthetic ears made for her daughter before she starts school.

"We're just sitting there thinking, she doesn't have ears and kids are bullies," Canen said.

The operation costs nearly $12,000 and Canen said Medicaid won't cover it because the procedure was deemed cosmetic.

That is where police and businesses throughout Cass County are stepping in.

Central Cass Fire Lieutenant Oliver Fiala is organizing a fundraiser for Arial in May and hopes to raise a lot of the money needed for the prosthetic ears.

The Central Cass Fire Department will hold a breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on May 5.

"All of the areas in this community do a great job of coming together in a time of need. this just happened to be a time of need and we came together and hopefully it works out," Fiala said.

Canen has a good attitude and remains hopeful of giving her daughter back what she lost.

"She knows she doesn't have them because we were talking about headphones the other day and she said 'I don't need them, I don't have ears,'" Canen said.

Donations can be made to a fundraising page Arial's family created.

http://www.wnem.com/story/38056657/3-year-old-who-survived-dog-attack-needs-prosthetic-ears

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2017/04/father_of_child_mauled_by_pit.html#incart_river_home

http://wwmt.com/news/local/grandmother-speaks-after-terrifying-dog-attack