MELROSE, Fla. – A 2-year-old boy was taken to the hospital in serious condition after being mauled by a family dog in Putnam County on Tuesday.
The attack happened Tuesday at a home on South Street in Melrose.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office incident report, the owners of a 5-year-old dog named “Blueberry” told deputies the toddler was playing with the dog before the child was attacked.
The dog is a pit mix. News4JAX talked to animal investigation expert Dr. Jim Crosby about the incident. He is one of the nation’s leading experts on animal abuse, dog fighting and dog attacks.
The owners said the dog growled after the toddler pulled the dog’s ears. The report stated that the boy’s mother pulled her son away from the dog, but moments later while she was not looking, her son went back over to the dog and the boy was bitten in the face. According to the report, Blueberry’s owners had to pull the dog off the boy.
“That’s a normal pain response. If the child re-engaged immediately thereafter and grabbed the dog’s ears again, then it’s normal for a dog to use its teeth to get you away from causing pain,” Crosby said. “It sounds like the dog did in dog terms try to give a clear warning — back off. Get out of my face.”
Deputy Alex Sharp was a Good Samaritan who tried to help the child. He was off-duty at the time of the incident and driving down the road when he heard something unusual.
“I Could hear a child screaming and a woman screaming,” Sharp said.
Sharp said he stopped his truck and ran to the home where the screaming was coming from.
“I identified myself as an off-duty deputy sheriff and asked what was going on. What can I do to help you? The older woman who I later learned was the grandmother said the dog had bitten the child in the face,” Sharp said.
The boy’s mother had already called 911 but Sharp also made a call.
“I tried to hold him close to my shoulder and I had never seen something on a child so horrific,” Sharp said.
Officials said the toddler’s left cheek was barely attached and there were other visible injuries on the child’s chin.
Dana Hoffman is Blueberry‘s now former owner and the toddler’s grandfather.
“I can try to justify it all day long and it’s not going to make any difference because the incident happened, and I feel sorry. I thank God the bite was not four inches lower. I thank God it wasn’t two inches higher,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman said he was not home when the attack happened but said he gave the out-of-town relatives specific instructions to prevent any mishaps involving his dog while he was not there.
“I said stay away from the dog. Do not go near because she has just beaten up my chihuahua,” Hoffman said.
Blueberry’s owners told a deputy that Blueberry had previously attacked other dogs but had never attacked a person until now.
Investigators said Blueberry’s owners blamed the child for what happened.
Crosby said despite what happened, the toddler should never be blamed for action that led to his injuries.
“The sensitivity to other animals doesn’t transfer, according to the research, to humans. The fact that this dog never engaged a human before, tells me this was even more likely a pain response with an appropriate warning before the dog engaged,” Crosby said. “If a dog gives a warning, listen. They’re doing it for a reason. They’re telling you something that you should recognize. In this case, with the limited information, I suspect the dog was saying my ears hurt. Don’t grab them.”
Crosby said this attack does not support people’s claims that pits are more dangerous than other dogs.
“We have to look at normal dog behavior, whether it‘s a pit, a Great Dane or a chihuahua. It‘s just that big dogs make holes. When you’re a 2-year-old, the mouth of a big dog is going to make a big hole,” Crosby said.
Blueberry is now being held in custody at the Putnam County Animal Control Office.
Crosby has researched dog attacks involving children. He said fatal and near-death dog attacks on children typically involve a family dog and not a dog that is unknown to the child.
“2-year-olds are not out cruising up and down Main Street getting attacked by loose dogs. It’s happening in the home. In the family or within the family group,” Crosby said.
Officials said Blueberry will be euthanized as a result of the attack and the owners are no longer trying to prevent it.