The Antelope Valley Times

Your community. Your issues. Your news.

Boy airlifted to hospital after vicious dog attack

by •

LAKE LOS ANGELES  – An 6-year-old boy had to be airlifted to the hospital Sunday after he was attacked by a dog in his front yard, authorities said.

Lancaster Station deputies responded to the boy’s home in the 20700 Block of East Avenue J around 2:55 p.m. Sunday afternoon, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Daniels.

Responding deputies found that the victim had been severely mauled by a large dog, Daniels said.

“There was an initial report that it was a pit bull, but deputies on scene also thought it might have been a bullmastiff, so without having any experts to observe the dog, we can’t comment on the breed of the dog,” Daniels said.

“It was one dog involved in the mauling, and we traced it to a fenced-in yard that we suspect it escaped from,” Daniels continued.

That yard was on the same street as the boy’s home, and contained four dogs. All the dogs were taken into custody by animal control, Daniels said.

“We’re confident that the dog involved in the mauling is one of the four, but without having the victim to look at the dogs, we can’t say which one of the four it is,” Daniels said.

He said deputies walked the fence of the yard and found no avenue for the dog’s escape, therefore they do not know how the dog was able to leave or return to the yard. They’re looking to interview the dog’s owner, who was not at home during the attack, Daniels said, adding there was only a caretaker at the home.

“Without having contact with the owner of the dog, we’re not able to make the determination if charges are appropriate,” Daniels said. “We haven’t had a whole lot of opportunity to interview the young victim, so until we’re able to do those things, we won’t know much more.”

The boy was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center with serious injuries, and his condition is unknown at this time. The incident remains under investigation.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect age for the victim. Read the latest update on this story here.

–

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

33 comments for "Boy airlifted to hospital after vicious dog attack"

  1. I would like to thank everyone at the Avtimes for helping our city and its residents.Your paper is number 1 in my books.

    • Dear,Editor in Chief is there anyway you can help this little boys family start a u care.com foundation to help this boys family with there medical bills,This could of been anyones child,Thank you Dave

  3. Im the mother of this young boy who was brutally bitten and my son is 6 years old not 8 like everyone thinks im not sure what kind of dog bit him nor it matters he ruined my sons life my son used to be a handsome young boy now he cant even smile there were 4 dogs that were there and my daughter will go identify the dogs who bit my son .

  4. My name is Carlos Alexander Blakely and this year was a very important year in my life.For the very first time i got to go spend time with my biological father and family and grandparents who i love very much on december 30 2012 while i was visiting my family’s cabin in lancaster california i was attacked by 4 Vicious dogs.This dogs bit half of my scalp and scarred me for life they bit a piece of my ear off and the right side of my face leaving my face cut open from my ear to my mouth cutting one of the nerves from my mouth now i can only talk with half of my mouth they bit me all over my body legs and arms i now has stitches everywhere the Dr that did my surgery had suggested cosmetic surgery my mommy is a single mother of 4 kids if you find it in your heart to donate to my account so i can have a chance of living a normal life we would all appreciate it God bless everyone …….

  5. Well for the record the victim is my newphew who happened to be visiting with his grandparents he is not 8 years old as a matter of fact he is only 6 he is missing part of his scalp has laceration from his mouth to halfway down his cheek and the dog took half of his right ear, from the story I’ve heard all four dogs were on him until his grandpa came to the rescue screaming and that’s how they all got scared and left him laying on the floor. All he keeps asking his mom is ” mom when are they going to fix my face” the doctors told my diste he might need cosmetic surgery to fix him. All I pray is for him to be healthy enought to come back home to Vegas.

    • So sorry, Maria, hope the little guy will be o.k.; sounds like it was a pack attack, horrible for anyone but most especially for a six year old.
      He is in an excellent hospital, hope he does well.

    • Maria, how horrible for the little guy. And how horrible it must have been for his grandparents. Where you nephew is now is an excellent hospital for children with traumatic injuries and my sincerest hope is that recovers quickly and can just be a little boy again.

  6. I know the dog they took in! they took my friends dog whos got long hair like a golden retriever no where near a bullmastiff or pitbull! people need to learn breeds!

    • If you are Really a Friend. What exact breed is the animal? What are the breeds of the other three they took into custody? you probably do not know yourself!! You probably are not even a True Friend of the owners of these animals.

    • oh yeah “Friend”, I hope you have contacted the Police Investigators to provide information regarding this case.

      • At this point, are you serious, does it matter what breed, this poor child is going threw a very traumatic time in his young life, as well as his family, who cares what breed,I say put all the dogs involved down………so if its a poodle, since that’s not a pit bull, then let the dog live, i myself have a very awesome dachshunds, but if my dog hurry one hair on any Childs head, let alone what these dogs did,i would have no problem putting these animals down and i hope the owners of these dogs are held responsible for all medical needs, my prayers to this young boy and his family..

      • He didn’t say he witnessed the attack. Why would he call the station and take up their valuable time. Didn’t LEAPS witness this attack?

        • This is my Aunt and Uncle, And that child you are speaking about is a beautiful 6 year old boy. I hear the pain they are going threw. And they love animals. So forget what color or bread. If that was your child dose it matter.

  9. I know I will be slammed for this comment but here goes: All dogs, small, medium, large and xlarge have the capacity to be violent and dangerous. They are animals and it is the responsibility on the owner to train or contain their dogs. AGGRESSIVENESS IS NOT BREED SPECIFIC. Any dog can be made mean and aggressive. It is their owners who make them what they are.

    I am so sorry for this little boy and I pray that he recovers fully from this event, but it’s not the dogs fault. It probably isn’t even be the dogs owners fault. I was attacked by a family dog for no other reason than I acted like a rabbit (which was his trigger).

    • “It probably isn’t even be the dog owners fault.”

      Depends on what you mean by “it.”

      1) Aggressiveness, it may not be the dog owners fault.

      2) Allowing your do to get out of the year, purposefully or neglectfully is the owners fault. A dog owner is responsible to keep their dogs in their own yard.

          • Which isn’t to say it isn’t their fault but stuff happens, sadly. The only sure fire way to prevent your dog from attacking someone is to not have a dog.

          • @Mick

            Dogs do what dogs do, but it is on the owner of the dog to act as a responsible human.

            I love my dogs, they are really part of my family, but if one of my dogs bit someone unprovoked and serious like this incident, I would have it put down.

          • This somehow changes the fact that the owner is responsible? Split seconds can cost a responsible dog owner scores of thousands. See, Yo mama, this is what you’re talking about, huh? Ol St. Mick needs a check up from the neck up!!

    • were you SIX years old and “MAULED”, Then AIRLIFTED to seek CRITICAL LIFE SAVING EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE? Did you sustain CRUCIAL WOUNDS that have required surgury and comestics? Maybe this child did not ” ACT ” like a rabbit. Then what is his fault. oh yeah ” Rabbit” this happened on a ” off to the Grandmothers house we go” Christmas Vacation. When did your lifetime traumatic event occur? dexformthelbc