Child seriously hurt after being attacked by dog
Gardaí and emergency services rushed to a premises in Dingle at about 7.30pm last Friday, March 15, after receiving reports of a boy being savaged by a dog.
A Garda spokesman told the Irish Daily Mail the child was transported to University Hospital Kerry for treatment of ‘serious but non-life-threatening injuries’ sustained as a result of the incident.
‘The dog has since been destroyed. Investigations are ongoing,’ the spokesman said.
Dingle councillor Séamus Fitzgerald said he was very concerned upon hearing the news. ‘It’s a terrible thing to have happened, particularly to someone so young,’ he said.
‘I don’t know the child or his family, but all I can do is to pray that he makes a full recovery. It could have been a lot worse and it’s reassuring to hear that his injuries are not life-threatening.’
The latest dog attack comes less than two weeks after a man and a woman were handed two-year prison sentences following a pitbull attack in Co. Wexford which left a young boy with serious facial injuries.
Alejandro Mizsan, now aged 11, was just nine years old when he was attacked by an XL bully dog while playing on a green with friends. The incident happened on November 27, 2022 at the Forgelands estate in Enniscorthy.
The dog, which had been roaming around the area, ripped off the boy’s bottom lip, mauled each of his cheeks and injured his body and legs.
Alejandro was airlifted to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin, where he spent seven weeks and underwent several operations.
The dog was killed on the night of the attack.
Judge James McCourt sentenced Karen Miller, 38, formerly of Forgelands in Enniscorthy, to three years in prison for each of the two endangerment counts she faced, running concurrently, with the final 12 months of each sentence suspended. The judge said he’d taken an obstruction charge into consideration.
Niall Byrne , 29, also formerly of Forgelands, received concurrent sentences of three years for each of two counts of threats to kill or cause serious harm, and 20 months for the inhumane killing of the dog.
Byrne, who has been in custody since November 2022, was given a credit of 12 months for time served. It means Miller and Byrne will each serve terms of two years in jail.
Rural and Community Development Minister Heather Humphreys has said she would support XL bully dogs being added to a fresh list of restricted breeds later this year. The breed is already banned in the UK. She also said there will be a doubling of on-the-spot fines, up to €300, for people who don’t control their dogs appropriately.
‘Pray he makes a full recovery’
A CHILD has been hospitalised with serious injuries after he was attacked by a dog in Co. Kerry. ian.begley@dailymail.ie