Child attacked while petting pit bull at school during recess
A High River father is thankful his nine-year-old daughter didn’t sustain worse injuries when she was mauled by a pit bull Tuesday afternoon.
Michael Willoughby said his daughter, Bella, was at her Joe Clark elementary school’s playground during recess when a dog walked by. Bella approached the dog, Willoughby said, asking its owner if it was a pit bull.
“The owner said yes, then the owner said ‘would you like to pet the dog ?’ so Bella went up and was petting the dog,” said Willoughby.
“When she was pulling away, or was halfway done petting the dog, (the dog) leaped up, knocked her down and bit her face. The owner pulled the dog off.”
Willoughby said his daughter suffered minor scrapes to her chin, a swollen cheek and a black eye.
“Other than that she got through it unscathed … if not for the grace of God, she may have had her face ripped off,” he said.
Willoughby, who said his family has owned dogs in the past, understands the bad reputation pit bulls get.
“We have dogs, and we have had pit bulls in the past,” he said. “We understand they kind of get a bad rep, so when this happened you don’t want to add fuel to the fire. Yet, on the other hand, my daughter was knocked down.”
The dog’s owner left the area, said High River RCMP Const. Aaron Patola, and it wasn’t clear how badly the child had been injured until they returned to school.
RCMP issued an appeal for public assistance Friday morning, saying they wanted to speak with the dog ’s owner to obtain further details about what happened. In an update late Friday afternoon, Mounties said the owner of the dog had been identified, along with more witnesses to the incident.
The dog has been kennelled while the investigation continues and RCMP said all involved parties have been co-operative with the police.
In a statement posted on the school’s website, officials said students were assembled and provided instruction on safe schoolyard play.