Please pray

Pit bull fatally mauls 2-year-old girl

By LaKISHA LADSON / The Dallas Morning News lladson@dallasnews.com
A 2-year-old girl was fatally mauled by one of her family's pit bulls Thursday afternoon, a Dallas County sheriff's spokesman said.
"We're not sure if criminal charges are going to be filed as of yet," said Deputy Michael Ortiz, who was withholding the names of the girl and her father until a decision on charges was made.
The incident happened in the 2200 block of Bois D'Arc Road in Combine, a town of 2,500 on the Dallas-Kaufman county line.
The Sheriff's Department received a 911 call about 3:45 p.m., and a paramedic – over the phone – helped a man, believed to be the girl's father, to perform CPR until an ambulance arrived.
Shocked neighbors gathered Thursday evening near the family's doublewide mobile home with a toddler swing and slide out front. They said the father had told paramedics that he was using a weed trimmer while his daughter rode her tricycle. The male pit bull – the family also owns a mother and puppies – apparently was chained nearby, they said. All of a sudden, the neighbors said, the little girl was on the ground, and there was blood all over her and the dog.
"She wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing or nothing" when she was taken to the ambulance, neighbor Stephanie Olive said.
Deputy Ortiz said the girl's injuries were mainly on her face and head. Neighbors said she also appeared to have been bitten on the throat and buttocks. They said Combine Senior Patrol Officer Michael Henderson, the first officer on the scene, had been crying all afternoon.
"It's a tragedy. You hate to see any child hurt in any way," said Mayor Pro Tem Paul Norman, a former pit bull owner who said he would never own another because "they're basically insane."
Neighbors said they had called authorities about the family's pit bulls before for being aggressive toward children. Authorities took the dog involved in the attack to the Balch Springs animal shelter, where its fate was unknown.
Although the dog apparently had been chained, residents said roaming dogs are a problem, too, because many people drop off unwanted dogs in Combine.
"They think that this is the country and they'll find a home," Mr. Norman said.
While authorities were at the scene Thursday evening, one loose dog chased a squirrel up a tree and others roamed freely nearby.
"It is one of the few problems we do have," said Mr. Norman, who has lived in Combine about 25 years.
The town has a leash law but lacks an animal control agency. It has one police officer and relies largely on Dallas and Kaufman counties for enforcement, depending on which side of town is involved.