A boy mauled by a dog as he played outside was saved by neighbours who rushed to his rescue - grabbing the animal's genitals in a desperate bid to distract it. Three-year-old Denis Jano, was taken to hospital with face and scalp injuries and bruising following the incident.
Residents told how they fought to pull the animal off the little boy and stop the attack on Monday (April 17). One reportedly grabbed the dog ‘by the b*******’ to make it release its grip.
The XL bully dog has been destroyed following the incident in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the Mirror reports. A woman, 42, has been arrested on suspicion of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control.
The little boy's parents, who have five other children, have thanked the neighbours who intervened to help Denis, saying: "They saved his life". The family was still in the process of moving into the house on Monday afternoon when he was injured.
His mother, who did not want to be named, said Denis was next to her playing with a toy shopping trolley when a dog came out of a gate and ran towards him. She added: “I was yelling ‘no’, ‘no’, but it came and bit him. I was screaming and grabbed my little girl in my arms."
One neighbour who heard her screaming, Thomas Hogan, 23, ran out of his house to help. Thomas said: ”I saw the dog with the kid’s head in its mouth. His mother was really screaming.
“Other neighbours came to help and managed to drag the dog off, one of us got the dog by the b*******. There was blood all over the little boy’s dad’s shirt.”
Thomas dialled 999 after the dog was under control. Police seized the dog. Nobody answered the door at the house where the dog lived when the Mirror called.
A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "Police were called to the attack on a three-year-old boy by an XL bully in the Spalton Road area of Parkgate just after 2pm on Monday. He was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries. The animal has been seized and a 42-year-old woman was bailed after being arrested on suspicion of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control.”
An investigation is underway and anybody with information should contact police on 101, quoting incident 538 of April 17.
