- Dog attack took place Sunday morning in Falmouth, Massachussets
- The dog, a pit bull terrier, had inflicted severe trauma to the one-year-old girl before its owner killed it
- Girl’s father first tried to shoot the dog but his gun was not loaded
- Toddler was airlifted to a hospital in Boston where she underwent blood transfusions and hours-long surgery, with more to come
A father from Massachusetts stabbed his family’s pit bull to death this weekend after it attacked his one-year-old daughter and bit her on the face.
According to Falmouth, Massachusetts police, the child was playing in the kitchen at her family’s home on Brick Kiln Road just before 9am on Sunday when her pit bull terrier turned on the toddler, causing major trauma to her face.
The girl’s father tried to pull the dog off of his daughter but couldn’t.
Dog mauling: A one-year-old girl was playing in the kitchen at her family’s home in Falmouth, Massachusetts (pictured) on Sunday when her pet pit bull attacked her
The toddler suffered severe trauma to her face and was rushed to a hospital after her father stabbed the dog to death
Police said the father retrieved a pistol from a nearby room, but realized it wasn’t loaded.
He then grabbed a knife and started stabbing the dog to save his daughter from its jaws, fatally wounding the animal.
The Falmouth Fire and Rescue Department and the Falmouth Police Department rushed to the home and began treating the injured girl. She was transported to the Falmouth Hospital by ambulance, and subsequently airlifted to a Boston area hospital by helicopter.
Falmouth fire Lt Scott Stanbard tells WBZ-TV the toddler’s injuries are believed to be life-threatening.
The victim’s relatives later revealed to Fox 25 the little girl had three blood transfusions and underwent an hours-long surgery overnight to repair some of the damage. She will also require plastic surgeries in the the coming weeks.
Police said the family had owned the pit bull five years and it had no known history of aggression.
The one-year-old was then airlifted to a hospital in Bostion, where she underwent surgery overnight
‘At this time, the attack appears to have been unprovoked,’ police said in a statement.
Speaking to the Boston Herald, Susan Moran, chairwoman of Falmouth’s Board of Selectmen. praised the father’s ‘heroic efforts’ to minimize the injuries to his child.