ST. LOUIS MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com)—
A one year old is rushed to the hospital after he was mauled by the family's pit bull. Thursday night, the one year old was listed in serious condition at Children's Hospital. St. Louis police say his injuries are not life threatening.However, the boy's grandfather, Vab Young, told us the one year old's ear appeared to be hanging after the mauling. The attack happened at a home in the 47 hundred block of Lexington near Natural bridge. Young told us the family was just hanging out in the backyard.
He said an 11 year old girl had the eight month old pit bull on a leash. But somehow, the pit bull was able to get to the one year old boy and attack him. We're told the boy's father wrestled the pit bull off the child, then Young hit the dog more than once with a sledgehammer.
Young says at first he thought the dog was just playing with the child.
"It never looked like he was attacking him, it looked like they was just playing," said Young.
We asked him when he realized something was wrong?
He told us, "Because I seen the blood, ok, I seen the blood. His ear looked like it was hanging."
Police say the pit bull was taken away by animal control and is now quarantined. Initially, homicide detectives and the child abuse unit both responded to the scene. But a short time later, police told us what happened was an accident and they don't believe any charges will be filed.
