CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A nine-year-old boy is sharing his story after a frightening dog attack that left bite marks around his body.
It’s the second time this week a dog attack has sent a child to the hospital. In both situations, the kids were playing outside.
In the latest case, authorities say the same dog bit three children, but the nine-year-old boy got the worst of it.
Nine-year-old John Garcia described the dog bites to NBC Charlotte from biggest to smallest. He just got out of the hospital Friday morning after being attacked by a 45-pound Labrador-Retriever mix.
“I have to learn how to walk again with the crutches right there,” says John.
It happened near Castlekeep Road on Thursday afternoon. John says he was playing with his older brother and neighborhood children when the dog came after him.
“[The dog] ran right behind me. And my brother tried to hit it with a skateboard, and the dog bit me in the back of my leg and was dragging me,” says John.
Authorities say the same dog bit two other children; a five-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy. Both were minor injuries.
“He got bit on his legs and a little bite on his hands,” the 10-year-old boy’s father told NBC Charlotte.
It happened on the same week as two pit bulls attacked a family. A seven-year-old girl was taken to the hospital with bite marks around her body. The dogs also attacked her mom and younger sister during the incident.
In the latest case, Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control says the dog’s owner was doing yardwork and left the gate to the backyard open. The children inside the home let the dog out of the house.
“If they have an aggressive dog or not, just have to take the proper precautions,” the 10 year-old boy’s father said.
John finally escaped when a neighbor pulled up in a car.
“I was screaming. I didn’t know what to do, I was asking him to take me to the hospital,” says John. “It made me scared to play with dogs, except for my dogs.”
The Labrador-Retriever mix was surrendered and is now under rabies quarantine. Authorities say criminal charges are possible.
NBC Charlotte has also learned the owner of the two pit bulls has been criminally charged. Both dogs have been euthanized. They tested negative for rabies.