By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-18 18:31:49 | Updated at 2024-11-23 07:43:27
4 days ago
A pair of escaped pit bulls attacked a boy and a girl at a playground in Brazil - with footage of the horrifying incident showing one of the dogs ripping the boy from a jungle gym.
Video taken by a witness shows a brown-colored dog locking its jaws around the boy's leg on a playground in São Paulo on Tuesday as the youngster fights to free himself and bystanders hit the canine with sticks.
At some point, the boy, 11, managed to free himself and pinned the dog to the ground.
The boy was taken by a neighbor to a local urgent care facility in the neighborhood of Vila Guilherme and was then transferred to a hospital, where he underwent surgery, according to Brazilian news outlet SBT.
The girl, 12, was rushed by police to the same urgent care center, where she received treatment for lacerations to her head, chest, arms and legs.
Witnesses told the police that the dogs had slipped out of a scrapyard moments before the attack.
The dogs' owner, Marcos Sibioni, was questioned by police for more than three hours Thursday and charged with animal abuse, custody neglect and serious bodily harm.
Sibioni told reporters that he never neglected his pit bulls and said that the children had previously thrown rocks at the dogs - one of which had recently given birth to two puppies.
An 11-year-old boy was one of two children attacked by pit bulls at a playground in São Paulo, Brazil on November 12
At some point, the boy, 11, managed to free himself and pinned the dog to the ground
The boy underwent surgery on his left leg and was in stable condition as of Thursday
All four dogs were set to be taken to an animal shelter while the authorities continue the investigation.
The attack took place just days after a 46-year-old man, Chris Culbertson, was fatally mauled by several dogs in Kansas City.
Culbertson was seen on security footage riding his bike the evening of November 1 when two dogs circled.
He fell to the ground and more dogs broke through a fence, biting his arms, legs, feet and face.
He was attacked for 23 minutes and bit 300 times, his family said.
A month earlier, a five-year-old girl was also mauled by her neighbor's pit bull in Independence, Kansas.
The child was playing in her backyard on October 8 when the attack occurred.
Her skull was crushed in the attack and she had to be placed in a medically-induced coma.
