FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A dog that mauled a 9-year-old girl, leaving her hospitalized with injuries to her head, shoulder, legs and arms, will be euthanized due to its violently aggressive behavior, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said the attack happened Sunday afternoon on Powder Horn Drive in Palm Coast.
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The victim walked over to her friend's house to see if the other little girl could come play and when her 15-year-old brother answered the door, the 2-year-old dog, named Chopper, pushed past him and began to attack the child.
The boy said the dog was uncontrollable and acted as if he were rabid. He tried to stop Chopper, but couldn't. Deputies said the boy's mother rushed to help and together they repeatedly punched the dog in the head and hit him with a furniture dolly until he eventually released the 9-year-old girl.
The victim's father told a 911 operator that his neighbor first tried to treat the girl's wounds himself then told him and his wife what happened.
"I never trusted this dog... they always keep it locked up. Oh man, I'm so furious right now," the man said.
The victim's father made the call while he was in the back seat with his daughter while his wife drove them to Florida Hospital Flagler.
"She's got bites all over her," the man said.
Deputies said the victim was in the emergency room with gauze on several of her wounds when they interviewed her family about the attack. The child had to be sedated for doctors to stitch her injuries because she was in so much pain.
Chopper's owners told deputies that they got the dog from a local humane society when he was 8 months old and has never been aggressive, but he does get rowdy when someone knocks on the door or rings the doorbell.
Officials said Chopper will be euthanized.