A pit bull has been placed in quarantine and its owner cited for harboring a vicious animal following an incident Friday afternoon in Williamsburg.
About 12:45 p.m., Williamsburg police responded to a residence at 265 Rice Street in reference to a report about 12-year-old girl being bitten by a dog, said Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird.
"According to witnesses the child was playing outside when she was attacked by the neighbor’s pit bull that was running at large," Bird wrote.
"The child was playing. Out of nowhere the child got attacked by the neighbor’s pit bull."
The girl suffered severe lacerations to her leg. Whitley County EMS transported her to Jellico Community Hospital for treatment.
"The call when we got it was the pit bull was still at large. By the time we got there, the owner had put it up," Bird said.
He said the dog bite was severe enough that you could see the calf muscle, but authorities expect the girl to recover.
"Just luckily there were some other people out there who were able to get her away from dog before the dog did more damage than it did," Bird said.
Authorities aren’t sure why the dog attacked the child.
"All the witnesses said the dog just came out of nowhere," Bird added.
There have been no other incidents involving this dog in the past.
"The owner of the dog was extremely remorseful. The owner of the dog was really concerned about the 12-year-old child and was very upset too."
Bird cited the owner the pit bull, Amanda Walker, for harboring a vicious animal, failure to have her dog licensed and for not having the dog vaccinated against rabies.
Bird said that Walker had been given the dog fairly recently, and didn’t have any shot records.
"She had no idea if it had had rabies vaccination," Bird noted.
In accordance with state law, the dog’s owner has placed the dog in quarantine for 10 days. It is being held at property she owns on Leonard Petrey Road.
Bird said police have the authority to seize the dog or to put it down since it didn’t have proof of rabies vaccination, but aren’t seeking that in this case. He said this doesn’t mean that the court might not order the animal destroyed.
Bird said that he isn’t sure where people go to get a license for their dog, but there is a leash law requiring dogs to either be on a leash in a fenced in yard.
"They can’t run at large. They have to be vaccinated, and they have to have a vaccination tag on them," Bird said. "People just need to pay attention to their pets.
"They need to make sure they are put up and on a leash. You are responsible for what your dog does. If your dog damages somebody’s property you are responsible. If it bites somebody you are responsible for the medical bills."
Whitley County Animal Control Officer Cecil Powers assisted Bird and K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt at the scene.
