Deerfield Beach Boy Recovering From Pit Bull Attack
DEERFIELD BEACH (CBS4) – An eight year old boy was hospitalized early Sunday evening after he was attacked by a pit bull.
The Broward Sheriff's Office said Nicholas Garvey and his friend Rashad Andrews were riding their bikes up and down the 300 block of SE 1st Terrace when the dog ran out of a yard and charged them. Garvey tried to get away on his bike, but the dog ran after him and bit him which caused the boy to fall off his bike.
"I thought I was going to get killed," Nicholas told CBS4′s Joan Murray.
"I hopped off the bike and started running towards my friend's house and the dog caught me. It started to hurt after he bit me and it was very painful," Nicholas said.
Once inside, Andrews' mother came to Garvey's rescue.
"I started beating the dog with the bike and told him to get off, but the dog had a choke hold on him," Mattie Bennett said. "We just fought and fought and finally got it out. We shut the door and it still tried to get in."
Garvey, who suffered cuts and several bites on his face, was airlifted to Broward General Medical Center. He's expected to be fine.
"It was a shock to see him," said Brian Garvey, Nicholas' dad.
Nicholas' mother, Teresa Rose, believes the dog should be euthanized.
"If it tasted blood, it should be put to sleep because this will be an ongoing thing," Rose said.
The sheriff's office said when deputies arrived they chased the pit bull for about two blocks, and as they reached it, it attempted to attack another dog.
Deputies confined the pit bull until Broward County Animal Care and Regulation workers arrived and removed the dog.
The owner of the dog, Jeanette Peterson, said she feels terrible for the Garvey family.
"I'm sorry for it," she said. "I wish it could have been me. I feel real bad."
Peterson also said the dog, named Jada, is kept in a cage at her boyfriend's house and she doesn't know how it got out.
"Someone had to open the cage because I have (the dogs) in safety cages," Peterson told CBS4 News.
She told CBS 4 News she keeps the dog at a different residence because her apartment complex does not allow dogs. Peterson said she is in the process of finding a home with a yard where her animals can live.
Peterson said the dog has never attacked anyone before.
Peterson was cited by Animal Control for failing to register and vaccinate her dog along with failure to control an animal which caused injury to a person. Peterson was also given a Notice to Appear by sheriff's deputies for violating the city's "Dogs running at large" ordinance.
The dog remains at Animal Care and Control while they continue investigating the attack.
