Police in Ottawa are investigating after a one-year-old girl was attacked by a pitbull in her family home early Sunday morning.
Paramedics were called to a home in Ottawa’s Nepean area shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday and found the young girl with severe lacerations to the face.
The infant was rushed to a local hospital and underwent surgery Sunday afternoon. She is listed in serious but stable condition.
Police say the girl was playing with the dog inside her home.
Neighbour Beatrice Mushanga witnessed the attack and quickly rushed to the little girl’s side.
“The dog attacked the baby when the baby tried to pet the dog,” she told CTV Ottawa.
“It was hard because she had a wrapped nose and blood was just gushing out, it was unbearable,” Mushanga said.
Mushanga said the family was looking after the dog for a family friend and was trying to rehabilitate the animal because the owner was having trouble training it.
James Hatfield, a neighbour and close friend of the family, said that while he is devastated by the incident, he thinks people should not blame the pitbull.
“It has nothing to do with the breed of the dog, it has to do with the owner,” he said.
Police say they have secured the dog.
A pitbull ban has been in effect in Ontario since 2005. Anyone who owned a pitbull before the ban was allowed to keep their pet.
Owners are required to have the dogs spayed or neutered. If they're out in public, the dogs have to be muzzled and on a leash.
With files from CTV Ottawa
