A 2-year-old Kentucky girl was attacked by a dog Thursday and underwent surgery over the weekend for severe bite marks on the face. The girl's family said that the Frankfort girl was discharged from hospital on Sunday and is recovering.

“Someone let the dog out and it pretty much chewed half my baby’s face off,” the girl’s mother told local media WLKY. Marcia Sheehan said her daughter, Serenity Stanley, was at the babysitter’s house when the attack happened.

“I was going back to work for the first time in two years and was dropping her off at my niece’s house for the day,” she said, adding: “I didn’t even know that dog was there when I left my baby or she wouldn’t have been left there.”

According to Sheehan, an American Bulldog was supposed to be locked in the bedroom, but at some point the dog was let loose. The dog apparently bit Serenity in the face, leaving two large gashes, Sheehan said. The girl was taken to the hospital in Shelbyville and transferred to Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville the same day.

Sheehan said four surgeons treated her daughter over the weekend before the girl was discharged Sunday.

“She’ll have scarring on her face for the rest of her life,” Sheehan said. “They’re concerned that if it continues to swell, it will affect her salivary gland.”

The mother said that the girl was now able to walk but was unable to eat solid food or take a shower. “She let us know today that it was really bothering her not to be able to shower,” Sheehan said., adding that the hospital was required to file a police report, and she is considering legal action.

“I just don’t know what to do yet. I know the medical bills are mounting, I’ve just cried so much about this,” the mother told WLKY. “My niece feels absolutely horrible.”

Sheehan said the dog’s owners claimed they would put the dog down but they left town that night with the dog.

American Bulldog
Representational image of an American Bulldog. Ewel Samad /AFP/Getty Images
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