Dog Mauls Neighbor's 6-Year-Old Child Who Was Getting His Ball Back

A 6-year-old in Carmarthen, Wales, was mauled by his neighbor's dog when the boy climbed over the fence to grab his ball. The boy, identified as Rhys Jones, was playing with a friend when the incident took place.

Jones reportedly went into his neighbor's garden to retrieve his ball when the dog — a Staffordshire Bull Terrier — attacked him, viciously biting his arms and legs. According to U.K.'s Metro, the ordeal stopped only after another dog attacked the terrier.

The young boy was rushed to a hospital where he was found to have an infected bite in his foot and broken bones. However, the family was lucky that the boy was alive.

"One of my daughters was watching Rhys after school at her home... I had just finished work and all of a sudden my daughter called in a panic to say that Rhys was on his way to hospital," the boy's grandfather, Anthony Rowlands, told local media. "I was absolutely mortified and went straight there. When I walked into the room I held Rhys. His eyes were going white. The doctor said it was because he was so scared."

The family said Jones underwent a surgery on his foot and has to wear a protective boot for around six weeks following the incident.

The grandfather added: ‘That other dog saved him, without a doubt... That dog knew Rhys because he’d seen him plenty of times before. Rhys was bitten a number of times before the other dog reacted, and I believe, hand on heart, that if that hadn’t happened then Rhys would not be here now. A man who lived next door then picked Rhys up and carried him into the kitchen, but he was bleeding everywhere."

"Rhys grew up with a dog, so he’s used to being around them all the time," Rowlands added. "He’s never been afraid of dogs or anything. But, the other day, when he saw a neighbor’s dog – only a small, gentle dog – he screamed. He’s also too frightened to look at his own foot. When I was giving him a cuddle in the hospital, he kept asking 'why did the dog bite me?' He’s petrified."

U.K.'s Dangerous Dogs Act [1991] bans four breeds of dogs — Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro — from being owned or bred but Staffordshire Bull Terrier is not on the list.

Earlier this month, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier "savaged" a man and a puppy in a Pets at Home store in Staffordshire, England. In November, a baby boy was attacked by his Staffordshire Bull Terrier at his family home in Yaxley, near Peterborough. The 1-month-old baby fought for life at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge following the attack.