Family Dog 'Rips' 3-Year-Old Girl, 'Tosses Her Around' In Vicious Attack, Canine Put Down

A three-year-old girl was recovering after she was viciously mauled by her family dog in Bliss, Idaho, on Sept. 30.

The Gooding County Sheriff' Shaun Gough said the victim, identified as Nevaeh Lynne Goedhart, was playing at her aunt’s home when the dog, a pit bull, attacked her. The girl was rushed to the hospital by a medical helicopter with severe injuries to her leg.

Speaking to CBS/CW+-affiliated television station KMTV on Monday, Glenda King, the victim’s aunt, said the girl was playing with the canine in another room when she heard some “strange noise.” King along with Javen, the victim’s elder brother, rushed to the room and found the canine biting Nevaeh.

Recalling the incident, Javen said, "He already lock-jawed on her back right leg and just started tossing her around. I kicked him three times. Once in the jaw, once in the ribs, and once in the back legs."

King said, “You could see the rip on her leg, and she was crying. I grabbed her, and he went and got a towel for me."

Meanwhile, Alexiss Goedhart, Nevaeh's mother, was leaving her workplace when she was informed about the incident. She rushed to her daughter and took her to her workplace so they would meet the ambulance quicker. Emergency responders arrived at the scene and the victim was flown to the hospital.

"Life Flight only took 13 minutes and they put a doctor on-board, which I was told wasn't normal procedures," Alexiss said.

The victim underwent two surgeries and her mother feared that her leg would need to be amputated. However, the girl’s health got better and she was discharged from the hospital Monday.

"She honestly took some steps on our way out of the hospital. So she's walking, not a lot, but she is. I'm just amazed,” the victim’s mother said.

Meanwhile, the pit bull was put down shortly after the attack.