Louisiana Dog Attack: 4-Year-Old Girl 'Grabbed By Head' At Home, Canine Shot Dead By Victim's Father

A 4-year-old girl was hospitalized after she was viciously bitten by a neighbor’s dog at her home in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, on Tuesday (May 2).

Deputies with the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office responded to a home off Placide Road in the rural area between Maurice and Abbeville after receiving information of a dog attack. The officers found a 4-year-old girl with wounds on her face and other parts of her body. It was revealed that the girl was attacked by a neighbor’s dog and the victim’s father had shot and killed the canine.

In a Facebook post, the father of the child wrote that a neighbor's dog entered their yard "and grabbed my daughter by the head causing huge lacerations." The girl was rushed to a nearby hospital and was discharged in the afternoon. The child’s twin brother who witnessed the incident was traumatized.

The father said the dog wasn't properly contained and "something has to be done." The Vermilion Parish Sheriff's deputies were investigating the incident and criminal charges relating to the incident will be forwarded to the district attorney. The charges include violation of the Vermilion Parish animal control ordinance and negligent injury. The dog's breed was not known.

The incident comes days after a 9-year-old Arkansas boy was mauled to death by dogs. The boy’s mother called the deputies at Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office and said her son went outside to check the mail and never returned. Deputies arrived and found the young boy dead near the house. The victim’s mother said she had seen several dogs running near her house.

In another incident last month, a 2-year-old Kentucky girl underwent surgery after she was attacked by a dog. The girl’s mother told local media that the toddler was at the babysitter’s house when the attack happened. “Someone let the dog out and it pretty much chewed half my baby’s face off,” the girl’s mother said. The toddler was rushed to a local hospital where she underwent surgery for severe bite marks on the face. The girl was recovering, however, her mother said the girl will “have scarring on her face for the rest of her life.”