Pit Bull Dogs Fatally Maul 2-Year-Old, Police Forced To Shoot Some Animals

A two-year-old boy was severely mauled by a pair of pit bull dogs inside a Philadelphia home Wednesday and later succumbed to his wounds at a local hospital.

When the police, who were responding to a call from the boy’s neighbor, reached the house in Port Richmond, northeastern Philadelphia, just before 5:30 p.m. EDT, they found six pit bulls inside. Upon arrival, the officers saw two of the pit bulls attacking the toddler and another adult.

While there were news reports which suggested the police fired at all the dogs inside the house and in the process, killed them all, a report by CBS Philly said two of the animals were killed by the authorities, while a third was injured. It was not clear if any of the dogs shot were responsible for attacking the child and the adult.

Neighbors reported hearing 10 shots being fired. The police were investigating the incident.

The unidentified toddler was transported to Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children in extremely critical condition. He was pronounced dead at 6:05 p.m. EDT.

The adult, whose condition was not immediately known, was transported to Temple University Hospital. It was also not clear if the person was related to the child.

According to the police, the parents of the child could face reckless endangerment or child endangerment charges.

Pit bull attacks are no longer a rarity as on the same day, a dog of the same breed, who was roaming freely on the street, bit three members of a family in Rumford, Maine.

The dog initially bit an 18-year-old girl, digging its teeth into her leg and not letting go. Next, the dog attacked a 17-year-old girl and when both the victims’ mother tried to intervene, she was bitten too.

Heather Conley, one of the residents living in the area, heard loud screams Wednesday. Grabbing a baseball bat, she ran up the street to find the dog "ripping the girl's legs" in her neighbor’s driveway. The attack ended when the neighbor tackled the dog to the ground and held it there till the police arrived.

"It was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life," Conley told NBC Center Maine.

Last month, Delta Air Lines banned “pit bull-type dogs,” from flying in their aircrafts both as pets as well as emotional support animals — a decision that received considerable backlash from animal lovers.

“First and foremost, it’s about people. Delta is discriminating against people,” Regina Lizik of the Animal Farm Foundation in New York, said, Orlando Sentinel reported. “When Delta or anyone puts out a regulation like this that dictates what kind of dog can be a service dog, they are reducing access for someone with a disability.”

People also started a petition on Change.org that was intended to pressure Delta to repeal the ban by popular demand. Despite the fact that the petition got more than 200,000 signatures, the airline has stuck to its decision so far.

“We must err on the side of safety,” Delta said in a statement. "...We struggled with the decision to expand the ban to service animals, knowing that some customers have legitimate needs, but we have determined that untrained, pit bull-type dogs posing as both service and support animals are a potential safety risk."