A 3-year-old Culpeper boy and his grandmother were airlifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center yesterday after they were attacked by two roaming pit bulls.
Hospital officials would not release any information on the child's condition, but Culpeper Animal Control Director Jamie Bennett and a spokesman for the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office said the boy suffered severe bites to his lip and the back of his head.
The grandmother, 47, suffered bites to her leg and arm, according to Bennett and the Sheriff's Office. Neither victim's wounds were considered life-threatening, officials said.
The incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. According to Bennett, the grandmother and child were taking their daily walk in the 21000 block of Mount Pony Road near their home.
Bennett said she did not know how the attack began.
The two male pit bulls were still on the scene when animal-control officers and sheriff's deputies arrived. Bennett said that both animals were taken into custody without incident.
"To look at these two dogs now you would never suspect that they could be aggressive," Bennett said.
He said a woman in the Mount Pony area had called Monday and reported seeing two pit bulls running loose in the area the day before, but thought they were lost pets. The caller made no mention of aggressive behavior, Bennett said.
An animal-control officer drove through the area Monday afternoon, but did not see the animals, Bennett said.
The two dogs will be quarantined for 10 days, held for 48 additional hours and then euthanized if no one claims them, he said.
If the dogs' owner can be found, the Animal Control Department will ask a judge to declare the dogs vicious and they will then probably be destroyed.
As far as possible charges against the owner, Bennett said, "There are no state codes [that were broken] as far as Animal Control is concerned."
Bennett added that the dogs' ears were not cropped, as they would be if they were used for fighting.
Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com