A pit bull attacked and killed a 6-year-old boy after the child climbed over a 4-foot high chain-link fence to enter the neighbor's yard in western North Carolina on Tuesday, reported New York Times.
The Henderson County Sheriff's Office received a call to report the incident, which took place in Hendersonville, south of Asheville on Tuesday. When officers arrived, they found the victim, Joshua Phillip Strother, lying unresponsive in the fenced backyard. The one-year-old male pit bull had become so aggressive that officers had to shoot and kill the dog so that emergency personnel could reach the child, said sheriff's office representative Maj. Frank Stout, according to Fox News.
Efforts to revive Joshua were unsuccessful, and the boy succumbed to his injuries he suffered to his head and neck. "The child appeared to have died a very violent and quick death," said Stout.
The child's mother, Amanda Strother, called emergency services at 4:17 p.m. and told the dispatcher that she took her eyes off her son because she had to go the bathroom and lost sight of her son for a few minutes. She was then unable to gain entry into the neighbor's yard where the dog attacked the boy, according to WNCN.
"I was in the house and I heard the back door shut, and I come running and I see him lying in the neighbor's yard," Amanda told the dispatcher, according to the recording of the 911 call.
The neighbors had adopted the canine from an animal shelter about three weeks ago, Stout said. Authorities are investigating the shelter as well as the dog's history in order to determine whether the animal had a history of aggressive behavior.
