An 8-year-old girl was mauled to death by a pack of dogs while she was playing outside her South Dakota home on Tuesday.
The child, who has not been identified, was sledding outside her home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation when the roaming dogs attacked, Pine Ridge police told KOTA-TV.
An adult who was present went inside the Crazy Horse Housing Complex home before the mauling, police said. When the adult came back out, the girl had bite marks and was bleeding. No other details about the attack have been released.
Deputy Chief of Police John Mousseau warned parents to keep watch of their children as authorities search for the roaming dogs, which as of late Wednesday had not been found. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is also investigating the tragedy, KOTA-TV reported.
Oglala Sioux Tribe leaders have organized a special council meeting for this weekend that will be attended by police and housing authorities, the Associated Press reported.
"This is a terrible tragedy," Bryan Brewer, the tribe's president, told the AP. "We are going to address the issues of the dogs that are running wild."
Wild dogs have long been a safety concern on the reservation, with a young boy being attacked by pit bulls several years ago. Tribe officials subsequently passed a law banning pit bulls, Doberman Pinschers and Rottweilers, the Argus Leader reported.
"Any time we come across a dog like that, law enforcement will take and destroy the dog," Mousseau told the newspaper.
Last winter, a dog pack attacked two women before turning on a police officer. But Mousseau said while there are roaming dogs on the reservation, what happened to the victim was an isolated incident.
"I wouldn't say they're all a threat," he told the Argus Leader. "You don't know what's in a dog's mind and what provokes them."
