How can a dog owner be so inconsiderate?
In the USA on Friday evening, three pit bulls attacked little Justin Gilstrap (11) so badly that he was critically injured. The boy was riding his bike near his home in Appling, Georgia, when the neighbor’s dogs ran and began chasing him.
One of the animals bit Justin’s leg, then the other two dragged him off the bike and into a nearby ditch. There they began to tear the boy apart. The three pit bulls bit his legs and chest, ripping off almost all of his scalp and half an ear. Only then did the dogs let him go.
Minutes later, Justin was found by a relative in a ditch with life-threatening injuries. His mother Ericka called an ambulance. Doctors put the little one in an induced coma that evening while trying to stop the bleeding all over his body.
The case is all the more bitter because it could have been prevented. Because neighbors had complained to the veterinary office several times about the pit bulls – including Justin’s mother.
▶︎ Even worse: Attack dog owner Burt Baker III told police after the boy was attacked that his pit bulls liked to chase bikes. A case of negligence has now been brought against him. The veterinary office took the dogs away from him.
Justin was immediately operated on
The boy’s whole body is full of bite marks
Justin’s family set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for his medical expenses. On Sunday, his mother Ericka shared a message of hope: Justin woke up from the coma.
“He woke up this morning and started crying. He spoke of his bike and his boots. All of that is replaceable, he is not! It was pathetic. I hope he doesn’t remember anything. It really was a living nightmare. (…) He should be at home and riding his bike and not lying in a hospital bed. Poor boy!” she wrote on the GoFundMe page.