Police Kill 2 Dogs After Placentia Boy Is Mauled

A 10-year-old boy received more than 150 stitches Saturday after he was mauled by two dogs while he played near his apartment, authorities said.

Officers, who responded to the scene of the mauling, were also attacked and they shot and killed both dogs, police said.

Placentia Sgt. Russ Rice said the incident occurred around 1:50 p.m. while the boy played in a grassy area of the Villa Tierra apartment complex in the 1600 block of Orchard Drive. The boy was waiting for his mother, who was in a nearby laundry room, police said.

The two dogs, which police believe were “German shepherd mixes,” charged the boy and threw him to the ground. The dogs then bit him on his right shoulder, arm, neck and leg.

“The boy got up and ran and (had) nearly made it back to his apartment when a neighbor came out and shooed the dogs away,” Rice said.

Paramedics rushed the boy to Placentia-Linda Community Hospital.

“There were about 10 severe bites . . . all on the right side of his body,” said nursing supervisor Amelia Schmid. “Some were between 2 to 5 inches wide. He had other bruises and puncture wounds. This was more extensive than we typically see.”

Schmid said the boy--whose name is being withheld because he is a juvenile--was released in satisfactory condition.

Russ said that when officers arrived on the scene, they found the two dogs outside the apartment complex.

The officers cornered the dogs in a nearby area where there are oil derricks, Rice said. “One dog leaped over a six-foot cinder-block wall that had barbed wire on top of it. The other charged one of the officers. He was shot.”

Rice said another officer found the other dog in a nearby residential area. “He also charged (the officer) and he was shot,” Rice added.

Rice said police turned over the dogs’ carcasses to Orange County Animal Control. So far, investigators have not been able to find their owners, he said.

“We don’t believe they were from the apartments. The tenants are not allowed to have animals,” Rice said. “And these are not your typical apartment dogs. . . . German shepherds weigh at least 90 pounds. But the officers said these were possibly larger.”

Late Saturday, investigators were going door-to-door and scrutinizing lost-and-found notices on telephone poles to attempt to find the owners.

Some residents of Villa Tierra said they had seen the dogs roaming inside the apartment complex about half an hour before the incident occurred.

“They were acting pretty skittish,” said David Eastwood. “If they didn’t have fiber ropes dangling from their necks, I would have thought that they were wild because they resembled coyotes. They appeared scared when the wind was blowing.”

The attack came two weeks after a pair of Rottweilers mauled 6-year-old Jeffrey Kerley as he played with a friend in front of his Westminster home.

Jeffrey required 75 stitches for the dog bites he received on his legs, arms, abdomen, back and buttocks.

The incident has prompted some residents to petition the Westminster City Council to pass an ordinance further restricting vicious dogs. After seeing photographs of Jeffrey’s wounds, council members asked the city staff to make recommendations on restrictions.