Men Rescue 4-Year-Old Girl From Attack by Pit Bull Terrier

Two men pulled a 4-year-old girl from the grip of a pit bull terrier in South Los Angeles on Tuesday after the dog charged the child and bit her on the neck, head and chest, authorities said.

David Cook, a retired schoolteacher from Long Beach, was standing near his car when he heard the girl scream from across the street just before she was bitten. With the help of the dog’s owner, a unidentified man in his early 203, they pulled the animal off the girl.

The child was playing in the 900 block of East 101st Street when the dog jumped her, biting her several times and causing significant blood loss, said Los Angeles city fire spokesman Brian Humphrey.

After Cook and the owner pulled the animal away from the girl, Cook brought her across the street to his mother’s porch. His sister, Barbara, said the girl was not breathing and was unconscious when her brother brought the girl to the house. Both applied CPR and first aid until paramedics arrived and revived her.

Emergency workers transported the girl to Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center, where she was listed in serious but stable condition, Humphrey said. Police are investigating the incident and no charges have been filed, a police spokesperson said. Animal control workers have taken custody of the animal, Humphrey said.