Boy, 8, Dies After Being Attacked by Family Dog While Under the Supervision of His Teen Sister By Staff Author

An 8-year-old boy from Virginia has died after sustaining injuries from a dog attack.

On Tuesday, Aug. 26, just after 8 p.m. local time, the Danville Police Department (DPD) responded to a home and found the child “unresponsive” with “apparent signs of trauma to his neck consistent with an animal bite,” according to a news release.

Police said the young boy’s family told officers that the dog “was not previously known to be aggressive.”

The 8-year-old had been under the care of his teenage sister at the time of the tragedy, according to authorities.

The 4-year-old dog was relocated to the Danville Area Humane Society after the fatal attack. Police did not disclose the breed of the canine.

According to local news outlet WSET, the dog will be under observation for 10 days in order to check for rabies. He will then be euthanized.

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Paulette Dean, the executive director of the Danville Area Humane Society, explained the reasoning behind the euthanization in a statement to the outlet.

“We will not put the dog up for adoption, nor will we transfer him to any group or sanctuary for rehabilitation. We will euthanize him,” she said. “This will anger some people. But, the dog killed a child. A helpless child.” 

“His family and friends, as well as the police department and other first responders, will bear emotional scars from what they saw,” Dean added. “It is a tragedy from first sentence to last sentence.”

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After the incident, local police offered their support to the family’s neighbors.

“Whenever there’s a traumatic event that occurs, the Danville Police Department holds heart walks in the area to do exactly what we’re doing here today, again offering those services and letting people know what happened,” Matt Bell, a public relations specialist to the department, told WSET. 

One neighbor, Tenita Younger, told the outlet that the incident “made me feel sad and hurt.”

Another, Kenyetta Atkins, added, “I ain’t like it. That’s too sad how the little boy died like that.”