Two children have been removed from a home where a vicious dog attack happened.
Dog Attack
The Arizona Department of Child Safety has removed two of the children from the home where a pit bull attacked two children last week. The 8 year-old boy and 13-year-old girl were taken to the hospital following the attack from the family dog. According to officials, the boy tried to stop the dog from attacking the visiting girl. He remains in the hospital and has undergone two surgeries.
The dog was euthanized, but questions still remain about what might have caused the family dog to turn and attack.
Custody of State
Following the dog attack, the boy and his 2-year-old sister have been placed in the custody of the state. A third child is still at home with the mother, Shanna Bowyer.
“It’s really hard. I cry a lot,” said Bowyer. She was at school at the time of the attack.
“The kids said that they were riding him like a horse and pulling on him,” she said. She went on to say that she feels responsible for what happened.
“He never would have done it if I was here,” she said.
Previous Visits by Department of Child Safety
The Department of Child Safety has visited the home 26 times over the last 10 years, according to documents shown by the mother. The children have been removed from the home because Bowyer did not protect her children from the dog attack.
“It’s an accident. It’s not like I just didn’t want to protect my children,” she said.
Bowyer is not allowed to visit her son in the hospital. Her 2-year-old daughter has been placed in foster care. she does not know when she’ll be able to regain custody of the children.
“My kids obviously come before anything else,” she said.
