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Dog could face euthanasia after attacks on young Colonial Heights girls

Posted at 7:04 PM, Apr 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-25 19:04:22-04

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. – Mother Summer Dodson reacted quickly when she realized her daughter was being attacked by a dog.

"I did go into mom mode," she said. “The dog jumps up on her, bites her, as she goes down to the ground and covers her face.”

It unfolded Saturday morning about 10:30 on Lafayette Avenue.

Wanda Ward was down the street and had heard children outside playing.

"I heard another scream and seen a young lady fall backwards, into the driveway, and within a second she was being attacked by a dog,” Ward said.

Ward called 911 and rushed up the street towards 11-year-old Deborah Dodson.

Collage wounds from dog

She arrived as the dog’s owner jumped in and pulled the dog off.

"It was absolutely horrific," Ward said.

The dog, a 75 pound mixed breed, belongs to the next door neighbor.

This isn’t the first time it has attacked, police said.

"We've had previous contact with this dog,” said Sergeant Rob Ruxer with Colonial Heights Police. “This dog, we know, has bitten two other people, one a family member, one another neighbor."

The other neighbor is Deborah's younger sister, Abigail, who was attacked by the dog about a month ago. She fell and broke her arm.

Summer said through it all, she does not blame her neighbor of three years.

"I still do not blame the owners, because I personally know them and they love animals and they didn't do anything to have their animal turn on anybody else."

Police say the dog is in 10-day quarantine at the animal shelter and that charges are pending as their investigation continues.

The dog could face euthanasia or be listed as a dangerous dog, in which case the family would have to agree to several terms, including a double fence when the dog is outside and a $100,000 dollar insurance policy.